Something Borrowed, Someone New

[Inwe]

Winter 54th, 511

It had taken a long time to walk here from the Skyglow Hold. Inwe have privately seethed whenever a horse and its rider plodded past her on the road, easily out-pacing her and disappearing minutes later around the bend. Though she was in no particular hurry to reach the home of the Iceglazes, Inwe remained mindful that the way back would take just as long and feel longer. While she did often enjoy her solitary walks through Avanthal, sometimes her thoughts became so loud that she could barely hear the world around her. The Vantha woman would love nothing more than to be surrounded by mindless ambience, this afternoon.

She wanted to be dancing, or training with her spear, or at home with Fin and a delicious meal. Inwe didn't want to be here, but she made a promise. Jeriah, her brother, was hunting for a wife and had his eye on an Iceglaze girl named Arelle. However, being the adorably pathetic thing he was, he had no idea whether Arelle returned his affections or barely knew he existed. The other day, he came into possession of a necklace that belonged to her: a colorful glass pendant on a rawhide cord. As he put it, Jeriah had "accidentally borrowed" it when she had taken it off and set it down at the Commons.

Give it back to her, Inwe had insisted. Jeriah refused, not really knowing why he had picked it up in the first place. It was unlike him to be so larcenous. He had thought it would give them a chance to talk, but when she left the Commons and appeared to forget about it, his plan went awry. Now, he was sure Arelle thought he was a thief and was too afraid to face her.

Fine, I'll return it to her, Inwe had reluctantly offered. Jeriah seemed very fond of this idea. Tell her I found it, he added excitedly! Unless she knows I took it. Then don't. Tell me what she says!

Well, whatever. It gave her a reason to be out of the Hold. That would happen much more often in the near future, when Inwe got a job to pay for the expensive rabbit fur cloak hanging from her shoulders—the one that had been displayed so beautifully in the window, the one she really couldn't afford to buy, but somehow ended up wearing a day later. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. With a job out of the Hold, she might be able to cobble together some sort of social life.

The Iceglaze Hold finally in view, and Inwe sighed a white cloud of relief. She exchanged glances and smiles with some of the Vantha outside, near the mines, working on their various crafts. She might have asked any of them where Arelle could be found, but she wanted to be inside out of the quiet snow before getting caught up in friendly smalltalk.

As she was shaking the snow off the ends of her fur cloak, just past the doors, she caught an amusing sight on the far side of the main room. A very tall man, near one of the large windows, was bundled in so many layers that he almost looked very fat. This, the Vantha knew, was the mark of a foreigner.

Yet she approached him.

There would be no point in asking a foreigner where Arelle was if he himself was just a guest at the Hold, but curiosity had won a quick battle over logic. Inwe had remembered her mother saying something about a tall, handsome-faced man who'd recently come into Avanthal. Their Queen had dubbed him an Iceglaze, an unusual but impressive honor. When Inwe hadn't been listening, her mother had also said something about him being some sort of mage. Magic. Inwe had brushed it off before, but the word had settled like a seed in her brain. Now the branches of a firmly rooted tree were pressing against the inside of her skull.

This could be him. Or it could not. There was little risk in asking. Arelle could wait.

"Excuse me," she asked the man, unable to stop her amused smile at his egregious layers of fur. He looked like a bear. Inwe had to crane her neck to meet his eyes, but there was nothing bashful in her features. Her irises were painted with a candid, smaragdine curiosity. Common was her language of choice; most foreigners wouldn't know Vani, even ones recently made Iceglaze. The accent was thick in her otherwise mild voice. "I'm looking for Arelle. Do you know where she is?"

[Hadrian]

He wasn't always so bundled up, but he had chosen to flee Ravok for Avanthal in the Fall and stay for the Winter. The old winterbane coat his father had bought him to grow into as a child the last time he was here had been plenty for Fall, but Winter was another matter entirely, and so he had borrowed a few furry things, and was even considering the efficacy of fur-lined smallclothes when someone approached him before the brazier where he was warming his hands, long-fingered and pale. They did not like to hold in the heat at all. Though Morwen had smelled Iceglaze blood in his veins, he had not chosen to move into the Hold. That they allowed him to use some of their facilities for his work was enough, and then he didn't have to explain Kendall, nor his student, the Kelvic Ethan. But he turned to answer a voice asking him a question. Secretly he was pleased that someone thought he looked Vantha enough that he would know, but then he realized she was speaking in Common and he would never pass as full-blooded Vantha with his extreme height. He frowned a little at this realization, peering at her with his bright, but fixed eyes, something blue. "Oh, sorry." He blinked after a moment, coming up from the morass of his own thoughts. "No, I... I think I know who Arelle is, but she... No, I don't know where she is. I don't actually live here, but that's obvious." He paused then and said one of the few words he knew in Vani, because it was only polite and because he hoped to speak the language at least a little bit before tide and fortune carried him onward: "Hello."

[Inwe]

Inwe parted with a cordial laugh, glancing downward politely as see sifted a mass of dark hair behind one ear. Her hand lingered on the wolf pelt lining the hood of her cloak, both soft and coarse. She squeezed it, the feeling of luxury. Lifting her chin again, she met the stranger's gaze with eyes bluer than they had been a moment ago. "Very good! Not a lot of visitors take the time to learn Vani."

She paused, wondering how best to approach her true question. Navigating these social interactions wasn't something that came naturally to her. When speaking to another person, Inwe felt as if she was putting up an act even when she wasn't trying to. To make matters worse, it was embarrassing that she had to speak in Common. Her accent must have sounded terrible, and her simple wording could leave a bad impression that she was less than intelligent.

"You are right, it is obvious. Actually, I knew you would not know. I'm sorry." Her embarrassment peaked in the form of a nervous laugh. "I just asked that as an excuse to talk to you. I love meeting foreigners and learning about where they come from. Sometimes Avanthal is so dull."

Beneath the warm barrier of her cloak, Inwe's slender hand found a pocket. She fingered the glass pendant inside, remembering why she had come to the Iceglaze Hold at all. Allowing herself to weather a small amount of guilt as penance for dawdling, she otherwise completely abandoned her mission for the moment.

"My name is Inwe, of the Winterflame." Inwe's neck was already growing tired. He was so tall! "So… I'm going to guess. Are you the new Iceglaze everyone is talking about?" Well, perhaps not everyone, but if Inwe's mother knew something, everyone else was sure to hear it from her eventually. "Was it… Adrian? Is it true you are a mage? Sorry, um... wizard?"

[Hadrian]

He caught a few words of her Vani: the very good was quick, but he also had the context of her encouraging tone; visitors was the plural of a nicer name for him than others had used; learn and Vani, of course. Mentally composing what he would say next, in Vani again, he managed to do so rather slowly, though his pronunciation, at least, was good. He had the ear, and could figure out a lot of the reading and writing before he figured out how to speak and comprehend. "I speak... not so good. Well. Not so well. I keep practice." And that about exhausted him. In Common, he continued. "I read better than I speak," he promised. "I should know more after living here since Fall, but I am... not very sociable. I am... well, Queen Morwen," he paused, then corrected the name and title, parsing it in Vani, "Queen Morwen She told me that I have -- Iceglaze -- blood in my veins. Did I say those right? Anyway, I am Hadrian Aelius of Syliras. I am a mage, or wizard." He was, in fact, crafting a magical tool for Morwen or, rather, her servants in the ice prison. Of course, he was not sure he was meant to spout off the details. All the same, there had been a few instances of danger where he had dropped Morwen's name to get him out of trouble. The Icewatch bears and the occasional Vantha mage had not taken kindly to his work, even when he took it outside the city so as not to offend their delicate sensibilities. "I understand. After seventeen years there, I thought Syliras was boring, so I matriculated into the University of Zeltiva, and after I graduated, I began to travel all over." Then, in his most formal, most correct Vani, "It is a great pleasure to meet you, Inwe Winterflame." He tried not to look too proud of himself, nor too vulnerable to criticism.

[Inwe]

Hadrian's eyes, though unchanging in color, took on an interesting light as her formally addressed her. They were a cold blue, but they inspired a warm feeling in Inwe that nearly made her blush.

"You learn Vani faster than I learned Common. The Iceglaze are fast learners. Lady Morwen must be right." Switching back and forth between the two languages was starting to get confusing. Inwe was beginning to forget which noun-verb order to use in Common, considering the way Vani words had a way of merging together and forming long, complex meanings. Past Hadrian's accent, his pronunciation was mostly good and he was making headway, but for Inwe's own sake, she continued in a singular language. "I do not know Zeltiva, but I have heard of Syliras. I met foreigners from there before. I would like to go there someday."

Although there was a note of wonder in her voice, Inwe spoke her last sentence with all the confidence of a pauper claiming that he'll turn his life around one day. She knew that in all likelihood, she would never leave Avanthal. It was safe here, comfortable, and she had her family, husband, and friends. Inwe couldn't possibly begin to think of leaving all that behind. There was too much for her in Avanthal.

And yet the thought of a far off city, built out of a giant castle, sounded so romantic. For a brief moment, her heart ached for the fantasy she'd never be able to realize.

Inwe wanted to ask about Hadrian's cities and the other places he must have seen, but there was something else still on her mind.

"Sorry if this is rude, but you are handsome, for a wizard." Inwe rocked back on one foot, crossing her arms beneath her cloak. It wasn't her first time meeting a mage; there were several Vantha ones in Avanthal. Hadrian had the novelty of being an outsider, but mostly, he didn't have the same connections as a pure-blooded Vantha. He wouldn't be part of any grapevines that would lead back to her husband, who probably wouldn't approve of her interest in magic. "My mother spoke of your magic as if you could make all the ice melt in Avanthal. I was expecting someone… older. Maybe with a long, white beard and a pointy hat. And a little crazy. You don't look like any of those." She tilted her head. "You actually look younger than me."

[Hadrian]

His eyes, if anything, were intense. He regarded people and things with such concentration that he might bore holes through them and see that of which they are made. They missed little, though sometimes his interpretation was a touch off. "Well, you need merely sail a quarter of the way around the continent," he assured her. "Pass Sahova and Sunberth and you can follow Mathews Bay into the city of Zeltiva. They have perhaps the largest merchant fleet in the world. To get to Syliras, you would want to take a land route. Probably in Summer." He didn't doubt she would go if she wished. There were plenty of stumbling blocks along the way, but he had always known that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. His parents were clear on that, although they hadn't approved of his eventual goals. "Ah..." He started blinking when she said he was handsome, that insane focus dissipating like a dandelion puff in a strong breeze. Magic. She said something about magic. He latched onto it. Best not to deny his skills, but point out that Morwen sanctioned them. "Fire isn't really my element, but I could probably manage some icemelt." To be honest, some of the disciplines in which he dabbled would start a fire with the amount of energy wasted in his inexpert efforts. Then he started to figure out the rest of what she had said, even though it had been said in perfectly clear Common. He rubbed at his patchy facial hair. "I know I don't look good with a beard, but it's so cold. I'm sorry. I don't usually complain about it. I could get a pointy hat, though. The shape of a chalet roof, keep the snow off...?" He was younger by a few years, but didn't want to comment on that.

[Inwe]

The traveler was affable, and surprisingly easy to talk to. Inwe wasn't sure whether Hadrian was humoring her, or if he was really just that nice. Though he was a little… odd, the way he kept staring at Inwe as if studying the facets of a finely cut diamond. It didn't make her uneasy, just… exposed, perhaps. Inwe wasn't used to anyone paying much attention. Even if Hadrian's interest was merely academic, she appreciated it.

Inwe smiled at his joke, her kaleidoscope eyes falling to search the floor for a better segue. "I bet Laria could make you something like that. She is a friend of my mother's, and she runs her own store. I bought this cloak there. I spent a little too much for it…" That was a segue? Inwe looked up, braving past her uncertainty. "Um. Was it hard, learning all that magic? Do you have to study a lot? I have been curious before, but I never looked into it. My husband does not see a need for magic in our daily lives."

Leaning to the side, Inwe casually sidestepped to the nearby wall to rest against it. Under Hadrian's scrutiny, and in the middle of a Hold surrounded by people she was not well acquainted with, the conversation felt somewhat unnatural and forced, so she hoped a little nonchalance would ease the tension.

Idly, she drew Arelle's necklace from her pocket, beginning to turn the glass charm in her hand. "But I think I want to learn, someday. I might use it in my spear training, or my dances. There can be art, in some magics."

[Hadrian]

He chuckled and smiled, though there was a touch of the awkward worry about it. If their lack of fluency in each other's language made her think that he actually wanted to wear something so ridiculous. But he didn't want to say it was ridiculous in case that came across as offensive to this friend of Inwe's family. He sighed, wishing he had been able to read between the lines more in his cultural anthropology classes. He could speak to the history and development of the Vantha and wax grandiloquent about several of their cultural habits, but these little details were missing. This interaction was an anthropological lesson for him. No wonder he paid such close attention to her! "Ah, the magic, yes. It is always difficult. Even those that require initiation... One still has to train to use them effectively. I am weak because I spend all my time studying and practicing, and don't have time to do... hm, physical things. Or remember to eat all the time. "But yes," he said, warming to the subject, "there can be art to many of the disciplines. Even the Ice Reaving your Queen grants you... You can sculpt ice that way, no?"

Hadrian's new look? :

[Inwe]

Inwe pocketed Arelle's necklace, freeing her hands so she could extend them past the confines of her fur cloak. Leaning over, she brushed her hand over the wet fur and still-melting snow clinging to the ends of her clothing, scooping away a small amount of water. When she straightened and turned up her palm, she was holding a small lump of ice.

"I can," she boasted, unable to hold back the cocky smirk that pulled at one side of her lips. With her free hand, she felt at the ice clump, pulling at its shape and making it longer, then pinching off a point. She continued molding the rest of its shape, as if the ice were nothing more than transparent clay. Why not show the great mage what she was capable of? Inwe wanted to impress him. She doubted he could do anything like this. "My brother is much better at it. He has a talent for creating realistic sculptures, and using his Ice Reaving to cloud or clear the ice for depth. It is cute, but I am not really that interested. I like mixing art with practicality. Like… dancing, and spear fighting."

Finishing with her tiny sculpture, she brandished it on the tops of her fingers. It was a miniature goose, or her best attempt at one. All the recognizable parts were there: the oval-shaped body, the long neck, and a tapered tail. Her father had once pushed her to be more interested in sculpting and carving, but Inwe had staunchly resisted.

Briefly, Inwe considered what Hadrian had actually told her. He neglected himself in favor of his studies. How could one forget to eat? Inwe wouldn't dedicate herself so thoughtlessly. Her dance and her spear required strength, and at the Winterflame Hold she was constantly surrounded by food. Perhaps Hadrian was a great wizard, but Inwe reassured herself that he wouldn't make his mistakes.

"That is why I want to learn Reimancy. My Reaving should be utilized. I have been told that Reimancers can actually create the elements. If I could create water, then I could create ice." Inwe set the ice goose on a nearby table. So near the brazier where Hadrian had been warming his hands, it almost immediately began to melt. "You said fire is not your element, but I believe water is mine. I'd like to find a teacher, if only my husband would approve. Creating water from nothing… I cannot begin to imagine how a person can make that happen."

More like this. :

[Hadrian]

Since she could not imagine it, he endeavored to show her. Before, he had imagined the res seeping out of his pores, but now with all his practice and advancement, it seemed to be exuded from his very flesh, more equally, more smoothly. A glow of blue coalesced above his palm, from a hazy cloud of energy to a bright sphere. It came from somewhere; it came from him. But it might appear to be a true conjuring. He was fairly certain that molding ice would be very difficult with his power; perhaps when he could melt the ice with Fire and re-shape the Water before freezing it, but that was not so elegant as the Lady's ice reaving. Under the force of his will, that ball moved forward, flattening, then curving into convex and concave distortions until Inwe could see that it was a mask-like reflection of her face. His hands came up to hold the edges even as the glow disappeared into ice, the energy converting into matter, and then he was holding an Inwe mask. He held it out to her or, if she would not take it, he could place it next to her goose. "It comes from the magus," he explained. "Water was my first element." He scratched his head. "I suppose I could take some time to teach you if that is what you want. There is pain in the initiation, though. You should know that. And risk. Always risk.