Rezan by Windstar and Zee

It was, Selene considered, a beautiful day. Bright summer sunshine flooded the streets of the small city that had grown up on the island in the middle of the Winderling. She smiled to a passing woman, well aware that there were more crow's feet that lined her eyes than there had been when she had first seen this island.

There had been many changes since then, some good and some bad, and she could only hope that the good outweighed the bad. Waving to another passerby, the first Queen of the North found her way down a path she had walked every day since she had taken Nix as her wife.

Humming to herself, she stepped around a pair of Alcens who were tied up outside and stepped into the heat of the forge itself. As it always did, the sight of Nix hard at work over another task caused her to smile.

The fact that her wife was working alone caused that smile to dim though. There was supposed to have been a second person working at the forge that day.

Nix grumbled, and generally huffed and puffed. In theory, she knew this day had to come, Kelsey had warned her, and the signs had been there for a while now. Her daughter just didn't want to spend time with her anymore. She wasn't as fun and exciting as the girls her daughter played with. Girls, she snorted, not with those developing breasts. Her daughter had thrown a fit and run off to hang out with some of the younger women in the city.

Selene leaned against the side of one of the massive anvils that were spread throughout the busy forge. "Hello, love." She nodded to the billows that were normally their daughter's responsibility. "What happened?"

Nix gave a yelp as her wife startled her. Turning, she easily saw Selene…even through the cloth she wore over her eyes to protect them from the sun. Her shoulders slumped. "What seems to happen a lot lately, our daughter has, once again, gotten out of her chores."

Biting her lip to avoid grinning, Selene moved over to the taller woman and gently grabbed her arm to stop her for a moment so she could claim a kiss. "I'm sorry. You know how they are at that age. She thinks she knows best."

With a sigh, Nix sat down on a stool, and looked at Selene. "We had a fight. She told me she hates me and my stupid forge, and ran off to hang with her friends."

The smaller woman winced, sitting down on one strong knee. "I'm sorry. How bad was it?" Nix had aged well over the past decades, still as strong as the day Selene had met her, even if there was now silver in that short, dark hair.

"It started out with what I thought was an innocent question. She asked what I thought of Sable." Nix shook her head ruefully, remembering the landslide she had set off with her answer. "I told the truth. I think the girl is a lazy, selfish brat." She crossed her hands over her chest defensively, and looked at her partner, "And that was the wrong thing to say."

The wince was more of a grimace this time, and Selene got up off Nix's lap to pace the confines of the smithy. It had been such a nice day when she was walking outside.

"Probably doesn't help that you were right."

Sable wasn't one of Selene's favorite people of all time. The girl was spoiled to death by her two parents and had the run of the city. Children were so precious, that sometimes Selene worried that they were all being coddled too much.

The smith stayed strong and stoic for about thirty seconds before her chin started to tremble. "I blame myself," she cried out. "You were right. I spoiled the girl too much as a baby. But I can't relate to this thing she's turned into. In the mines we didn't have these luxuries."

Selene hurried back to Nix's side.

The large smith sniffed and wiped away a few tears with one hand while the other stayed firmly around Selene's waist. She still remembered the day Cassia was born, hardly being able to contain her wonder. And the first time she held her, Nix had cried, so overwhelmed by love. Now, she really fought with herself. In the heat of their argument, all she had wanted to do was to throw the girl over her knee and spank her. Like any other violent thought she had ever had, it made her want to vomit.

Selene rubbed her fingers along Nix's head, slowly trying to massage out the tension she could feel there. "I'm sure it will be fine. We've argued before, you know, and it always worked out before." There was a note of uncertainty though; it took a lot to make her love cry. "We tried not to coddle her, and I never said you spoiled her. If anything, I spoiled her. You were always the voice of reason, remember?"

Nix nodded and leaned her head against Selene's chest, enjoying the feeling of her love's hands rubbing her head. "I suppose it doesn't help she's the only child to the North's leader. The whole stupid city spoils her, but she didn't get really bad with those airs until she started hanging out with Sable. That girl has filled Cassia's head with nonsense, making folks bow and such."

The fingers paused for a moment and Selene blinked in surprise. "She makes people bow to her?" That was the first that she'd heard about that. Why hadn't she noticed that? The worry grew stronger as she wondered how bad this had truly become, and when had she missed it?

Nix looked at Selene and nodded. "Oh, yes. I caught her with Sable roaming around two nights ago. I saw Milla the seamstress bow to them while crossing the path to the well. I ran after her to ask why she did it. That old woman just shrugged and said Cassia told her to."

She sighed in pleasure, feeling Selene massage out a particularly nasty knot in her neck. "When Crow visits, I'm almost tempted to send Cassia back with her to work the mines. Crow and the rest of the Fire Clan won't put up with that nonsense."

They'd talked about that before and Selene had been against it. She had no desire to see her daughter work in a mine, no matter how much Nix promised it would be almost perfectly completely kind of safe. This time she held her peace, maybe that would be good for their daughter if she'd become so full of herself she was making people bow to her.

"We need to get her to realize she can't just go around making people bow to her." She sighed, leaning her forehead against the taller woman's shoulder.

"Being a parent is hard, harder still when you have no role models. Crow raised me in the mines, helped me survive and not feel so alone. Sometimes I feel at such a loss, but bowing is a respect that must be earned not expected," Nix said softly, reaching her hands up and gently returning the favor by kneading the stiff muscles in her lover's back.

A burst of giggling from the yard in front of the smithy caused Selene to look up, immediately regretting the loss of the nice massage, and sighing as she recognized the two girls who were heading towards the doorway. "Here comes our daughter," she paused, voice becoming considerably less happy, "and Sable."

The scowl that had disappeared earlier came back, and Nix eased Selene off her lap as she stood. "Cassia!" she boomed. "Get in here, young lady." She wished Crow was here, her Mine sister would know what to do, and probably, she mused, from putting up with Yuri for so many years.

Sable rolled her eyes at the smith's booming voice. Her mothers said that their Leader, Selene, had married way below her station with that one. Now that she was older, she had to wonder what their, for all-purposes, 'Queen' - except Selene hated that term - saw in that smelly laborer.

Her teenage brain figured it had to be all that muscle

"Mooommmmm...everyone can hear you when you yell like that." Cassia rolled her eyes in almost unison with Sable. She thought about grabbing her girlfriend's hand and running away just to piss off her mom, but decided against it. They had important news to share, after all. Taking Sable's hand in hers, she led the way into the smithy, trying to look important. "You bellowed?" she grinned at her own joke.

In seeing her daughter's hand firmly clapped around that stupid mooncalf's in a rather disturbing intimate display, Nix feared the worst. "Sable, unless you want to spend the rest of your evening cleaning the smithy, I think you should go home. Someone has shirked all her chores today."

Selene stepped up next to her lover, placing her hand on the taller woman's shoulder and eyeing the two girls disapprovingly. Sable had always come across as a huge fawning annoyance every time Selene had met her before.

Sable rolled her eyes. Her parents had the philosophy of why sweat if you can have someone else to do it, and since her mothers were wealthy merchants who traveled to the South constantly bringing back valuable items in trade, they had a staff to do stuff in their house. Her eyes dismissed the smith, but lit up at seeing Selene. "Hello, your Highness," she simpered and curtsied.

Besides her, Selene shuddered a little at the annoying tone coming from the young woman. "I think you should go home, Sable, we need to talk with Cassia." She gave a dark look to her daughter. Which probably didn't work as well now that she'd grown taller than Selene, her height along with the dark hair were obviously gifts from Nix's side.

"Mom, we have something important to tell you!"

"Did your mother not just tell you to do something?" Nix said in frustration. Where had the little girl, who had wanted rides on her shoulders or thought it was cool her mother could see perfectly at night, gone?

Cassia might have been taller than Selene, but she was still shorter than Nix and had to look up to meet her mother's eyes, which worked well since she was lifting her chin to appear defiant. "Not until I tell you the news. We're going to have a commitment ceremony."

Selene grabbed onto Nix's arm so hard she was probably going to leave bruises. "What?"

Nix didn't even have to think about it. "No. You're too young."

"My mothers said it was all right," Sable helpfully pointed out, apparently oblivious to the glaring going on between Cassia and her mothers.

Suddenly, she felt so terribly old. Her, silly, immature little girl wanted to marry that…that...mooncalf. Nix sat down heavily on her stool, the wood groaning under her weight.

Selene nearly toppled over as her lover suddenly sat down, though she managed to stay upright only by grabbing onto Nix's shoulder and steadying herself. "You can't." She looked desperately between Cassia, Sable, and Nix, trying, praying, for some sort of solid, absolute reason why she couldn't.

"I can and I will!" Cassia said defiantly, head held high. "I don't need your permission! All we need is a priestess."

Nix surged off the stool and grabbed her daughter by the arm, halting what would have surely been an impressive exit. "You listen here, young lady, we are still your mothers and you will not talk to us in that tone of voice." She was totally out of her depth here. At her age, she had been in chains, forced to pump the bellows for the master smith. This creature that her sweet, innocent, little Cassia had turned into was truly a mystery, one that she wanted very badly to put over her knee and spank.

Sable stepped back in fear as she watched the huge woman grab Cassia. She had heard her mothers mutter over dinner once that the smith must have bespelled the Queen to get her to give up such a lovely, graceful woman as Laurel. Now, as she watched the woman's massive, meaty, paw close around her beloved's arm, she had to wonder if it wasn't true. Maybe the Queen had been bullied into the marriage.

"Nix!" Selene looked like she was on the verge of crying, her face twisted with warring emotions. "Please, Cassia, we should talk about this."

Their daughter ignored the nearly desperate voice of her mother and tried to jerk her arm free from Nix's grasp. She still had to look up into the taller woman's face, but she towered over Selene. "I'm an adult now, I don't need your permission; they all say so!"

At her love's words, Nix let go, feeling ashamed for her temper getting the better of her. "Who says you don't need our permission? The last time I checked, your mother's opinion outranked everybody else's." Goddess why wouldn't that mooncalf leave, couldn't she tell this was a family moment, one that didn't concern her. Nix shot a glare at the young woman, but since the cloth she always wore covered her eyes, it was less than effective.

The tears started at last as Cassia felt herself losing out on what she wanted. "You never let me do what I want! I hate you! I hate you all! You always tell me I have to become the next leader, but you never let me decide anything!"

At the sheer anger and rage in her daughter's voice, Selene staggered back, tears leaking down the sides of her face. "Cassia..." she whispered, eyes pained as she held out her hand to someone who had been her little girl only yesterday.

Nix sucked in a breath, at the moment feeling as big as a grasshopper. She looked to Selene for help before looking back at her daughter. "Sable, go home. We need to have a family talk. I'm sure Cassia will come find you when we are done."

The young woman didn't move for a second, but then shot her girlfriend a pitying look before leaving the smithy.

"Why do you have to ruin everything?" Cassia shouted at Nix, sulking as Sable left her there.

"Cassia, please, stop!" Selene begged. Why could she handle three hundred different problems a day from everyone else, but a few tears from her daughter and she fell apart?

"Us..? How have we ruined your life? What do you know about being a grown-up? You and the rest of you shirk your chores and run around doing what you please. For the past week you have avoided any of your responsibilities and you want me to believe that you are grown up enough to take on the commitment of a life dedicated to spending with another," Nix ranted.

"You always twist my words! I hate you, both of you!" Cassia yelled then sprinted for her room above the smithy, slamming the door hard behind her as she went.

Selene watched her go, a heartsick expression on her face, tears streaming down her face as she watched her little girl go.

Nix blew out a breath then went to her lover and enveloped her in her arms. "I'm sorry," she whispered over and over again. "I made a bigger mess of things. Next time I'll just sit and you can talk to her."

"She doesn't listen to me anymore." Selene buried her head in her love's chest, hiding the tears. "I can talk to everyone in the north, get them to stop fighting and bickering, but I can't talk to my daughter." She closed her eyes in pain.

"Ten to one Sable doesn't even really love our daughter. She just thinks she does because her mothers tell her she does. I won't let our daughter make a mistake like that, because it's more than just her life, it's the future of all of us. She needs someone more...more...well, one with a brain in her head."

Gently, her large hands stroked her love's hair and back, trying to comfort her as best she could while she spoke.

The tears slowed then stopped as Selene gratefully soaked up the strength and support offered by the taller woman. Finally, she whispered, "Do you think Willow could help?"

Nix nodded, "Maybe. Why don't I close down the forge and then I'll make you a nice cup of tea and we'll just go to bed and pretend this didn't happen? In the morning we'll go talk to Willow."

That earned her a sniffling nod, and Selene slowly let go of her. "I don't think I can pretend this didn't happen though. You might want to put something good in the tea."

Nix nodded, and kissed Selene lightly on the lips. "I'll do my best."

Nix sent her love to their room to try and relax while she started the task of shutting down the forge for the day. She wished Crow was here. Cassia loved Crow and would often speak to the woman of things she wouldn't with her mothers. And Crow could tell her what a fool she was for losing her temper like that. She quietly shut the front door of the smithy then moved to the common living area. With a sigh, she removed the cloth from her eyes and her blue eyes blinked in the dim light of her house.

Tomorrow had to be a better day.

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Selene was right, even in her sleep she couldn't forget that the awful night hadn't happened, although the tea that Nix had made had helped. Cassia had slipped out sometime before they had woken up at dawn, not that Selene was very surprised by that, but she was disappointed.

The two of them were sitting in the small kitchen off the smithy, both of them silent and brooding.

Without a knock, the front door opened and a large body filled the doorframe blocking the light. Nix winced and grabbed for the protective cloth for her eyes.

"Hey, Runt," came the cheerful, booming voice of Crow.

Selene had never been so happy to hear that booming voice as she was now. She could see the relief in her love's face as well, as they both turned towards the doorway, a welcoming smile, strained, but welcoming on the smaller woman's face.

"Crow, what good timing you have."

"By spark and flame, don't you two look stressed," Crow said, striding into the house. She, like Nix, had aged well, her once dark hair having turned silver, except for a few stray strands of black. Also, she needed to use a staff to help her stand and sit, her joints unhappy after a lifetime of hard labor, and she wasn't as strong as she once had been, but she was still stronger than most. But her mind was sharp and clear as ever. A smaller, compact woman followed her, and for a moment, Nix thought it was old times, with Yuri following at Crow's heels, but the woman wasn't Yuri.

The woman was young, too young to be Yuri. Crow turned, "Let me introduce this strapping young lass who was silly enough to volunteer to join me on my annual trek to visit you. This is Moriko, Yuri's eldest."

Moriko gave a shy wave to the women at the table.

"She has a lovely way with animals, and has even convinced the Alcen's to let her ride on them. Let me tell you, it made the trip far quicker, although I'm not certain my thighs have hurt this much since I spent that night with your local stone cutter, what's her name? Lily, Lin..."

Nix blushed for everyone in the room. "Crow, that's more than we ever needed to know about you and Theresa."

"It's nice to meet you, Moriko," Selene spoke up, grinning despite herself at the two visitors. Crow had always managed to make her laugh. "Please come in and take a seat. I'll see about getting you something to drink. How are your people doing, Crow?" She got up off her seat and pulled another chair to the table for them.

Moriko couldn't help the blush that came to her cheeks as the Queen addressed her. "Th-th-thank you, it-it's nice to me-meet you too." She grabbed a chair next to Crow, feeling somewhat less visible in the woman's shadow.

Crow just laughed heartily and slapped Nix on the back before taking a seat. "Oh the same…we drink, we fight to keep warm in the snow, and manage to mine some ore now and then."

"I think we have some tea, if you would like some?" Selene moved to the stove, aware that she wasn't doing a good job at being a happy, graceful hostess today.

"So where is my favorite little ankle bitter?" Crow asked, looking around for Cassia.

Pouring tea for their guests, Selene's arm suddenly shook at the question, spilling the hot liquid everywhere. "Sorry." She quickly grabbed an old rag to sop up the spill. "I'm clumsy this morning, it seems." She smiled faintly, the expression not reaching her eyes.

"Hey, hey, there," Crow said in a gentle tone, seeing Selene's distress. Looking at her long time friend, she saw the lines of stress in Nix's face and the same sort of sadness in her eyes. "Okay, what's up?"

Nix shot a glance over at Moriko before looking back at Crow. She was sure the girl was trustworthy, but still, this was private.

Feeling every year of her age, and certain that she had more silver hair than she had the day before, Selene retook her own seat, gazing sadly into her own cup of tea.

Crow got the hint and turned in her chair to addressed Yuri's eldest. "Why don't you go water and brush down the Alcens. Nix has a water pump out back."

The young woman looked offended for a second, but sighed and got up. "You could just say you wanted some privacy," she muttered as she left.

"Thank you, Moriko," Selene called after the young woman, feeling horrible that they'd just asked a guest to leave, but relieved at the same time.

After the door shut, Crow looked at Selene and then Nix. "So what's up with Cassia that has you looking like your Alcen died and you still have a bag of ore to deliver?"

Reaching across the table, Selene took her lover's hand for comfort. "Cassia is... going through a phase." She hoped that was it, but she wasn't sure.

Nix let out a breath and looked at Selene. "She's acting like one of the overseers," she blurted out.

Crow chewed on her lip. "Runt, I think you're blowing things out of proportion. No one can be that selfish, spoiled, and cruel." She looked back and forth from parent to parent.

"I don't know about cruel, but she's certainly got the other two down. And..." She ducked her head, ashamed of the way she had been reacting to her daughter's behavior. "…and I'm probably not helping any. I grabbed her the other day and all wanted to do was throw her over my knee and swat her good."

Crow just chewed on her bottom lip in thought.

"Maybe that would have actually helped." Selene twisted her lips in a grimace.

Silver eyebrows rose in surprise. Selene was the nicest, non-violent person she knew.

"And now she has it in her head she wants to be married to some mooncalf. She's only sixteen, for crying out loud! I'm certain Sable's parents are behind that," Nix continued on, giving her love's hand a gentle squeeze. "Crow, can you talk to her? Anytime we try we just end up yelling at each other and she runs off."

"Well...I mean..." She sighed, seeing their hopeful looks. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"Thank you, Crow, thank you so much. You've always managed to talk to her, she likes you. Maybe you can get her to think this through and see why it's not a good idea?" Selene looked hopeful. It actually was a horrible idea, from a political point of view.

"Sable's mothers wouldn't happen to be a couple of merchant traders, rich and kind of snotty." When Nix nodded, Crow just sighed. "I can see why they think it would be a good idea, it would be a great political match for them, and then they could really control trade."

Nix smiled and leaned over, hugging the woman who was like a sister to her. "Thanks."

"The other families would never agree to Cassia leading them if she did this. It would be horrible." Selene looked worried again.

"Yeah, yeah…let the grumpy old woman talk to the hormonal teenager. Why don't you two take the day off and go spend some time at that swimming hole you're both so fond of. I'll stay here and wait for my favorite ankle biter."

Nix smiled and got up and began moving around the small kitchen packing a haphazard picnic lunch. Perhaps they could get away for a bit and pretend they had no worries.

"Thank you, Crow." Selene got up. Pausing by their friend's chair, she leaned down to give her a swift hug. "I know she'll listen to you."

Crow snorted. They really were innocents in a land of teenagers if they thought that. "I'll talk. Who knows if she'll listen?"

"That's all we can ask." The smaller woman smiled, for the first time in the last day feeling a little better. Together, she and Nix left to give Crow her chance.

Alone in the house, Crow eased up to her feet. Her back and her knees gave loud, alarming pops, and she winced. Looking around, she spied a bottle of amber wine that she had given to the Runt and Selene two winters ago. Deciding it was a right shame it was still unopened, she eased the cork out and poured herself a glass. The front door opened and Moriko looked in. "Since the adults are gone, can I come in now?"

Crow looked at her over her glass. "No. You can go chop up that wood we spied outside of Nix's forge. I'm sure the royal couple would like that."

Moriko stuck out her tongue. "For the last time, I'm sorry I set the barn on fire, but it was an accident."

Crow snorted and sipped her wine. Sighing in pleasure, she shooed the young woman out the door.

Outside, Cassia stalked towards the front of the smithy with what she thought were determined steps. She was going to make her parents see that she was in love with Sable and that they were going to be married! She was going to show them that this was right, and then they would have to agree with it.

That determined stride was brought up short as she spotted a stranger chopping the wood she should have chopped two days ago now. "Who are you?" she demanded, changing direction and striding towards Moriko.

The stocky blonde paused at the question, and bristled at the tone, not liking it one bit. She thought about answering, but figured the best thing to do would be to ignore the rude person; she was a guest, after all. She brought the axe back up then down, splitting the log. She cleared it off and set another piece up to be split.

"Hey!" Not used to someone not answering her questions, Cassia kicked the log, making it topple off before Moriko could bring up her axe. "I asked you a question. Who are you? What are you doing at my parents' home?"

"Ar-ar-are you nuts…I-I could have chopped your foot off!" Moriko blew the too long blond bangs out of her face.

"But you didn't." Cassia frowned annoyed that this other woman was the same height as she was. How was she supposed to look down at someone that wasn't shorter than her? Trying to figure that out distracted Cassia for a moment or two, but she was as stubborn as her mother, and wasn't about to let herself be sidetracked. "Now, who are you?"

In a corner by the house, an Alcen watched the exchange amused.

Brown-eyes narrowed and she drew herself up to her full height, which was still a half-inch shorter than the other girl. "I'm Moriko. I'm visiting the Queen and her partner with my Fire Sister, Crow."

Blue eyes that were definitely inherited from Nix lit up at the mention of Crow. "Crow's here?" Eagerly, she looked around for the older woman.

Moriko sighed, picked up the log and placed it back on the chopping block. "She's in the house...mooncalf." She muttered the last part under her breath.

Cassia took two steps towards the house before she heard the last part. "What?" She whirled around, blonde hair, like Selene's, getting in the way of a marvelous snit and ruining the moment. Brushing it angrily out of her face, she stared at the other girl, face red with anger. "Why don't you just keep chopping wood, you…you…servant!" She turned and ran towards the house.

Moriko thought of several good comebacks, only after the girl had run into the house. She sighed and went back to chopping wood, feeling somewhat jealous that Crow would prefer to spend time with that nasty, spoiled brat than her.

A screech of a hawk got her attention and she looked up, to see a beautiful black-tailed hawk land on top of the uncut wood. "Did you see all that, Talon?" He just bobbed his head, so she took that as a yes. Setting down the axe, she walked over and stroked the top of his head.

The hawk just fluffed his feathers in response.

"Crow!" Cassia ran towards the other woman, happy to see her friend. It had been more than a year since her last visit to the city.

Crow was examining her second glass of wine, the muted rays of weak spring sunshine creeping through the window in the kitchen more than enough to see by. She looked up to see a beautiful young woman.

"Hey there…" She set the glass down and hugged the young woman tightly, unlike years past, when she would pick her up and swing her around, her back wouldn't put up with that anymore.

She let go and looked at Cassia. "Look at you. You're growing up beautifully. I think you've grown another inch."

"You didn't send word that you were coming," Cassia chided after hugging the older woman hard. She blushed at the compliment, grinning a little shyly. "You always say I've grown another inch. I'm taller than Selene now, but Nix is still taller than I am."

"Well, I say it 'cause it's true, but I don't think you'll outgrow the Runt, I mean, your mother. And I would have sent word, but Moriko talked me into riding the Alcens rather than walking beside them, letting them carry all the gear. I think we beat the messenger." She ruffled Cassia's bangs and sat back down slowly, her knees popped and she winced.

"Moriko..?" Those blue eyes narrowed as Cassia's mood switched in the sudden swings that teenagers have. "Is that the annoying girl outside? She's very rude." The teenager plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs with the boneless grace of the young.

"Really, I've never noticed her to be rude." She hid her grin behind her glass of wine. "She's always respectful to her elders, but she can be shy around those her own age."

Those blue eyes studied the older woman then Cassia smiled with a burst of near manic happiness as she decided to ignore the girl outside in favor of more important news. "I have the most wonderful news, Crow. I'm going to get married!"

Yet again, silver eyebrows shot up into her hairline in surprise, "Really?"

Cassia nodded happily. "Her name is Sable. I don't know if you met her yet, but she's perfect. She likes everything I do and we get along perfectly."

She set her glass down. "That's a huge step. I, myself, was never one to find marriage appealing. You know, there are women down south that I haven't even met yet." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Cassia laughed. "Crow, I have to get married. That's what they expect of me."

"Well, of course, but I don't think they're expecting it of you right now. I mean, you haven't even met every available young lady out there. How can you be certain this Sable is the one? You could meet someone tomorrow, or next winter, who's even better for you, but then you'd be in a mess 'cause you'd be married to Sable and unhappy."

The teenager set her jaw in a way that was almost eerily similar to Nix when she was being stubborn. "I love Sable. I'm not going to meet anyone better than she is for me."

Crow raised her glass and sipped it. "Okay, don't worry about that, it's my own marriage bias speaking." She set her glass down. "So, if you didn't have these expectations, what do you want to do? If you could do anything or be anything, what would it be? No one said you'd have to be Queen, your parents are young, they could pop out another ankle biter."

"They aren't that young." Cassia folded her arms, scowling a little. "What do you mean want to do? I have to follow Selene and be the next Queen, that's what I have to do."

Crow sighed. "You're talking about have to, not what you want to do. If you don't want to be Queen, I can smuggle you out of here, take you up north with me." She grinned. "I can teach you how to drink and fight proper, not this wussy stuff they call fighting down here."

The younger woman looked down, for the first time looking a touch unsure about something. That passed quickly, and she looked up again with the arrogance of youth.

"I'm not really good at fighting, but that's not what I'm meant to become."

Crow blew out breath. "So, neither of your folks is good at fighting. Although, your mother once fought the God Korgon, but from what I understand, she wasn't very good at it."

Cassia grinned. "She says she really sucked at it. Besides, don't I get to order people to do fighting for me if I'm Queen?"

She stared at the young girl, "So you're okay with ordering folks to go out and kill and die for you."

The teenager blinked…a surprised look on her face very much like the one that Selene sometimes got. "What? No, I mean...not like that. I just mean they can fight...umm and I can't." People actually dying hadn't factored into her thoughts. There had never been blood or dead people in her daydreams.

The older woman scratched her ear and thought hard; the sweet, thoughtful girl she knew a year ago had to still be inside. "When someone picks up a sword or an axe, you have to accept the fact someone will get hurt and might even die. It's the way of things."

"Oh." Cassia looked a little crestfallen. "Well, then maybe I'll ban all swords and axes. Then nobody can get hurt." She looked a little cheerier at that idea.

Crow rolled her eyes. "Then how will you fight off thieves, bandits, greenbacks, and wolves?"

The cheer was replaced with the beginnings of a sulk. "Well, then, I guess people have to die, right?"

The older woman clapped her on the back. "Not so easy to do what your Muanya does, now, is it?"

Cassia rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard. She just talks to people all the time."

Crow sipped her drink and realized they were off topic, she was supposed to be working on the whole Sable, marriage issue. "So, back to Sable… You and she are perfect for each other?"

The sulk disappeared like the morning mist being burnt off by the sun. "Yes. She's perfect for me and I'm perfect for her. We even finish each other's sentences sometimes!"

That wasn't cute in Crow's opinion, it was creepy. "So you like the same things? She likes to wrestle, make pretty things with metal, and lie outside and stare at the stars."

Cassia blushed and looked down at the table, drawing things on its surface with the rings of water left from the teapot. "I don't wrestle anymore, only kids do that, it's not dignified." She didn't even touch the make things with metal part.

"And she would fight for you…protect you from harm, even if it meant giving up being queen?" Crow continued on undaunted.

"Of course," Cassia jutted out her chin defiantly. She had complete trust that Sable would do anything to protect her.

Crow tapped her chin in thought. "Good. You know, she may need to complete some tasks to prove that. Just so the other clans are happy. You know us sisters of fire like a good fighter, and we'd feel better following some we know can protect our Queen."

"Tasks, what sort of tasks? I've never heard of that before." Cassia looked skeptical and a touch worried.

"Well, this is new territory…we've never really been free to rule ourselves before. But you've got those ship builders northeast of here and us to the north. And to the south those tree huggers guarding the path through the mountains, then the folks here with your mother. They all need to feel comfortable with who's ruling them." Crow spun her words carefully. "So a few tasks to show how capable your Sable is to rule at your side should make everyone happy. And I bet your folks would like her better knowing she's able to take care of you and herself."

That made a sort of logic to Cassia, though not a kind of logic that she particularly liked. "What sort of tasks would they be? I'm sure that Sable can handle anything that you ask her to do."

"I don't know, one of courage, wits, strength, and loyalty." Crow swirled her drink and clapped Cassia on the back before taking a sip. "Nothing your Sable can't handle."

"She'll beat any task that you set in front of her." Cassia stood up and started towards the door. "I'll go tell her now so she can start to get ready. When will the tasks start?"

Crow shrugged, "Soon."

The teen paused then rushed back to give her Aunt Crow a hug, "I am really happy you're here. You can talk sense into my mothers, I'm sure of it."

Crow chuckled. "I've been trying to talk sense into the Runt for years."

The younger woman laughed, hugging her aunt tight then bounding towards the door. "I'll go tell Sable. You have to get everyone to agree so that Sable can win the tasks and we can be married!" The blonde burst through the doors into the courtyard outside the smithy.

Moriko was exhausted, but the wood was all chopped. She was tired and sweaty, and she really wanted to go inside, but she didn't really want to be stuck inside with that spoiled brat.

Actually dealing with people really wasn't one of her strengths, unlike her mother, Yuri. She got along better with animals; they didn't want things other than food and an occasional scratch.

Cassia's bound outside was abruptly turned into what she thought was a more serious step as she realized that annoying other girl was still here. "Are you done yet?" She covered her embarrassment at being caught doing something child-like with an angry barb.

"Just about, it wasn't that much. Nix's helper must be really lazy."

"Well, some people are good at this sort of thing, and others are good at ordering them around," Cassia snipped over her shoulder, cheek's red from embarrassment. She was well aware of the fact that it was usually her chore to chop the wood.

Moriko snorted. "As my Muanya says, those who can't shout orders, and eventually someone will wipe their ass."

"You…you…Alcen lover..!" It was the best comeback that Cassia could come up with then she fled the courtyard, refusing to let the annoying girl ruin her good mood, she had better people to talk with. Now all she had to do was find Sable. She would probably be down by the river playing with the other girls.

####################

Nix sat under a great tree, feeling relaxed and happy for the first time in a while. The small pool of still water next to the river was her favorite spot, it was where Selene had taught her to swim, and in truth, to love. "We should get away more often," she said softly.

The woman who was using her lap as a pillow smiled up at her then returned to her own contemplation of the slow moving expanse of water. Out further, one of the newer two-masted ships sailed past, its crew laboring up in the masts to set the sails. "We just kind of forgot to, I guess. Things were always busy." Selene sighed, closing her eyes to enjoy the warm body she was almost laying on top of. "It seems like just a little while ago we were in that tent with Willow."

Nix blushed. "Despite the way I've been acting, I don't regret a moment of it. She was truly a wonder. Now I wonder were the little girl who used to follow me everywhere went to." One of her massive hands stroked her love's face then moved to light brown hair, content to run her fingers through it.

They were both silent for a little while, simply enjoying the closeness and the relaxation. "Did I ever tell you that I was jealous that you got to give birth to her?" Selene suddenly asked.

Nix frowned slightly. "No, but once things calmed down, you should have said something, love. We could have had another." Then she laughed as she tried to figure out how they would have managed it. When Cassia was two, her assistant Gina had moved down to Abnoa to be the smith, leaving her the duty as the town smith and Selene as its Queen. "Maybe not… We barely had time to raise one."

Selene shook her head, reaching up to stroke Nix's cheek. "I got over it. I was worried that you'd always be closer to her, that I'd be some sort of outsider when she was born." That hadn't been the case.

"Never… Remember how scared I was of holding her. Always afraid I'd crush her in my too large hands, or drop her." Nix smiled wistfully.

"I keep telling you, your hands are perfect, they suit you." Selene captured one of those hands and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Remember the first time she was sick? How terrified I was? We woke Willow up in the middle of the night to come see her."

A deep belly laugh came out of Nix. "It was only a cold. Eh, remember when she took her first steps, I missed them, but you were there. Then she was walking, zipping around the house, and I had to baby proof it."

"Don't forget the forge. We couldn't keep her out of there. Remember how much she would cry if you wouldn't take her with you? She was your little shadow all the time." Her smile was bittersweet. How things had changed since then.

For a moment Nix thought she might cry, she did remember that. "I got a letter back from Gina. Her first born is ready to leave the nest and start her own forge. I've offered to take her on for a year, and if she works out, she'll take the forge." The words felt like ash on her tongue, but the town needed a smith, and she wasn't getting any younger. "I had hoped to keep it in the family, but I can't wait on Cassia. The town will need a smith, and it's getting harder and harder to lift that hammer some days."

"Oh, love." The smaller woman sat up, pulling the larger woman into a hug. "She's still our little girl, somewhere under there. She's just having trouble now."

Nix nodded not doubting Selene's words, it was just so hard sometimes, and hugged her lover tightly to her.

####################

Cassia sprinted down the well-worn dirt path that led down towards the river's edge. Already she could hear the voices of her friends calling out to one another, laughing and shrieking as they played in and around the water's edge. This was their swimming hole, the Firstborns, as they called themselves. Even some of the adults had started to call them that, as if it was a badge of honor that marked them apart from every other generation that would follow.

The tall blonde sprinted out of the tree line, grinning at the warm summer sunlight that engulfed her, blinding her for a moment. "Sable!" she yelled happily, squinting into the sun to search for the other firstborn.

Sable rolled over on her side where she had been showing off the new fabric her parents had imported from the South. She raised a soft hand and waved, "Over here."

"You won't believe it!" The youngster leapt over a log and plopped down on her knees in the soft sand of the beach, grinning. Other girls were starting to draw closer, drawn in by the obvious excitement in Cassia's voice and face. "Something really good happened."

"You two are going to stop making goo-goo eyes at each other," Kealey shouted from the river, sending a splash of water to punctuate her point.

Sable made a face at Kealey, whom she really didn't like much. No matter how much status she got from dating the next Queen, Kealey would merely point out that she was the first firstborn. Sable hated feeling inferior. Her mothers told her that they were better than everyone else, and that she would always get what she deserved in life. Kealey hadn't gotten the memo, the girl refusing to bow or treat her with respect just because she was the firstborn.

Cassia wrinkled her nose in annoyance at the older girl. "No." She rolled her eyes and looked back at Sable. "Aunt Crow came to town. She's going to talk to my mothers, they'll listen to her. She'll make them understand that you and are meant for one another!"

Sable let out a shriek that had a few of the others rolling their eyes. "That's great. It's good to know at least one of those fire dancing muscle heads has a brain." She hugged Cassia and kissed her cheeks. "I'm going to be a Queen. I like the sound of that, don't you?"

Cassia bit her lip and nodded, trying to figure out how to break the condition. "Well...you have to do some sort of trial thing to make sure the other families will follow you, of course." She tried to rush it in there during the hug.

Sable promptly ended the hug and held her girlfriend out at arms length. "What?"

The blonde gave her a bit of a weak smile. This wasn't going quite as she'd thought it would, and she struggled for the words to make it better. "It's just a couple of trials so that the fire warriors will follow you, and those ship building fanatics, and of course those people down in the woods." It sounded reasonable to Cassia.

"They should follow me because you tell them to," Sable sniped. "I'm not doing any such stupid trial just to make some tree hugging, over muscled, water fanatics happy."

Kealey stomped out of the water and grabbed her clothes. "What a baby?" she snapped. "I'm out of here. My folks probably need some help at the Inn." She dried off and got dressed.

Sable turned and glared at the older girl. "You can't talk that way to me. I'm going to be a Queen."

"Not if you don't stop crying about what you want. Geez, the only stuff that ever comes out of your mouth is, you, you, you. I would have dumped your ass by now." With her piece said, the older girl walked off.

Cassia looked a little trouble as she watched the oldest of the firstborns leave. "Sable, it's not going to be horrible. You just have to prove to everyone that you're perfect to be with me as Queen." The beginnings of a frown started as she wondered if maybe she was getting into something she didn't completely understand.

Sable's mouth hung open as she looked at Cassia. Then her eyes narrowed and her mouth snapped shut. "I'm going home. When you are ready to talk sense and not these stupid trials then come see me." Sable didn't say anything further. Instead, she just grabbed her stuff and marched off.

Some of the other girls just snickered and whispered about trouble in paradise.

Her lower lip trembled for a moment then Cassia straightened her back and walked as fast as she could into the forest, tears threatening as the joy from earlier had completely burned away, leaving behind a cold, empty feeling.

The second she was in the trees and away from prying eyes, she sprinted through the forest, running as fast as she could from what she was sure was the most horrible thing that had ever happened to her.

####################

Moriko stood in the forest enjoying the silence. She had snuck away after the royal couple had returned, certain that she wouldn't be allowed in the house because they would be talking grown up things. Just because her mother was Yuri, she sometimes thought folks didn't take her seriously.

For crying out loud, she was two months away from eighteen! Then again, she probably didn't want to be in the middle of whatever was going on. She had boarded the Alcens in a stable and had come out here to enjoy the freedom with Talon. Looking up, she spied him circling. She then let loose a sharp whistle and held out her leather covered arm.

####################

Cassia ran until her legs burned and her lungs heaved, tears streaming unheeded from her eyes. They blurred her vision, and it was a miracle she didn't run headlong into a tree. Only the fact that she knew the island like the back of her hand let her run through the paths nearly sightless, which was how she plowed into the shape that suddenly appeared in front of her around one of the tall trees at the northern edge of the island at nearly full speed, slamming into her and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

One moment Moriko had her brown eyes trained on Talon, the next, she was face down in the dirt. Slowly, she sat up spitting out dirt. Spying a body on the ground next to her, she stammered out, "Hey, are-are y-y-you okay?"

The younger girl curled into a ball, crying all the harder now that she had stopped running. Hugging her knees to her chest, Cassia shook her head. "Go away," she groaned miserably.

Talon lighted on to a tree branch above their heads and gave a harsh cry. Moriko shrugged at Talon, not sure what he wanted her to do about it. His feathers puffed up and he looked at her reproachfully. She sighed. "Are y-y-you hurt?" she asked softly.

Cassia rolled over and bit out through her tears, "I'm fine."

Moriko almost blurted out "oh, it's you," but to her credit, she held her tongue. "Well, that's good. That you're not hurt, I mean." She stood up and held out a hand.

The younger girl stayed where she was, curled upon the ground and staring up at the northerner. "You'd tell me the truth, wouldn't you?"

"Huh?" She looked at Talon for help, but the great bird just sat and preened his feathers. "Well, yes. Not much use in lying. It just makes the world more complicated." She retracted her hand and brushed the dirt and leaves off her and sat down, having a gut feeling this was going to take awhile.

"Do you think Sable loves me?" Cassia looked like a lost little girl, and she felt like one too.

"Um, well, I'm not really sure who Sable is. I'm not even really sure who you are, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume she's your girlfriend." She scratched her earlobe in a nervous gesture, and wished her Muanya was here, she was good at these hurting heart talks.

Cassia blinked, staring at the other girl in surprise. She'd never met someone who didn't know who she was before. "I'm Cassia. Selene and Nix are my mothers." She shifted until she was sitting on the ground, still looking up at the other girl.

For a second, Moriko froze in surprise. She'd been mouthing off to the princess, but a spoiled brat was a spoiled brat, Goddess save them. "You're mothers are really nice," she offered. "I'm Moriko, my mothers are Yuri and Pax of the sisters of flame."

"Yuri?" She had heard that name before from her mother. "I think Nix said she had a friend named Yuri." Her eyes narrowed as she remembered why she was there. "Do you think Sable loves me?" she asked again.

"I don't know. I've never met Sable. But I guess the real question is why do you doubt she does?" She held out her leather-covered arm and Talon hopped down on to it, his feet digging into the leather. Gently, she stroked his head, feeling more at ease with him around. Now, if only she could get him to answer the question of love.

Blue eyes clouded over with the memory of the past few minutes. "She won't go try to win Crow's trials to be with me." Even as besotted as she was, Cassie knew that wasn't a good sign.

"Um..." Moriko had no idea what these trials were, or how to even respond. "Well...perhaps she just needs time. Love isn't always easy, like they say in stories." She should know, her parents fought all the time. It didn't help that Yuri, was, well, Yuri.

Cassia looked a little more hopeful at that. Maybe she was right. Maybe all that Sable needed was a little more time. There was an irritating inner voice that didn't think that was true, but she could ignore that voice for now.

"Maybe…" Cautiously, the younger girl got up, wiping at her cheeks to get rid of the tears that still lingered there. "Sorry." She suddenly realized she hadn't said anything yet. "About running into you, I mean."

"It's okay. You were upset." Perhaps the girl wasn't such a brat after all. She shook Talon off her arm and he launched himself with an indignant squawk.

"I've never seen someone handle a bird like that." Cassia squinted into the sunlight, trying to see the bird as he flew upwards to roost on one of the nearby trees. "What is he?"

"He's a Black-tailed Hawk, 'cause he's got black tail feathers. I've had Talon since he fell out of his nest, nursed him best I could. His mother wouldn't take him back." She lifted her other arm, the one without the leather protection, showing off fine white scars from where the mother had attacked her when she had tried to put him back. "My mother told me it was silly, that she would defend her nest and not care that he fell out. But I was a silly girl and didn't listen."

Cassia awkwardly scratched her arm, feeling embarrassed and still emotionally on edge from her crying and from someone seeing it. Biting her lip, she looked down from the bird in the tree. "I'm also sorry I called you a servant," she mumbled. She'd been angry at the time. Now she just felt stupid.

That one statement floored Moriko, who pursed her lips. "I'm not your servant. Just because you may be Queen one day doesn't give you the right to belittle me or demand respect when you haven't earned it." It was roughly the same speech her Muanya had given her Mother a few years ago, without the Queen part, but she felt it was okay to borrow right now. "But saying you're sorry helps," she added softly, feeling she may have been a little harsh.

The younger girl sniffed, brushing at her eyes, annoyed at the tears that threatened again. "I know." She did know, but sometime she just forgot and went along with what the others told her. It was always easier that way. "I guess I should leave you be." She bit her lip, trying to think of where else she could go. She didn't want to go home yet, not to face her parents.

Moriko got up and offered a hand to Cassia. "You don't want to go home looking all upset. Your moms will just get bent out of shape and get in your business."

This time Cassia took the offered hand up, looking at the other girl a little suspiciously. Could she actually be trying to be friendly? "Your moms do that too?"

"Well, they used to, but I'm the eldest of five, and well, Yuri is Yuri." Her mother had a wandering eye, which was sometimes followed by wandering hands, nothing serious, but enough to cause a lot of stress in her house. "You're welcome to hang out with me for a bit, until you feel ready to go back."

The younger girl gave a one-shouldered shrug then nodded. "Thanks." She started to walk alongside Moriko, studying the other girl with frequent sideways glances. "You have four sisters? That must be fun." Cassia had always wondered what it would be like to have sisters. To have someone to share all her worries and hopes with, to stay up late whispering secrets long past bedtime.

"It can be, but mostly I feel overwhelmed. It's a small house, you can't even find space to change your mind, let alone change your clothes. I like it out here in the forest; it's quiet, and peaceful." At home, she often slept in the barn just to give her younger sisters that much more space.

"What's it like up north? Aunt Crow says I should go visit, but I've never gone yet. I don't think my Muanya likes the idea of me going alone up there." Selene sometimes got a little too worried and protective for Cassia's liking.

Moriko stopped moving and gave out a piercing whistle, and in a second, Talon was landing on the outstretched arm. "The mountains are steeper, and it stays colder longer. We're a little rougher around the edges than the women here. A lot of the older women live to mine, it's all they know, and it gives them some happiness."

Cassia stopped moving when she did, watching the bird land on her arm. He looked regal and wild, his gaze piercing and defiant. "Can I touch him?"

She pulled out a small pebble sized piece of dried meat and gave it to Talon, who nibbled at her fingers for a second before taking it. "Sure. Make sure he can see your hand coming. Otherwise he might get startled." She crooned softly and stroked his back.

Entranced with the bird, Cassia stepped closer, and very slowly moved her hand towards the hawk, making sure that the bird could see it coming. Gently, she stroked a feather along the bird's shoulder, grinning widely as he let her touch him. "He's letting me stroke his feathers," she murmured in wonder.

"That he is," Moriko said with a smile. Talon spread his wings and puffed up his feathers, but seemed content with the attention. "He's almost trained where he'll bring me his kills most of the time. Sometimes he's greedy and keeps them for himself." Not that she minded; he wasn't a pet.

Cassia let her hand drop from the bird and started to walk again, wondering what it would be like to have such a talent with animals. "So you aren't going to become a miner then, I guess?"

Moriko made a face. "I couldn't stand to be shut up inside a mountainside." In fact, just thinking about it made her sweat. "I prefer the woods."

"What would you want to do, then? Would you go south through the mountain pass and be with those others who wander through the woods all the time?" Even if Selene and Nix thought she didn't pay attention, she did listen when they both talked of their days at dinnertime.

Moriko shrugged, "Maybe. My Muanya wants me to stay up north and help her tame and train Alcens." She didn't really want that. In fact, she was enjoying being away from her mothers.

Cassia let out a long-suffering sigh and turned around, starting to walk in the general direction of the town. "Why do we always have to be something? Why do they keep bugging us about what we're going to become? Can't we just enjoy what we are right now?"

Moriko followed silently, thinking. "I don't know. You, I can understand. When your mothers are gone you'll be the one leading us. They have to worry about your happiness and that of the whole north; must be hard for them."

The dark-haired girl spun around having gone a little ways. "What if I don't want to be the queen? Everyone assumes I will be, that I have to be, but what if I don't want to be? What if I'm no good at it?" The last part came out as a whispered question, and Cassia wrapped her arms around herself. She hadn't meant to say those things, not even Sable had heard those doubts before.

Moriko looked up at Talon, who was circling, keeping pace with them. She bit her lip, thinking about how to respond. "Sounds like, you need to talk to them. They don't know how you feel, they can't help. Your parents seem nice."

In the age-old tradition of all teenagers, Cassia snorted and started walking again. "That's because they aren't your parents." She glanced sideways at the other girl. "Are you staying at our place?"

Moriko snorted and ducked her head, her blonde hair covering her face. "You could have mine. Um, I think Crow is. I'll probably sleep in the barn with the Alcens."

"In the barn..?" Cassia looked horrified by the thought. "No way...you're cool. You could sleep in my room if you want? There's room on the floor." She babbled on a bit, hoping she didn't sound like a moron.

Moriko blushed, never having been in close quarters with anyone other than her sisters. "No, the barn's fine. I sometimes sleep in the barn at home. It's not a big deal."

The other girl shrugged, "Fine. But trust me, inside is more comfortable." Of course, her mothers might not be very keen on someone sleeping in her room. "Come on, it's probably almost dinner time. We should get back."

"You go on, I'm going to go hunt with Talon. I'll bring back some rabbits." She whistled and held out her arm, the one covered in the thick leather.

The hawk swooped down and landed gracefully, his feet digging into the leather, scoring it.

For an instant the younger girl looked torn. She'd love to watch the hawk hunt for rabbits. Sighing, she decided she probably would be killed if she skipped showing up for dinner tonight. "Fine…I'll see you later." She would have much rather have faced the adults with some back up, but she was on her own it seemed.

Moriko watched her go, lightly stroking Talon's feathers. She liked this woman she'd met, and hoped that this Cassia was one she would see more of, not the spoiled brat from before.

####################

"I think Crow is onto something. We can make it so that anyone who wants to be married to our little girl has to go through some sort of trials." Selene liked this idea. They could weed out anyone who was a bad choice, like Sable. "I hope Willow will go along with this, though." She looked up anxiously at the taller woman walking alongside her towards the still under construction temple. It would take generations before that building was finished.

"What?" Nix said looking at Crow. "What if Sable completes these trials? We'll have to accept her."

"Runt, it was the best I could come up with. Plus, if she does complete the trials, don't you think that will prove to you that maybe she is right for your little one. Maybe you're wrong about Sable," Crow said with a sigh, using her walking stick to help her walk, and wincing as her back protested.

Nix snorted, but relented as her love gently rubbed her back. "I guess. Let's talk to Willow."

The High Priestess had been one of the younger women to make the Exodus, and she still retained some of that youth. No silver hair graced her head yet, although her eyes held more wisdom than they had all those years ago when they had first come here. She was sitting by the entrance to the temple, feet stretched out in front of her, watching the beginnings of what promised to be a spectacular sunset.

As always, Selene smiled at the sight of her long time friend. "Watching the sky again, Willow?" she teased as they drew closer.

The high priestess grinned, getting up and dusting off her simple robes. "Someone has to keep an eye out for more glowing rocks falling to the earth." The priestess bowed as she saw the guest who was walking along with them. "Hello, Crow, it is good to see you again."

"As always, a pleasure, Priestess… So, has the Goddess told you anything exciting lately?" Crow asked, tilting her head, her back not letting her bow anymore.

Willow smiled, shaking her head. "You know that isn't the Goddess' way." She looked from woman to woman, taking in the lines of stress on their faces. "I take it that this isn't just a visit to say hello?"

Selene shook her head. "It's about Cassia."

Nix nodded, "She came home the other day with some absurd notion that she wanted to marry Sable."

"Runt, perhaps we should go inside Willow's house and away from nosy ears," Crow suggested, clapping Nix on the back, interrupting her before she could go off anymore.

Willow agreed. "Come, please." She led the way to a simple log building that had been built years ago, when it became apparent that someone who had to be present whenever a woman wanted to become pregnant needed something better than just a tent. Willow wasn't the only priestess these days. Waving away an acolyte who had opened the door, she led the three other women into a sitting room inside.

"Kristin, why don't you go make sure we have enough candles for tomorrow's service," she sent the young woman off. "Please sit and rest. Can I get anyone something to drink or eat?"

Three heads shook.

Crow slowly sat down, her knees giving a loud crack. And then with a sigh, she sat. "It's hell getting old," she said, simply.

Selene took a seat next to Nix, taking a large hand in her own for strength and support.

Willow nodded. "Something that we will all experience, I fear. Before you go, let me give you some herbs that may help with your back. Now, what is this about Cassia getting married?"

"She thinks she's in love with Sable and wants to marry her." Selene looked genuinely upset at the idea.

"Sable's a mooncalf. And even if Cassia wasn't going to be queen, I wouldn't want her to marry that girl," Nix broke in.

"Is it possible that she is in love with her?" Willow folded her hands on the table top, not voicing her own opinion of Sable.

"She's a big walking hormone, she's a teenager, and of course Cassia thinks she's in love with this Sable," Crow said reasonably. "But the problem is that, from what I understand, Sable would be a pretty poor choice as a co-ruler. Because we have more than the whim of a young woman, we have the future of the north to consider."

"If I thought for an instant that Sable would make her happy, I wouldn't be this upset about it," Selene chimed in, hoping her friend saw how bad an idea Sable was.

Willow considered the three of them then nodded, sighing. "If she were any other girl I could try to put off the ceremony until they were older. I assume Sable's parents are pushing for this to go forward?"

"Of course, they think it's great." Nix also was quite aware of the fact that Sable's mothers had been good friends with Laurel. "They have this notion of how a Queen should be. They've been quite vocal of their opinion of the beastly smith who dared to rise above what is respectable," Nix said with disdain.

Selene just gripped Nix's hand tighter at that, having heard those opinions as well.

"You look like someone with a plan over there, old woman," Willow nodded towards Crow, grinning at being able to get away with calling her that after her earlier comment about getting old.

Crow made a face. "Watch it, priestess, I can still pick you up and throw you over my shoulder." She tried to be menacing, but failed. "Yes, I think the solution is a series of tasks, or trials. That way once completed, no one will worry about a woman who wishes to be a...um..." she frowned, looking for a word, "a consort, a Rezan," she smiled, that was a good word, "who wishes to be the Queen's Rezan. It will prove devotion and loyalty."

"And you want me, as High Priestess, to give my blessing to these trials?"

Three heads nodded.

"Who would you have design these trials?" She looked to Crow, giving no indication if she agreed or not with the idea.

Crow looked at Nix and Selene.

"The head families," Selene spoke up. "That way none of them can disagree with who gets chosen if they all had a hand in shaping the trials."

Nix nodded, "That sounds fair. But this isn't open for anyone, just by doing the trial doesn't make you this Rezan. I don't want to force a marriage on my daughter."

Willow considered the idea, finally nodding in assent. "For the good of the future, I will agree. Although I'm not personally comfortable with making someone prove that they love Cassia enough to be with her by going through whatever evil trials you and the others can come up with. Cassia has to agree to whoever attempts the trials, and the rules must be made clear to all before the trials begin, so no one can complain of favoritism."

Nix nodded, biting her lower lip in thought. "It's a tough call, the heart of a young woman or the security of a whole land of people. Unless someone can propose something better, I agree with Crow's idea of the trials."

She wished she had a better idea, but Selene didn't have one. "I'm for it as well."

The priestess bowed her head. "So be it. I'll publicly support it. You do realize we might be setting a precedent here. All Queens' consorts, or Rezan's, might end up having to go through this."

"Would that be such a horrible thing," Selene asked, smiling towards her own mate, "might stop people from complaining?"

"Hopefully they will take it with the heart it is intended, only to prove merit, heart, and metal," Crow said. "Those who rule can not have the same comforts that others have. Was not Selene attacked by an ex-lover, but by a God as well? Unconsciously, I would say Nix proved herself to the Queen and its people."

####################

Cassia tossed and turned in her bed, sighing as the straw shifted under the thicker blanket that was used to hold it down. She heard rumors that the women in the south used feathers to make their beds from. How, she wondered, would sleeping on that feel like; certainly not as lumpy?

With one last disgusted sigh, she flung aside her blanket and got up. Apparently she didn't want to sleep quite yet. The house was silent at this time of night, Selene and Nix having gone to bed hours before.

Getting up, she carefully moved to the single window in her bedroom, careful to avoid any of the creaky floorboards. Sneaking out was something she was an old hand at by now. It took a careful amount of pressure to open the window without causing noise.

Then she had to perch on the window frame and stretch out her leg to catch the nearby tree limb. After, it was a shove and she was in the tree, clinging on tightly before shimmying down it towards the grass below.

With a muffled oof she dropped from the lowest branch onto the grass of the side yard of the smithy. She paused there, ears straining to hear any movement inside the house to indicate she'd been discovered.

Crow, snoring softly, was bedded down by the hearth, the warmth from the still hot embers making her back feel wonderfully relaxed for a change. She snorted as she heard Cassia land outside, but didn't bother to get up. Either the girl was sneaking out to see her girlfriend or to the barn behind the house to see Moriko. She was happy to see the girls had gotten over their differences.

At dinner the two had been civil, almost friendly, and she could only hope that Yuri's shy eldest had made a friend. She felt bad for the girl, knowing that her parents were putting pressure on her to take on more and more responsibilities that, in all honesty, Pax and Yuri should be doing. However, things were what they were, and hopefully Yuri and Pax would ride out this rough patch in their relationship.

With a quiet sigh she rolled over, snuggling under the blanket and enjoying being warm. Perhaps she would stay here with the Runt from now on and sit by the fire and tell rambling, pointless stories to whoever would listen.

Outside the house, Cassia relaxed when she didn't hear any movement from inside. Her blood pumping, as it always did when she snuck out, the teen started towards the path that would lead around the barn and towards the houses beyond. She'd snuck out often over the past few months to go see Sable.

This time, though, her feet slowed as she passed the barn. Without thinking why, she stepped inside, trying to see in the dim moonlight for Moriko. The other girl had insisted she was going to sleep in the barn.

Two shaggy Alcen heads rose up over their enclosure, their liquid brown eyes staring at her before going back to munching on some feed. From the third stall came the sound of light snoring. Moriko was curled up in a bed of straw in a little nest she had made with several blankets. Talon stood on a beam above her, watching everything in the moonlight.

Cassia crept closer, scratching one of the Alcen's on the nose as she passed. Creeping up to the edge of the stall, the blonde whispered, "Moriko?" She called a little louder, "Hey, you awake?" to the snoring woman.

The young woman shot up, her blonde hair wild with bits of straw stuck in it. "I'm sorry. I overslept. I'll get right on my chores," she mumbled out, her eyes not quiet open.

"Hey, it's just me." Cassia stepped closer, worried. "I'm sorry. It's still night."

A brown eye cracked open. "Huh? What?" She rubbed her eyes and the blur in front of her took on a shape. "Oh, hey," she grinned, recognizing Cassia in the dim light of the barn. She frowned, realizing it was still night. "Is-is-is everything okay."

"Yeah…" The other woman rocked back and forth at the edge of the stall, looking worried. This obviously had been a bad idea. "Sorry, I didn't…I mean, I shouldn't have woken you up. I'll go."

Moriko snorted. "Well, I'm up now. So don't just leave." She patted the blanket-covered straw next to her. "What's up?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to share the condition?" Cassia smiled hopefully. She felt like an idiot for waking the other girl up. "You could go back to sleep if you want," she said, climbing up onto the straw.

Moriko just shrugged. "So why couldn't you sleep?" She struggled in the straw for a moment then got comfortable with her back resting against the sideboards.

Flopping down onto the straw with the boneless grace of youth, Cassia squirmed around until she found a comfortable spot staring up at the ceiling above her. "I don't know, couldn't get comfortable, I guess."

Moriko looked at the young princess for a moment before standing up, brushing the straw out of her hair, and held out a hand. "Come on, let's go somewhere with a better view than the ceiling."

The younger girl grabbed the offered hand, getting pulled to her feet. "What did you have in mind?"

"Come on. You'll see." She led Cassia up the ladder to where the straw was kept above the stalls. Then, being young and spry, they were easily able to scrabble out and up to the roof of the barn. Overhead, the moon and the stars twinkled. Moriko laid back on the cool wood of the roof. "That is what I call a better view."

"You're right, it is." Cassia stretched out on the roof, cradling her head in her folded hands. "I used to love laying in the backyard and watching the stars. Selene used to tell me stories about all of the constellations in the sky."

"My Muanya would sit with me at night under the stars when I was little and make up stories. My mother Yuri has never been that fond of the sky, she says it scares her, all that emptiness spanning on forever. Maybe that's why they love their mines so much." She shrugged. "I've always found it peaceful."

"Yeah, Nix never really liked staring up at the sky either, my Muanya said it used to remind her of when she was young and her mother told her stories of a better place." The younger woman let her head shift sideways so she could see Moriko's outline in the starlight. "Can you keep a secret?"

Moriko nibbled on her top lip for a moment. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked after a while of pretending to watch the stars.

Cassia burst out, laughing as the two of them asked the same question at the same time, almost. "I promise to never tell your secret if you promise to do the same with mine?"

Moriko nodded seriously. "I would never tell a secret. Well, unless it was a bad secret and someone's life was in danger." Her face had an utterly earnest look to it.

With the same earnest look on her face, Cassia extended the pinky on her left hand. "Shake on it?"

Moriko grinned and extended her pinky as well. "So what's this terrible secret the princess of the north has?" She grinned to show she was teasing.

The younger woman looked around, making sure that no one was around to hear. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I like buildings."

Moriko snorted, "Who doesn't. Their warmer than tents, and they keep the rain and the snow out."

Cassia laughed, swatting the other girl on the arm. "No. That's not what I meant. I mean, I like drawing them and drawing new ones that haven't been built yet. I keep thinking of all these different things that could be built that could be so much nicer than what we have so far." She paused, biting her lip to see what Moriko would think. Sable had laughed the last time Cassia had started to talk about buildings.

"Sounds like the north will have some nice new buildings once you're Queen," Moriko said, simply. "I'm jealous. I can't draw at all."

"I'm not really good with drawing people or sunsets or things like that." Cassia leaned back, glad that the night was hiding her blush. She didn't know what she had expected, but this outright acceptance wasn't it. "What was your secret?"

Moriko stared straight up into the night sky. "I'm not going back with Crow, when she decides it's time to return."

Cassia rolled onto her side towards Moriko in surprise at that. "What? You aren't going back home, why not?"

She blew out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Because..." It seemed silly now. "I'm tired of sleeping in the barn. I'm tired of taking care of my sisters and house. I'm tired of being the adult." She said the last part quietly. She could feel Cassia's eyes on her, but she was scared to look.

The younger girl was silent, not sure what to say to that. Instead, she reached over and took the other girl's hand, squeezing her fingers. "You could stay here. I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem with it. Mother already loves you since you cut the firewood."

"That would be nice." She gently squeezed back. "I like your mothers, they seem nice, and despite Selene being Queen, she makes time for you."

Cassia snorted and looked back up to the sky above them. A streak of light caught her eye and she smiled as a shooting star crossed the night sky. "Selene's not bad, but I can't seem to talk to her or mother anymore. We only get into fights."

Moriko snorted. "That's not fighting. My parents fight; they scream and yell and stomp off in huffs. They love us and each other, but it seems like they forgot how to show it."

"They yell at each other?" Cassia looked over at that, blinking. "I think I only remember one time when my mothers got that angry and I started that."

"Yeah, they forget when they yell at each other everyone can hear them. Yuri was in love with Selene, and my Muanya knows it. It makes her feel insecure, and Yuri forgets that and acts stupid. Then they fight. My Muanya freaks out now when Yuri even looks at another woman." She shrugged and was reminded they were still holding hands. Blushing, she let go.

"Yuri met Selene here in Nix's smithy, and it was love at first sight, according to my mother. According to Crow, Selene only had eyes for Nix, and Yuri never had a chance." She stretched her long arms and legs across the roof wood, before settling back down.

"After your mothers were married, Yuri met my Muanya when she was bringing some ore down. She was having trouble with an Alcen and my Muanya stepped in to help, which was good since Alcens and my mother don't mix." She snorted. Yuri was hopeless with any animal.

"So you take after your mother?" Cassia propped her head up on one hand so she could look at her new acquaintance. "I've never met anyone who's so good with animals before. You should try to teach others. I'm sure people would love to learn how to handle animals like that."

"I have a little bit." She shrugged, bashful at the praise, and yawned. "It's not that hard, you treat the animal well and it will want to please you."

"People are like that too," Cassia murmured, her eyes slipping closed a little as she lay on the roof. It was a nice night, even if it was a bit cool out. Her insomnia from earlier had fled and she smiled sleepily.

Moriko sat up and poked Cassia. "You should keep that in mind. Come on…let's climb down before we fall asleep."

She groaned in protest, but sat up as well. "Are you saying I'm not nice to people?" Her attempt to sound upset was hampered by a yawn midway through her question.

"You weren't the first time we met." The other girl grinned to take away the sting of her words. "But you're getting better."

Cassia had the good graces to look ashamed. "Sorry. I was being a bit of a brat, wasn't I?"

"A bit…" She held up a thumb and index finger to show how much then swung down onto the hayloft.

Letting out an annoyed huff, the younger girl followed her down into the hay. "You aren't going to let me get away with anything, are you?"

"Hey, I could treat you like my Alcens when they misbehave. Trust me, I'm being nice."

Eyeing her warily, Cassia followed her down into the main stable area. "What do you do to your Alcens when they misbehave?"

"Depends on what they do. Normally it's a smack on the nose. Since it's sensitive, they don't like that. If they do something that endangers a life, I might have to use a crop on them." She didn't really like that, but her mother could not take a chance on selling an Alcen that might try and kill someone with one of its horns.

"A crop?" blue eyes widened. "No using a crop on me. I'll fight back," she huffed, flopping down on the blankets that Moriko had been using as a bedroll in the hay.

She laughed, "You think they don't." She walked over and began to pet one of the Alcens, scratching its nose, and pointed out its big horns. "Those really hurt."

"Yeah, but I scratch, scream, and may bite." Cassia yawned again, snuggling down into the blanket. "Besides, I could get people to beat you up if you try," she muttered sleepily.

Moriko walked over to the yawning Cassia, leaned over, and smacked her lightly on the nose. "That wasn't very nice. You'll have people beat me up. I haven't done anything."

She flopped on to her bedroll, yawning.

The younger girl yelped in surprise, glaring at the other girl. She sighed and pulled the blanket up over her to ward off the chill. "I guess that was mean of me, huh?"

"Not mean, so much as thoughtless. Hey, don't you have your own bed with blankets in the house," Moriko grumbled as her blanket was stolen.

"Comfy," Cassia mumbled, using her arm as a pillow and closing her eyes, "'night."

"What?" the blonde grumped at the two Alcens looking over their stalls at her.

####################

Nix frowned and stomped around the house. "She's not here again. She snuck out. I thought things were better. She was civil at dinner," she muttered to her audience of Crow, who wisely said nothing.

"Good morning." Selene came down the stairs from the second floor. "Hi, Crow, did you sleep well?" The shorter woman paused to give her wife a hug and a morning kiss before seeing what they had for breakfast.

Crow noticed Selene coming down the stairs and chose to flee. "Slept great, how about I go get some eggs?" she muttered and flew outside as fast as her aching bones would let her. She frowned thinking she had been wrong and the girl had gone off to find Sable.

Selene looked up at Nix in confusion as the older woman fled the room. "What's wrong with Crow?"

Nix returned the kiss. "The little one escaped again last night. I'm thinking I should chain her to the bed at night."

The shorter woman sighed and shook her head. "She's getting really good at that. Neither of us heard her this time." Letting go of her wife, Selene moved to the cupboards to start fixing something for breakfast.

Nix just shrugged and began poking the belly of the oven she had made three years ago, until she got a fire started. "What really gets me is that we had a nice dinner last night. She was actually sitting at the table with us."

####################

Outside in the barn, Cassia grumbled and pulled the blanket up over her head to block out the annoying light that was threatening to make her wake up. She didn't want to wake up, she was comfortable and nice and warm.

Crow could see perfectly inside the still dark barn, and her eyes twinkled in merriment. "Now this is an interesting picture."

"Go away," Cassia mumbled, blonde hair mussed up with bits of straw sticking out of it, waving her hand in the general direction of the annoying noise.

An unintelligible sound emerged from the pile of hay, and one eye cracked open to stare blearily up at the figure in the doorway. "Crow?" she yawned. "It's too early. Can't I just go back to sleep?"

"Nope," the older woman said. "You know, it's a good thing I came out here. I don't think your mothers would like you sleeping in the barn with some girl."

"What?" Cassia sat upright when she realized where she was and why she itched in odd places. A quick check confirmed that she was indeed in the barn still. She'd never slept in the barn before. "Moriko?" she looked around for the other girl.

Moriko let out a string of nonsensical words and rolled over taking the blanket they were sharing with her.

"Wow, you really must have kept her up late, she never sleeps past breakfast," Crow said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Cassia blushed hard. "We didn't do anything! I don't even like her like, well, like that." She stood up hurriedly, straw sticking everywhere. "We just talked on the roof." She paused. "Are my parents up?"

"Yep, ankle biter, they are. I think the Runt is a little hurt 'cause she thinks you snuck out again. But she's hiding her hurt by being mad," Crow replied in warning so that the girl wouldn't get blindsided when she went inside.

The youngster grimaced. This was going to be horrible. "I better go inside before she gets really mad and gets Selene all upset also. If they're both angry, it's going to be impossible."

The nearest Alcen gave a bleating hoot of annoyance at not having been fed yet and stomped a foot. Moriko quickly sat up, her eyes not even open. She rubbed her sleep-crusted eyes, and half-asleep, got up and started getting the feed ready.

Crow just watched with amusement. "Look at that, boy is she housebroken." She turned her attention back to Cassia. Reaching down, she helped the girl up. "Probably a good idea…oh, and grab some eggs, I'll just tell your folks you beat me to it this morning."

"Eggs, right." Cassia couldn't help but laugh at the sleepy look on Moriko's face as she started to give the Alcen's their feed. "Morning, Moriko," she called, heading for the smaller chicken coop by the side of the barn.

"Morning," the girl responded automatically. One of the Alcens tried to shove her out of the way to get at its feed, and she lightly smacked it on the nose. With a bleat of protest, it backed off. Now a little more awake, she blinked and looked around the barn, catching Cassia coming from the back carrying eggs. "Are we in trouble?"

The girl shrugged, risking a glance at her aunt Crow to try and judge how bad it might actually be inside. "I don't know. But I'm bringing a gift," she held up the basket of eggs.

"Not if you don't hurry up. But next time you want to sneak out for a little fun, try to make it back to your own bed," Crow said opening the door.

Moriko gave a pat to the Alcens' then ran after Crow and Cassia.

"Aunt Crow," Cassia groaned, "we weren't having fun...wait, we were having fun, but not that kind of fun!"

"Uh huh," was all Crow said.

Crow stepped inside with a grin. "Hey, look who I found getting us some eggs for breakfast?"

Selene looked up from the bread she was seeing to and smiled, looking relieved as she spotted Cassia. "There you are. See, she even got us eggs this morning, Nix."

Nix was still frowning, but it looked like it wanted to turn into a smile. "Um, well, um...thanks, pumpkin." She flushed remembering how Cassia hated being called that now. "I mean, uh, thanks."

Ducking under Crow's arm, which was holding the door open, Cassia offered the basket of eggs to Nix with a smile. "Here, there were a few this morning. Moriko's going to eat breakfast with us also, right?" She let the pumpkin thing slide for now.

"Of course she can eat with us, if she wants to," Selene called from where she was building up the fire in the stove Nix had built for them years ago. She rather hoped the young woman would relax a bit and not be as painfully shy as she had been the last time she'd seen her.

Nix blinked, somewhat shocked at the lack of outburst and the lack of mentioning anything about Sable. "Sit, Moriko, we don't bite."

The young woman fidgeted then carefully sat down at the table. It was odd being in this house, there was some tension, but nothing like at her house, and it was warm and inviting. "Th-thank you…"

Crow laughed…a loud sound that startled nearly everything. "She's not so shy once she gets used to you. Then you can't get her to be quiet."

Moriko flushed, "Crow, that's not true."

"Aunt Crow, you're being mean," Cassia frowned at the older woman, then, to Selene's surprise, started to set the table without having been asked to do it. She exchanged a surprised look with Nix then set about making an omelet with the eggs that Cassia had brought in.

"I'm not being mean, ankle biter. I'm just tweaking her a bit, kind of like I do with you." The large woman sat down gently next to the blushing blonde.

"You can't talk more than Cassia does when she gets excited over something." Selene decided that some gentle teasing was in order. "Like that time she managed to make her first piece in the forge. I think she talked about it for two weeks straight."

"Really..?" Moriko asked. "I didn't know you worked metal like your mother. What did you make?"

The young woman could feel herself flushing as she realized that everyone in the room was watching her closely for her response. Risking a glance up at her mother, she dared meet Nix's eyes only for a moment. "Mother helped, I mean, she made most of it herself. I wasn't old enough to do it myself, but I helped make the door knocker outside to replace the old wooden one we had."

"She's being modest. She told me what she wanted to do and I just helped her lift the hammer and such," Nix broke in, her face beaming with pride.

"Really, you made the knocker on the door? It looks nice. You're lucky to have an important skill like that," Moriko said shyly.

"Mother..." Cassia sighed, in the way that only teenagers could mix a warning and disparaging comment in one, then turned and smiled widely at Moriko. "Thanks." Seeing that Selene was almost done with the eggs, she shot up off her seat to go grab the clay dishes. In record time the breakfast had been split up evenly and placed at each of the settings on the table.

Smiling with amusement at the human tornado, Selene paused to press a kiss to Nix's temple then took a seat next to her at the table.

"Th-thanks for breakfast, um..." Moriko hesitated, not certain how to address the Queen.

"My name is Selene, dear." The other woman picked up her wooden utensils and started to eat. "Would you like some tea?"

"I'll get it!" Cassia stood up, nearly knocking over her chair to grab the tea pot and pour some for Moriko before she could even answer. "Did you know Moriko has a falcon that follows her around?"

Nix met Selene's eyes and gave a little grin, which she quickly hid, "Really, a falcon?"

Their daughter nodded, quickly finishing a mouthful of omelet so she could talk. "I've never seen a falcon come to someone like that. She has this leather thing on her arm that he lands on, and he comes to her whenever she calls him."

Selene ate at a more leisurely pace, using the act of eating to hide the grin that she was having more trouble hiding than Nix.

Moriko's cheeks were quickly dusted with a faint blush. "Um, yes, he's a black-tailed hawk. I've had him since he was a baby. He fell out of his nest, and the mother wouldn't take him back, so I raised him." She tried to think of something to deflect the conversation from herself.

"I think it's still amazing that you made the door knocker, to have a skill like that to make things. It's just..." As her mother pointed out on several occasions, it was best if she stood away from fire. She didn't have any skill, be it with metal or making food, her and fire didn't get along.

"It's just neat," she finished quietly, embarrassed she was gushing and everybody at the table seemed to be looking at her funny.

The young girl lowered her eyes to study the tabletop in front of her. "I like working in the forge, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life," she whispered, not daring to look up and see Nix's face. To see the disappointment she was sure was going to be clear in her mother's expression.

This was the first time she'd said such a thing clearly, instead of during the heat of an argument.

Very carefully, Selene avoided making any sort of sound or letting any expression cross her face as she reached over to take Nix's hand. This was the closest to an actual conversation that the family had had in what felt like forever. She just hoped that her lover would answer calmly and not act hastily.

Nix's eyes left Moriko's form and switched to Cassia, hurt by the statement. Deep inside she knew Cassia wouldn't follow in her footsteps, but still, to have it out in the open, it did hurt her. She felt Selene take her hand and felt somewhat lighter. "I know," she said it quietly, almost as if she forced it out. "It's okay." It wasn't, but it would be someday.

The big woman suddenly didn't have much of an appetite. "Gina's youngest will be up within the week to start her apprenticeship with me." Her watery blue eyes were fixed firmly on her plate. To have said it out loud made it so real.

"I'm sorry!" Cassia did look up at that, tears forming in her eyes at the calm words from her mother. Somehow they were worse than anything Nix could have shouted. "I tried." Tears gathered and two course down over her cheeks.

Moriko felt like she was intruding and seriously wanted to be any place other than here at the moment. Her own eyes were fascinated by the patterns she was making with her eggs. Crow poked her hard and she looked up and the older woman gestured for them to go outside. Quietly as they could, they left the table.

Next to Nix, Selene watched them go with a feeling of relief. She couldn't have asked them to leave, not politely anyway, but this was a conversation to be had with family members only.

Nix finally looked up. "Cassia, you have nothing to be sorry for. I guess I'm sorry if I made you feel like I had all these expectations to follow after me. I just, I just thought you liked spending time in the forge with me. Then one day you just stopped speaking to me and doing your chores..." She blew out a breath, probably a good thing, 'cause she wanted to end with, 'and you started acting like a spoiled brat'. That would just send them backwards.

Her daughter leapt from her chair, moving to take the chair that Crow had sat in next to where Nix sat, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. "I like being with you. I loved spending time in the forge. I thought I wanted to be a smith." She had dreamed of taking over the forge when she was young.

"But then I couldn't...there was so much more I wanted to do." She knew she was explaining it badly, but it was so hard. She felt like her heart was breaking it was so full with sadness at the expression on her mother's face. "Do you hate me?" she cried, fearing the answer.

Nix laughed, a few tears streaking down her face. "No, pumpkin, I don't hate you. You're our daughter, your Muanya and I love you very much. I will admit I haven't been very happy with you skipping out on your chores and running around like some moonstruck calf. The sneaking out has given us more gray hair, I think, but I don't think I've behaved much better on occasion." It was hard to admit, but blowing her stack at Cassia had probably made it worse.

The tears calmed to a few sniffles, and a bashful look came over the young girl at the mention of her chores and running around. "Both of you don't like Sable much, do you?"

Nix went quiet. After a moment, she managed to say something. "Um...well...I like her fine."

Her wife laughed a little at her answer, grinning fondly at their daughter and her wife. "No, I don't think we can say that we are very happy with the thought of you marrying Sable."

"Actually, I don't think we like the idea of you marrying at all yet, you seem so young, pumpkin. There's so much to learn and experience. It's a huge new world, and we don't even know the half of what is out there." Nix looked at her daughter carefully, to see if they were on the verge of a blow up.

Cassia drew in a breath to immediately start arguing then forced herself to let it go. She couldn't just keep on yelling at her parents every time they said something she didn't like. "I still like Sable." She folded her hands over her chest, daring them to argue about that.

Nix blew out a breath. "Why don't we stop while we are all ahead? I feel a lot better and closer to my most favorite women than I have in a while, and perhaps we should take some time and think about all this."

"Truce..?" Cassia smiled.

Nix grinned and looked at her partner before back at the young woman in front of her, "Truce."

"Good. Now that you two have settled that, you can both do the dishes." Selene kissed Nix's cheek then Cassia's.

Nix rolled her eyes and got up from the table. "I'll do the dishes. Go have fun for today, but tomorrow, no more slacking on your chores. It was nice of Moriko to pitch in, but it's not her job."

Cassia rolled her eyes in an exact imitation of her mother. "I can dry then I'll go have fun."

Nix didn't argue, "Fair enough."

####################

Moriko was brushing down Ruger, the huge male Alcen she had raised from a fawn. He stomped his feet and tried to act annoyed, but she knew he was loving it.

"Excuse me!"

Moriko knew she wasn't going to like whoever was attached to that voice.

She turned her head away from her task, "Um, y-y-yes."

The young girl snorted in annoyance. "Who are you? And what are you doing in the royal stable? And you should address me as Lady Sable, and put a bow in it if you're capable."

Moriko bit her lip to refrain from saying anything too nasty, and turned back to her chores. So that was Sable. She was a twit. "Cassia is in the house."

"Cassia is in the house...Lady Sable," Sable tried to correct. After a moment of silence being her only response, she stomped her foot and left for the house.

In a huff she marched up to the house. That girl was just so...rude, yes rude. Why was she here? Had the royal family finally hired a servant? She reached the house and knocked politely at the door, plastering a smile on her face. Her mothers had reamed her out good for her little stunt yesterday. They had told her to make up and agree to the stupid tasks and they would make sure she passed at any cost.

####################

It had been a nice morning, although Cassia didn't like crying in front of her parents. She'd enjoyed feeling close to her mothers again though. They'd cleaned up after breakfast, teasing one another and laughing like old times. No mention was made of the smithy or any potentially explosive topic. Soon afterwards, Nix had gone out to the smithy and Selene had to go to meet with some of the women who had come in from over the southern pass.

Humming to herself, Cassia hurried downstairs from her room where she'd been sketching some new ideas and opened the door. "You don't have to knock..." she trailed off, having expect it to be Moriko at the door. Instead, it was Sable. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

Sable pouted. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?" She even worked up a few tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday. But you can't blame me, it did come out of nowhere, and why should we have to prove our love to your parents," she continued barely taking a breath.

The taller girl couldn't stay angry at Sable when she produced a few tears and looked up at her like that. "I know it was sudden, I'm sorry. But even Willow is saying that you would have to go through the trials."

Sable sighed. "Okay." She paused to think of the words her mothers had told her to say. "If that's what it will take to get your mothers to like me, I'll do them."

There was a hint of doubt in Cassia's mind. Sable had seemed so very vocal yesterday about never doing any sort of trial. "Are you sure?" she frowned a little.

"Of course, I want to be Queen to your Queen. I just needed some time to think." She leaned in and kissed Cassia's lips, a little concerned at the lukewarm response.

The kiss was as nice as it had always been, and Cassia relaxed into it. "Will I see you tonight?"

Sable grinned, that was more like it. "Of course…the usual spot?"

The other girl nodded, smiling. "See you then."

"Oh, did you're family finally get a servant?" Sable asked.

"What?" Cassia leaned out the door to see who she was talking about, frowning again. "No, that's Moriko."

Moriko was heading up towards the well when she spied the young couple in the doorway to the house, a frowned spread out over her face. She pointedly ignored them and walked past to the well to draw water for the Alcens. She was beginning to like Cassia, but she wasn't sure she could stand her being with that twit.

Sable blinked. "Oh, well, she's very rude. I'll see you later." She gave Cassia another kiss, this one a little more intense to make sure the girl was focused on her. She didn't like the way she was familiar with this Moriko.

She left Cassia to stand in the doorway, frowning as she watched her girlfriend leave. Why did it bother her that Sable thought Moriko was rude and had insinuated she was a servant? Cassia herself had done almost the same not too long ago.

Moriko walked past and stopped suddenly as Sable nearly ran into her. Water slopped over the sides of the rough wooden bucket and on to her pants and boots.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Sable yelled.

Moriko simply gritted her teeth and said nothing, just turned and went back to the well for water.

"Sorry about that," a quiet voice said from not far away, as Cassia walked towards the well. "She's just..." Cassia paused, not sure what words to use to describe Sable.

Moriko stayed silent, and drew up another bucket of water. Turning, she looked at Cassia for a second. "Last night you asked me if this Sable loved you. I told you I didn't know. Now, I'm only going to tell you what I think once, and then unless you truly want my honest opinion, we won't speak of it again. She loves only the idea of you." She walked past the princess back to the barn.

Her short conversation with Sable let her know that the twit loved only the idea of being Lady Sable.

The other teen trailed along behind her into the barn, the frown deepening. "But that means that she kind of loves me, doesn't it?"

Moriko shrugged, "I guess." She poured the water into the trough and rubbed Ruger's nose before letting him drink.

Cassia jumped up onto one of the piles of hay to watch the other teen rub the nose of the Alcen. "My mothers like you." She decided to change the topic. "Nix said it was nice for you to pitch in, but it's not your job. You don't have to do chores. I do."

Moriko smiled. "Well, seeing as the Alcens are mine, I think I'm doing my chores." She set the bucket down and went into the empty stall she was using and looked for her pack. Wet boots and trousers spun with Alcen hair were really uncomfortable.

With a huff, Cassia flopped backwards onto the pile of hay to stare up at the roof above her to give the other girl some privacy. "Well, I guess that's all the chores you need to do."

She started to take off her boots, hopping around a bit and almost falling over, but finally got them off. The trousers were a bit easier. With a sigh of relief, she hung the wet pants over the stall door and pulled out a clean pair and put them on. "Yeah, at least your chores don't include taking care of something that poops." Rose, the smaller female Alcen, looked up at her mistress and gave a hoot of displeasure. "Well, you do," she muttered at the beast.

The other teen laughed at the interaction between the handler and her animal. With a mischievous smile, she got up onto her knees and crept up to the stall. Peering between the wooden boards, she picked up a pile of the hay she'd been laying on and tossed it over the top of the stall.

"Hey!" Moriko squawked indigently, her hands holding up her trousers while she tried to tie the simple braided belt. Taking a breath she blew straw out of her face.

Laughter came from the other stall, swiftly followed by another shower of straw that rained down from above. "You having problems over there?"

In a second, she finished tying her belt, and with quick steps, she was out the stall door and running into the other empty stall. "That wasn't very nice." She scooped up some clean hay and tossed it at the girl.

The laughter turned into a shriek as Moriko moved faster than Cassia had expected and she got straw flung at her. "No fair!" She tried to back up, but the stall was only so big. In desperation, she started to fling hay back at the other girl, and suddenly, the air was filled with flying straw.

Moriko laughed and tackled Cassia into the hay. "Let this be a lesson not to start things you can't finish." She had four sisters, so she doubted there was a move or dirty trick she hadn't encountered. "Let's see if you're ticklish." Her hands started on Cassia's sides, looking for a ticklish spot.

####################

Nix came out of her shop after hearing what sounded like Cassia shouting. Crow waved her off from where she'd been enjoying the sunshine in the courtyard.

"They're just playing," Crow nodded. "Moriko wouldn't hurt a fly." She smiled, "Hear that? That's Moriko's laugh. I haven't heard that in a while. So just go back to work and let the girls have their fun."

Nix sighed, but went back inside.

####################

The shrieks turned louder and shriller, "N-no!" Cassia laughed, struggling to get away from the probing fingers. "I give up! I give up!" she struggled to yell between bouts of laughter, squirming in the pile of hay.

Moriko laughed and stopped only when Cassia threatened to pee on her. She flopped down into the hay. "For a Princess, you're pretty strong."

That earned the other girl a punch to the arm from the still laughing Cassia, her face red from the tickling. "And you aren't very nice," she retorted jokingly.

The blonde rolled her eyes, "I haven't dunked you in the trough, so I'm being very nice."

"You wouldn't dare!" It was the wrong thing to say, and Cassia knew it the second the words left her mouth. Eyes wide, she sprung to her feet, frantically backing away from the other girl. "You wouldn't dunk me in the water, right?"

Moriko made no move to get up. "Not right now. This is my only other pair of trousers, I'm not getting them wet, 'cause Alcen wool is horribly scratchy when wet. And I'm not walking around naked. I think your moms would not like me very much if I did that."

She sighed happily, and couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed like that.

Not quite trusting that the other girl wasn't going to make a move, Cassia stayed where she was, standing at the edge of the stall door. "That's the only other pair of trousers you have?" She frowned. "We should go shopping." Her comment brought a glint of excitement to her eyes. "We could go find you at least another pair of trousers that's not made from Alcen hair."

Moriko frowned and picked at some straw on her chest. "I can't afford to go shopping." She didn't have any money, and nothing, really, to barter with.

Cassia moved closer, holding out her hand. "Come on, it will be fun. I have some money that we can use. My mothers give me an allowance; well, they did when I was doing my chores."

The other girl looked unsure. "I don't know. You don't need to spend your money on me."

"I don't need to, but I want to. Please?" Cassia tried out her best smile, the one she used whenever she was trying to get something out of either Nix or Selene.

"Sure."

There was another mischievous glint in Cassia's eyes. Grabbing the other girl's hand, she pulled her up and towards the door to the barn. "I know just the places to go try on some pairs."

####################

Keshet stifled a sigh as her advisor droned on and on about the northern royal family. She was prudent enough not to ask how the woman knew all the dirty laundry going on in a fledging city miles from them, or why it mattered so much. In all honesty, she wasn't that brave a woman. Her partner had been the brave one, the warrior; she was merely an ex-pleasure slave who fell in love with the woman who would found the southern territories. Of course, the Followers of Armando would have a snit about that, they considered themselves the southern territories, and her territories the midlands, but it was her land now, and she would call it what Morgan had.

Her advisor, a gift from the Goddess of Shadows, was a scary woman. Not that the woman had ever done anything, it was just a feeling that she got. And Keshet was a woman who listened to her gut feelings. The advisor wore all black. Even her face was covered in black cloth, leaving only twin black pools that were her eyes, visible.

It was times like this that Keshet hated her partner for dying and leaving her this awful chore of running a kingdom; balancing loyalties between various gods and three petulant children. Actually, the eldest seemed like she had outgrown that phase and the twins. The twins, on the other hand, had their moments where she thought she might actually let them live to see twenty.

A creaking of leather behind her let her know it was Eira, a tall, whip-thin woman with the same unnerving black eyes as her advisor, and a hungry look that constantly sat upon her features. A look that was not helped by the severe bun she pulled her light brown hair into. Eira was a gift from the Temple of Shadows, a bodyguard for her and the children. One that Keshet didn't really want, but politically had to take - with a smile.

Utterly bored, her gaze strolled around the throne room, the comforting presence of her Guard Captain, Penka, and her hound Rage stood by the doorway shadowed by the newest chosen of Vladlin's Temple, Valdis, and her hound Wraith. Penka was imposing in her dark armor, almost frightful, but to the Queen, Penka was a soothing presence in the throne room. Valdis was average height, with white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to miss nothing, and the new tattoos on her hands showed up easily on her pale skin. On top of each hand was a black paw print, showing her as a chosen of Vladlin, God of War and chaos.

Keshet's wandering mind snapped back to her advisor's words. "What was that? Selene's child is looking to get married?"

The advisor nodded. "But her parents have created some boundaries for marriage that is causing some conflict in the royal family."

"And I'm caring about this private matter, why?"

The advisor fought to roll her eyes. "Well, you do have three available daughters. Who knows, if perhaps you took a visit up north to visit our cousins, maybe the Royal daughter would prefer one of your daughters instead? It would be a good political move."

Keshet frowned. "Brody is happily courting some girl from the plains, and I have no intention of getting in the middle of that. As for the twins, they're only sixteen, and aren't even capable of taking care of themselves, let alone to get married."

Under her black face cloth, the advisor gritted her teeth. The poison was supposed to have killed this stubborn bitch, not Morgan. Morgan had been easy to manipulate until she married Keshet. So her plan in the winter had been to poison Keshet with a poison that reproduced the effects of wet lung rot. But stupid Morgan had to eat the food off of Keshet's plate.

"Well, their daughter Cassia is only sixteen."

Keshet shuddered, "I feel for them."
"Yes, I'm sure you do. Anyway, I think it would be prudent if maybe you and your daughters went up there as a sign of good will. Introduce the twins to their royal cousin, so to speak. If there's a spark between one of them, so much the better, it would strengthen our ties to the north. Plus…it would give Brody a chance to cut her teeth on the throne, so to speak, without having you to fall back on."

Keshet mulled it over. The only good point to come out of all that crap, she thought, was in letting Brody have the reins, so to speak. "I will think on it," she replied dryly

For a moment the advisor looked like she would say more, but then merely bowed and left.

Keshet sat for a while in thought, life in the throne room moving around her. After a while she turned, looking at Eira. "Eira, I'll be fine for a moment. Why don't you go check on the twins, I'm still not real fond of their new guards."

For a moment she thought the tall bodyguard would argue, the woman looked a little offended, but thankfully in the end, bowed and strode off.

A happy sigh bubbled over her lips as the woman left, and slowly rose from the simple wooden throne Morgan had carved for her years ago. "Penka, Valdis," she commanded, "attend me, please."

In a second, the two warriors were at her side. "My Queen?" Penka asked with a slight bow.

"I am going for a walk in the garden, and you two shall be my temporary bodyguards."

The women nodded and followed their Queen.

Keshet loved the gardens. Morgan had wooed her here, and it still held happy memories. And this was where she felt the closest to her dead lover.

The two guards waited, knowing that when the Queen was ready, she would speak her mind.

After a minute, the Queen sat on a simple wooden bench, and the two guardswomen came to rest on either side of her. "I'm not sure why the advisor is pushing for a match between our two lands. The twins hardly seem the type to marry at this point. Her idea has some merit, just not the part on marriage…" Keshet trailed off, thinking.

Valdis felt awkward. She was new to this post, and unlike her mother, was not used to having the Queen ask things of her. She darted a look at her mother, who just stood stoically, not surprised at all.

Her mother's sweet quiet voice asked, "Something about this bothers you. Once you figure that out, you'll know what to do."

Keshet smiled. "I know what troubles me. It's what always troubles me…the advisor. I know she's up to something. She bares a great hatred of the northern territories, and this stinks of some plot. I refuse to be her pawn to continue her own private feud with the north. We have enough problems here with petty Lady's setting up little fiefdoms, ruling them no better than the lords who ruled them."

Penka merely grunted, knowing well her Queen's personal dislike of her subjects who set up brutal households. The Queen made it no secret that she had been a pleasure slave in a violent household before the exodus. As a soldier for the Royal family, she had been sent out to fight many a petty despot trying to take advantage in this new world they were creating. Morgan had won Queenship through violence and blood, as well as promises to the gods. Keshet was left to fulfill this burden.

The Queen stretched then stood, looking from one soldier to the other, their sleek fearsome frames panting at their feet. One older, with gray peppering her hair, and scars of battle worn proudly; the other young and unmarked, a sign of change coming; they would grow old and die, but they would continue. She turned away. "A vacation would be nice, and I have yet to make a trip to the north. Before I was pregnant, and Morgan went alone. Perhaps those wild barbarians will wear out the twins?"

Penka snorted. "That would be a miracle, my Queen, not a vacation."

"Too right, Captain, too right." She grinned for a moment before becoming all business. "Start planning, we must be prepared, my loyal advisor has a trick up her sleeve. One that I think I will find no enjoyment in. You and Valdis will, of course, be joining us. Plan the rest accordingly. Don't forget Brody will need some muscle here as well."

Penka bowed, "It will be done. Valdis, attend the Queen."

Valdis nodded and followed the Queen.

####################

Keshet watched the twins squirm around in their saddles. Despite the early hour, they were alert and ready to go. She loved them dearly, although they tried her patience on a daily basis. They were both long and lean, their frames just starting to fill out, and both had Morgan's gray eyes. While Brody had her dark skin, the twins had dusky tan color to theirs, a combination of both parents.

Annoyed, she watched the other members of their traveling party fall into line. It was not the small little group she had originally planned on. Her advisor had insisted that Eira join them. Then the High priestesses from each temple had insisted that she take a representative from each one. Politically, she couldn't say no.

With a sigh, she looked over at Penka. "Can we go now?"

The Captain of the Guard hid a smile. "If you are ready, then we shall go."

The Queen nodded.

With a piercing whistle that got everyone's attention, they finally moved out.

####################

Vertag stretched her back, wincing at the soreness that pulled her muscles. With the end of summer in sight, all of the people of Abnoa were busy trying to pull in enough crops to endure the winter months ahead. Not for the first time, the gray-haired woman wished that they had something better to endure the harsh conditions that prevailed during the deep winter months, instead of the simple wooden houses they made do with now.

Waving to a party of women who were returning from hunting in the forest, she moved towards the communal kitchen hut. "Vertag!" a young voice called out, and she had to brace herself to catch the small form that flung itself at her.

Laughing, the older woman picked up the youngster and spun her around in the air as she had since she'd been born. "Hello, Melissa! What has you so excited today?" The youngster laughed happily at being twirled then tried to pretend to be all serious. "Mother sent me to tell you she saw horses coming towards us. Visitors!" the child was nearly vibrating with excitement.

"Visitors..?" Vertag ruffled the youngster's hair, her sister's child and dear to her heart. Shaking out dark brown hair that was almost always in a long ponytail, now streaked with gray, she changed course and headed towards the edge of the camp. "Go get some food, Melissa. I'll go find these visitors of yours."

####################

A messenger, fleet of foot, ran up the mountainous path. Abnoa pass was the gateway to the north, a territory that was somewhat of a mystery to those in the south. Her dark skin was flushed, her black, curly hair was plastered to her head, and her breath was labored, not used to the altitude. However, she kept going, her stride never slowing. She had a royal message, and she was proud to do her job.

The air was colder than she was used to, and she wished she had brought and over-tunic, but there was no use in wishing for things she didn't have. It was starting to grow dark, and she hoped she reached the settlement soon, unsure how she would find her way once it became full dark.

The trees were tall, and most of the landscape was unfamiliar. She was used to rich farmland and rain.

She heard a noise and gripped the leather hide scroll tighter, and fear made her legs run faster.

"Ho! Traveler!" the voice came from the source of that noise as someone tried to keep up with the sprinting woman through the dark trees.

The woman skidded to a halt, her chest heaved. "Who-who is there?" she gasped out.

It took Vertag a few seconds to catch up with her, and the older woman was breathing hard as she did. By the Goddess, whoever this was she moved fast! "My name is Vertag." She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. Night would be on them soon, it was a miracle she'd seen the other woman at all through the trees.

The messenger blinked at the woman who just appeared out of the trees. "Are you with the settlement of Abnoa?"

Vertag grinned, moving closer so she could see the other woman clearly in the gathering twilight. "Yes I am." She studied the obviously younger woman.

The messenger sighed in relief. "I have been given the task of running a message ahead to the settlement of Abnoa."

She looked around, but saw no sign of a village or town, "Is it close? It is important I deliver it to the town's leader."

"You must be the mysterious visitors that I heard about." She gave a wry smile at that and motioned in the direction of the camp. "You can give me your message at camp if you want. The nights are getting cooler, and we have fire and food. You are welcome to share."

"Thank you, Vertag. It would be very nice to be warm. I did not think it would be this cold." She gave a small bow and followed the older woman.

Vertag laughed. "This isn't cold yet." She glanced over her shoulder as she led the way back towards the camp. "Do messengers have names?"

"Only when we are not Royal messengers… I am on duty, so my name doesn't matter, just my duty." It was true; names gave away too much, when the privacy of message might be at stake. It was easier to find a messenger if a name was leaked.

"A mystery woman…" Vertag gave that chuckle again as she started to walk again. "Welcome to Abnoa then, whatever your name is." Ahead of them, she could just make out the flickering light of the campfires between the tree trunks.

The older woman wondered what this messenger was as they emerged onto the edge of the camp. It had been built at the foot of the mountain pass, not far from a good source of water. But it was undeniably a bare place, with simple wooden cabins set around the perimeter, and a large dining hall that was used as a communal gathering place, in the center. Fires burned in a ring around the settlement to guide the hunters home, and keep the wild animals at bay.

Silently, the messenger sighed in pleasure as she sat on the ground next to the fire, once again she was warm. She knew she should stretch or her muscles would hurt, but she couldn't manage it at the moment. She looked up at the woman who had guided her. "So, who is your leader?" Once she was relieved of her burden, she could eat and drink.

Vertag grinned, crouching down next to the fire so that her features were in the light. "That would be me, I guess." Spotting movement, she called out. "Melissa, you better go tell your mother that I found our visitors. Get somebody to bring something warm from the kitchen for her as well." The youngster bobbed her head and scampered off into the darkness.

She broke the scroll with a happy grin and unrolled it. "From the southern Queen Keshet, Greetings to my northern sisters. I have sent this Royal Messenger ahead to give advanced warning. I'm bringing my twins, so you'll need it..." The messenger flushed at the informal language and faltered for a second before picking back up.

"I and a small party will be visiting the Northern territories, with my family and a few others I couldn't ditch due to politics. I look forward to finally visiting the north, and learning of my sisters, many of whom I have not seen since the Exodus. Please send notice on to your Queen Selene. I don't expect special treatment, but it would be nice to have a warm place to sleep. Sincerely, Queen Keshet…"

Vertag was chuckling before the messenger had even finished reading the scroll. "Ah! A woman I think I can get along with. I like the sound of this Queen Keshet." The northerner stretched her hands out to the fire as a different youngster shyly offered the messenger a bowl of hot venison stew.

"I'll send word through the pass to Selene. I'm sure she'll be happy to meet Keshet, and will find someplace warm for her to stay." Vertag wasn't one to mince words or try for flowery dispositions.

"Thank you. My name is Fleet. I chose my name because I was always a fast runner. I was but a small child during the Exodus, but thanks to kind women like you, I survived." She took the food and tasted it carefully. "This is nice…different, but not bad."

The older woman's smile widened at that and held out her hand. "Well met, Fleet. Does this mean you aren't on official duty anymore?"

"I have done my duty, and now I am done. At least until the Royal family arrives." She shrugged then she didn't know.

Vertag clasped the other woman's hand in welcome then released it. "That means you can enjoy some drinks with us tonight, then?"

Fleet, grinned. "That would be nice." Actually, she was happy just to be warm by the fire.

####################

Fleet watched the women as they sang and danced around the fire, and sipped the warm red wine. It was different. She was used to the wheat-tasting beer they brewed on the farms near the Royal homestead. She pulled on Vertag's sleeve to get the older woman's attention. "What are you all celebrating?"

Vertag swayed a little as she finished another mug of red wine, waving to her sister and her wife, who were calling it a night. "What?" The older woman smiled. "Oh, well, a visitor is as good an excuse as any. We've worked hard all summer, and it's nice to relax."

"Oh." Fleet gave a little grin. "It's good to relax." She was amazed at how few of them were up here, at the settlement. In the south, the settlements were packed with women vying for power and land.

A little unsteadily, the older woman took a seat on one of the logs that had been dragged over for people to sit on. "Are things so different here than where you came from?"

"Sometimes the farmers and other laborers have festival nights like this, normally to be thankful for a good harvest. But, well, the settlements are packed with people and temples. You have no temple here, but I admit I wo