MARIA

"Yuven never mentioned that you were Naveeran nobility," she tried to keep the accusation out of her voice, but the blunt behavior change from the Avaerilian townsfolk touched a nerve. Even more so when they avoided her gaze more pointedly, with more intent, but at the very least, looked at Neven's shoes as if that was the only thing they were worthy of beholding. Beneath Neven, but above her. Maria clenched her fists as Neven used the behavior shift to get to work.

The slanted roofs of the Lotayrin estate buried snow into the gardens below. Icicles hung on the porch which wound around the entire property, creating another thick window from its abandoned state. Neven kicked against the stone steps to crack the slippery ice before ascending to the double doors wyvern knockers. Neven ran his finger down the lock, and drew his hand back when it responded after a long second of metallic clicks of runic circuitry. Maria checked behind them, where the Naveeran crowd remained on the streets with misunderstood hope. Until Neven refused to answer her question, and cared too much to the point he forgot everything else.

Inside the state wasn't much warmer than the outside, though the structural integrity was far more consistent than the Outpost's new lodgings. Neven whisked a bundle of flames into the chandelier in the front foyer which split off into two distinct wings. Maria closed the door behind her after checking on the crowd once more, where a few shapes on the edge scrambled back into the shadows of the alleys. "Neven," she started once she closed the door. "We can't stay forever to help these people."

Neven sent another whisk of sapphire studded flames into the braziers on the staircase. "I understand, but what I can do is make them self-sufficient. Comfortable with the change, or set them on the path to learning on how to accept change as it comes. As for my status..." He faced her, his feathers slumped. "It never came up. Yuven simply ignored the fact of it, and if I am honest, my claim to anything barely mattered as a Storm Warden. It doesn't come up often for us as Wardens. The world comes before politics, that is part of the Oath we swore, the tenets we abide by. I no longer define myself as a son of an Iceduke, and I remember nothing of this holding. As far as I'm concerned, I was born and raised in Irimount. Father never pushed me to learn the ways of politics, of aristocracy... I wanted to be a knight. In Irimount, he was a History Magistera, he taught young Avaerilians what little history we know of. I never thought of him as Iceduke Lotayrin or Lord Lotayrin." Neven shook his head once more with a soft sigh, brushing his hand down one of the banners. Two ribboned glaives criss-crossed each other. "My noble blood means nothing outside of this place."

"Then what do you plan to do?" she asked, unable to ascertain Neven's intentions without Aurus' abilities.

"First, I need to get into the ledgers, see when the last time supplies were sent out. It had to have been a while, which means I would need to find my family seal, write a letter to the monarchy for them to keep in mind that this county is without someone to delegate, and until the townsfolk find someone they trust, it falls to me." Neven sent one last puff of air into the coals, and the flames rose higher, but lacked the warmth she craved from Yuven's touch. "As for you, Maria, I suggest you take the time to study the agriculture around here. Get back to me with the state of things. How is your Navei?"

"Good enough," Maria said. "I have an easier time reading it."

"If you have difficulties, come to me," he said. "I am hoping you don't run into any—"

Maria held her hand up. "Difficulties? You mean with my Navei?"

He sucked in his lips with a slow shake of his head. "No." Neven let go of the banners and moved back to her. "We are sticklers of tradition. Sticklers to our ways. Stubborn in our beliefs. Maria, I shall be plain with you, and I will understand any animosity you will feel from what I tell you," he said with another heavy breath. "I fear you will have difficulty for one simple fact, not because you are a Storm Warden, not because you are an Outsider from a land far away... but because you are a woman... and I think that is why your mother spoke little of this place."

His words created a spider web of ice over her heart. "What?"

"In Naveera, everyone has a role to play," Neven said, though his lofty tone screamed a disagreement as his pupils thinned into vertical, beaded slits. "Everyone, but the roles are far more stringent on women. Any proprietary expectations of Avaerilians? Doubly so for them, for if they err but once...?" He shook his head with a purse of his lips.

Maria found her words on the edge of her tongue and failed to scream them out into the world. Frustration sparked from the coals of her soul, but she held her breath. "So, you think they will be less... forthright with me?"

"I am hoping that it is not the case," Neven admitted. "But... I am expecting it nonetheless."

Maria huffed and fixed her belt and adjusted the hem of her armor lined with firewoven furs. "Well, they're going to have to deal with it and me, but thank you for the warning." She sent her hand to punch his shoulder. "Let's just not take too long here. We need to get back to Irimount and open the path to the Umbral Sea."

Bag hoisted over her shoulders, full of texts on Naveeran agriculture, she headed back for the door as Neven saw her off. Into the harsh snows of half of her she never knew, her boots scrunched the tough compaction which littered the streets. The Avaerilians dispersed, though the energy shifted to one of renewed hope. I can't blame Neven for this. Maria frowned at the children when they played in the town square, ringing bells on the ends of smooth sticks. It cast an echo over the stout roofs and flickered the lamps with their light. Maria ran her fingers through the length of her hasty ponytail as their stares became obvious as she descended from the path to the Lord's estate.

It was so cold.

Maria trailed past what appeared to be a tavern in complete silence as older Naveerans drank at small tables and ignored everyone around them. Only a couple sat together, with two in hushed conversation through the window. White masks covered the lower half of their mouths when they peered at her. She kept her confident stride against the uncertain glares sent her way. Every little word of Navei she understood sent a ripple up her spine. Outsider. Hanekan. Curious questions between her and her relationship with the Iceduke Lotayrin. Mouth clamped shut, she refused to reveal the truth, holding onto the sense of safety her crescent blade provided as she studied the town, her heritage. Mother and Yuven shared one similarity. Both looked upon Naveera with indifference, or at worst, pure hate.

Maria slowed to a stop when a couple of young boys, no older than seven, ran past her with laughter singing their voices. Further behind them, a young girl with a heaviness to her brow, head dipped low though the fire glowed bright to catch up with the two who had left her behind. At the corner of the walkway, she frowned as the little girl gave up the pursuit, tucking her little hands into the cuffs of her outside clothes, turning around to wander away from the goal. Through the tavern doors, the masked Naveerans wound their way into the storefront alleys across the street.

Underneath a streetlamp, Maria chewed on her lip and refused to give up. There's nowhere to grow plants except underground. In small windows, she spotted tiny gardens, not sustainable for food. Snowroses bloomed on the corners. Maria went for a group of Naveerans carrying thick burlap sacks. "Excuse me?" she asked in her best Navei, causing them to slow their steps, but not stop. "Is there a way to see your underground farms? I'm a Healer and I'm curious as to Naveeran herbal remedies."

Both looked away from her, saying nothing in her direction. One gave a point of a direction, and they continued on their way, ignoring her presence past her question. Embers littered across her tongue and urged her to snap, but she bit into it with rueful dismay and followed the half-hearted directions. On the edge of the town, a wide building sat. Through the windows, several stacks of potions and tonics sat on one side, while dried, frozen herbs hung across the racks above them. Maria pushed herself into the mixture of scents, relishing in the knowledge carried within a small bottle. A bell clinked, and she walked through the racks designated by Navei. One phial in her hand, she read its purpose, its properties, before moving along to try and find a recipe for warming tonics.

If Yuven is right... we're going to need to have our own supply. We can't depend on the Naveerans helping. Maria drew the herbs in her notebook, writing down ingredients as she passed. I need something for expulsions... Out in the window, another masked figure slowed to a stop to look down at the tonics, but continued on their way with a cursory glance at her. Maria refused to move until they turned the corner, and her heart dripped with a sense of unease.

"Miss?"

Maria jolted at the sudden influx of Navei from her other side. A young alchemist stood beside her, his gaze looking past her shoulder. "Hello."

"How can I help you?" he pressed as if he wanted to get the interaction over with.

Maria turned to him in full, to meet him as an equal, but he drew his gaze to the stacks instead. "You can help me," she said and folded her arms. "I need to know if there are any native flora grown in Naveera that help with things such as expulsions."

"There is, but do you have an alchemist who can make the mixture in the proper order?" he questioned when he flicked a glance at her. "It's a strenuous process, Miss, and any incorrect dose may make the expulsions worse."

"I've synthesized stardust before," she said through her teeth. "I myself am an alchemist trained in the art by the best of the best." Her foot took her forward, but she refused to lash out the Hanekan way. I think we already got too much attention from before... we need to be more careful. We're alone out here. Arms folded, she raised an eyebrow and continued, "I simply need a bundle of the seeds and a glimpse at the finished product and I will be out of your way." Maria tore out her coin pouch and jangled it. "I am willing to pay as much as it takes."

The alchemist gazed through her, but at least he was looking in her direction. "Wait here."

Ancients... how did Mother deal with this? The answer smacked her in the face as she asked it out in her mind. Mother had left Naveera, escaped it, and hated the topic when brought up. Maria waited for the alchemist to come back by studying the other sections, picking up ingredient books and flipping through their pages.

"Miss."

He came back with a seed bag in one hand, and a plump phial in the other full of deep purple clouds. In between his fingers, a navy stalk of lichen hung with their purple buds scattered through the strands. "It must be dried and then scooped into a solution of essence and put into capsules to be swallowed," he said. "Brew time is critical."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." Maria dropped the coins on the table to take the seed bag and plump phial in her hand to reverse engineer and study when she returned to Euros. Finally, Yuven will be happy. Now, let's go see if I can find an entrance into the underground farms...

Outside of the alchemy shop, shadows flitted in the Frozen Wasteland her and Neven came from. Wind howled into her ears, and she tried to tuck herself deeper into the scarf and hat Neven passed off to her without a second thought. Blizzard clouds writhed and boiled, but she held her tongue, kept her pace, and went to explore the truth hidden deep within a buried land.