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The Heartwood
The Satin River Road
Attaday, the Second Day of Tiger

Bekkah, Cesare, Daxia, Keiko, Lyric, Kisa, and Tomomi

Kisa's response to all this discussion was a simple nod before she quietly walked her horse along the Satin, across the ford to the other side. There she paused, between water and forest, waiting for the others. As they moved to follow, Tomomi tucked herself even closer to Keiko.

"According to Lady, I have lots and lots of sisters.

"That's because we are all one Family, all of us at Home. It is really nice, and it helps lots when you aren't supposed to be."

She paused as their horses splashed through the cold water. Once they were on the other side, she continued.

"Having lots of sisters is nice. But a real true sister? I am not sure we'd know. I suspect that there may be other Mice who had the same mother as I, except, well, well, well, well, when we became Forest Folk, they kind of forged that out of us. Broke us of family. Maybe to make us be better tools. I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Lady says being a family is only part blood, the rest is the heart, and all that matters then is how big your heart is.

"That way you can have forever friends who are family too. Especially now when, because of Lady Bekkah, we can really and truly have both."

Kisa's head tilted as she caught a hint of the conversation, as the others joined her on the Corliss side of the Satin River. She raised a brow, looked between Daxia and Bekkah, back to Keiko and Tomomi, and then to Lyric.

"Then there are the days when you can't find your favorite tunic because someone got invited by the apple-cart boy to an orchard dance and she wanted to look older than she actually was."

Daxia also proved to be the most annoying of younger sisters: that is, she was right, of course. Traditionally that was the older sister's prerogative. No matter how blurred the border between the lands of Corliss and the lands of Amber might be out here in the plains, being on the north side of the Satin definitely put one in Corliss territory. Once they were there and it became apparent that they were going to stay there, the Nehrimstel priests and their wild horses faded away, returning to their own lands.

Ramesday, the Eleventh Day of Tiger

The rest of the ride was much like its beginning, although the closer one got to the Black Mountains, while the rain came less and less, the winds became colder. Those like Daxia, Bekkah, and Kisa were better protected than the rest. Having grown up with these winds, their cloaks — which were often seen as too heavy in the west — were well-suited to the climate. Tomomi's travel cloak also served the Mouse well — while patchwork, it was of heavy leather and lined with wool. Perhaps the well-traveled Renyard had a hand in their design.

Corliss Manor rested on a small foothill, literally at the base of the mountains that surrounded Dawnview Vale. It was perhaps the oddest of the mainland keeps. Most keeps rose in a series of towers over some important vantage point. Corliss Manor was not tall. Its honey-colored marble walls wrapped around its hill, surrounding its little town with what looked to be a well-fortified manor house in its center. In that, it felt more like Bordertown than Talantal, but definitely more imposing. One could imagine the Chaos Riders from the forest breaking against those walls like the Sea of Opals against stone cliffs: that is, with little effect. The most prominent part of the manor was a tall watchtower, providing an excellent view of the approach to the Vale.

There was, however, a small group of buildings outside the manor walls. They included an inn and several barns, a smithy and a woodworking shop. They were a perfect staging point for merchant caravans going in and out of Dawnview without being distracted by the town itself. It also provided a modicum of privacy.

That privacy ensured that the nature of their party wasn't discovered by Family Corliss until they had left that morning. The little group had reached the base of Snowgate Pass when they learned they had been noticed. Kisa just paused, looking up as the signal fire in the Corliss watchtower was lit. It was then answered as other watchfires came to life, one after another, rising along the ramparts that formed one side of the mountain pass.

The climb up the pass was hard.

It was hard not just because the path rose steeply into the mountains, but because it was narrow and far more imposing than any trail in Kierkegaard. The sheer rock walls rose up over a hundred feet on each side. It also was hard because of the rubble rock through which a road had been blazed. With each pace there were grim reminders of just what had happened here: a spear, its shaft dried and grey, its steel tip pitted with rust here; a bit of armor, now just a mauled piece of junk there. Last was the sheerness of the cliffs. It was not natural here; the rock had been shorn to bury those loyal to the Empire and those loyal to a girl who would forevermore be known only as the Snowqueen.

Kisa rode up that pass with her hood up.

By the time they reached the top of the pass, there was snow on either side of the broken trail. It was not as much due to to the weather but the altitude. This high up the Storm Season lasted longer than on the plains below. Indeed those well-traveled or familiar with the Vale knew that some years the snow never entirely retreated and hence the name: Snowgate Pass.

Snowgate Keep was also equally well named.

It rose, like most other mainland keeps, in three tall and slender levels, each with its own ramparts and towers, up one side of the pass' cliffs. Its topmost towers rose higher than the pass itself, watching over the approach to Dawnview Vale on one side and the Vale itself on the other. What was most foreboding, however, was the tall marble wall that crossed the pass, barring the way. A pair of windmills defined the entrance to the Vale on either side of a set of sturdy wooden doors. The doors were massive, large enough for several wagons to pass through side by side. Their age was betrayed by their fittings.

The fittings on the door were made of white metal. That, in itself, spoke louder than any herald. They boldly proclaimed that no one would ever enter the Vale that the Vale would not let in. History had so far proven the correctness of that claim. In the end, while they had technically won, no Imperial force had ever set foot past these gates.

The windmills reminded Cesare of a similar place: Lord Faast's Keep. The chances that those windmills powered the mechanisms to open and close those gates were very good.

The gates, at this moment, were open. Beneath them, a handful of people watched and waited — a welcoming party of sorts.

Three of them were mounted. While they wore black and silver surcoats, their horses were but ordinary critters, no unicorns at all. They were armored, and they had round shields and swords but no spears or lances. They seemed to be guards of some sort. If they were guards, those they were guarding would be the two women who stood before them. One was a tall stately-looking woman with long white hair, the only thing that might be a hint about her age. It would have hung straight, almost to her waist, except it was continuously tousled by the breeze that swept up Snowgate Pass. She wore a very heavy cloak, unmistakably Kierkegaard made, with tunics and surcoat of black and white. In front of her was a second woman, much younger, also with red hair. This one had — perhaps in a fit of rebelliousness — shorn her hair short just to shoulder length. She too wore a heavy cloak and, while her clothes were also predominantly black and white, hers were also splashed with broad bands of red. This one shifted her weight from one foot to the other, bouncing on her heels every now and then as if, among her many virtues, patience wasn't one of them.

Kisa smiled as she saw who was waiting for them.

Then she blinked.

Her head tilted.

Her nose wrinkled and her eyes narrowed.

Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter
[Daxia serves DAYALA... the GM ESPECIALLY should get this right]

Daxia looked up at the watchfires as they blossomed along one side of the pass on the ramparts above. She shrugged philosophically.

It was probably better that the Snowgate Keep House Guard knew they were coming. It would save time at the Gates.

The last time — the first time — she had come through the Pass, she hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the details of her surroundings. She’d had a big, goofy smile on her face. Gilly had been chuckling indulgently. It had taken Cragside and the process of collecting her little gang of misfits to bring her back to the harsh reality of the world.

No, it wasn’t easy riding back up to the Vale. The hardest part was seeing the weight of history on Kisa’s shoulders. It reminded the Starlord that she was bringing Kisa home to rule the Vale and speak for the Noble Family Allaine. She had absolute faith in her friend, but she worried, too. She worried that it would be all too easy for Kisa to forget how to be lighthearted and let the weight of responsibility keep her eyes from smiling.

That’s one of the reasons she stopped at an outcropping that couldn’t be seen from either the keep above or the gates around the next bend in the road. Morning Star stood crosswise, preventing anyone from passing him as he gave her a baleful look.

“Oh, stop it,” the knight said to him. “I’ll be down in a moment.” Then she looked at the Heir, holding a hand out to her. “Kisa?”

Her beloved would assuredly recognize this very spot from a day in late Yrick, a year and a half ago. Despite knowing that Kisa’s mother was rarely surprised by anything Kisa did, Daxia was reasonably sure that the Khorall would be losing a battle in keeping a smile off her face if she could see how Kisa climbed to her level with the surefootedness of a mountain goat.

“A long time ago, you tied a ribbon around the hilt of my sword. It was a symbol that warmed my heart on days that were dark and cruel. It reminded me that I had promises to keep to Dawnview, to people who had put their faith in me, in addition to my vows to Dayala.”

She reached into her pouch and pulled out a ribbon meant to be tucked around a tunic belt or hung beside a waist pouch or even worn as a bracelet or short necklace. The ribbon itself was red, and it was edged with lace made from black and white threads. From each end dangled a small tile, painted in bright and sparkling colors with exquisite care — one a Horse, the other a Tower.

Both the Mouse Girl and the Rhoni lass had kept their activities secret as they had crafted the item at Daxia’s request.

“I’m giving you my Favor, Dama Kisa, so that you remember to smile, you remember that we have made a difference you and I, so that you remember I will always come back here to the Vale. It is home. And you are family.”

Kisa didn’t say a word.

But she did take the offered gift. Still quiet, she raised it up, considering options and answers. Tradition would have it on her belt, and the second obvious place would be bound around one wrist. Instead, she took the ribbon and drew it close, looping it behind her neck and tying it loosely at her throat so that the small tiles rested as close to her heart as practical.

Then she smiled.... softer than snow and brighter than the all the stars.

Daxia chuckled and leaned forward to whisper in Kisa’s ear.

She stood there for a moment, surveying the Pass — looking up at the opposite sheer face of the pass, south toward the Vale, and finally north to look at the rest of the group. A pair of Rhoni, a Mouse, and a minstrel accompanied the three daughters of Dawnview home. There was nothing at all unusual about any of that!

Well, maybe the Mouse. A little bit.

As they approached the enormous Pass Gates, Daxia was riding beside Kisa in front of the others. With a glace and wry smile for Kisa, they both dismounted, knowing that Rekasve would stay exactly where she was and Morning Star would do whatever he pleased.

“Tut tut, my liege,” Daxia muttered when Kisa moved to step in front of her. “They hauled out the guards from their cozy barracks. Either Eleni forgot what that means and Dama Nadya didn’t remind her, or Eleni likes ceremonies too much. In either case, your devoted bodyguard had a duty before you put your life in the hands of these people, da?” she said with a serene expression and laughter in her voice.

She stepped in front of Kisa several handfuls of paces in front of the welcoming group and bowed to the Regent and young Khorall using the obscurely and ridiculously unnecessary form Kassia had taught her — with arms crossed against her midriff and hands near her weapons. It was ridiculous mostly because it would have been hard to draw either weapon effectively.

Also, she recognized the Khorall without difficulty — after all, she’d know the girl for years. Seeing her short hair didn’t surprise Dazi in the least. Khorall Linnell’s younger daughter wanted to be a Dayalan warrior more than anything. Her mother might have, maybe, given her daughter leave to pursue that path if she’d shown a talent for it. Sadly, she didn’t.

And she’d seen the Regent in court on a number of occasions. The woman was old enough to be Linnell’s mother, or so Dazi had heard, but the only evidence of that was her white hair... and the laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth.

Still, as the Heir’s bodyguard, she was supposed to be prepared for anything — thus, the display. At the moment, it was probably the young Khorall in the most danger, and that danger would come from the Heir behind Daxia.

After smiling at the Regent and young Khorall, Daxia looked at the mounted guards and announced the group.

“Bekkah and Daxia Yurisdotter, returning from training and Duksheviya respectively, escorting the Heir of Allaine, accompanied by friends.” Her eyes took in the Starriders and their demeanor. They didn’t look entirely happy to be standing here at the Gate. She could understand that — this was definitely not the appropriate protocol. Visitors were customarily met by the Khorall at the gates of the inner keep.

However, her smile grew slightly as her gaze lowered again to the young woman bouncing impatiently — the one who very likely had insisted on breaking protocol.

“It’s nice to see you again, Dama Eleni. I see you’ve nicked one of your sister’s tunics again, haven’t you?”

Before turning to her duties as the Heir’s bodyguard, she winked at the young woman. She stepped back and turned to face Kisa, only to find a unicorn trying to present himself to the assembled dignitaries.

“Hoi! You’ll get your turn,” she stage-whispered to him. “Let me finish this ritual first, will you?”

She rolled her eyes and tried to keep from laughing as she looked at Kisa. At least Kisa was mostly used to the unicorn’s... incredibly high opinion of himself, even though his pronouncements had to be relayed via Daxia.

“Lord Kisa, the Regent Nadya Ferreni and Khorall Eleni Allaine stand ready to greet you on your return to the Vale.”

That was another reason why the guards might look as excited as Daxia was at this moment — all this pomp and circumstance was unquestionably appropriate in certain places and at certain times. Standing in the cold at the Pass Gates would not be that place or time. It was silly.

They rode for days. Seven? Eight? Lyric lost count. It's not like it was ever something she bothered to count before. The weather didn't help much either. Ja, the rain had relented but the winds were stronger and so much colder. 'Colder' was hard for the Minstrel. It made her hands stiff, her ears and nose tingle, and her felt felt a numbness seeping into them. The wind cut through the heavy High Tarn cloak to make the clothing she wore seem useless to her. These were all the clothes she had and even when all of it was layered she could still feel the wind.

Days earlier she saw the distant range of the Black Mountains, but they were capped with white blankets and made their name a little confusing to her. Each day they rode closer they were also going up. Always up. Even if there was a bit of down it was always followed by three times as much up. Up and up, closer and closer, the mountains beginning to loom larger and so much more impressive in their daunting magnitude.

If the winds were merciful and relented their assault on the poor Minstrel, the biting cold never did. Often she simply hunched up with her head down and the hood pulled as far over as possible. With every inch of herself hidden beneath the cloak, she let Lisica have rein to follow the group.

Closer and closer and it seemed to be getting even colder. She couldn't understand how that was even possible. And who would want to live in a place like this anyway? Those thoughts were sometimes accompanied by woeful glances at Daxia and Bekkah and Kisa, whom she was led to believe had grown up in these lands.

They wound themselves through the low hills as they got very close, still following the Dawnview road. Gaining elevation as they did meant the road had to switch back and forth to follow the topography. Often they would lose sight of the Mountains themselves because they were nestled between those hills and lesser peaks. But always up, always colder. Ride for time and turn, ride some more, turn... following the road.

You would have to be a fool to invade these people. You would have come so close to them, but then you seemingly travel the same distance again in just cutting back and forth to follow a path upwards to a pass that lead back through those massive peaks into a Valley. A fool indeed. They weren't invading anyone, but Lyric sure believed their venture was a folly by this point, and they hadn't even gotten out of the lower hills yet.

The ground was increasingly more barren of grasses and even leafy trees. Rocks and gravel and boulders began to dominate the the edges of the trails. What grasses could be found in patches were hardy but thin of beauty. It was a hardscrabble life for the plant life as well as any creatures that might make this their home. Mosses and lichens were often more green than the grasses. In some of the low lying drops in the trail, there might be some evidence of better flora, but staying there for any length of time beyond a short respite to stretch legs and dewater was impractical because the cold had taken full control now, and the sun seemed wholly ineffectual at offering her Warmth.

And this was where a religion dedicated to a Sun Goddess has chosen to call home? Oh, she would never say that aloud though. Even half frozen the Minstrel had wisdom enough to keep her cranky thoughts to herself. And her thoughts had turned more grim and dour and cranky these past few days now. She even wondered if dying in the Ring of Standing Stones would have been a better end than to be frozen to death on a road in the Black Mountains.

She was not in the most cheerful of spirits by the time they reached the Manor house at the trail head for the Dawnview Pass itself. She hadn't sung in days and unwrapping the mandola was completely out of the question. Her hands couldn't form a proper chord nor grip a pick properly if her life depended upon it. Besides, all her energies were spent keeping herself tightly bundled as possible. She had vowed some days ago to find a better cloak for the climate in the mountains. Surely there would be someone selling them. With a bit of pique, she wondered why there weren't merchants here and further down the the road selling them for those who had no idea what madness they were embarking upon as they headed for a frozen demise.

She didn't like the cold. No, not at all. Not even a little. She fairly believed she knew this from a very young age, but that cold and this cold were nothing alike. There was simply no escaping it. Even borrowing extra garments from others who might have taken pity on her seemed not to stave off the cold that actually felt painful in her joints. Her poor ears... She now rode with one of Tomomi's tops tied around her head, and her hood drawn up fully all the time, like some refugee who subsisted on charity alone.

Overnight outside the manor house did nothing for her mood either. She just wanted it to be over. The trip... maybe even her life. She saw no hope for regaining feeling in her toes and fingertips, and what was life without toes to dance and fingers to strum strings. She longed for a flower too. Any flower. Even a scraggly weed blossom might give her some cheer and a reason to hope.

To see the others faring better and adapting made her realize just how poorly she was accustomed to change. And that kept her emotionally vacant around a small fire while others told stories and laughed and joked. She looked miserable and felt miserable, and tried to keep it to herself so that she wouldn't make others miserable as well.

The watch fires that came to life as they started up the harsh and unforgiving Pass road. Lyric glanced momentarily at them and when she reckoned they could not offer her any heat, no matter how many of them were lit, she hung her head again and urged Lisica forward. And up and up, with no down, just up. Steeply up. Slow moving, step by careful steps, horses following each other in many places. Walls of rock rising to block the view of a dreary sky left them in cold shadows where the sharp knife-like winds ran the canyon without mercy. Again, who in their right minds would ever try to come up here and invade these people that they needed such massive structures. Sheesh, just let them have the rocks and the wind and the cold, and more rocks.

When the were near to the summit of the pass Lyric saw another fortress of massive proportions ahead of them, wholly blocking the Path to whatever lay beyond, and she understood a truth... Any fools in an Army of Fools who survived to get to this point must surely face an overwhelming resignation to to Death at this point. All the challenges to get here and you find they build a monstrosity that you will never be able to siege with enough men or engines of war to break. Just surrender...

They rode closer and Lyric realized they were now so far up that the white stuff was all around them on the trail, on the rocky ledges going up the pass walls. This was the closest she had gotten to any of it. From a distance it was just a nondescript whiteness, a covering or a blanket of white something. As weary and cold as she was, she had to know what it was.

As the group started moving forward toward the massive keep, she dismounted. It was agonizing enough but the curious spirit in her still managed to overcome her physical limitations. She trudged with heavy dragging steps, reins in one hand to a spot where the white stuff could be reached easily enough. She looked at it for a time before finally giving in and touching it. It was cold. And malleable. It felt a little crystalline, like its surface had a fine sheen of Ice. She knew what Ice was. But that layer cracked and what lie beneath was soft and powdery... but not dry. It too was wet. She touched that more fully, pushing her numb fingers into it and then her whole hand. She opened her hand and scooped some up. It began to melt in her hand. it was water in a state that wasn't quite frozen, not like she knew water to freeze. It was something in-between. Cold but full of space and air.

Lyric was mesmerized by it, even as it started to melt, proving that her hands were still a little warmer that the white stuff. She smiled, cocking her head, and then a strange notion tempted her. She reached down again and got another handful of the white stuff from this place called Snow Gate Pass and held it for a moment to watch the light make it sparkle a little and then... she tasted it with the tip of her tongue. It didn't taste like much, no distinct flavors, but it was fresh, like spring water. She was positive this was water in some mostly frozen state. And so, she bit into it, wondering if sinnoman could be sprinkled on it.

OOC: stopping here in case any who haven't posted yet want to add something before I catch Lyric up to the events at the gate.

The Heartwood
Snowgate Keep
Dawnview Vale
Ramesday, the Eleventh Day of Tiger

Bekkah, Cesare, Daxia, Keiko, Lyric, Kisa, Tomomi, Eleni, Nadya and their Starrider Guards

Silly or not, it was what it was. And as for propriety, at the moment it was something defined by a young woman with red hair, the one that bore a very striking similarity to her older sister, the well-traveled Dawnview heiress. She stood there, a bit awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, like a child at a confectionery stall on Marketday. There was Kisa. There was her Knight. There was a black unicorn. There were a minstrel, two Rhoni and a small person in a patchwork cloak. And a Priestess of Attera. So many to choose from. So very, very many. Her attention darted from one to another to another to another. It ended on the proud and valiant... unicorn.

Morning Star, of course, raised his head and proudly shook out his mane, looking very much the picture-perfect Magnificent one he claimed to be...

...only to look like he had been hit between the eyes by a large stick as Eleni skipped and bounced right past him. Kisa stood her ground. She had already braced herself for the step and skip as her younger sister darted forward to leap up and wrap her arms tight about her.

"KITTEN!"

Kisa blinked, her eyes went wide, and she made sure her return embrace included her hand making a small fist to rap Eleni on the top of Eleni's head.

"Sister, proprieeteeee..."

Eleni didn't even let Kisa finish her sentence. But she did complete her sister's word for her.

"Propriety? Dayala's tangled locks on a frozen morning after a night's rain! You aren't a diplomat from Talantal, we got five of them, nor a Kierkegaard with flowers, because Auntie's still trying to marry me off, nor are you the farmer who is mad because the horse he bought turned out to be a mule or one of the cooks trying to explain why we ran short of cream in a storeroom full of slinks.

"You are Kitten, my sister! Come back from adventures and everything! Lady Karina is so, so, so angry, and Mother just rolled her eyes, and I had to deal with the caravan of wheat that came up the pass demanding steel in return.

"Wait in the keep?

"Are you mad?"

Eleni tossed herself into Kisa's arms again.

"Welcome home, Kisa."

She bounced back, folding her hands behind her as she surveyed her sister's companions. She then walked right up to Daxia, until she stood almost nose to nose to her.

"Miss Dazi! You are famous now! They even got a song about you, or so I've been told! I have heard it! How much of it is true? All of it? Some of it? Which parts? Was fighting an Avatar as passionate and vital and dashing as they say? Or is it grim and horrible and full of blood and guts like Verchovai Kassia would say when we asked her about anything? I hear you have an apprentice too! All fierce and Imperial. That she beat up half the Horde and all of Talantal's Knights! Somehow I can't believe that all is true, because that's a lot of Knights and Raphael Deynnekko has never lost a fight, not once in his life.

"Especially because you have a unicorn!"

She did the same thing to Morning Star.

"Cor... a unicorn too! Are you smart? I bet you like apples. Or are you just old?"

With a sashay, she worked her way down the line.

"Welcome home, Lady Yurisdotter. It's very good to have you in the Vale once more! Are you going to stay? We can make sure you get a proper hospice. Right here in fact. We see all the folks that come in and out of the Vale, and they all have interesting stories to tell. You also won't have to worry about the Temple, where they think hard knocks build character. I have never understood that. Does that mean if you get beat up all the time you have more character than someone who has figured out how not to get into fights? I mean Dominic Korie has tons more character than any member of the Brute Squad."

Eleni then winced.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Nadya, I know they are the Temple Knights. Not the Brute Squad. But sometimes they... fine... fine... I'll stop talking now."

Then she stopped, stopped and looked at one of them and her head tilted.

"You poor, poor lassie! Here, come, take this."

The Khorall of Snowgate Keep swirled off her cloak and passed it to Lyric.

"Now, put that on and stand like this."

Eleni crossed her arms and stuffed her hands into her armpits.

"Warmest part of your body, that is, so you stand just like that, and it will turn your hands to the right shade of pink. Are you from a far away village? Have you traveled far? Is that your mandala? Do you sing too? Can you sing of your adventures with my sister and her Knight? Or have you just met them? But if you just met them, that means you are a right friendly lass, because it takes a long time for my sister to warm to anyone. Not that you can tell. Mother says that of the two of us I got all the words which is why she's so quiet. Do you want to know the secret of making it through winter? In summer all you do is sweat and it's all you can do to find cool shadows to hide from Her gaze in. They say Imperial ladies in Trundle have poor folks fan them with leaves, but if that's true, they got to have really big leaves in that city. Waving a maple leaf doesn't work at all. I've tried it. In winter you have hot tshokolat and mulled cider and warm fireplaces, and blankets big enough for you and a sister and some cats and a ruff or two and that makes getting warmer close and comfortable and much better than being hot where even the thought of being next to someone else makes you faint. Kisa, of course, like slinks and I like ruffs. Which do you like?"

She then turned and gave Keiko and Cesare a squinty-eyed look before walking over to them.

"Hallo! Are you also friends of my sister? Even if you aren't, welcome to Dawnview! Are you related? Are you Rhoni?"

She leaned in so very close to Keiko.

"Pretty Rhoni eyes. I bet I'm right! I sometimes am. Are you brother and sister? Cousins? And I mean close cousins because I know all Rhoni are family, except when they are not. And that's sometimes a good thing. Well, maybe not for you but for us. It's kind of sad when someone you like has to leave, and because they are traveling all over the world, you probably won't ever see them again. It may be the way the world is but that doesn't mean it's nice.

"Do you dance and play an instrument? Do you know about the Rhoni cards? I would ask if you read them but Mother says that's not polite so I won't."

And then... then she saw the one in a patchwork cloak.

In a spiral, she circled Tomomi, once, twice, thrice, until she was face to face and close enough to peer into the Mouse girl's hood. Tomomi froze. People weren't supposed to get that close. Then Tomomi caught her breath as if she had just noted something no one else might. That, however, did not stop Eleni one whit.

"Oh my.

"Oh my.

"Are those whiskers? Real live whiskers? And those ears and did I almost step on a tail? What are you? Who are you? Are you Dominic's little servant I've heard rumors about? But then where is Dominic? He's not here so you can't be. What are you? Just what are you?

"Oh my.

"I know.

"I know exactly what you are!

"You are absolutely adorable!"

Tomomi squeaked in surprise.

"Kisa, she is your friend?

"Or is she yours?"

Eleni Allaine looked between Tomomi and Keiko.

"Can she stay overnight?

Kisa Allaine and Eleni Allaine.

Two sisters could be no more different.

Cesare

He is amused by their greeting. Eleni reminds him of Dydd is some ways and he thinks he might like her too. She is refreshing. And it seems she has all the words that Kisa doesn't. Well he guesses anyone can have too much of a good thing.

When his turn arrives he manages a short response before she is distracted totally by Tomomi. Understandably.

"Yes Rhoni but not related." He is grinning now.

He is aware that he is the only male in the group and this place will be mostly female too. He has no problem with that. Many men would envy him this position but his past experiences have taught him that as many folk as there are, there are then that many opinions.. and these can often be quite far apart. So his plan is to be friendly and polite.. for him anyway.. and maybe a bit more reserved than usual. Any fire needs sparks to light it.

Bekkah

Bekkah's smile was big and bright as Eleni greeted her own sister. She loved the younger girl's exuberance. She always encouraged that visible sign of happiness and joy.

"Stay here? Perhaps one day little one, but there are many outside our vale that need my Lady's touch. I do not yet think that She wants me to stay put."

Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter
[Daxia serves DAYALA... the GM ESPECIALLY should get this right]

As prepared as she thought she was for the force of nature known as Eleni Allaine, Daxia still couldn’t maintain her usual level of seriousness in the girl’s actions.

Snubbing a unicorn for her sister?

While clearly not something to be expected — especially given the look on Morning Star’s face — it was well within the bounds of normal behavior for the youngest Khorall in Dawnview.

Her torrent of words gave Daxia a lot of information, not just about the current state of affairs in the Vale and at Snowgate Keep, but about Eleni’s state of mind.

She waited patiently, as always, through the young woman’s questions for her. Then, as always, she took one of Eleni’s hands in both of hers and looked into the youngster’s brightly intelligent green eyes. Ordinarily, her answer would come out in the crisp accent of the Jambles, but not today.

“First, you have gotten taller again. Do you plan to stop anytime soon?” she asked with a grin before her smile faded.

“Minstrels write songs to stir the hearts and imaginations of the people who hear them. That particular minstrel seems to have a passing acquaintance with the truth and prefers to rearrange it to his own liking, then uses it as a cliff from which to dive into hyperbole. How much is the truth?”

Daxia shrugged.

“All of it. None of it. Whatever Verchovai Kassia said about battles was a cheerful bedtime story compared to the reality of them. However, if you truly want to know about the reality behind the song...” She glanced back at Nadya for an instant before looking Eleni in the eyes again. “...I will tell you the truth.”

Her demeanor changed in a heartbeat when she referred to Kay.

“While my apprentice probably did fight half the Horde, I wouldn’t say she ‘beat them up.’ There might have been a tavern brawl involved, but I suspect it was more of a sparring session for her — testing her skill against new opponents. Nor did she fight with any of the Knights in Talantal. That would have been quite improper. She may have sparred with Rafe but, as you noted, his skill is exceptional.”

Dazi chuckled as she let go of the Khorall’s hand. “I do think you’d find her interesting.”

She grinned at Eleni’s questions for Morning Star.

“He’s the Font of All Knowledge — your pardon, the Magnificent Font of All Knowledge. There’s very little in this world he likes more than apples. And he’s immortal, so...” She shrugged and didn’t bother finishing that thought... of course, he is old.

Dazi turned to Kisa as Eleni continued greeting people, picking out a comment she made to Bekkah. “When did she start referring to the Temple Guard as the Brute Squad?” she whispered.

When Eleni turned her attention to Lyric, Daxia saw the heart of a great Khorall in the making. It wasn’t all about dealing with diplomats or settling disputes among her people or learning to run a household. All of that could be learned and Eleni seemed to be learning her lessons under Nadya’s expert tutelage.

No, this act was about the heart of a leader who cared more for her people — even guests — than she did herself. Kisa had that quality too. The Heir had simply needed some time among ordinary people to learn how she could best demonstrate her commitment. Eleni came by it naturally... even if it was her defense mechanism.

As Eleni moved along the line of her guests, Dazi looked at the bundled minstrel and chuckled before excusing herself from Kisa’s side, nodding to Nadya.

Her smile was wry as she approached the Regent. “I wonder, Lady Nadya, if our dear Eleni refuses to wear her cap because she dislikes the style or the color this week.”

Nadya smiled. “I believe it was both, although she seemed to think it most important for her sister to appreciate her shorn locks.”

Daxia merely tilted her head to one side. “They did look entirely too much like mine when I take my knife to them.”

The older woman simply nodded. Apparently, Eleni had cut her hair just before coming to greet them and there had been no time to at least make the ends even.

“You have her cap?”

One of the Starriders pulled a long knit cap in a shade of blue that would rival Sapphire Lake from under her cloak and handed it to Nadya, who then turned it over to Daxia.

“Do you think you can get her to wear it?”

Daxia shook her head. “Not a chance. I like how it matches my eyes, though.” She chuckled. “No, I have a different plan for it. But I might suggest you try knitting something hideous that looks more like our helms,” she added. “Just because she can’t join our ranks doesn’t mean she still doesn’t have that dream deep inside her. She can start a new fashion trend if that makes you feel better about it.”

Nadya blinked at the newly returned Dayalan. “It’s a wonder no one thought of that before.”

Daxia gave her a mischievous look. “Someone did. But someone was told she was a cobble block. Still, Eleni is an adult and the Khorall. And Kassia is on the other side of the mainland.”

She left Nadya with a smile as she turned to Lyric, clucking at the tunic she had wrapped around her head.

“You could set a new fashion trend with that headwear, Mistress Lyric. Sadly, I think it would overshadow the delicate lace Tomomi is bringing to the Vale.” Dazi grinned and motioned for Lyric to remove the cloth from her head before setting the cap over her hair.

“Pull it down as far as you like. Your ears will be much warmer for it. And the length is meant to wrap around your neck to keep the wind from finding its way under your tunics.”

She sighed softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize you had never been to the mountains before. We could have found some warmer boots, mittens, heavier clothes for you in Bordertown before we left. We’ll be sure to remedy that in the morning when the markets open.” Dazi glanced over at the young Khorall and smiled. “She’s right about stuffing your hands in your armpits. It’s good for those who wield swords... and fine musical instruments!”

Keiko khal’Nakano Hoshiko
[pronounced KAY-ko... do you think the GM has memorized this yet? Nope, not yet...]

The journey into the southernmost range of the Black Mountains was marred only by two things: Keiko’s quest to keep Tomomi warm as the air grew colder and the winds grew fiercer... and her inability to help Friend Lyric.

She hadn’t even laughed when Lyric had wrapped one of Tomomi’s tunics around her head. First, it would have rude. Second — and Keiko wasn’t sure how the minstrel managed to pull it off — the makeshift hat actually looked rather fetching.

Still, the Rhoni couldn’t help smiling as they climbed higher and higher among the ever-taller outcroppings and cliff faces. She loved the mountains and their stark beauty. Oh, the jungles along the Sea of Pearls were impressive, that was true. And the High Tarn held so much diversity that it couldn’t help but be fascinating. The mountains, though? They always seemed like home to Keiko.

Riding through the foothills of the Corliss lands had been sobering. It was in these hills and the plains below that the Imperial forces met the Dayalan cavalry of Dawnview. Although the Family Allaine had possessed the advantages of higher ground and familiarity of the terrain, the Imperials vastly outnumber the Nobles. That’s what the Teaching Songs said anyway.

As the party rode up and up Snowgate Pass, it wasn’t so much the remnants of the battle or the sheer rock face that told of the consequences of a young Allaine Khorall’s actions that caught and held Keiko’s attention. It was the Pass itself.

The road wound around boulders here and outcroppings there, but it didn’t have the switchbacks most other mountain passes did. She had wondered about some of them in the foothills — the less jagged and more diminutive spires seemed an odd place for such meanderings, mainly when it was almost always worth waiting for another a few fullhand of paces to find a smoother way along the ridges and valleys. It wasn’t the Rhoni way to forge a path with that sort of effort, so she had to believe those had been remnants of the Imperial forces a handful of generations ago.

Here in the Pass? It reminded her of Triah’am Valley, although the old road that ran through the mountains hundreds of feet higher in elevation than the ancient easternmost Rhoni Road was wide enough for an army. It had been used by the Eastern horde when they flowed out onto the High Tarn at Brementown at the end of the First Age.

The Teaching Song about the closing of that Pass wasn’t one that Easterners like to hear. It also explained why the Princes’ forces had come down through Darkdown Pass at the end of the Second Age. Keiko had traveled that road several times. Talk about switchbacks!

When Lady Daxia stopped to present Dama Kisa with her gift, Keiko and Tomomi shared a happy smile. It had been a project that allowed Keiko to use some of the new paints Tomomi had given her at Midwinter. Oh, the shimmery ones were so beautiful!

Lady Bekkah’s sister wasn’t like any warrior Keiko had ever seen before, making her someone worth studying. In many ways, she was most like Broke and the rest of the Pack — a Guardian. It had taken Keiko until they had reached camp the evening after running away from the Nehrimstel priests to realize the Dayalan hadn’t been running away.

She had merely been not fighting. Such a Rhoni thing to do!

And now they stood outside the Great Snow Gates — most of them anyway. Tomomi’s feet were already cold and her boots, while excellent for walking, were not the warmest possible boots for her delicate structure. They were watching the young redhead greeting Dama Kisa, Lady Daxia, Lady Bekkah, and performing an act of kindness for Friend Lyric — all before she and Tomomi and Cesare were singled out.

Keiko grinned at the girl’s questions. Cesare’s answer was assuredly short and to the point, as well as perfectly adequate for a Gaija, even one who seemed more knowledgeable than most.

She was surprised when the Noble personage came so close to a commoner like herself, then chided herself for her surprise. This was Dama Kisa’s sister. They were very much not alike... and yet, they both had the quality of treating people as if each person was just as significant as every other person.

“Yes, Dama. I dance and play several instruments, although I only have flutes with me. And your mother is a wise woman to have raised such a thoughtful and polite daughter to know something of the Cards.” Keiko gave Eleni a curtsy, or at least as much as such a thing was possible while wearing so many layers and her heavy wool and fur lined leather Rhoni cloak would allow. “As a thank you for such kindness and consideration, I will tell you that I not only know about the Cards but have been known to read them from time to time.”

Well, it was no secret in this group, and all Rhoni knew that Dawnview was something of a haven for good-hearted people who didn’t exactly follow the teachings of the Imperial Church.

She hesitated a moment, only because the Dama’s comment had been directed to Friend Lyric. Still, knowledge seemed to be of great value to the Allaines, so she spoke up again.

“It’s true, Dama, that there are leaves nearly as big as I am from the jungle trees. Of course, I have never personally seen Imperial ladies being fanned with them, but that does not make the activity impossible. I have seen ladies being fanned with enormous collections of feathers, however. That was not in Trundle, though.”

While Keiko had dismounted so she could stretch out the kinks in her limbs, Tomomi remained seated on Ishahshnee'ah — something that led to the rest of the encounter being possible. After all, Dama Eleni was very nearly as tall as Lady Daxia, who was certainly taller than her sister and Friend Lyric, both of whom were taller — although not by much — than Keiko. And Keiko was taller than her Forever Friend.

Oh, no, Dama Eleni would have had a hard time peering into Tomomi’s cloak if the Mouse had been standing beside Keiko. She reached up and held Tomomi’s hand when Dama Eleni did the unthinkable.

Keiko blinked in surprise and looked at Tomomi’s surprised, perhaps shocked, features.

It was all she could do to nod at the Dama, although after a deep breath, the Rhoni replied, “Yes. Tomomi is my Forever Friend.”

She had no answer about the last question, however.

It was late in the day, so finding a place to stay — probably in the town that was said to be just inside the Grand Gates — seemed reasonable. Lady Daxia had taken charge of the group, and Keiko was content to defer to her judgment. She and Tomomi could find a comfortable corner in the stables and be quite happy there.

Lyric, of things deemed important... the Questions or the Freezing?

The Freezing might seem the logical answer, but the Minstrel knew she wasn't going to die right this moment. She was cold. Of that there was no doubt. Back home, she avoided the Cold Places, and those who lived there. They were not nice people. Well, less nice than her own. And she had ample evidence that her own were sometimes less than nice as well, perhaps indifferent being the better word. But those from the Cold Places were terribly harrowing of word, and abominable and sadistic of deed.

Still, there were many others who were not that way among the people of her village. Not as many as she had hoped, and of those she had found some mercy and quarter in that grave time of worry and distress. But she had been decreed the quarry of a Hunt and any who openly offered her aid or quarter risked much. And that has become one of the cornerstones of her people's society. The Self.

It was probably not the Freezing that was most important.

If the Questions, then whose questions? Her own? Or those of the the Red Haired Kin of Kisa, Eleni?


****

Lyric was carrying a small handful of the White Stuff, despite the numbness in her fingers. She had a question. An important question. But the White Stuff was changing, reverting back to it's liquid form as she walked. Oh, she walked as quickly as her stiff legs and numb feet would allow her, but it wasn't fast enough. The presentation was near an end, the ritual of it seemed time-honored even if the moment didn't appear quite right based upon the lack of formality in the greeting retinue. Well, at least that was what Lyric perceived given there was little pageantry for the 'Return of a Queen or Heir, or whatever Kisa was supposed to be called here and now. That was another question she needed to ask.

The minstrel fell into what seemed to be a line of sorts, and casual gathering so that every one of the new arrivals could get a glimpse of the proceedings as they were unfolding. With Lisica's reins in one hand and White Stuff in the other.... Wait, Oh no... It was almost all gone, turned back into water... She glanced back to the nearest patch of snow and realized that it would be altogether inappropriate now to become such a distraction to turn around with her horse and get some more. And there was no guarantee she would have better luck with the next handful than she had had with the first, given the slow speed of her movement.

Lyric sighed. Eleni was already working her way down the line, making greetings and soon she would arrive before the Minstrel.

She moved up a step to position herself as seemed respectful, glanced at Tomomi and then Keiko, and then at her handful of... water, and made a grimace and spread her fingers as she tipped her hand forward. That question will have to wait...

"Corals? Queens? Heirs? Regents? Who's actually in charge here? And how do we address Eleni," she asked of the friends to her left, Keiko and Tomomi and even Cesare- the furthest from her, as Eleni was moving from her own sister, Kisa. Next Eleni would speak words with Daxia, who had done the presentation, and then Bekkah would be next before she finally arrived at Lyric. These were important Questions. Sure, the White Stuff question was important, but face to face with a member of a Royal and noble family in their own demesne probably should have been something for which they all spent a little more time preparing, and took precedent in the MInstrel's mind.

To be fair, maybe everyone did discuss these matters and Lyric missed it because lost in her own misery as she battled the belief that her death was certain and soon along the mountain pass road.

There was little time for an answer though, as Eleni moved quickly and spoke even more quickly.




Lyric had been standing there with reins in one hand and her other still before her as though she had been holding something invisible. But she obeyed dutifully. Dropping the reins and accepting the gift of the heavy cloak. She swung it around her shoulders and, on the second attempt, managed o get it settled properly on her shoulders. There was a wave of emotions at the kindness of Eleni with regard to the Gift, even if it was just for this moment and this purpose on loan. Lyric staved that off before it could choke her up and she linked away the tears.. in case they froze, of course.

Even though she fully understood the benefit of crossing her arms over her chest and putting her hands under into her armpits, she also had the presence of mind not to mention that there was another place to put her hands. She had found that other method worked very well when riding, or sitting at camp, but that might be considered an all too indelicate response for this moment. But it was true, two hands, palm to palm, between your legs, right up against your...

Eleni had questions, many more questions than Lyric had for her or anyone right now. They simply came at her in a flood of words and Lyric had a hard time understanding them, especially when she realized she was having to translate some of them. She nodded and answered as she could but didn't have time to elaborate on any of them as the questions so fast it didn't seem Eleni was less interested in the actual answers as she was in meeting new people.


Are you from a far away village?
"Yes Dama Eleni," she said with a nod, but the next question came before she could name it.

Have you traveled far?
"I think so," she offered with a shug

Is that your mandala?
"Yes." But before she could state that it was far too cold to play anything because it might damage the instrument, Eleni was already moving on again.

Do you sing too?
Another nod.

Can you sing of your adventures with my sister and her Knight?
Lyric shook her head and started to reply that she could not because...

Or have you just met them?
...Eleni answered her own question. And so she nodded in reply

But if you just met them, that means you are a right friendly lass, because it takes a long time for my sister to warm to anyone.
"I think I am..." But Eleni just kept going.

Not that you can tell.
Mother says that of the two of us I got all the words which is why she's so quiet.

Do you want to know the secret of making it through winter?

Lyric wasn't sure how to respond. Who wouldn't want to know that when they were standing before a ruler, as they lost feeling in the extremities. But how to say that except to nod. And so that's what she did. She managed to mumble, "Please?" as Eleni launched into her answer. And so it really didn't matter what she had said, she was going the hear the secret of making it through winter.

In summer all you do is sweat and it's all you can do to find cool shadows to hide from Her gaze in. They say Imperial ladies in Trundle have poor folks fan them with leaves, but if that's true, they got to have really big leaves in that city. Waving a maple leaf doesn't work at all. I've tried it. In winter you have hot tshokolat and mulled cider and warm fireplaces, and blankets big enough for you and a sister and some cats and a ruff or two and that makes getting warmer close and comfortable and much better than being hot where even the thought of being next to someone else makes you faint. Kisa, of course, like slinks and I like ruffs.

Lyric stood there with wide eyes, trying to understand everything that was said to her. There were words that were hard to figure out and one word that simply had no meaning to her whatsoever. Places of fire, she understood though she was certain Eleni meant something other than a campfire. Warm blankets, oh yes. Lots of them, keep them coming. She wanted one, or three... right now. Faint? What? Why? Simply not enough time to ask her to slow down. And what was Tajhakalaht?

Which do you like?

"I'm sorry," she replied. "Which what? Oh, Slinks or ruffs? Ummm..."

She wasn't sure she had seen a slink before... and ruffs? Weren't those the animals that were chasing Hinata that day? That seemed like forever ago now. But, of course it wasn't forever ago. She knew that was a silly thought. Forever ago, had no real meaning. Whatever, she had to answer. It was respectful, but she didn't want to lie either. Nor did she want to offer an non-answer response about not having a preference. It seemed an important point of consideration and contention between herself and Kisa. It was as if her reply would establish a side in some rivalry. Lyric understood that game all too well. Politics. No matter how innocuous the question might be, the heart of the meaning was all too clear. And so you must choose your reply carefully.

"Wuffs. I like Wuffs."


****

No sooner had Eleni, of the Unknown Title, move on to Cesare, and Keiko, and Tomomi, and Lyric could take a breath and a sigh of relief, did she realize that Daxia was approaching with something in her hand. A Something she was preparing to present. Lyric took a deep breath, smile and nodded with a slight bow to her head that ended up in a bit of a tilt. Deference and humility at the priestess' approach.



Lyric did indeed remove the wrapped bloused top she had been given by her Mouse Friend, and then accepted the cap. It was a beautiful blue, like her own eyes. Perhaps not quite the blue of the cap, nor the blue of Daxia's eyes. But Lyric didn't want or her eyes to be something that drew so much attention anyway. Attention brought questions. Questions required answers. Answers meant choices. And choices were not something she wanted to make with friends.

She too reached up and accepted the cap in her own hands as Daxia was lowering it to her head. She would put it on her own head. Choices.

"My ears... warmer... Yes. Danks."

She settled the cap over he head and started to draw it down over her thick, long dark, dark brown hair. She could feel the emotions wave rising again. It was harder to push them away this time. Maybe if she found a release in words she could keep from crying. But it might be too late already.

"I didn't expect it to be so cold. That is true. I know what cold is and have always avoided it. But Cold is more than just a place to me. It is... a clan among my people." She fumbled with the right words. Some concepts just didn't translate as easily. "I avoided the cold for more reasons that just the cold. I was not prepared and realized I couldn't escape it as we were riding."

She made a couple of adjustments, another tug to seat it tight, and a twist to right it more even from side to side.

"You are so kind. You do not really know me, despite these several, many, Okay... lots of days travelling. We ride together and we talk around a fire. All of us. I mostly listen. To learn. Sometimes I don't understand when things are spoken fast or through laughter. But tell a story or sing a song to share and be a part of it all. You talk about your life growing up with your sister.. a sibling. I laugh and imagine that I have a sister too. But you really don't know me any more than anyone sharing your road and your fire for a time. Yet, you offer me something because I am in need. I know not how to ask for help. It really isn't my way. I wish it was my way. I think my people would be so much different if we understood this."

She lowered her face because the battle with her emotions was all but lost at this point.

"I can not thank you enough for your gift and your kindness. When I have my own cloak and cap from the markets, I will return these things to you and Coral Eleni. And I make this promise... I know the song, but vow to you I will not sing it... out of respect and friendship. An insufficient gesture but it all I have in this moment to say that I am humbled by your kindness toward me."

Keiko khal’Nakano Hoshiko
and
Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

Keiko had smiled at Lyric’s question. The terms for properly addressing someone were often more complex than they needed to be. And the Allaines added their own level of complication, for the Heir could be addressed as either “Dama” or “Lord.” The latter was not the least bit intuitive.

“Right here and right now?” Keiko looked at the young, energetic redhead. “She is, I think. And ‘Dama’ is the word to use when addressing her,” she whispered. “It’s from the Ancient language, which is only kept alive by the efforts of the Allaines and Dayalans. It means ‘Lady.’” Then she paused, lower lip gripped between her teeth for a moment. “In a more formal setting — say, in her Court — perhaps ‘Khorall’ would be correct.”


Keeping an eye on the bouncy, flouncy, always moving Eleni, Daxia nodded in response to Lyric’s statements about the cold. One set of words caused her to raise an eyebrow.

“Cold is a clan of your people? How interesting! I’ve never heard of such a thing. Please... once we are settled, and you have warmed up, would you be willing to tell me more about your people?”

The Dayalan wasn’t trying to pry; she was doing her very best to be deferential to Lyric’s feelings and privacy. But she was a scholar, and having the chance to learn something new? It was beyond interesting!

She accepted the young woman’s thanks with grace and humility that would have surprised nearly everyone who didn’t know her very well.

“Kindness is something Bekkah and I both learned from our parents. Kassia did her best to temper it by stuffing my head — and cracking it, too, with her knuckles — with the reality of the world. So Bekkah sees the very best in everyone and believes no one can harm her because she serves Lady Attera. I have a slightly more realistic view of the world and understand that people will dislike me simply because I carry a sword and serve Lady Dayala. My heart still insists that kindness is of the utmost importance, at least when people aren’t trying to kill me,” she added with a wry grin.

“You have bonded with Bekkah over shared adversity. You are a friend of my friend Cesare. What more do I need to know about you in order to show you kindness? Absolutely nothing.

“Perhaps we — all of us in this group,” she said, gesturing to the others, “can help you learn how to ask for help. Oh, yes! It is something that many of us need to learn. I cannot say that I am always very good at it. But life is learning, is it not?

“Now, the hat is Eleni’s, and if I know her as well as I believe I do, she will want you to keep it. It suits her coloring, and I think she looks lovely in it. But she’d rather be wearing my helm, which is not good for keeping the ears warm.” Daxia smiled crookedly at that. “I would be quite interested in seeing her reaction, though, when you return her cloak and hat.

“In truth, Mistress Lyric, if there is a place where that song would not concern me, it is here in the Vale. There are songs about the daughters of Dawnview and about Dayalans, and they were all written and are still sung to evoke certain emotions and recall our history. Like all the others, there is truth in the song about the events at the Bordertown Temple... and there are truths behind the truth, and those truths are only interesting to my sisters and superiors of the Temple.”

Then she glanced over at the Rhoni Card Reader.

“Also, I think one small part of it would be of interest to certain high-ranking individuals in a place young Keiko knows better than any of us. If I understand the roundabout way she has told her tale, the Rhoni are temporarily banned from there.

“And that could be a very good thing.”

Daxia almost turned then but paused once more. “I have met others whose first language was not Colonial, and so they had an interesting way of saying many things.” She smiled as Romana came to mind. “While it’s true that Dawnview is more welcoming than many places, some of the people here will find a reason to have their ears offended when any of the Ancient words are mispronounced. Personally, I find it adds enjoyment when listening to others speak.

“Khorall is one of those words. It’s so old that the pronunciation across the mainland is not too dissimilar from the word as it’s spoken in the language Keiko ought not to speak... and your pronunciation is closer to that other language.

“Don’t worry! All you need to do is make the initial sound a bit harder and add just the tiniest hint of breath after it. And the ‘r’ is ever so slightly rolled. And last, the second syllable is stressed, which I will admit is an anomaly in Ancient. So it sounds more like ‘corral’ than ‘coral.’”

She grinned mischievously as her eyes darted to the mounted guards and then back to Lyric.

“It hurts the ears of those who find the Ancient language difficult to learn more than those of us who are fluent, or nearly so,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

Lyric, wondering exactly how faraway was Faraway Hills

Choices.

"Not exactly," she said of the Clan name. "Neither Clan nor Cold are the right words for the concepts in my thoughts. But I don't know how better to express them... Or, perhaps it is too dangerous to share. I have told the others, my people are reclusive. And they do not like strangers. So speaking whole truths or saying too much about my 'village' could bring harm. I am exiled from my homeland because I challenged traditions and rules and laws as old as time itself I think... and now I am Banished."

The last word actually sounded as if she used it as a title.

"I can never go home again."

She shrugged and then there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a tight, thin smile.

"So, in the Here and the Now, it is best I not say more but maybe there will be another place... With song and drink, and stories to be told. Be warned, perhaps mine is a story that might not be worth hearing. I will say this, let us call my home Kethy's Woods. Secret, hidden, best forgotten. Lord Dominic Korie says it is called Faraway Hills to those outside it's borders. I think he knows that probably isn't completely true. Faraway, yes. Hills... yes. But two things that are true does not mean they are truth as a whole. Then again who am i to argue with a Korie Nobleman, aye? He did know about our Poet Shaggies."


Daxia spoke about kindness and lessons learned from youth, and how those lessons were tempered and applied. Lyric glanced at Daxia's sister and she understood just how the Aterran Priestess could go forward with the absolute confidence in her safety and simply follow her heart to wherever it was she was needed. She had seen it firsthand. To that she nodded.


Lyric paused a moment as she considered the words that would follow next. Her visage changed with a subtly that could only be seen by a trained eye. There was a resolve that came with wisdom, and she spoke less as a Minstrel at the whims of emotions and her fancies, and more like a sage who valued the virtues of patience and logic.

"Then she should wear the Helm... If that is her desire. I do not mean to challenge traditions. But I guess that is what my words could mean. Please take no offense. We can only discover our true selves if we step beyond the boundaries of what we are told we can't do, and discover if they are, in truth, the things we can become. The things we want to be and the things we want to do should not be constrained by anyone nor anything except our own imaginations. While she might not be good at this thing she wants, she will never accept that truth if she can't prove it to herself, and then realize that the thing she was born to be is where she actually belongs. Or not... Why should she not try it and learn what her limitations are for herself? That is not a judgment upon any one or any place. Just an observation from a person who had to lose everything she ever knew to discover everything she lost could barely fill a thimble compared to the world that awaited her. Forgive my impertinence Friend Daxia."


With regard to the song, she said quietly. "I have seen how it makes you uncomfortable. Songs and stories do not always tell the whole truth. Whole truths are hard and messy, and complicated. Songs and stories shouldn't tell the whole truth either. What they tell is what an audience needs to hear. Be it a tale that focuses on courage, told to a people hungry for courage... Or a tale filled with action and acts of reckless abandon by heroes invincible for an audience trying to escape a life of endless and tiresome drudgery. Or maybe something to make an audience laugh when all the things around them in their normal lives might otherwise make them cry. That is what stories do... transport us to a life where we find something to make us believe that our own lives can be better. I tell them and sing them, and my own desire to learn the fullness of every story and song helps me appreciate that some truths are best not told in their fullness."

And lastly, on matters of language.

"My language is probably very close to that which you call Ancient. Long ago, very long ago, it might actually have been Ancient. But seclusion and secrecy have allowed things to change without us ever knowing that it has done just that. There is much of the familiar to me in those words I hear but sometimes I just can't connect them to what my truth is currently. I think it was a long time ago, but I don't know what that even means. Kurrall."

"Khorrall..."

The tiniest bit of breath. A slight roll in the R. Lyric knew she could mimic the word exactly. She could could even do it in an accent that was of perfect pitch and intonation for every person with which she travelled, but that wasn't the same as learning the word. Tavern tricks did not help her learn new things, only how to fake her way through sounding too much like a foreigner to be feared.

"Khorall..."

Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter
[Daxia serves DAYALA... the GM ESPECIALLY should get this right]

The Starlord listened to Lyric. More importantly, perhaps, she gathered up the words and phrases and meanings, weighing them and comparing them to things both mundane and esoteric that she’d been taught. Some of the things Lyric said hit just a little too close to her heart.

...I can never go home again...

It was good that Kay and Romana had found a sort of family together and could find a new home here... in this time, in the world west of the Black Mountains.

Although she noted the change in the young woman’s demeanor, Daxia made no mention of it, gave no indication that she had even noticed. However, she smiled sadly at Lyric’s words.

“I take no offense when one speaks the truth of their heart and experience so eloquently... or, at least, I try very hard not to. While I can’t say for certain that I know her mother’s mind, I suspect Eleni would have been given a chance to prove herself as a warrior if she had the talent for it. Life for Nobles is not as free and easy as it is for those of us who are commoners. Some look at those of Noble and Imperial families with envy, thinking their lives are so much better than ours. But we are the ones who can choose to take up a sword or marry a farmer, to become a scholar or learn a trade.”

She nodded in Eleni’s direction. “I don’t doubt she will use her brilliance and imagination to make the lives of the people under her care the best they can be. Will she ever travel the length of the Highland Path and watch the tides crash over our old Temple on the Sea of Opals? Who’s to say? I don’t think I’d even dare pose such a question of Keiko’s cards.” Daxia’s glanced over her shoulder for a moment before smiling at the minstrel. “Her sister managed it, and in some ways, Eleni is even bolder than Kisa.

“Time will bring the future to us, and we’ll learn what Eleni does when the time is right. I’m not sure that’s exactly why my Lady created it, this thing we call ‘time.’ Still, my Rhoni-born Temple Sister encouraged me to learn how to ride the waves, and the Fates have seen to reinforce that lesson by giving me two Rhoni traveling companions. So,” she declared, returning to a previous topic, “your story should be shared when you feel comfortable doing so, when the time is right for you and for the minds that will hear it.

“Until then, it would be a pleasant way to pass the time discussing the matter of languages! I learned more about Ancient from some of the books in the Grand Cathedral in Talesan’s Village. I hope to find more in the library at Starwatch Reaches.

“It’s interesting, isn’t it, that three languages can all begin at the same place and become something unintelligible to one another? Well, I think it’s interesting.”

She looked up and noted Eleni making a beeline for the two of them.

“Ah, our whirling dervish approaches.

“But I will say one last thing about songs, and that one in particular. I don’t think any song holds all the truth. And surrounded by my family here in the Vale, that song is much easier to bear than being surrounded by strangers... those very people for whom the song was written.”

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep
Ramesday, the Eleventh Day of Tiger

Bekkah, Cesare, Daxia, Keiko, Lyric, Kisa, Tomomi, Eleni, Nadya and their Starrider Guards

It was like watching a pebble bounce down a rocky cliff. Eleni caromed from one to another, to address all who spoke to her. True, she may not answer every question, just those she chose to. But, at the least, they were the salient points of their conversation, at least from her point of view.

"Are you sure?"

The younger sister pressed back against Bekkah's words.

"How do you know you aren't supposed to be here? Your path has brought you back, ja? If your Lady truly does guide your path, couldn't that also mean you are meant to be here? You are very definitely back home again. What if that's what is supposed to be? Do you have regular conversations with Her? I don't think that's quite fair you know. You and Dazi and even the High Priestess in the Temple, you can have conversations with your Goddesses. But if I do? Fine. Of course, I can. But if she talks back, it's fine for you. For me, the first thing everyone would think is that I've gone completely daft."

The Rhoni lad got a step back and a wide-eyed look.

"Rhoni? Boy and girl, traveling together but not related? Are you promised, are you then handfasted? I admit I know little of Rhoni customs, just what I have seen during festival time and from certain relatives, but they don't talk too much, of course. But isn't that somewhat scandalous, even more, than a Rhoni wandering all alone? Is this something Mother would tell me I'm not supposed to ask about? Not that we cannot deal with a scandal or two. Some of our favorites are walking scandals, like handsome Dominic or our very own Trundle-born Starrider. And what is it with us Allaines and our bodyguards? I have been spared that, as Nadya is old enough to be my Mother, nin, nin, nin old enough to be my Grandmother..."

Her stream of words was suddenly caught short by a muffled 'ahem' from her teacher. The young redhead swallowed and scuffed her foot across the ground.

"My... my... my... my... very much beloved, respected, much cared for, wise and very, very, very patient grandmother..."

Nadya shook her head with a hidden smile.

"But it does raise a very important question! How many rooms do we need tonight? You are staying, ja? Not just continuing down the trail. Like I know my dear, dear sister would prefer to keep on her way, just like her tiles keep on clitter-clacking, keeping me awake at night, but as the Khorall of Snowgate Keep, I absolutely forbid it."

She bounced back, latching her arm around her sister's.

"Please?"

She looked at her sister with big round eyes, to which Kisa had but a few simple words.

"That is not going to work."

"Are you sure?"

"It never does."

"But you are staying?"

Kisa was quiet for an extended set of heartbeats. She looked to her Knight and smiled a small, resigned smile.

"Of course."

The Allaine heir slowly disentangled herself from her sister's arm.

"I have missed you, too."

That brought Eleni's true smile back. It brought back her smile and a genuine bounce to her step. That hop took her a pace to the side, almost bumping up against Morning Star. She then gave the black unicorn a long and considering look, rising up to her tiptoes to peer closer.

"See! I knew you were old! But old and Magnificent? Is that because you are a hand taller than most other unicorns? Are you going through a growth spurt too?"

While her ward was observing the unicorn, Nadya quietly replied to Daxia.

"There was an altercation come to Midsummers. I actually blame Verchovai Kassia. Several villages around the keep were badly damaged by the waters of the spring thaw. We were hard pressed with the sheltering of those without homes, and the young Khorall asked the Temple for help rebuilding. I am sure Her Holiness Karina did not appreciate the inference that her folks simply spent their time lounging around the Temple. She appreciated it even less when Eleni reminded her that 'cutting stone was an honorable job for a Dayalan.'

"I can only think of one person who could have taught her that.

"Karina then made it clear that the purpose of the Dawnview Temple was ages old — ever-vigilant in maintaining the Safety of the Vale and upholding the Traditions of Her Light.

"That was when our dear little genius stated the obvious conclusion.

"Oh. You are a Brute Squad."

Standing next to Morning Star, Eleni bit her lip.

"I heard that! Mother tossed me out of the council room saying that just because she is Family doesn't mean I don't have to be diplomatic. I don't know what happened afterward, except we had to cut our own stone and we are still rebuilding those farms. I suggested building a terrace and planting that Trundle delicacy, rice, and letting it flood come spring and actually use the water to help us. But that is neither here nor there. I spoke the truth. And that's what's important, isn't it?"

She then turned to Daxia.

"Of course I want to know the truth of it. The truth is always better. It's what's right. Like yes, that's what Mother says too."

It was a traditional Eleni change of subject, a seamless non sequitur segue, from one topic to the next.

"Mother says I'm taking after Father. And that he ended up bumping his head going through doors. I'm not sure I am looking forward to that at all. But it's not like I have a choice, ja? What will be will be, and it just means no one can hide cookies on a high shelf from me anymore. But knitted grey barrel hats? And lace?"

Eleni then turned to Keiko and Tomomi once more, walking right up to the Mouse and Rhoni again, reaching up to take one hand and get a good look at Tomomi's sleeve. She peered at the delicate threadwork. Eleni then smiled.

"Knitted helms. Bah. They may be the fashion for a season, then two. At most. Then they'll be quaint memories at the bottom of a cedar chest. But this lace? Crowns will get you stars that it catches on, lace will be with us forever. And Forever Friend. I really, really like that. It has such a nice sound to it and says everything, about how being close can mean just that, and not be tangled up in all other issues or responsibilities, traditions or things that are just supposed to be.

"And you read the Cards too?"

Her attention, for the moment, had now firmly returned to Keiko.

"Well, I won't ask, no matter how much I'd like to watch. I've always been kept away from the Rhoni who do that when they come by. Mother says I always have too many questions and my questions are never correct. She says I'm too focused on the practical and the right here and now.

"And I think I have settled things. You are all staying. I am a proper hostess, ja? I could not turn you away to some inn or stable or commons house. My house, it's also good, isn't it? Especially because..."

She turned to Lyric, walking around her and placing two hands on her back, and lightly pushed.

"Come, come, come. It is cold, and with Her light falling, it's only going to get colder. Inside, inside, ja? Hot tshokolat for all!

"And Wuffs? Oh, my! You like dangerous ruffs! Are you a dangerous person, one of those quiet folks you need to watch out for because when you thought there were ruffs, it turned out to be wolves? Does this mean you have deep and dark secrets you keep even from your friends? But that's fine too. Everyone has secrets. Sometimes I think having something private, just for yourself, is important because that becomes something you know is yours when the world says your duties always lie elsewhere.

"For now though, no secrets, just gates to go through and a hot meal to find."

For those who had seen Talantal, Snowgate Keep was like a younger sister. Instead of five rings, there were only three. There were also other differences; there was much less a difference between the class and status of the rings as one approached the central keep. There was more stone in Snowgate too; while Talantal also had its stone residences, they were not the norm. Heavy timber with wattle and daub was predominant. In Dawnview, it appeared, the reverse was true, as if honey-colored marble was an ordinary material.

This was a place very different than Lyric's small village. The walls were so tall, there were so many homes in such a tight space, as well as so many people. And yet the people seemed quite comfortable and familiar with this place, as if it were somehow natural for them to be living so close and in such crafted space. There was an odd focus to their lives as if by being so close together everything was so much more vital, so much more intense.

As they rode up the switchback streets, higher and higher into the keep, Tomomi leaned forward, to whisper in Keiko's ear and nod towards the younger Allaine.

The other difference was that Talantal rose majestically in its five tiers. Snowgate was much more aggressive, though aggressive may not be the really proper word. It was built into the side of the pass and strove towards the sky like a person reaching for the very stars.

The tallest towers, of course, were part of the central keep. Though tall, they were not overly large, as if slenderness and grace were as much a part of the castle's design as shelter and protection. Their horses were offered excellent stables, and the group was brought into the keep's main hall. It was actually small and comfortable, sized for a large family but not large assemblies. There was a large hearth on one side with a pair of formal chairs on each side of it. Nadya sat in one, while Eleni made sure everyone else had a place at the table that dominated the center of the room.

"I always thought to talk around a dinner table was much more natural than being presented in a formal Court. Nadya says I am daft, but I... I am not good at being my big sister or Mother."

Her words finally faltered for a moment before she started to talk again.

"So I decided to try and find my own way. And we need hot stew and hot drinks to melt a minstrel's frozen bones."

She did choose the head of the table, a place where someone had scribbled words and little diagrams on each side of the properly-set stew bowl. Interestingly, she also made sure everyone was clustered around her end of the table instead of being evenly distributed about.

"And I've never been able to stay in my appointed place during any court.

"I just wander... to see and hear everything."

Cesare

Eleni is.. entertaining.

He likes that she has her own freedom and is true to herself. And he likes that she speaks the truth too and would prefer that more people were like that. There again, there are some that have spoken truth to him and followed it up with action when he has been on the receiving end of their prejudice. That kind of truth he can do without but he likes Eleni's kind. In some ways, as well as Dydd, it also reminds him of Lyric. She too has a natural way with her, unafraid to admit to not knowing, unafraid to be wrong.

And so he smiles again as Eleni once again asks Keiko and himself another direct question, which he finds refreshing and not in the least offensive.

"No we are not promised.."

Then he pauses to correct his statement.

"Well at least I am not but I think Keiko is?"

He raises an arched eyebrow in her direction, not sure if he has used the right term.

Keiko khal’Nakano Hoshiko
[pronounced KAY-ko... do you think the GM has memorized this yet? Nope, not yet...]

Keiko wasn’t sure if she should giggle or remain solemn and try to correct some of Dama Eleni’s misconceptions about the Rhoni. She opted for a cheerful smile and a decision that most lessons were better conducted out of the wind and cold.

“No, Dama, we are not handfasted — at least, not to one another. And it’s not the least bit scandalous.” She looked at Cesare and shrugged. “Cesare is a Traveler. I am a Traveler. Our paths crossed on the other side of the mainland. And now we are Traveling together for a time.”

She was beginning to get used to the fact that everyone seemed to know the Young Master. After meeting the Koromov at Dominic and Emerald’s wedding, it didn’t really surprise her that she might cause a scandal or two, at least by the customs of the Imperials. For a daughter of the Homura Family, there wasn’t much she could do that was more scandalous than her own mother had done. And even Madoka’s marriage to a Gaija had been accepted and blessed by the Elders — all of them.

Keiko didn’t quite understand what Eleni meant by her comment regarding her family and their bodyguards. After her backpedaling about Lady Nadya, Keiko peered at the youngster for a moment before speaking.

“We had... The Elders’ have said that Lady Nadya is your guardian and has held the Regency for you, that is is only secondarily a bodyguard.” She tilted her head to one side, allowing her puzzlement to show. “Perhaps this is a question I am not to supposed to ask about, but wouldn’t you have a say in who your bodyguard is? And are Dama Kisa and Lady Daxia creating a scandal?”

Perhaps she didn’t understand what Nobles meant by scandalous.

Before she could answer Eleni’s question of rooms — after six weeks of travel, Keiko would have been happy if the whole group was shoved in a storage closet as long as it was dry — the Khorall bounced off to wheedle a promise from her sister that they’d stay. This time, Keiko did grin — Eleni could not have been more like Moriko in this regard if she had tried.

Eleni wasn’t gone for long. After gaining her sister’s assurance that they’d stay the night, the girl first interacted with the unicorn and then Lady Daxia again. But then she was back at their side, inspecting Tomomi’s scalloped sleeves.

“A Rhoni rarely has a friendship that lasts a fullhand of years. And a lifetime friendship? Well, until I met Tomomi, I didn’t think such a thing was possible! So, yes, she is my Forever Friend because I won’t have to travel far away from her like Rhoni normally do.” Keiko realized it wasn’t an optimal explanation, but it was enough for the moment. The more complex topic was that of the Cards.

“Perhaps your mother is right. It’s good to be practical, it’s good to live in the moment. We only have so many moments in our lives... why not savor each one, ja? But the Cards do not understand the individual moments.”

And then Eleni was off again, this time hustling all of them through the Gates and up the steep streets of her keep.

Tomomi’s whispered comment did get Keiko to watch the young Khorall more closely after that. By the time they were all settled around the table with bowls of hot stew thick with meat and vegetables and accompanied by slabs of fresh bread, Keiko saw that the Mouse’s assessment of the lass was likely correct.

Keiko would never contradict a respected Elder, especially one who held a position of trust like Nadya did. So the question of whether or not Eleni was daft was moot.

“Oh, but, Dama Eleni, of course, you’re not good at being your sister or your mother,” the Rhoni pronounced with the assurance of one who can see the obvious in front of her face. “You are you and can only be you.” She smiled as she glanced around the room, then looked at Eleni again. “This is a very nice way you have decided to be.”

Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter
[Daxia serves DAYALA... the GM ESPECIALLY should get this right]

Daxia raised an eyebrow at Eleni’s argument to Bekkah. The lass was clever, that was clear. And the bit about talking to their respective Goddesses? Dayala’s priestess had to bit her lip to keep from chuckling. How many time had she been called daft — as worse — when she had talked to Dayala when she was a youngster? Too many to count. It was one thing for a commoner child who was expected to devote herself to the Temple to have the fanciful notion that she was actually talking to Dayala, it was quite another for the Noble child who was destined to rule a Keep to do the same. And yet, Dazi knew beyond the shadow of any doubt that she, indeed, had been talking to Dayala for the past twenty years. Why shouldn’t Eleni do so as well?

Not that Dayala ever spoke to Daxia, but it wasn’t something she expected either. Dayala was a good listener. Morning Star was the talker.

She’d watched Eleni play this game with Kisa since she became Kisa’s friend. And each time Eleni tried to cajole Kisa into something, it reminded Dazi of all the times she’d done the same thing to Bekkah. The differences, of course, being that Bekkah could never say no to her little sister and Kassia had put a stop to such nonsense, as she called it, before Bekkah had gone off to train with Lady Catherine. Or so Kassia had thought.

Kisa’s smile wasn’t anything like Bekkah’s, but today — right now and right here — the effect was the same.

And when the youngster peered at His Magnificence, he eyes her right back. It was almost as if the two of them were having a staring contest. Fortunately, Nadya brought her attention away from that spectacle.

Daxia did her best not to grin at the telling of Eleni’s altercation with her aunt, the High Priestess.

Looking between the two of them for a moment, and then another and another, Daxia had a bad feeling about her eventual meeting with Her Holiness. Upholding the traditions of Her light meant something different to the Temple-bound Dayalans than it did to Wild Dayalans. Karina wouldn’t even deal with the Koromov, leaving that task to the pottery-tossing Kassia. Gilly and Poppy were both easy-going and smart enough to not get on Karina’s bad side.

She’d been trained by Kassia, so that should make her smart enough to not cross swords with the High Priestess. But Daxia had a stubborn streak the depths of which had yet to be fully plumbed. She suspected the only person who wouldn’t be surprised by her stubbornness was Kassia.

“I would agree that truth is important, dear Eleni. But often it is a matter of impeccable timing when choosing just when to convey the truth. And yes. I will tell you the truth behind the song.”

She raised an eyebrow at the girl’s cleverness. “Terraces for rice sounds like an excellent idea. Is our climate suitable for growing it here? Is the growing season long enough? Is there a particular type of rice that is better suited to the mountains over the plains?”

She turned and saw the non-expression on Kisa’s face. “See? I was paying attention when you and Father Canna were waxing poetic about agriculture,” she said with a grin.

Daxia had only been to Snowgate Keep a couple of time — once with Kassia to spend time observing in the Regent’s court, and once with Gilly to train with the Starriders here. Each time, then and now, she marveled at the Ancient architects who had built something that combined such delicate beauty with undeniable strength.

The stable hands were more impressed with Morning Star than any of the horses, which made sense. The Allaines could afford to acquire the best. As far as they knew, there were only four unicorns in the world... and one of them, the latest to claim a Dayalan Companion, was right here in their stable.

Needless to say, Morning Star found many gifts of apples from admirers that night.

Daxia laughed at Eleni’s dinnertime comment. “I can only imagine the sort of anxiety you caused Kassia. Kisa seems to have an uncanny ability to watch everything going on around her and remain perfectly still while doing it. I fidget, something that earned me a fair number of pokes, prods, jabs, and both articulate and indistinct hissing noises.”

She paused, grabbing a thick slice of bread for Kisa and one for herself from the basket in the middle of the table.

“How long did it take her to throw up her hands and declare you to be something even worse than a cobble block?” She grinned at Eleni and asked, “What picturesque nickname did she give you?”

Lyric, of Wuffs and Secrets, and an Important Question



There was little time to add her thoughts to Daxia's where it concerned Eleni. In truth, Lyric didn't really understand who was who here. She got the filial connections but there was a ranking order as well. Kisa had been called the Heir, but Eleni seemed to be in charge of the Snow Gate Keep. Was this the heart of Dawnview Vale? Or was there more? A larger keep? Or maybe even a Castle like she had heard of in stories brought back to her village. She heard mention there was a Mother figure for Kisa and Eleni, and was she really in charge? Oh, it was very confusing. But Lyric did her best to hide that because now was not the time nor the place to reveal her profound ignorance to everyone. For now, it was sufficient that they just assumed she was ignorant and backwards. Proving it to them could wait for a quieter moment, perhaps over this drink called Tajhakalaht. If it was anything like mulled cider, with sinnoman, then she was certain she wanted to try it. In fact, she still has the gift of sinnoman given to her by Cesare. Tajhakalaht with sinnoman. She had no idea what it was, but she wanted it all the more now.

"Time... yes. Time will bring the future to us," she rephrased and repeated to Daxia. "Maybe Time will bring us the Tajhakalaht too... But it would be rude for me to say such to our host," she added conspiratorially as Eleni was approaching.


*****

Two hands upon her shoulder blades to urge the Minstrel forward. The Khorall spoke over Lyric's shoulders. Who else might have heard her questions?

Am I a dangerous person?

An interesting question from an interesting person, on an interesting day. It deserved an answer of some truth for sure. Some...

Where to start?

"Maybe we all keep certain things private and others call them secrets because the temptation to solve mysteries is strong. These would be private truths and there might be many reasons to keep them secret. Maybe those reasons are selfish or maybe they keep friends safe. Maybe they are both. Maybe we have regrets and maybe secret truths would overshadow the heart and hope of who we truly are, so we keep secrets. Choices are made, consequences carried forward."

"As to Ruffs and Wuffs. Wouldn't we all like to think we are dangerous Khorall Eleni? Confidence in ourselves is important, so maybe... Yes... No?" Lyric shrugged. "I don't really know though. Am I? Maybe I am but not as much as others I have met. But... I am probably not the best one to answer that question about myself. Nor should any of us do the same. It sounds like bragging, Ja? And bragging tempts others to test your claims. And what good would that bring? I am a Minstrel, probably not a Bard. It doesn't matter to me much. I am happy to just be me and let others answer such questions about me."

Was that enough truth? It fit with the amount of personal revelation that Eleni offered. She had a secret. A Private thing she kept to herself. Something she feared might get taken from her if those whose opinions mattered to her found out about it. And in Eleni's words Lyric believed she touched upon the secret itself. As much as she admired Kisa for her Gifting with the Cards, and allowed that she did not possess such talent, she revealed she had an even greater Gift. Daxia had praised Eleni for her brilliance and imagination, but Lyric realized it was something more... something Dangerous. Dangerous to those who had secrets to keep, Dangerous to the types of people Eleni would face in circles of nobles and royals. Dangerous enough to make people fear her.

Kisa could read the Tiles, understand the Tiles, interpret the Tiles. Lyric didn't fully fathom the difference between Keiko's Gift with the Cards and Kisa's with Tiles. There was a difference though. Something about a Window and a Watcher. Lyric really didn't understand it, and yet it fascinated her.

Lyric was sure that Eleni's true, hidden, secret Gift was something similar. Lyric believed Eleni could read people. She might not gain the revelation directly but she knew the right questions to ask because she could sense the questions that needed to be asked. She could make people reveal their truths to her without words from them. Ask the right questions because you feel them, and read the person as they face those truths within themselves. Eleni could 'know' things, sense things, feel things, and that made her dangerous. And, to some extent, Eleni knew she had this Gift and kept it a secret. How much did Eleni 'know' about what she could do? How much control did she have? Lyric didn't have an answer for those questions. But the Minstrel believed that Eleni felt Lyric had a secret and that was something of a bonding moment between kindred souls. It allowed Eleni to reveal something of a truth in her own words to the Minstrel.

*****
Riding again, up and up, back and forth and still up beyond the gates and into... what? Lyric did not possess the words to understand what she was seeing in terms of architectural admiration. There was nothing like this in her village. And where the Mad Imperial Prince's Keep was inverted into the lake, hidden, reclusive, withdrawn into the earth below, this structure presented itself in full view as a work of art as well as a feat of engineering.

Lyric had no words. She just rode along, staring at it with her mouth slightly agape, cocking her head one way, then the other. Sometimes she found her self twisting in the saddle and looking straight up at the sheer height of the walls. All of this was so very new to her.

*****

Gathering around a table. Where there seemed to be a formality to Eleni's informality. The Khorall's own sense of traditions honored and traditions eschewed was its own formality and rule.

Lyric waited for others to claim seats. The Minstrel did not know what formalities held sway in this Court. But she understood that such things were important. The presentation and greeting was a circumstance of formality. She was keenly accustomed and trained to know these things... just not what these specific rules were though. No matter how hungry she was, and she truly was hungry, she would not embarrass herself nor disrespect her host's customs and traditions. The Minstrel was content just to be welcomed at the table.... to have her bones unfrozen by a stew.

But she did have a pressing question though. When to ask it though? She waited for a better moment and seated herself last.

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep
Ramesday, the Eleventh Day of Tiger

Bekkah, Cesare, Daxia, Keiko, Lyric, Eleni, Kisa, Nadya, Tomomi, Starrider Guards, and various servants

As they settled into their places at the dining table, their promised meal arrived. Of course, the main course was a hearty stew. It had a very thick gravy, much more substantial than anything on the trail or even found in the other mainland keeps. The potato chunks were large, and so were the carrots, and there was absolutely no skimping on the hunks of venison. It seemed extravagant, but for those acquainted with mountain life, it was actually traditional across the Vale. It was a simple acknowledgment of the harshness of the season: thick and hearty, it was armor against the weather and good medicine when one had been out in the cold for too long.

A couple of carafes were set on the table — for Kisa, a cool juice made of many different fruits, as well as kavass for the others. The kavass was the exact opposite of the stew; it had small cubes of cut ice floating in it.

And then the hot tshokolat was brought out in steaming mugs of fancy glazed pottery. Thick and flavorful, it was an import for any lands this side of Trundle on the Hill. Deep brown in color, the air misted above the cup, heavily laden with its rich, almost bittersweet aroma. With a nod from Nadya, the guests were served first, then the regent, and last Eleni. She bit her lip and turned away as hers was placed at her side by one of the kitchen staff, who then joined the other serving folk going through their satellite tasks. This included making sure everything else was properly taken care of. Warm bread was set out, as well as a plate of thick meat for those, like Kisa, who preferred a more weighty preparation than stew, fowl for those who might prefer such. They also ensured that no one ran out of their drink.

There were, it seemed, some formalities even Eleni could not banish, outpace or brush aside with a seemingly infinite wave of words. Her words hid how she felt about all this, especially when a new lad set a fresh mug of hot tshokolat at her side. If Eleni had a vice, it obviously was for that decadent Eastern drink.

Where to start? Kisa smiled as she noticed her sister's consternation. She reached up to lightly finger the tiles on her pendant, watching her sister with a quiet intensity. Daxia recognized the look in the heiress' eyes. It was playful, as if she were thinking of a particularly mischevious arrangement of tiles: toss Eleni into a group of people and then try and guess where she would start.

It was the setting own of her hot drink that set her off. The Khorall of Snowgate Keep immediately, swiftly and so very surely turned her attention to Cesare.

"Not promised? But your kin, Keiko, is?

"To someone else?"

Fine. That was obvious. But it was part of Eleni's ramble. Jumping from one thought to another like a mountain stream dancing around a scattering of rocks.

"How do you feel about that? The betrothal thing and that Keiko is promised to another? Not in like are you jealous and all, but that being the way things are for you. I don't think much of things like that, because, well, there's not too much to think about. It just is, I mean. Mother and my aunts will make that decision for me, and that will be that, just as sure as Kisa's tiles fall one after another. It's probably all for the best because I'm too busy learning how to run a stupid Keep and be all political...

"Oh, Nadya, stop frowning. I know it's very very important and you know I can't even allow myself to think the littlest bit that I would ever let my Family down, but it's just not... come on, admit it... romantic, adventurous, something folks will write songs about it.

"I know..."

She looked into her hot tshokolat for a moment, as if her words had suddenly vanished. But only for a heartbeat.

"I know I am not... Kisa.

"But I am allowed to wish, every now and then, aren't I?

"Fine. But what am I supposed to dream about?

"If he will be a scholar? As rich as a king? Handsome? Young? What if my Aunts think sixty-two is young? Tall? What if he's tall from side to side?

"Bah.

"The best I can wish for is that they'll take their time choosing someone."

Eleni poked about her stew before lifting her head and continuing on to Keiko.

"A scandal? Well. Not really. It just seems like tradition and all. And it's not like I need a bodyguard. I mean, what sort of man would stalk after me? Nadya says I would drive any sane man daft with my incessant rambling. So that leaves me with the insane? What rational person would want that? Not that I have many choices. I have spent most of my life listening to Kisa's tiles clatter in the room above mine. I know what that means. That in the end, I won't have a choice, will I?

"And if I had a choice? I dream of adventures and travels, I dream of being able to help people like Daxia does, stand against the wrongs of the world, really, actually, maybe even saving someone's life.

"You know whose life Daxia saved first? My sister's. I had been listening to those tiles fall every night. But only after she met Daxia did they make her smile. Really and truly smile, not just her Court face, but from her heart.

"What about me? Whose life can I save? Are my dreams and wishes to remain just that? Dreams and wishes?

"But there's something even scarier about that. Are those dreams and wishes the real and true me or are they just a fancy image of me I have just made up?"

It took her a while, it always did, for Eleni to get to any kind of a point, but hidden in her torrent of words there was always a truth lying hidden.

"How does one find out who the true you is? By looking hard, do you actually lose yourself? Is it like a ruff? Some folks see a ruff by their bloodlines, conformation, the pattern of their coat, and whether or not they meet the fine qualifications of being a particular kind of ruff. Is that being a ruff? Or in that search do you lose the truth? That a ruff is simply the caring warmth at the foot of the bed on a cold winter's night that you don't ever have to worry for because no matter what that love will always be there?"

"I just don't know."

Daxia, however, brought Eleni back to the actual world, a world of pragmatics and the truths of weather and the growing of things.

"I think so. From what I have learned, rice only needs three months of warm temperature; and warm as in warm, not hot like summers in Corliss. It could be a bit chancy, but it should be warm enough for one harvest between the end of the storm season and the end of harvest. But we shall never know unless we try. If rice doesn't work, we can fill the terrace with fish. Maybe fish would be a better answer. Nadya! We should try both!"

At the next question, both Kisa and Eleni giggled. Though it was Kisa, in one word, that answered her Knight's question.

"Flutterby."

Eleni nodded.

"That's right. She called me that. And you know what happened? I looked at Kassia, thought about it, turned around once, twice and thrice and then looked up at her, hopped and clapped my hands together. Flutterby! She was absolutely right. And on top of everything else it was cute, and who calls a skinny girl with unkempt hair cute?

"That's when she threw up her hands and gave up on me. I don't think I was supposed to like the name!"

Her head tilted then, as she suddenly looked across the table at Bekkah.

"Has anyone ever had a nickname for you? Like Little Miss Sunshine? No. That's too long for a nickname. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, I'm just curious. You seem so, so, so perfect. It's kind of like the betrothal tradition, right? If you completely follow your Lady's word do you have any say in your life? Aren’t there things you wish to do, just for yourself? Or do you let your fate take them from you because it is the path your Lady tells you to take?

"How do you feel about that?

"How does your Lady feel about that?

"Because...

"Because...

"Because would that not be unkind?"

"And as for fate taking you from place to place..."

She took a breath and leaned forward, to peer closer at the Minstrel.

"I wish I was dangerous, Miss Lyric. Well, fine, Kassia said I was dangerous. She told me that every time I pick up even a dinner knife, I become a danger to myself and everyone around me."

There was a pause as the young lad replaced Eleni's drink. It was a simple move, a sly almost magical swapping: that is, not real magic but a more mundane magic Lyric had seen before. It was merely the ability to move without being noticed, just like a proper servant might. Head downcast, he completed his appointed task without disturbance to the conversation. Or more to the truth, any significant disturbance. Eleni crossed her eyes and her brow furrowed when she suddenly discovered her hot tshokolat replenished.

"But are you going to eat? You are the quietest minstrel I have ever met! Do you not like hart, chicken, geese or dartling? Dartlings are delicious but very, very, very hard to catch, which makes them rare and much sought after. Are they undercooked? Not spiced to your liking? Would you have preferred lamb? I mean, mutton is really good but it makes me all sad and conflicted to eat it, because, well, the hills are full of sheep and I have a hard time thinking this tastes so good and then seeing them all fluffy and white and then I realize that I'm eating them and it just doesn't feel right.

"Happily, it's only sheep. Otherwise, I'd starve. And that's not logical.

"Is the food off? Are you not feeling well? We have Lady Yurisdotter right here. Did I say something wrong? Did we break a tradition? Is it poorly cooked? Did you find a rat in your goblet?"

But then there was something else wrong that caught her attention.

"You!"

She turned back to Tomomi.

"No wearing hoods at the table. This is my table. This is my keep.

"No.

"This is Dawnview Vale.

"This is my home."

Tomomi swallowed. Slowly she drew back her hood, paused, and shook out her soft light colored hair. Their travels, the time spent, and Keiko' friendship had done their work — there were no signs of hacked locks, not anymore.

And yes, Eleni was right. The Mouse was absolutely adorable. Eleni smiled.

"This is my home."

"Be welcome, ja?"

Bekkah

She listened to Eleni's logical look at her Goddess and her life and she smiled.

"No, there is nothing unkind. The love I feel from my Goddess surpasses all. It isn't something I can rightly put into words. There will come a day, when she will tell me that I should remain in one place and share what I've learned. For now, I share her love wherever I go as she wills and it is a work that brings me the greatest of joys."

"So, no there is nothing unkind in my lady."

A Quiet Minstrel

What good was there in the wisdom of keeping one's mouth shut and being thought the fool? Plenty good. And that's a truth. It's also common sense. But Lyric's moods were never the easiest to predict, not even by herself. A simple flower or a bit of dandelion fluff on the wind, maybe even a snippet of Tomomi's lace trailing off her fingers as she skipped along the trail road with her horse's reins in the other hand could be all that was necessary to invoke that mercurial, carefree, and child-like aspect of the Minstrel, and then she was lost to her own whimsy for a spell. Oh, and don't even mention sinnoman bread for that conjured smells in her own imagination that would settle the minstrel into her remembrances of her experiences with the delicacy, and there she would lie dormant of mood, only to explode in a frolicsome dance or a nonsensical song where rhyming words not always the rule. On the offset, there were other times, usually invoked by the need of advice to a friend or the significant need to evaluate a matter of consequence and import, where the Minstrel was quieter and more reserved. Once in a while she might seem lost in thoughts of emotional relevance where she tried to find perspective and peace with her circumstances or her deeds.

But this moment, at the table, with two hands wrapped snugly about her cup of 'Tajhakalaht', was none of those things. She was quiet. That much was true. Her hands were cold and the warmth that radiated through the cup was a strange feeling that almost felt painful at first... and second, but ebbed slowly, even exquisitely. But it was the taste that enthralled her mind and mood. It was unlike anything ever known to her before. It was a taste that affected differently depending on how she swished it around in her mouth. It was another of those wonderful things that brought her to a shiver and made her eyes roll back a little as she tried to keep each moment of taste sensation alive for an extra moment. When that failed, and the taste played itself out, she took another sip to start it over again.

Proving to someone that you are a fool is probably never high on the list of things people aspire to accomplish. No, rather it tends to be a fate the befalls one through mental clumsiness or accidental misfortune, or, in Lyric's case, curiosity coupled with naivete.

Two hands on her cup, peering over the rim, Lyric looked at her host, Khorall Eleni, with the wide eyes of a doe in the line of a hunter's arrow. She hadn't really been paying attention to anything except for the taste of 'Tajhakalaht'.

"I am feeling well, Dama. Just cold, but getting warmer.To you I owe my thankfulness for that."

She tried to catch up, then keep up. "Yes, I will eat. I am hungry. I am content with what you have provided, more than that... I am grateful. It all looks wonderful, but this," she said of the cup in her hands, "This is by far one of the most favorite things I know. Please forgive me. I was thinking thoughts and enjoying this drink. I have never had it before and it is beyond words, even for me... and I like words."

She paused and tried to think on the words she heard when she was thinking on other things. That brought on a more sober mood as she considered words that she should have addressed more quickly and would have if she had been paying attention or if the Khorall had slowed enough to breathe properly between questions.

"Khorall Eleni, this is probably well beyond my purview to speak upon, but it is your 'wish' that you mentioned. So I would say this... Wishing to be dangerous is different than others believing you are dangerous. Wishing to be dangerous bears the consequence of being thought volatile or erratic as well, especially by those whom a person serves as a leader. Those who chase after such a thing are often beset by such grave dangers in their rush to achieve this designation.

Lyric set the cup of 'Tajhakalaht' down in front of her. The cup was nearly empty anyway but she chose to steeple her fingers before her, elbows just off the table's edge.

"Rather, I would think one should strive to be strong and confident, fierce even, yet still keeping kindness and compassion within their reach; for those they serve and care about are better served in this way. Accomplish that, be those things... then let others call such a leader dangerous because they realize they can't break your will and resolve. That is respect, and I believe that is what you really want."

If she had not already wandered over the border into the proof of foolishness, then what was to come next might surely be the nudge that toppled her over it.

"Since questions of curious revelation and philosophical import are being asked across this table, might I be indulged in the asking of one of my own?"

Given leave to do so, the Minstrel continued, "What do you call the white stuff outside?"

Cesare

He has spent time in the mountains and knows the value of good hot wholesome food. You eat to fuel the body, the body burns the fuel to keep warm. So instinctively his choices are directed by this. The stew, rich and full of goodness, is an essential and he may eat more than one bowl if permitted. And he likes a good chuck of bread to go with it. Especially useful towards the end as it can be used to catch the small pieces remaining and to wipe the bowl clean. And if another bowl is permitted, then another piece of bread will do just as good a job the second time around. And the tshokolat is nice and hot too, with a taste to contrast the stew.

His agenda is set out and he starts down that path and would happily have continued down it except that Eleni obviously still feels the need to talk, to enquire. He pause to answer as it would be rude not to and this delicious stew determines that his hostess should be heeded.

"I believe I am distant family to Keiko, Dama. But I am known as 'one of the lost' apparently, in that I have not been brought up within the Rhoni culture, only recently rediscovering some of that lost heritage. As to her being promised, I have met the young man and he seems a good match for Keiko, both are, I think, happy with their situation and that makes me happy. I am not sure what may or may not apply to my my future as I have no living parents to make any arrangements for me.. and I'm not sure I would want them made. I have enjoyed certain freedoms growing up and am not sure I am ready to give those up."

He nods respectfully, expecting that this is unlikely to satisfy as her curiosity suggests that providing information is like pouring water into a bottomless well. Still he likes her and her attitude amuses him, so for now he will continue pouring when asked.

Lord Protector, Her Ladyship Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter
[Daxia serves DAYALA... the GM ESPECIALLY should get this right]
and
Keiko khal’Nakano Hoshiko
[pronounced KAY-ko... do you think the GM has memorized this yet? Nope, not yet...]

While Daxia pretended to steal pieces of carrots from Kisa’s stew, Keiko cut larger chunks of meat into smaller pieces for herself and Tomomi — the Mouse girl took on the task of cutting up the vegetables. The Rhoni smiled at the serving girl who brought out the tshokolat and enjoyed the aroma as it wafted through the air. It reminded her of home and family.

As she watched Lyric enjoy the beverage, she marveled at the way her friend could take such pleasure in simple, ordinary things like cinnamon and tshokolat.

“In Trundle and in Kh’Lhy’Ra, the street merchants sometimes sprinkle cinnamon on tshokolat,” she said to Lyric. “It was always a treat when Grandfather returned from a day wandering through the market. Oh! And in Triah’am, they use nutmeg.” She closed her eyes as she inhaled the fragrance of the drink, her smile growing wider.

“Good memories,” she finally said.

She simply rode the waves of Eleni’s words, watching the amusement in Dama Kisa’s expression and saw how hard Lady Daxia was trying not to laugh. So... this was typical for the young Khorall. When Eleni’s attention focused on Cesare, the Card Reader had to admit her kinsman was adept at providing what little information he could share while clearly stating his own truth.

When the younger woman’s attention turned to her, Keiko merely smiled as she considered Eleni’s words for a moment.

“Why would you want to be Kisa? Or even like Kisa? You are Eleni.” The Rhoni grinned almost slyly at the Khorall. “Shouldn’t you strive to be the best version of Eleni you can be, rather than an imitation of Kisa?

“And if your Aunties are even half as wise and clever as my Grandparents, they will find a good match for you. As Cesare noted,” she said, not at all shy about discussing Michi, “my elders decided Michi would be the best match for me. I am young still, so they know more than I do about these things. Is he the perfect match? Who can say? But he is certainly someone I can see traveling with for most of my days.

“You may not have a choice in who your Aunts choose, but you do have a choice in who the two of you become... together.”

Daxia cleared her throat. “If I didn’t know Kassia and Gillyflower came from a typical High Tarn family of farmers and herders, I’d think that one studied under a version of Kassia who was even kinder than Gilly.”

Keiko blinked at that. “Verchovia Kassia did not seem especially unkind. Yes, perhaps she was cranky.” Her expression was one of puzzlement. “She gave the impression of being, ah, less than happy with your Lady for having interrupted her travels. But she had barely met Broke before giving her a nickname that made us giggle,” she said, indicating herself and Tomomi. “And Broke gave no indication that she was any more annoyed with her nickname than Dama Eleni was with hers.”

Keiko shrugged and went back to her meal as Daxia turned to Eleni with a grin.

“Oh, no. You definitely weren’t supposed to like the name. I can see how that would have annoyed her.” The priestess chuckled, but then sobered as she regarded the young Khorall for a moment.

“You will find your own way of saving people, Eleni. You’re every bit as smart as your sister, you just see the world in a different way. And that’s good.” Dazi smiled at the youngster. “Rice and fish can save more lives than a sword, you know,” she said, picking up her mug of tshokolat again. “Dream bigger. The world becomes very small when I draw a weapon to defend the defenseless. It’s only when I put the sword down that I can see the greater pictures that Kisa can see.”

Keiko finished chewing a piece of potato before looking at Eleni with confusion. “I think you might have found your own answer already, Dama. You don’t find your true self, for your true self isn’t lost. You merely become your best self. Well, yes,” she hastily added, “not everyone does. But all it means is that you do your best every day, in every moment and situation.” She shrugged. “It’s not always easy, of course. But giving your attention to the moments that make up the journey is the key... not the focusing on the task of finding your true self.”

“She’s creepy when she sounds like you,” Daxia muttered to Kisa.

Then she looked from Eleni to Bekkah and smiled softly. “Mama called her Sunshine. I can only remember two times I saw Bekkah not smiling before we came to the Temple. And there were days that only Bekkah’s smile could make a day spent with Kassia seem bright again.”

Daxia didn’t need to tell Bekkah how much she had missed that smile after her sister left for Lilia’s Castle. Bekkah knew — she’d saved all those letters Dazi had written her.

“I think Mama knew even before I was born that Bekkah was meant to follow Lady Attera rather than Dayala.”

Finally, when Eleni made her pronouncement, Keiko tucked a stray strand of hair back behind Tomomi’s ear and whispered, “See? I told you it would be fine.”

“It’s called snow,” Daxia answered the minstrel’s question and shook a finger at the Khorall at the same time. “And you...” she said pointedly to Eleni. “Eat. Thanks to you, I managed to hold my own against that sly Dominic when I first met him. Remember Bekkah? That part of last year’s adventure was fun! You do this all the time, don’t you, Eleni? It’s a wonder you have anything under your skin to pad your bones. Nadya has to force you to eat, doesn’t she? I can keep this up long enough for you to get some nourishment into your body.”

Daxia grinned.

“We did have fun when the three of us dined together, didn’t we? Kisa all quiet and thinking her important thoughts, you and I talking about anything and everything. Well not everything, I suppose. There were things I wasn’t supposed to say outside your mother’s court even if you were the future Khorall of Snowgate. Still! There was always enough to talk about, da? And I saw you crossing your eyes at the magical reappearance of more tshokolat earlier. You nearly made me laugh, you know. It was the same expression you used when I quizzed you on the constellations. You know, I still don’t quite understand how anyone doesn’t just see them all in their head, but I suppose it’s like your sister and her clickity-clack tiles that she transfers into her head sometimes. Did she mention that I asked her to find out more about my family? Don’t answer that yet. Well, she did find some interesting tidbits that might explain my affinity for remembering the stars. It seems that our mother — Bekkah’s and mine — was the daughter of a Starwatcher. Hmm. Yes, it is interesting. After we escort Kisa to the Castle, Bekkah and I are going to go up to the Jambles to visit Grandmother and our cousin, who is also a Starwatcher, as I understand it.”

Daxia glanced around the table.

“Our friends are more than welcome to accompany us.” She gave her attention back to Eleni for a moment. “Two more bites. And make sure you chew well.”

Then she looked at Lyric and grinned. “There may be quite a lot of snow still in the Jambles when we arrive. And ice, too, under it all. When the snow gets packed down so much that there’s barely any air left in it, it turns to ice... but it’s the kind that isn’t too slippery. That’s what the Jambles are made of, mostly... ice covering the mountains and then snow on top of that. The slippery ice usually forms when water — melted snow or just water in a well or bucket or mug or puddle — freezes. The snow is water from the clouds that freezes before it even leaves the clouds. Or at least pretty high up in the air.

“I think you’d like snowfall a whole lot more than the rain. It’s beautiful, and it makes the world quiet and peaceful. Well, at least until the winds start up. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you have enough warm clothes for a journey up to the Jambles if you and Cesare and Keiko and Tomomi want to join us.”

Dazi glanced at Eleni to make sure she was still eating before taking a deep breath, smiling at Kisa, and stealing another one of her carrots.

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep
Ramesday, the Eleventh Day of Tiger

Bekkah, Cesare, Daxia, Keiko, Lyric, Eleni, Kisa, Nadya, Tomomi, Starrider Guards, and various servants

Tomomi smiled as her stray locks were set back in place.

"Are you sure? It is different, being different. Who am I?" The little Mouse girl looked across the table to the youngest Allaine.

"It is our hardest question. And when you don't know, you can get very lost. You look at a beautiful field and ask why can't you just run through it? And you end up feeling all twisted inside and out. And you sometimes can't get back by yourself. But that's fine. It's actually good. Because you don't have to... get back by yourself, that is. Sometimes you need help, even if it's just to remind you what really is important."

Eleni listened in silence, her eyes quietly locked with Tomomi's, paying close and earnest attention.

"Not alone."

She replied to Tomomi with just two words. Now, that was a rare thing. It also served as a springboard for further explorations, as Snowgate's Khorall looked from one to another to another until she finally set her attention on Bekkah.

"Is what you say true? Really, really true?"

Eleni had a distinct pattern of asking questions. Unlike a certain Fox person, she didn't ask one pointed, important question. Instead, she poked at a matter from this side then that side, from top and bottom and all around, not happy with one query but always armed with a passel of them. She never took anything at face value, and the simplest proclamations were the ones she tested most fiercely. There was no hint of sarcasm or condescension in her words, she simply wanted to make sure she understood matters completely and thoroughly — even if that meant continuing to question the words of an Atteran Priestess.

"So you've never been sad in all your travels? Sad not because there are hurt people out there and that is a sad thing that needs fixing, but sad for yourself? That you don't have a home and a hearth, that you only know folks for a handful of days at most before you move on?"

Blinking, Eleni immediately turned to Keiko, Tomomi, and Cesare, maintaining the flow of her questioning, merely changing who the current question was for.

"How do the Rhoni feel about that? You are wanderers too, never staying in one place for very long at all.

"Sometimes it hurts a little bit. I'll never see the sea stretching out forever or the terracotta roofs of Trundle-on-the-Hill.

"Is it as hard for you to deal with always going somewhere else as it is for me being walled in by the Black Mountains of the Vale?"

She returned her attention to Bekkah at that, after a sip of her drink.

"Is home where the heart is? Or is it a place for coming from and dreams of going to? When do you put you first? Or is it one of those forbidden things when you are truly a child of a God or Goddess? Is that a good thing or a bad thing or just one of those choices you make and then live with the consequences? Not that the latter is necessarily bad or wrong or somehow not good.

"How did you make that choice?

"Why did you make that choice?

"Do you like being lonely?"

That last statement snared her older sister's attention. Kisa looked between the priestess and Snowgate's mistress. This was suddenly more interesting than the theft of her carrots. It was something that the Minstrel had already noticed and something Kisa hadn't. Or to state it better, she hadn't realized it was happening right here and now, beneath her very nose. She smiled and added her own observation to the conversation.

"I look at what happens in the world and can see how they fit together. And when I am smart, I can follow those patterns to an inevitable conclusion. But I can't do that with people. I can't figure out what makes people do these things. They are like actual doublebluff tiles to me. I can only see the blank side. Eleni has always been able to see the painted sides."

The subject of the conversation swallowed and blushed. Caught off balance she desperately looked for another topic to chase down. Turning in place, her half-empty mug in her hand, she offered Lyric an equally obvious observation.

"I like tshokolat too."

Her head tilted as she followed this new line of thought.

"I wonder if it could be grown on this side of the Black Mountains. I have been told that the beans they make it from not only grow on trees but only where it's hot and moist most of the time. Maybe along the coast? Or perhaps in the Archipelago? That is a very good thing about wandering because without the Rhoni or merchants brave enough to dare the Road East we wouldn't have tshokolat here. And we wouldn't know half as much about the world and the folks who live in it, who they are, how they live, what makes them happy, sad or angry if we kept ourselves locked up in our own farms, keeps and lands.

"Sometimes I think knowing about all that kind stuff is more important to making sure our own lives are happy than knowing about it so you can take advantage of your neighbors or know when they are going to do something that would hurt us."

Across the table, Kisa tilted her head, an older mirror of her sister's cant. She didn't say anything, but she did smile. Oblivious, Eleni continued in her reply to the minstrel.

"Maybe dangerous is the wrong word. Folks have always respected Kisa and Daxia. Respect fits them like a warm cloak with a fur collar on a blustery day. Me? They pat me on the head like I was still shorter than harvest grain, like I am a little kid or some sort of mascot. I don't know how to explain it or how hard that is. When I try and be fierce and strong, they just pat me on the head, and no one really understands. I wish there were someone who could understand what it is like to be the youngest Allaine. That's why I need to be fierce, maybe. Think — I am supposed to be running a keep, and I can even call myself Khorall, but all everyone does is say how cute I am.

"No one ever, ever, ever at all has called Kisa cute."

Kisa suddenly coughed and sputtered, momentarily choking on her drink. Eleni looked down into hers, which was once again empty.

"But that is the question, isn't it?"

Her attention returned to Keiko and Tomomi.

"Just who is Eleni Allaine? How am I supposed to find out? What does ‘dream big’ mean when my world is bound by... by... by all I can see clearly from my tower balcony?"

At that statement, Tomomi poked Keiko. Eleni simply continued on.

"You all have had adventures, even Kisa has now been to the most eastern and most western ends of our world. You have had trials and tribulations to discover who you are. I have arguing farmers and a bag of rice seeds. How do I find out who I really am? I know, I know what you mean by finding it by not looking for it. I mean, I have to, there has to be at least one person in the world who can understand Kisa when she starts getting really philosophical. And yes. It is creepy. But in a nice way.

"Or is it just going to be one of those things I have to discover after the fact? Things like that are when I am tempted to throw something at someone but just end up throwing my hands up in the air.

"But enough. What will be will be. Yelling at an avalanche only gets you buried. You are all correct. Not everyone can be a Kisa. Especially not me."

When she looked up her eyes were bright once more.

"That's right. Dazi is very correct! It's snow, and that is exactly what snow is. It is also a whole lot more. It is really pretty especially come sunrise when it sparkles like fallen stars or becomes so bright you have to shade your eyes. All that is rough and broken in the world is hidden beneath its drifts, and only the gentleness remains.

"But that's its danger.

"A fall of snow reminds us that what is hidden beneath is still there, will always be there, just sleeping until it melts beneath Dayala's summer light. Snow teaches us that while problems can be hidden, even forgotten, they never go away until they are solved.

"They say that up in the Jambles they have a hundred words for snow. That's not true. They have only twenty or so. Snow in Ancient is 'nish.' So it's 'kornish' when it's light and pretty, and just dusts the sky and mountains, 'dumeshnish' for when it's heavy enough to collapse a roof, and 'dumeshnanish' when it is nasty and treacherous — the kind of snow that has a crust strong enough that you can walk on until you suddenly can't. In the Jambles, each different kind of snow has its own name.

"I like snow. Kisa likes looking at snow through a window.

"Do you like snow?

"When we'd get done talking in winter, sometimes the three of us would go out in the snow and have a snowball fight. I'd always lose. I can't hit the side of a castle wall from five paces away. That didn't stop it from being fun. Then we'd make snow Dayalans and sometimes make a unicorn too. We'd use an icicle for the horn. The snow is usually deeper than my ruff is tall and its so much fun watching him jump through it. He likes it because it's cool and it makes me laugh.

"Do you like snow, Lady Bekkah, even though it gives people colds and frostbite? And you Cesare, in your lost wanderings?"

It was then time for her to reply to Cesare.

"Lost Rhoni?

"That sounds odd. On the one hand, it means you are missing, being missed by someone and that there is a place for you to go, a place where you are supposed to be. On the other hand, it means you are not bound to anything but your own mind and heart.

"We are Allaine. We can never escape that. Sometimes I wish I was a simple farmer's daughter with no worries beyond the morning fog and lost sheep. But then I wouldn't be me, I'd be someone else. And I'm the only me there is, so isn't there a value in that?

"Whenever I start thinking this way, Nadya says I am being silly. And maybe I am.

"When someone puts you in chains, is that weakness? When you put on the same chains by your own choice is that strength?

"Who are we to be — who we are, who we think we are supposed to be, who we need to be, or who folks say we are supposed to be?

"This is when I start to feel lost."

Eleni set her empty mug on the table.

Tomomi leaned over to rest her head on Keiko's shoulder. Now, that simple motion was, indeed, both adorable and cute. The Mouse then whispered to the Rhoni lass.

"So people get Homesick too? Maybe she needs a forever friend and just hasn't found hers yet."

Eleni looked down again at her drink. Her head tilted a bit as she wrapped her hands around the suddenly, almost miraculously, now full mug.

She smiled.

At the table, carrots were being stolen and meat chopped to little pieces.

For that moment, Dayala was was in her heaven and all was right in the world.

Bekkah

"Of course there are days where I wish I were elsewhere. I missed my baby sister for many years. But duty is important. Should I just go where I wished, then I would be equally sad for not being where I could help others. It's a balancing act. I find that the feeling of home and loved ones, carry me forward, knowing that someday I'll return to them. Perhaps I'm close to the point where I'll server my Lady best in a single town. Then I'd have close to the best of all worlds."

"Snow and winter? Oh definitely. In small doses. I love taking walks during an evening snowfall. As Dazi said, it's peaceful and beautiful, but I prefer spring. As far as colds and such, well each season brings it's own problems so I do not dislike it for that reason. I mostly, prefer being warm to cold."