62 Ash, Year 123
[Closed - Solo]
Hilana had tea going in the morning when Lia came into the kitchen to take a seat at the table. Her elder sister had braided her hair and wound it up, pinning it out of the way. Her cream-coloured kaftan had enough stitching to make up for the softer colours; Lia’s embroidery made a picture of a dragon in flight, and embedded within that was Scrivening. “Good morning,” Hilana presented her with tea and a smile, spreading fig jam on a pita and putting it on a plate for her. Neither of them had drunk enough to have any sort of headache or hangover, not with the way the festivities of the previous evening had been cut short. One thing was certain, anyone who had been invited would have been discussing this at the table, if they hadn’t already, and word would surely spread. There would be no containing this.
“Gratias, and good morning,” Lia took a seat in the cozy kitchen, accepting the cup and bringing it to her lips, holding it with both hands. She sipped, tasting the flavours. She was getting used to some of the intricacies of what her sister did now with it, and she could appreciate the blends and the effort that went into them. It was funny, looking at it from that angle, but Hilana was trying too to understand her and her hobbies and where she took her enjoyment. They were learning. Lia no longer pushed her sister into her views of acceptable - if the Founders approved of what her sister was doing… if she was on a holy quest for them… then Hilana was as she needed to be. Perhaps she always was.
They just hadn’t recognized it.
Hilana had also learned to respect and not denigrate their own crafts and hobbies, what joys they had and where they came from. They were sisters, yes, different, yes, but they could and should work together. They were stronger together than they were apart, and considering what Lia had been through… she did need her sister. And whether Hilana would ever admit it, she needed Lia, too.
“That was an unmitigated disaster.” Hilana remarked as she stirred the porridge that was cooking on the stove. It was fragrant, creamy and bubbling, the nuts and dried fruit that she had added to it plumping up as they absorbed moisture. When Lykos came out, he would doubtless be hungry, and until then, they could talk amongst themselves in the plant-filled kitchen.
“Not for you or the rest of us, but for the Solar Sovereign, yes,” Lia spotted a thread on her sleeve and resolved to fix that, getting up to pick up the small sewing kit and taking the needle and scissors to the errant thread. “For her, that was disaster. For the Umbrian Crown to which we are pledged, this might be an opportunity. I don’t know,” she shrugged at Hilana’s glance over her shoulder. “This attack will have a political fallout. Yes, there was an attempt on the Luxian Crown Prince, so they could claim ignorance… Arkaenyn Princeps seemed furious when he yelled out. But that could just be a ploy.”
"She'll be declared an enemy of the Kingdom, I guess. That would be unprecedented, wouldn't it?" Hilana was thoughtful, reaching into her cabinet for her spices. She wanted to add a few more to it, rich, warming flavours that would go down a treat. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise. A little splash of vanilla to help accentuate and add sweetness. There was no measuring spoons; Hilana went by instinct with these - add, taste, adjust. It would get to where she wanted it. Lia took a bite of the pita, making an approving sound. Her sister may never be a homemaker, which was what their father had wanted for all of his girls - to rule over large homes and staff and raise children - but she was good at parts of it.
"Mmn. It would be, yes. They'll call a conclave, I expect, all of the paterfamilias and materfamilias. There are any number of options, but what happened will not go unanswered. Did you hear from your friends since then?" she was curious. Hilana, after all, had friends in high places. She was doubtless worried about Finn, Raithen, and Arvaelyn. They'd been ushered out and sent home, and for all Hilana knew, the place was on lockdown. If push came to shove, perhaps it would be wiser to go back to the Citadel. It got them out of here, but with the heightened state of security, it might very well happen that no one that was at the ball was going to be leaving the city for a while until everyone had been assessed and sorted out.
"No," she had to admit. "But I don't think I will for a while, unless someone reaches out. It might be Raithen I hear from next. Finn I cannot help. I'm no Mesmer, and certainly not one that could remotely measure up to Thalya. But Princess Cithaera has a lot of tricks up her sleeves, and I mean a lot of tricks. So we'll see what comes from all of this." She gave the porridge a stir, and had a sip of tea, leaning against the counter. Her hair was wound up in a messy bun, held in place with a few pins and ribbons. Lia watched her, a bit amused.
"Something always happens on your birthday, doesn't it, soror?" she smiled at her. "If not the races, then something else that brings trouble around. They all said it was an omen when that storm happened when mother was labouring with you, that great storm of thunder and lightning and more rain than most anyone ever remembers happening. Everything, everyone got drenched, the ground had so much water on it that looked like the sea had come to us in the middle of Atraxia. The camels and goats were quite happy," Lia set her tea down. "But when it passed, and the sun came back out, it was beautiful. Mother was so happy about it, I sometimes wondered later if she had caused it. That was no normal storm... but I don't think she would have been able to manage it with Elementalism, either. Lightning and rain, maybe. The thunder? No."
"Something has a tendency to come up," Hilana had to admit. "Last year, I met the Crownwyrm and was recovering from my Elementalism initiation. This year, the princes of the realm are attacked, my friend is wounded, and everything has gone around the bend. We'll see if we can take Lykos out of the city later and have a picnic."
"Is that really how you want to spend it?" Lia asked her, tilting her head and watching her sister. "A picnic? You don't want to go out to a nice restaurant and let someone else cook for a change? There's bound to be plenty of places, or we could get something at the market..."
"No, I'd like to have a picnic and a nice fire," she was set on that. They couldn't go far out into the sands, but they could go somewhere where there would be less people and have a late, fire-cooked meal and see the stars. Who knew, maybe back to the Citadel, or just off of that, and enjoy the peace and quiet and company of the little family that they had formed over the last two seasons.
"Then we'll do that," she was agreeable. When it was her birthday, what she wanted went. Hilana would make the foods she enjoyed. In the future, now that she had been purified of the Void, she could go about and do her thing here in the city. If she wanted to go out, they could.Or she could let Hilana throw a party for her, and invite her friends, once she made them, around for a meal. And that sort of made her pause. Friends. Right now, outside of Hilana and Lykos... could she even say she had any? She had been friendly and proper with the Sentinels when they had been at the Citadel. She had gotten along with Finn when they had been introduced, courtesy of his friendship with her little sister. This wasn't Tertium, where the Chenzira name opened a lot of doors. They weren't Patricians... just Equestrians, and here, she wasn't even a Chenzira anymore, but a Yusafiras.
"What's wrong?" Hilana asked her after the moment of silence, and Lia realized she had gotten into her own head. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about how things have changed so much, soror, and how much they will continue to change. But I am thankful for you. You kept your promise to me, even though I would have stayed there just to make sure that you were free to live your life and live it to the fullest. I am proud of you, Hilana... and I know Mother would be, too." She raised her cup of tea to her, and Hilana raised hers in return as they smiled at each other. "How is that porridge coming along? I should go wake up Lykos, I'm starving..."
"Oh, the smell will do it," Hilana laughed. "Wait until I get the sausages on..."
[Closed - Solo]
Hilana had tea going in the morning when Lia came into the kitchen to take a seat at the table. Her elder sister had braided her hair and wound it up, pinning it out of the way. Her cream-coloured kaftan had enough stitching to make up for the softer colours; Lia’s embroidery made a picture of a dragon in flight, and embedded within that was Scrivening. “Good morning,” Hilana presented her with tea and a smile, spreading fig jam on a pita and putting it on a plate for her. Neither of them had drunk enough to have any sort of headache or hangover, not with the way the festivities of the previous evening had been cut short. One thing was certain, anyone who had been invited would have been discussing this at the table, if they hadn’t already, and word would surely spread. There would be no containing this.
“Gratias, and good morning,” Lia took a seat in the cozy kitchen, accepting the cup and bringing it to her lips, holding it with both hands. She sipped, tasting the flavours. She was getting used to some of the intricacies of what her sister did now with it, and she could appreciate the blends and the effort that went into them. It was funny, looking at it from that angle, but Hilana was trying too to understand her and her hobbies and where she took her enjoyment. They were learning. Lia no longer pushed her sister into her views of acceptable - if the Founders approved of what her sister was doing… if she was on a holy quest for them… then Hilana was as she needed to be. Perhaps she always was.
They just hadn’t recognized it.
Hilana had also learned to respect and not denigrate their own crafts and hobbies, what joys they had and where they came from. They were sisters, yes, different, yes, but they could and should work together. They were stronger together than they were apart, and considering what Lia had been through… she did need her sister. And whether Hilana would ever admit it, she needed Lia, too.
“That was an unmitigated disaster.” Hilana remarked as she stirred the porridge that was cooking on the stove. It was fragrant, creamy and bubbling, the nuts and dried fruit that she had added to it plumping up as they absorbed moisture. When Lykos came out, he would doubtless be hungry, and until then, they could talk amongst themselves in the plant-filled kitchen.
“Not for you or the rest of us, but for the Solar Sovereign, yes,” Lia spotted a thread on her sleeve and resolved to fix that, getting up to pick up the small sewing kit and taking the needle and scissors to the errant thread. “For her, that was disaster. For the Umbrian Crown to which we are pledged, this might be an opportunity. I don’t know,” she shrugged at Hilana’s glance over her shoulder. “This attack will have a political fallout. Yes, there was an attempt on the Luxian Crown Prince, so they could claim ignorance… Arkaenyn Princeps seemed furious when he yelled out. But that could just be a ploy.”
"She'll be declared an enemy of the Kingdom, I guess. That would be unprecedented, wouldn't it?" Hilana was thoughtful, reaching into her cabinet for her spices. She wanted to add a few more to it, rich, warming flavours that would go down a treat. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise. A little splash of vanilla to help accentuate and add sweetness. There was no measuring spoons; Hilana went by instinct with these - add, taste, adjust. It would get to where she wanted it. Lia took a bite of the pita, making an approving sound. Her sister may never be a homemaker, which was what their father had wanted for all of his girls - to rule over large homes and staff and raise children - but she was good at parts of it.
"Mmn. It would be, yes. They'll call a conclave, I expect, all of the paterfamilias and materfamilias. There are any number of options, but what happened will not go unanswered. Did you hear from your friends since then?" she was curious. Hilana, after all, had friends in high places. She was doubtless worried about Finn, Raithen, and Arvaelyn. They'd been ushered out and sent home, and for all Hilana knew, the place was on lockdown. If push came to shove, perhaps it would be wiser to go back to the Citadel. It got them out of here, but with the heightened state of security, it might very well happen that no one that was at the ball was going to be leaving the city for a while until everyone had been assessed and sorted out.
"No," she had to admit. "But I don't think I will for a while, unless someone reaches out. It might be Raithen I hear from next. Finn I cannot help. I'm no Mesmer, and certainly not one that could remotely measure up to Thalya. But Princess Cithaera has a lot of tricks up her sleeves, and I mean a lot of tricks. So we'll see what comes from all of this." She gave the porridge a stir, and had a sip of tea, leaning against the counter. Her hair was wound up in a messy bun, held in place with a few pins and ribbons. Lia watched her, a bit amused.
"Something always happens on your birthday, doesn't it, soror?" she smiled at her. "If not the races, then something else that brings trouble around. They all said it was an omen when that storm happened when mother was labouring with you, that great storm of thunder and lightning and more rain than most anyone ever remembers happening. Everything, everyone got drenched, the ground had so much water on it that looked like the sea had come to us in the middle of Atraxia. The camels and goats were quite happy," Lia set her tea down. "But when it passed, and the sun came back out, it was beautiful. Mother was so happy about it, I sometimes wondered later if she had caused it. That was no normal storm... but I don't think she would have been able to manage it with Elementalism, either. Lightning and rain, maybe. The thunder? No."
"Something has a tendency to come up," Hilana had to admit. "Last year, I met the Crownwyrm and was recovering from my Elementalism initiation. This year, the princes of the realm are attacked, my friend is wounded, and everything has gone around the bend. We'll see if we can take Lykos out of the city later and have a picnic."
"Is that really how you want to spend it?" Lia asked her, tilting her head and watching her sister. "A picnic? You don't want to go out to a nice restaurant and let someone else cook for a change? There's bound to be plenty of places, or we could get something at the market..."
"No, I'd like to have a picnic and a nice fire," she was set on that. They couldn't go far out into the sands, but they could go somewhere where there would be less people and have a late, fire-cooked meal and see the stars. Who knew, maybe back to the Citadel, or just off of that, and enjoy the peace and quiet and company of the little family that they had formed over the last two seasons.
"Then we'll do that," she was agreeable. When it was her birthday, what she wanted went. Hilana would make the foods she enjoyed. In the future, now that she had been purified of the Void, she could go about and do her thing here in the city. If she wanted to go out, they could.Or she could let Hilana throw a party for her, and invite her friends, once she made them, around for a meal. And that sort of made her pause. Friends. Right now, outside of Hilana and Lykos... could she even say she had any? She had been friendly and proper with the Sentinels when they had been at the Citadel. She had gotten along with Finn when they had been introduced, courtesy of his friendship with her little sister. This wasn't Tertium, where the Chenzira name opened a lot of doors. They weren't Patricians... just Equestrians, and here, she wasn't even a Chenzira anymore, but a Yusafiras.
"What's wrong?" Hilana asked her after the moment of silence, and Lia realized she had gotten into her own head. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about how things have changed so much, soror, and how much they will continue to change. But I am thankful for you. You kept your promise to me, even though I would have stayed there just to make sure that you were free to live your life and live it to the fullest. I am proud of you, Hilana... and I know Mother would be, too." She raised her cup of tea to her, and Hilana raised hers in return as they smiled at each other. "How is that porridge coming along? I should go wake up Lykos, I'm starving..."
"Oh, the smell will do it," Hilana laughed. "Wait until I get the sausages on..."
