Private Comings and Goings

[Aelin Erevos]

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Outfit | XoXo
Location | Hljóðleva Encampment
Tag | Miera Erevos

3 Weeks After The Attack Of Völsung
1 Week After Howling Winds: Dawn's Light​

Miera had been living at the Völsung Estates after her rescue, claiming the home that was hers by right of conquest after they'd chased out the clan who'd wronged her. Aelin hadn't bothered to inform Miera of the retaliation that later came as a result of this claimant - not wanting to cause a further withdrawal. It was rare that Miera left the Estates that overlooked the Wolfs Wood, busily attending the wolves that she'd occasionally send her sisters way. Those who were either still too young or had no stomach for war could find shelter and stability at what had become perhaps one of the last few standing havens for their kind - equipped with protective wards that kept the burgeoning community hidden - and was far more pleasant than the muddy camp they continued to fortify day by grueling day.

But it had been... months... with Miera not asking for anything, or attempting to see anyone and Aelin grew concerned.

After all that her eldest sister went through with Völsung, she understood the need for space, granting her whatever time she needed for her personal healing. Respecting her wishes - the lack of contact easy enough to ignore, having gone years without knowing anything at all - standing as the sole survivor of her family, as far as she'd known. Still... a small voice nagged at her in the back of her mind, worrying over her sisters wellbeing.

With all of the chaos and destruction over the last few months inching them closer and closer to war... Aelin reached out to one of the last few threads of family she had and asked her to come by the encampment for a chat. Not as a demand from her Alpha, but as a request from sister to sister, with the subject matter being that of the orphaned Zorathi children, using it as a guise to get a better idea on Miera's condition.

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye from where she perched at the entrance of the rebuilt gathering hall made her stomach tighten with a mixture of anticipation and dread, her fingers nervously moving to smooth any fly-a-ways back into the braided coronet that crowned her head. "Miera," came the calm, but fairly strained greeting. "It's... been too long." she said, hearing her confidence grow as she smiled - one of those rare smiles that extended past the corners of her mouth. Truly, she was overjoyed to see her again, wasting no time to step over the threshold and embrace her.

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[Miera Erevos]

Listen​

Tag: [ Aelin Erevos ]

Standing upon the castle wall, the Völsung estates spread before her. Miera studied the landscape with care. Everything .... everything had to be perfect for Aelin's arrival. if she came. She might; she was investigating. Or maybe Karim was home, and would need to see? Anxiously, she slipped back inside, turning her attention to the ancient castle as well. It was as if in freeing the castle, she'd freed herself, somehow. As if in caring for it, she was somehow protecting the wayward, wild wolf that had first rescued her. She fretted, for a moment; was Karim alright? Not that she'd sent a message or asked him.

No, she already owed too much, too far too many, to demand more. So she worked furiously to preserve what she had. To offer the shelter and protection to others, that had been gifted to her at so great a price. First by Karim, and then, by Aelin. She reached out to that part of her soul that always seemed aware of her sister; then pulled back. It was an endless puzzle to her. All of her life, she'd known Aelin was there when she needed her. Wisdom, comfort, skill ... Helping her, fighting with and for her, from beyond the grave. Only now she knew her baby sister to be alive.

Alive, and Alpha and ... how, then, helping her? Worried that the mystic connection between them might somehow harm her sister, Aelin strove not to lean too hard into, or comfort herself very often with, that silent presence. But oh, she missed her. A weakness, she knew. Yet she dressed with care, a civilized, yet beautiful gown. Long, flowing layers in her signature maroon, a single bare shoulder. Feathers were fixed in her hair, and with care she traced over the sigils on her face in brilliant cerulean blue and oyster shell white.

It hid the scars.

Nothing eased her nerves. Moving quietly through the vast castle, her mere presence silenced laughter and scattered anxious servants and worried dependents. Miera didn't blame them; it wasn't that she yelled or snapped at people; that wasn't her way. But she had been exceedingly demanding in preparing for her sister's visit. If Aelin came. Anxiety flared, but she did not ask her footman to wax the main hall again. Yet the way her gaze froze upon the scuffed up area where the latest orphans had had a mishap with a suit of armor, an axe and a billiard ball had him heading for the supply closet, anyway.

She'd make it up to them; she would.

Somehow.

A final stop by the Steward's Office and she picked up the two elegant, leather-bound portfolios ... one for each of them. And then she melted into the shadows, and took the gods' pathways to the sacred wood, and those beloved creatures sheltered within. Swiftly she ran, her heart soaring as she dared what had been forbidden for most of her life. Joy danced through her, healing something within as she ran.

At last, she slipped into the encampment, pausing before the exquisitely restored Great Hall. Melting out of the shadows, she'd scarcely taken a step when Aelin greeted her ... and pulled her into a warm embrace.

Miera's arms tightened, the meticulously created portfolio's falling to the ground, unheeded. Aelin's wonderful, brilliant smile invoked a cascade of childhood memories. How long had it been, since Aelin smiled at her that way?


"Aelin, I ..." I missed you; it shouldn't be hard to say.

But it was.

"I ..."

Stuttering! Inappropriate in a young woman of your rank!

Their mother's voice echoed in her head, dimming her smile and straightening her spine. But still, her hands slid down to clasp Aelin's tightly, rather than releasing her to rescue the precious papers she'd brought.

"Are you well?" It could have come out cold, formal; but it was a sister's concern that laced through her words, creating an urgent, genuine inquiry out of the social formula.

 

[Aelin Erevos]

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Outfit | XoXo
Location | Hljóðleva Encampment
Tag | Miera Erevos

"Better now that you're here." she told her, interlacing their fingers and letting her forehead rest against her elder sisters in a sort of solidarity, savoring the quiet joy and soaking in the comfort that could only come from being in the presence of one's own kin.

After a moment, Aelin pulled back from Miera. The smile hadn't left her lips, but instead spread upwards to soften her normally sharp gaze as she moved to welcome her into the gathering hall, bending to gather up the papers that'd fallen haphazardly to the floor. "I'm really glad that you decided to come," she mentioned, turning and following after her sister. "I hope you saved your appetite, I asked the cooks to prepare some venison for us that I hunted down a few days ago. They are much fatter and more abundant on Islimore than they were on Seoul 5." She mused, leading her to the main greeting area where a brilliant fire coruscated in the massive central hearth, and the gold-on-white banners of the Erevos family crest hung proudly from the vaulted rafters. A long timber table commanded the center of the room, and upon its knotted surface a hearty feast for two was spread: spiced meats and robust stews, roasted vegetables and braided sweet breads, steaming mugs of cider and flagons of warm mead.

"Sit wherever you like," Aelin said, motioning to the empty chairs situated around the table, usually occupied by her friends and generals. Situating herself at the head of the table, Aelin went about taking her own mug of warm cider, enjoying the sensation of the warmth that seeped into her cold palms as her eyes rose to meet Miera's gaze. "How is life treating you at the manor?"

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[Miera Erevos]

Listen​

Location: Islimore -
Appearance: Human, maroon gown.
Tag: [ Aelin Erevos ]

Miera felt the years roll away, as she stood with her sister, hands twined, foreheads pressed together. A precious moment; when Aelin pulled away that lovely, genuine smile summoned Miera's fleeting one. They gathered up the scattered papers, moving through Aelin's dining hall. "How does the encampment fare?" The never ending balance between enough order to survive the Fayth and enough freedom to survive the Lupos burdened every single one of their people. So easily prone to violence, to self destruction.

The offer a meal was met with another quicksilver smile, "You enjoy the hunt, then, Aelin?" but her words trailed off as she saw the feast spread before them. "Oohh. You truly should not have. but thank you." Her gaze traveled up, to their family banner. It left her a touch uneasy, both in memory and the pull of responsibility. Politely, she waited for Aelin to seat herself than took a position on her left hand. They each chose the warm cider, and Miera's rare smile flared again.

"Those you have sent me are settling well," her fingers lightly touched the mistreated folder. "The defenses have been repaired. It is ready to fulfil its purpose of drawing attacks and grief way from the Wolf's Wood. I should be able to focus political maneuvering and distrust there as well, rather than letting too many armies and raiding parties into our sacred places."