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The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep, Training Yard
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Tiger

Daxia, TeeCee, Kasha, and Rishka

"If you don't mind..."

Kisa finally sat up a bit.

"I would like to spend the morning reading. In a soft chair. With my feet up on a hassock. In front of a fire. With my sister in her chair next to me. And we shall, between fascinating paragraphs, discuss matters that may, but probably not, include the nature of proclamations. I admit there is nothing like the life of an adventurer, but I find myself, at times, missing the chance to truly relax and be no one more than I truly am.

"As for you?"

Kisa gently pushed at Daxia.

"Go. Visit your temple sisters. You and I may share many contrary things, but me not being very good at that type of training doesn't do you much good. And I promise, if I do end up playing with my tiles, it will be exactly just that."

***************

The training ground was a small court within the castle walls. It was wide enough to have a place where horses could make a decent-sized circle and long enough to make the targets at the far end a definite challenge. There were pells and training dummies and a rack of various and sundry wooden practice weapons. Swords, of course, were the most common. But there were also spears and polearms as well as a few short swords.

It seemed the girl with black hair and her current partner preferred the shorter blades; indeed, they seemed to thrill at being so close up and personal.

"Rishka you met. She looks like a princess and has the build of a willow tree and why she hasn't ended up handfasted to some fat merchant is beyond me. She will not talk about it, but I suspect something like that is why she left Trundle-on-the-Hill and fought her way to Dawnview. She showed up on my doorstep one rainy night and told me she needed to learn how to fight for something. That threw me a bit; we always have had kids from the Vale coming up to ask to be taught fighting, but that simple bit more was a first.

"The blonde she's fighting? Came up from Bordertown, oh, I'd say she had to have left a month or so after a certain battle occurred between the town and the Roth treeline. That's Kasha. She’s the brute of the two; I think she came from farmer stock and has a tendency to swing first and ask questions afterward. Kasha usually plays with the biggest sword she can carry; she's now swapped to short sword and shield because she got tired of Rishka chasing her around the field. You notice I had only one of them up for morning breakfast.

"That's because you put the two of them together and trouble's bound to happen. It's never really their fault, but if they weren't promised to Our Lady I'm sure the Fox would have snatched those two up.

"Personally I think it’s a bit late for that. If they had once been prey, something happened to make them predators before they got here.

"Now don't let that fierceness out there distract you. Since my Khorall suggested I toss them into the same room, they've become the very best of friends. The problem being is that they are starting to think they are immortal. And that's dangerous.

"I haven't been able to figure out how to teach them they aren't.

"Which leads to my other problem."

"If I was being the best teacher for them, I'd toss them out of the Vale to go wandering.

"But they are the two best I have. And my first duty is to protect our Khorall.

"Besides..."

The Captain crossed her arms. It was an odd group Eleni had collected about her. They seemed more like family than retainers. A herd of odd ducks.

"I am afraid they wouldn't come back. And then I'd be forced to admit I would miss them."

She then gave Daxia a look, one that seemed suspiciously Kassia-ish.

"So, perhaps I start by bringing the outside world to them.

"Go to it."

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

Daxia watched the two initiates as their Captain talked about them. Giving TeeCee a sharp look and a raised eyebrow at her first comment, the Starlord looked more closely at Rishka.

“Some interesting people come out of Trundle.” And beyond, she thought to herself, thinking of Romana and, to a lesser measure, Keiko. “And knowing before she started that she needs to fight for something is a rare gift.”

Then she smiled and shook her head.

“Hmm. Well, Kisa did say that there had been an influx of potential trainees since... that event.

“And you’re right... neither one of them is prey.”

She returned the Captain’s look, not at all surprised by the glint in the woman’s eyes that resembled her own teacher’s fierceness. Even a handful of years ago, Daxia would have described something very different than what she saw today — someone pushing her students to be their best because she cared, not because she didn’t care. The world needed more Dayalans. The Vale needed more teachers like Kassia and, it would seem, TeeCee.

“They’d come back. I did. But you’re right... you’d be forced to admit you miss them when they left again. As I will do once my duties here in the Vale have been completed.”

Daxia chuckled. “They came from out there, Captain. I was born here. They know what the world is like out beyond the Pass. So you’re only bringing them someone forged by the fearsome Dariensdotter sisters, one who has been sharpened by the world beyond our Vale. But I’ll see what I can do with them, da?”

She took a step forward before stopping and turning back to TeeCee.

“Might you have a name I can call you? Or are you content with the appellation of The Captain?”

TeeCee

The captain of Snowgate's guard simply cast Daxia a sidelong glance, quirked her brow and then smiled. It was a very wry and very defiant smile.

"Verchovai Teresa Constance Stonecutters of Keegan's Town if you want to be precise."

She crossed her arms and looked across the training grounds at her two apprentices.

"Stonecutters as in 'hey you, stonecutter's and meaning the one of us that wasn't fast enough to outrun the overseer's reach."

That odd smile returned.

"After adopting Glacier as home, TeeCee just seemed to fit me better."

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

“That’s a mouthful of precision,” Daxia said as a cloud passed over her features.

“I rode with a Jvrillian who hailed from half a day beyond Brockman’s Holdfast and met Poppy Gwynn’s latest initiate who hails from Laine’s Town. The Hunter who traveled with us to Talesan’s Village had her whole Pack wiped out by the folks out that way.”

Her snort was definitely not lady-like.

“And I poked that bear quite decisively at Midsummers Council. Those two?” she said, hooking a thumb back over her shoulder at Rishka and Kasha, who were soundly beating on each other with their practice swords. “They have the temperament to be Wild, it seems. We need more Sisters outside the Vale, and you can’t spare these two.”

And then she grinned. “There are two Koromovs poking bears on the High Tarn now, and I can say with certainty that I miss the youngster I left in Talantal. Poppy’s initiate can barely sit still, and her impulse to the Right Thing might rival my own. And Verchovai Kassia’s latest initiate?”

Dazi laughed as she turned back to the young women sparring, then called over her shoulder, “There’s no one on the Heartwood quite like her, TeeCee. I can’t wait for our blessed High Priestess to meet her!”

The Starlord wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Morning Star practically dancing his way around the training yard. Nor did she marvel any longer at his ability to convince stablehands to supply him with the necessary saddle. She unbuckled her swordbelt as she approached him and hung belt, scabbard, and sword from the pommel of her saddle.

“Either you have come to know me very well, my friend, or you’ve been listening to gossip again.” At the look of what some might call equine disdain he gave her, she laughed softly as she patted his neck affectionately. “Yes, I know. It’s the former. Human gossip is beneath you.”

She chose a practice sword from the Keep’s collection, noting that it was marginally heavier than her own Ironsilver. At some point on the journey, she had realized Kassia must have kept the sword hidden away with Sunfire — not once in all the years of training had she seen the sword or the unicorn. Daxia wasn’t sure she could be that secretive even if she lived twice the number of years Kassia already had already attained.

After watching the initiates for a moment, she called, “Hold!” Despite being a new voice in the training yard, they both stopped and gave her enough of their attention to satisfy her. For the moment.

“I can see you have the enthusiasm of that blue-painted Old Jvrillian out in Bordertown. Please introduce yourselves and tell me why you serve our Lady Dayala.”

Then an eyebrow twitched and she looked at Morning Star again. Raising the sword and pointing it at the unicorn, she sighted down its length as a smile played on her lips. She held the weapon as though it weight no more than her dagger.

“You, sir, are not part of this conversation.” But she smiled more broadly and winked before lowering the sword and turning back to the initiates.

“The world revolves around him, but pay him no mind, as difficult as that might be.

“Please... proceed.”

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep, Training Yard
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Tiger

Daxia, Kasha, Rishka, and TeeCee

But the World does revolve around me!

At that, the clouds above shifted, splashing the tourney field with warm light and putting a certain unicorn into the shade.

Hoi! You were NOT supposed to be listening! I shall just stand here and be magnificent despite you! In the shade!

For the others, the black stallion was simply looking back at the outstretched practice sword. If he did think that he was the center of the universe he did seem a little proud of the fact that it was he and no one else that got to hold Daxia's weapons. Which, if one thought about it, would certainly mean that there was someone else at the center of his universe.

TeeCee, however, was more focused on what Daxia had said.

"Kori. Ja, I have heard of her. Snowgate is where we learn of what happens in the outside world. I hear your words and I know one day they may need to return to the lands outside these mountains black. Yet here, our Priestess rules us from Dawn's Temple and has never risen from the morningside altar since. Let me ask you this. Is it possible that we may need them here, even more? Isn't it one manner of death when one no longer changes? If I hadn't changed, I'd be dead by now, my blood making it easier for the survivors to pull blocks up from the bottom of the quarries.

"But then, Priestess Karina and I have never gotten along. I had not the benefit of a Kassia, Richter Gwynn, or any of the Temple. I was self-taught. So if I am hard on those two, it because I was just as hard on myself."

TeeCee held her tongue, however, concerning Brockman's and the outlying villages. She probably had a very different view of those places, being, as it were, on the inside looking out.

"But enough about Priestess Karina — I cannot gainsay her, because she has managed to stabilize our church. We are not going to disappear anytime soon. I just hope to be there when change comes up and bops her on the nose or pokes her in the stomach. That will be even more amusing than these two rapscallions."

At the cry of 'hold,' the two younger Dayalans only reluctantly lowered their practice swords. But not until after each had tried, unsuccessfully, to get the last hit in on the other. At the question, they both blinked and spoke right over each other.

"That's Rishka. Third best in Snowgate."

"That's Kasha. Third best in Snowgate."

"Fourth!"

"Fifth!"

"Lower than a ruff!"

"Worm's belly!"

"ENOUGH! Call it!"

The last was loudly commanded by TeeCee. And as she spoke there was a glitter in the air, of a coin flipped high. The captain caught it on her wrist, covering it with one hand.

"CROWN!"

The two called out as one, glaring at each other when they realized they had said the same thing. TeeCee just smiled and lifted her hand.

"Bear. My choice. Alphabetical. Kasha."

The tall, thin and willowy swordswoman frowned and wrinkled her nose. The blonde just smiled and spoke up.

"Kasha of Snowgate. It used to be just Kasha Cobblersdotter until I decided that there was more to life than learning how to pound nails into soles. It was good work, mind you, nothing to be ashamed of at all. It's just that that's all it was — good enough. Merchant in Bordertown, good enough. Being protected by the Sheriff. Good enough. Listening to the Thing. Good enough. Being protected by the three Troops. Good enough. Being a good girl. Good enough.

"But then I looked up and saw a couple of stars in the night sky. I didn't know what that meant then, but it happened the night after the Chaos Riders were beaten bloody. That couldn't be a coincidence. So I thought about it, listened to the rumors and the swordsmen that came into the shop and came to a simple conclusion, ja?

"Good enough just isn't good enough."

Then it was the other one's turn.

"Rishka. Just Rishka. I left any other name behind me when I stepped through the Hill's western gate."

There was a preciseness to her words, a formality to them, once she had composed herself and not trading barbs with her comrade in arms.

"I am here because I am selfish. I want to matter. I want to make a difference. I want to be part of something where Power isn't a matter of your last name. I have seen those who stand up and say I shall fight for the right and what I believe in until my dying breath.

"Any fool can die for something, for anything.

"I want to have something to live for.

"I may not have found it yet, but I believe I am finally on the right path."

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

Resting her hands on the pommel of the sword — rather, what passed for a pommel on a wooden sword — Daxia watched the initiates... bickering. This was something new! The initiates at the Temple had been far too cowed by Kassia and Karina to try anything like this when there was a Starrider in the vicinity, never mind a Priestess.

But after TeeCee got them sorted out and they actually answered her question, Dazi regarded them with an intensity usually reserved for Khorall Linnell’s Court. Finally, she looked at TeeCee again.

“If the rest of your squad has even half as much stubbornness as you three do, I’m going to tell Eleni to quit worrying so much. She’s got at least three Wild Dayalans in her little Temple, never mind that you’ve dedicated yourselves to protecting the Vale, Snowgate Keep, and Khorall Eleni Allaine. And later I’d like you to tell me what you’ve heard about Kori McLaine.”

She turned her attention to the younger women.

“You’re worse than my apprentice. She just wants to poke everything in sight with her spear. She doesn’t try bashing her Sisters’ brains out.” She tilted her head to the side as she mused, “Not even my brain, and she certainly had cause to be angry with me.”

She shrugged lightly and continued.

“You’re absolutely correct, Kasha of Snowgate. Good enough isn’t good enough for some of us. But being the best isn’t supposed to be our goal, it’s being our own best and ensuring we’re up to the task of protecting those we’ve sworn to protect. That means recognizing that someone is still better we are — Dayala knows The Koromov is going to knock me senseless the next time we spar if I don’t learn some new tricks. Even then, it wouldn’t be wise to put your coin in my corner. Nor am I foolish enough to spar with the Deynnekko lad or Barris Ironhand with the intent to best them. But I’ll bloody well learn something from them.

“If you do wind up being the best of the best? Well, congratulations, and now you get to train someone who can beat you.

“Because that’s part of it, too — being able to learn something from those of us who are better than we are so we can turn around and teach the next young woman picking up a sword or spear in service to our Goddess.

“And Rishka just Rishka... you’re on the right path. I highly recommend living over dying, although I’ll grant there are circumstances that might require dying in service to something you believe in. Power means different things to different people, so I’d suggest you figure out what that means to you — not what it means to those with important last names, not those in our fine Temple at the other end of the Vale. Maybe it will be something that you shout from the top of the Pass and maybe it’s something you’ll keep between you and our Lady.

“Use your brains to avoid dying, both of you, if you would. The only reason I’m standing here is the fact that Starlord Priestess Kassia was relentless in her training — not just my sword arm, but my mind as well.”

Her eyes twinkled for an instant. “And His Magnificence over there, of course. There would be no silly song about a winter night at Bordertown or a Dayalan initiate residing in the First Ring of Talantal without his help.

“Youngsters, I walked out of the Vale believing I had one thing to live for — I was willing to die in service to Dayala, but needed to live to best serve my liege, Dama Kisa. I have returned to the Vale with the realization that I have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of reasons to live. Each of those hundreds of reasons has a face, and I know many names to go with the faces. I live for the Allaines, for the people of the Vale and all those in these mountains black and on the High Tarn. I live for a young orphan girl in Cragside, for an Eastern princess I found on the Brementown Road, for the overlooked and disregarded farmers and pagans of the plains, for the poor and ignored of Grand Talantal’s lower ring, for the People of the Dirkwood who are allies of Allaine.

“Our Lady bids us defend the weak and defenseless and to do so with honor. I tend to believe our Lady prefers that we continue living while we go about Her business, and She hasn’t whispered any contradictions in my ear. And, in fact, His Magnificence has declared that he won’t put up with any nonsense from me that involves dying. There aren’t that many of us left in the world, and that leaves the few of us remaining with a lot of work to do.”

Daxia’s gaze slid over to TeeCee again and she gave the Captain a half smile before studying the two initiates once more.

“Can either of you present a reasonable explanation for why I just talked your ears off? I’ll even give you a hint: I’m not talking just to hear the sound of my own voice, as melodious as it might be.”

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep, Training Yard
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Tiger

Daxia, Kasha, Rishka, and TeeCee

"Oh." TeeCee smiled wryly. "You're asking them to be smart. You realize you only have half a chance at that. Kasha hits first, and if you are lucky, Rishka might stop enjoying herself enough to ask a few questions afterward."

The two initiates scowled at their captain, to which TeeCee simply returned a question and command.

"Am I wrong? And she asked you a question. Answer it."

It was their turn to squirm a bit then. They looked at each other, at Daxia, at her unicorn, at each other again, and then Kasha spoke up.

"That's a right fine unicorn you got there..."

Morning Star could not help but preen. Rishka punched her partner in the shoulder. Being the lighter one, it didn't seem to bother Kasha one bit, but it did attract her attention. Rishka then proved she knew at least one word of Ancient. It was not a complimentary one, however.

"Zahdra! That'll work on him... but not on her!"

Morning Star scowled. That he had been so easily sussed out did not make him very happy. Kashka scowled too but also gave a better answer.

"Bah. You want us to be all responsible. That while it's all right and nice to pound a Chaos Rider into the dirt, that may be good, but it ain't good enough. We are Dayalans. That makes us different."

Rishka drew her hand across the back of her lip.

"What's wrong with liking what you do? I'm more than a pretty and marriageable face. Turns out I'm actually good at this. Am I supposed to hate that? That which allows me to take control of my own life instead of being a pawn in someone else's game? Sure, I know I'm not supposed to like it too much. But that's what Kasha's for... to clobber me when I forget that.

"I will not be like... them with names."

"Fighting just for fighting's sake is chaos and then you eventually just end up dead. Fighting because you just like it, that's just mean. And folks never forget meanness. And that's bad because you are quite right. There is always someone better than you. Eventually, they always come back and throw you out of a window..."

The young swordswoman suddenly stopped, because Kasha had just whapped her head.

"Too much information, Rishka."

The dark-haired Dayalan nodded.

"Fine.

"No, I don't really know. If I were better at that kind of thing than using a sword, I'd probably have been of a nature to have stayed in Trundle. But I'm not. So maybe sometime in the days ahead we'll get into a bad place, remember what you said, and then it will make sense, and it'll help Kasha and me make the right choice."

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

“The right fine unicorn loves apples even more than flattery.”

Dazi glanced over at Morning Star and grinned. And don’t even think of denying it. You’re the one who wanted to convince the Gardener to rearrange apple trees to suit you.

She turned a serious gaze on Kasha first.

“Yes, as Dayalans we’re different. Here in the Vale, we’re accepted and valued. Out there in the world, we’re the tagline of jokes, although maybe not quite as many since that infernal minstrel from Trundle wrote about a starry sword and a white ghost. So we have to be better than the men who do the same things we do. I fought alongside a Jvrillian and a Squire of Rames. I felt Lord Jvrill’s eyes on me as I made a Contract with the Jvrillian. I’d like to think I taught them as much as I learned from them.

“And whether I liked it or not, my little band of misfits looked to me as their leader as we journeyed from Cragside to Talesan’s Village.”

Then her sapphire eyes seemed to bore into Rishka’s soul.

“You have Kasha to clobber you today. You need to find that strength and wisdom inside you to pull back when you find yourself liking the fighting too much. After being swamped with demon goo, covered with the blood and guts of Eastern hunting beasts, and nearly dying at the hands of an Avatar... well, I discovered I don’t much like fighting. I’ll fight when I must, and I’ll do it to the best of my ability. But even the wonder of wielding an Ironsilver sword has lost against the hard reality of melees.”

She paused and considered the young woman’s comment that her friend had considered to be a few handful of words too far. Then the Starlord shook her head.

“It’s not too much, Kasha. It’s enough to help me understand.” Then she nodded to Rishka. “Being thrown out of a window is likely better than being hung from one. But you’ve understood my point.” Her expression softened just a bit. “Although here, in the Vale, the worst you might expect from someone better than you is a desperate need for a healer.”

Daxia shrugged, and her expression was grim.

“Bashing first and asking questions later works in situations where the difference between Order and Chaos, innocent and not, good and evil are all clear-cut and obvious.

“In every situation, is your sword the best weapon to use? Out here, in Eleni’s Grand Hall, on the ramparts... perhaps. What about a tight space where you barely have room to raise your shield? Yes, we have an advantage over the Rames men with their big kite shields, but what do you do when your shield wall is the width of a single shield?”

Daxia smiled wryly at the two initiates.

“As your captain correctly pointed out, I am trying to get you to think. Smart warriors study all the ways they can defend and attack in any imaginable scenario. As you spend the next several years training, you should always be wondering ‘what if...?’ Don’t just think about the obvious threats to Snowgate and her Khorall. Think about the absurd, the things that — Dayala willing — would never come to pass.

“What if the Rhoni lass traveling with me is not who I believe her to be? She talks openly of having spent time beyond Kh’Lhy’Ra Pass... what if she is an agent of the Eastern Princes? Or the Montagues?

“What if Anatoli is compromised and attempts to harm the Khorall, someone he has more loyalty to than any other living person?

“What if Dama Nadya suffers a brain injury and attempts to poison Eleni and all her guards?

“Kasha, what would you think and say and do if you discovered that Rishka is an Easterner? Rishka, what would you think and say and do if you discovered Kasha had been involved in a plot to undermine the authority of the Noble Family Allaine and the safety of the Vale?”

She paused to look at TeeCee. “If I hurt their brains in my efforts to make them think, just bop the backs of their heads. That ought to get things started up again.”

Then her smile turned sly.

“Oh... and who do you usually assign to stand guard during Eleni’s court sessions?”

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep, Training Yard
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Tiger

Daxia, Kasha, Rishka, and TeeCee

...but it was good advice! Better apple management is better for farmers! And me, of course, but that goes without saying, even if I just said it. It is one of the few true things beneath Her Light that is a win for all involved!

The two Initiates looked at each other and then they both looked at their captain as if they could discern an answer from TeeCee. TeeCee in turn just crossed her arms and snorted. Looking between each other once more, Kasha reached out to push at Rishka's shoulder. Rishka's eyes narrowed and she returned the favor. Kasha stood tall and did it again, this time a little harder.

"Fine."

Rishka turned to answer for the both of them.

"That hall. Simple. I'd stand behind Kasha. And while whoever it is was dealing with her, I'd gut them with my greatsword. That's how a shield wall really works. And it would work. Not because it's sound tactics but because despite her being built like a Keep and more than a little pushy, I'm pretty much stuck with her it seems."

Kasha punched her sword-sister in the shoulder once more.

"Hoi! You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well, it is certainly not a bed of roses."

"What sort of idiot would actually want to sleep on a bed of roses?"

Rishka blinked and then scowled. Kasha grinned.

"Gotcha."

Nose wrinkled, the dark-haired one continued, to answer the second and much broader query.

"Ja. All you say is possible. And it would be very, very easy to happen in a place like Trundle-on-the-Hill. But this is Snowgate."

Kasha spoke up next, continuing her partner's line of thought.

"This is Snowgate. If Moon-Cow-Eyes ever had the slightest harsh thought against our Khorall, we'd see it three days ahead like it was diamonds beneath Her Light. Not just because the only one in the Keep who can't see how he really feels is our dear sweet and sometimes very stupid Eleni Allaine. And not just because it would be me who would see it. Not just me and Rishka. It would be all of us. There's not so many of us that we don't know each other, there's not so many of us that we can't see when something's off. If I didn't see it, Rishka would. If Rishka didn't, Slink would, if Slink didn't Anatoli would, if Anatoli didn't Nadya would, and if all of us didn't notice, TeeCee here would point it out and tell us how stupid we were to miss it.

"And then...

"Then we'd work together and conjure it out.

"We ain't just a bunch of Dayalans and Servants.

"We are Snowgate's."

Teecee tilted her head, remembering her own concerns about these two, about their future long walk. She would miss them. But now? There was no question they'd come home afterward. Then it was her turn to answer the Knight of Dawnview Vale.

"Court? That's me and Slink usually. We tried these two once and their snide comments from the side got nasty looks from half the court and Eleni was beside herself trying not to laugh. So they watch the doors from the outside. Me, because being the Captain of the Guard it's my appointed post. Slink because most folks would look at her snoozing up in the gallery and actually believe she was snoozing.

"Why do you ask?"

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

Managing not to grin at the initiates’ interplay, Daxia nodded when they finally finished answering her questions.

“Good. You know how to think. Even better? You know how to trust your Sisters and shieldmates and the people around you.”

Then she smiled as she rolled her eyes. “Eleni isn’t stupid because she doesn’t notice Anatoli’s loyalty and feelings. She’s clueless.” She snorted with self-deprecating humor. “I should know... I was just as clueless. And she’s still young — the same as you two. She can barely see to the end of her outstretched arm. Watch the lad more closely... you’ll see he doesn’t let her see his expression when he’s close enough for her to see.

“Wait until this Councilor fellow finds a way to get these spectacles Keiko and Tomomi mentioned. She’ll notice him.”

Then she turned to TeeCee and grinned. “Putting the two of them in Eleni’s court together was the first mistake. Not shoving them in there one at a time isn’t necessarily a mistake, but it is a lost opportunity.

“I’m going to attend Court this afternoon, but just pretend I’m not there. I’ll be doing the same thing I did for years in Khorall Linnell’s Court — just observing. I’m going to take one of these two...” Daxia absently waved a hand at the two initiates. “...and make her watch with me.”

She tilted her head to one side and mused, “Hmm. I think I could probably convince both sisters to play their roles perfectly if I reassure Eleni about Kisa’s role in all of this.”

Dazi looked at the two initiates, her eyes glinting with a touch of wicked humor as she smiled at them. Whether she knew it or not, at that moment her expression bore a striking resemblance her to armsmaster’s when Gilly was about to demonstrate a strike and parry that would inevitably land her younger self on her back in the Temple’s training yard.

Then she pointed to Rishka. “You first.” Then she looked at Kasha. “I’ll tutor you on my way out of the Vale. I expect that you will have learned something from your Sister in that time.”

The Heartwood
Dawnview Vale
Snowgate Keep, Training Yard
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Tiger

Daxia, Kasha, Rishka, and TeeCee

"Lost opportunity?"

TeeCee just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Perhaps. I saw it as a choice between opportunities, one path taken toward the strongest reward. Do you really believe that these two ruffians walked into the keep and miraculously became such a pair?"

At that, both initiates turned towards their Captain and shot her a glare that, if it were anyone else, would have sent them to a funeral pyre and up into the night sky.

"Don't you dare..."

The two spoke as one. TeeCee just quirked a brow and crossed her arms. Time had made her immune to their expression, in fact, she returned a small, knowing smile. She just turned to Daxia and nodded.

"Keep mouse and country mouse. With swords. Do I need to say more?"

Again the two spoke as one.

"I am not a mouse!"

To which, their Captain again turned her attention to her wards.

"True. The Mouse was better behaved and much more polite than either of you."

"GAH!"

TeeCee laughed as her initiates scowled. It was an interesting dynamic. Completely irreverent and yet taken in stride, as if all three of them knew that when things went bad there would be no question. They would be right next to each other. Their irreverence was no subordination, it was a strength shared between each and every member of Snowgate's guard.

It was a very different dynamic than at the Dawnview Temple.

Then it was Rishka's turn to answer for herself.

"Court? Me?"

She let out a long breath.

"Fine. Fine. Fine. Do I have to wear my midsummer's best? Be all proper and pretty and fancy while I glower in the back corner? Can I glower? Or will that scare the townsfolk? Can I laugh when our... clueless... Khorall starts rambling and the poor victim of her ramble looks like a hart that's been punched in the face?"

The Captain's answer was monosyllabic.

"Ja. Ja. Nin. Ja. Nin. Very much nin, that last."

"Bah. You take all the fun out of it."

Kasha smiled and punched her partner in the shoulder.

"But better you than me!"

Turning once again to Daxia, TeeCee grinned. It was both friendly and mischievously knowing.

"I'll take Rishka's place at the doors. Anything that happens inside, well, you chose the city mouse."

"I am not a mouse!"

Kashka just laughed.

...a little bit later...

There was a small gathering in front of the doors, just before noon and the formal opening of the doors. Most looked to be townsfolk, talking amongst themselves. These early ones, obviously, were hoping to get an earlier audience with Khorall Eleni. Most were ones or twos. If there was to be a delegation from another town, they had not yet arrived.

Kasha and TeeCee arrived first. That caused a modicum of attention — the arrival of the Guard meant that the court was soon to begin. They were garbed properly but pragmatically. They wore Snowgate's surcoat over their armor, carrying their helms. A few paces behind them were Rishka and Slink. Slink's armor was, by her nature, lighter than those who stood to watch at the door. As Slink approached she paused, stretched and yawned, her arms going straight up as if she were preparing for an afternoon's nap.

Rishka did not look as happy, but she did make a dashing figure. Like Slink, she was wearing her finest — a black tunic over her armor, trimmed in wide key patterns of silver. It was a definite statement, that of an elegant Dawnview Dayalan. Like the others, she also wore a bold surcoat bearing the colors of Snowgate Keep.

"Well. I'm here."

"Now what?"

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

Daxia, too, was dressed in her finest Temple tunics and surcoat. Hers was subtly but noticeably different from her Snowgate Sisters’ finery. Her surcoat’s trim was silver and wasn’t so worn that it failed to catch Her light when the Priestess moved. But the fabric itself was more worn than what one usually saw on a Dayalan of her rank. If one were to look closely, one might note what appeared to be stains that ought not to be there... dark, dried blood-colored stains, almost hidden by the blackness of the material. The repair of a long tear in the center of the surcoat was finely done, but Daxia’s clothing was the testament of a Dayalan who had worn her Temple’s colors in battle.

It was a rarity in this Age... something that likely hadn’t happened since the Snowqueen blocked the Pass below.

That wasn’t something mentioned in the infernal song. The rent in her surcoat reminded Daxia that the only reason she was alive today was the fact that a Unicorn noticed her. She wasn’t entirely certain she’d convinced him that coming to Court with her was a bad idea, but he finally did accept that he just might, perhaps, be a distraction in a hall where Eleni was the one who was supposed to be shining. He’d said the whole thing was silly. He wasn’t entirely wrong... but he wasn’t completely right either. And since it was important for Eleni, Dazi had just pointed him in the direction of Snowgate’s small orchard. There weren’t likely to be any apples out there, but if there was even a chance, he’d want to claim them all for himself.

Dazi had managed not to snicker at the sight of him prancing out of the stable.

The Ironsilver sword was another difference — although sheathed, Daxia wore it on her hip as though it weighed hardly anything. Of course, it wasn’t weightless, but Darksteel or steel or especially cold iron blades, such as the Koromov’s, of a comparable size were all heavier than the precious Ironsilver.

“Now? Now you’ll watch.” Dazi’s gaze flitted between Slink and Rishka before settling a more intense than usual look on the latter. “Slink and I will watch everything a guard should watch. You, however, will be watching the Heir of Allaine as she stands in her sister’s shadow. You are here to learn something. And when Court is over, you will share with us — me, your Captain, your Sisters — what you learned.”

She gave the young woman a half-smile. “I suspect you’ll have an easier time learning than I did, and it may even be something other than what I learned. And focusing on Kisa will curb your natural inclination to become vexed at Eleni’s... unique expressions of her personality.

“I most certainly will jab you if your attention wanders. And I will most definitely be unhappy if you make any sound. So... no rolling of your eyes, no sighing, no snickering, no muttering.”

Then the Starlord’s smile became friendlier and more cheerful.

“Your Captain has faith in you. I will have faith in you, as well.”