Distant Lands, Different Lives (Nira'lia)

[Avari]

Season of Winter, Day 10, 511 AV

The wind brushed against Avari's hair and cloak as she slowly and haltingly climbed the small hill at the southern end of Zeltiva overlooking the billowing, surging grey waters of Mathews Bay. It wasn't the Bonesnapper, not yet, but the Konti still shivered as the wind's cold fingers chilled the bare skin of her face and seeped faintly through her woolen cloak. At the same time, though, she welcomed the sharp, salty scent of the wind and the way it lifted her hair behind her like a pale-golden banner. The feeling reminded her of how she had felt standing aboard the trading ship that had brought her out of Mura to Zeltiva, intoxicated by her first true taste of freedom and independence. The slight incline of the low hill made her steps swerve slightly from side to side, which reminded her even more of being on the ship, upon those swaying decks.

For a moment, Avari turned her face toward the breathtaking view of Mathews Bay below, filling her eyes with the vision of the wind-tossed, foam-capped waters until they were all she could see, and gave in to the joyous memory of sailing from Mura to the wide world beyond. Even with all the troubles she had encountered in Zeltiva, the privations, the days of hunger, the unforgettable moments of visceral terror when she thought she'd been caught or was about to die, Avari was still happy that she was here. And thus this tradition had arisen, from the first winter she had spent in Zeltiva: a tradition of visiting the Temple of Laviku on the anniversary of the day she had first set foot in this wondrous city to thank the Sea King for guiding her ship safely through his domain from the city of her birth to the city of her heart.

Her thankful reverie didn't last long, however. Another tendril of Zulrav's icy breath insinuated itself through the thin canvas of her gloves, making Avari clutch her hands and breathe frantically on her fingers to warm them up. With renewed enthusiasm, she hurried up the hillside and ducked through the doorway into the Temple of Laviku. The door slammed shut behind her, sealing out the chill and whistle of the wind.

Inside, the candles on either end of the altar barely flickered as they shed a warm glow upon the grand scenes of the sea and sky painted on both walls and the large portrait of Laviku himself in the center. To be sure, the paintings weren't quite up to the standards of Konti artists, Avari thought critically; the brushwork was choppy rather than fluid, and the colors tended too much toward a monochromatic blue-grey. Still, she felt her heart stir inside her chest as she gazed up at the strong, impassive face of the god of the sea.

Avari knelt before the altar, the marine limestone floor hard and cool against her knees. She fancied she could feel the ridges and bumps of the preserved fossils embedded in the limestone pressing into her legs. Humbly, she bent her head low and clasped her hands together, closing her eyes.

"Lord of the Sea, father of my race," she whispered.

While the door shut out the wind, it couldn't diminish the low, distant rumble of the bay beneath the temple. Avari's soft words seemed to merge with the deep, reverberating crash of the waves outside, gaining a deeper resonance than her voice alone could have achieved.

"Once more I thank you for bringing me safe to shore, when I sailed across your ocean to Zeltiva," she continued. Poetic and lyrical praise it was not, but it was certainly heartfelt. "I thank you for the gifts you have given to your daughters and the freedom you grant us to move freely and fearlessly through your domain. We are all of us but small waves in a great sea, humble wanderers through the swells and depths of our lives.

"For your protection, for your wisdom, for your strength, for your kindness and mercy, for your grace, for your love, and for your guidance…" Avari took a deep breath, a little winded after her long litany. "I thank you, Father. May you always wash away our sorrows and guide us safely to calm harbors. May you keep me safe again through all the voyages I will ever take throughout my life."

She fell silent, keeping her head bowed and her eyes closed, listening to the rhythmic murmur of the bay outside. It lulled her, and her breathing slowed and calmed, soothed by the peace inside the temple and the sound of the sea. For once, her mind felt clean and empty, unruffled by the usually frantic thoughts of survival, selfishness, and swindling that usually ran through it.

Dimly, through her meditative reverie, she heard what sounded like footsteps approaching the door to the temple. Another petitioner to the sea god, perhaps. Avari remained kneeling before the altar, still deep in the silently joyous serenity and calm that came with each visit to the Temple of Laviku and each prayer offered in thanks to the god who had fathered the Konti and still watched over them to this day.

[Nira'lia]

It was not uncommon to find Nira'lia in Laviku's temple. Since she first found out about it years ago, she had been coming to visit the temple once or twice a season. Nira'lia was a religious woman, and while she devoted most of her time to Avalis, she never forgets about her lover, Laviku. Since the Konti is a race created from the union of Avalis and Laviku, the two names were important to Nira'lia. She felt comfortable in Laviku's temple. The designs were a marvel, and the marine objects visible in the stone always left Nira'lia dreaming about the Sea -- more specifically, she thought about the island of Mura, and wondered if this temple and the island held any resemblance. Nira'lia did not have an exact idea of what Mura was like, but she vaguely knew that it was a grand city of beauty. Nira'lia walked towards the altar of Laviku, inattentively noting that there was another person praying to the God. The other girl had pale blond hair which accented her persona. ’Beautiful hair... just like a Konti,’ Nira'lia thought nothing more about it as she gathered the sides of her dress and kneeled before the altar, taking a glimpse at Laviku's statue before bowing her head in prayer. "I am here, my God. I pray that you soon allow me to travel the seas and return to the homeland I've never been to," her whispered prayer was short and simple, and she spoke in her mother language, a habit she had learned from her family. She spoke more words of prayer, but she said it in her mind, her head bowed and her eyes closed in reverie. When she was done, Nira'lia placed her hands flat on the cold ground and moved to stand up. Absently, she turned to her side to get a better look at the other woman. Her eyes widened when she saw the pearl-grey scales on the girl's skin. "You are of my kind!" whispered Nira'lia in Kontinese, her voice with a tone of excitement. Her whisper rang through the room, but she didn't realize her indiscretion. Nira'lia was raised as a slave and didn't have much interaction with other Konti, and the few she had met aside from her family never really stayed for long. As such, she was always enthusiastic at the thought of meeting another one like her.

[Avari]

It was amazing how such a soft whisper could ring so loudly in such a large room. If anything was going to catch Avari's attention, though, it would be the unmistakable sound of her mother tongue. She had refrained from looking up when she heard the temple door open, the rustle of garments that indicated the new worshiper had knelt beside her, and the short, nigh-inaudible prayer the newcomer uttered. When she heard the familiar, flowing syllables of Kontinese pronounced with the fluency of a native speaker, though, Avari couldn't help but react.

With dizzying haste, she raised her head and turned toward the new worshiper. Her eyes went wide with startlement when she recognized the pale, pretty speaker as a fellow Konti, while her mind silently crowed with satisfaction at reaching the correct conclusion. A language shaped uniquely by women and for them, Kontinese never did sound quite right coming from a foreigner's lips; its sounds and slants had developed in isolation for hundreds of years, giving it little in common with other languages spoken in Mizahar. Only from a Konti's lips did the language acquire that liquid, mellifluous quality, like the sound of the Silver Lake in Mura gently lapping against the shore.

Still, Avari was a little surprised to actually come face-to-face with another Konti. The population of Zeltiva was overwhelmingly human, with a few members of other races mixed in here and there. Avari sometimes glimpsed other Konti passing through the city; healers or exporters of Vision Water, she guessed. They never lingered in the city, at any rate, and she rather doubted they would speak to her even if they had noticed her living here.

But this Konti had spoken to her and seemed just as surprised as she was to encounter another Konti. Avari pursed her lips and collected her thoughts. She wasn't sure if she was altogether pleased to meet another of her pale sisters, but the girl seemed excited to see her, which was quite a novelty.

"Yes," she said at length, in the same language, "I am Konti as well. My name is…"

She hesitated. Would it be wise to give the girl her full name? She hadn't used it for so long that saying it aloud again would feel like donning an ill-fitting garment she had long outgrown.

"Avari," she continued, simply.

Cautiously, she extended one hand in greetings. She winced slightly at the contrast between the thin, grubby canvas of her outstretched glove and the luxurious-looking, snow-white fur coat that enswathed the girl in thick, soft warmth. The girl must be quite wealthy, to wear such a coat. Sheer force of habit made Avari examine the girl's coat for slight bulges formed by pockets or easily detachable ornaments for a second, before she reminded herself that the Konti were probably the worst targets from whom a thief could attempt to steal valuables.

With an effort, she returned her gaze to the girl's face and smiled politely. "You must be quite new to Zeltiva," Avari ventured. "I don't recall ever meeting you before, and I'm sure I would remember if I had. I hope you enjoy your stay in the city. It can be…quite full of opportunities, for those who are watchful and clever."

She tilted her head inquisitively. "Are you here on your Call, perhaps? Or are you helping with exporting Vision Water from Mura?"

[Nira'lia]

"Avari! What a lovely name!" replied Nira'lia, her eyes still bright with excitement. "I'm called by the name Nira'lia." Nira'lia saw the look of discomfort in Avari's face, wondering what was wrong. Her glance went down to the other woman's outstretched hand, and it was evident that Nira'lia hesitated to shake it. However, when she saw that Avari had gloves on her thin hands, Nira'lia extended her hand as well and shook hands with the other woman. While her Gift gave her positive feelings, she was always hesitant about it, thinking it was unnecessary for most times. "This is my seventeenth year in Zeltiva," said Nira'lia, but she looked confused. Avari was right -- Nira'lia herself would not have missed another Konti. Fate probably did what it could to keep their paths uncrossed until now. "It's funny that we have never met before. I'm not here on my Call... I have not heard my Call yet. I'm not exporting Vision Water, either. I live here with my mother and sisters, and I have never been to Mura. Tell me, have you been to Mura?" Her last words drifted off to almost a whisper, as she tapped into the woman's chavi, taking a glimpse at fading images from the past. It might have been an invasion of one's privacy, but Nira'lia was not very familiar with what was accepted or not. The faded images she saw were not what she expected -- this woman in front of her had indeed come from Mura, but she was not alike to the average Konti. However, all Nira'lia wanted to know was if she had been to the isle, and thus all she focused on were the beautiful structures and the sights of a city both on land and sea. It was a delight to see, even through the eyes of someone else. "Oh, you are indeed from Mura! How exciting!" whispered Nira'lia, her attention reverting to the present. She looked at Avari with a smile. "Are you here for your call? Tell me, please, what is Mura like? You see, it is my dream to return to my homeland."

[Avari]

Avari frowned, discomfited, when Nira'lia first asked if she had ever been to Mura and then promptly acquired the distinctively unfocused, glazed look that suggested she was peering into Avari's chavi to answer her own question right after she'd asked it. On one hand, Avari was hardly qualified to complain about breaches in etiquette, particularly Konti etiquette. Besides, if the girl had never been to Mura as she claimed, then her small breach of etiquette was easily dismissed. On the other hand, though, she couldn't help wondering why the girl bothered to ask if she was going to look into her past right away. More than anything, it seemed like a waste of breath. It was like entering a house; you either knocked politely on the door or you picked the lock, but you didn't do both.

She shrugged and turned her attention to Nira'lia's enthusiastic whispers about Mura. When she asked if Avari was here for her own Call, Avari couldn't restrain a tiny, disdainful snort. She was more interested in hearing about where Nira'lia had been all her life, if not Mura, and how much she knew about Zeltiva after seventeen years of dwelling here. But if the girl was so fixated on Mura that she was willing to dip into Avari's chavi to find out about it, Avari decided she would be wise to indulge Nira'lia's curiosity first.

Like a storyteller, she unconsciously shifted from her kneeling position into a more comfortable cross-legged seated pose. Avari rubbed her knees ruefully and then placed her hands flat on her thighs, her palms facing upward. The candlelight made a specious halo of her pale hair, which would have made her chuckle if she had seen it herself.

"Yes, I was born in Mura, as you no doubt saw for yourself," she replied, with a hint of asperity. "If you dream of returning there, then you should have ample opportunity. It is not terribly far from here, not as the Zeltivan sailors measure distances, and many ships regularly travel between Zeltiva to Mura. Even for an entire family, the price of passage on one of those ships should not be too high." Her gaze rested once more on Nira'lia's rich fur coat for a brief moment.

"To answer your question, Mura is a...a beautiful city. The pearl of Konti Isle. Enchanting and mystical, graceful and pearlescent." Avari's lips twisted into a humorless smile. "Just like the songs and stories say."

She went on, "I'm sure the women there will welcome your family with open arms. They are all kind and gentle there, as excruciatingly sweet as sugar poured into honey mixed with molasses. The Konti who live there are all as white and pure as the fanciful buildings and the Silver Lake in which they dwell. It is all very pale and spotless in Mura, like snowflakes or gull's wings. White walls, white flowers, white birds, and white women, bright and shining in sunlight and moonlight alike, as white as a dead sailor's bones washed clean by the sea, enough to give you a headache if you looked at it long enough.

"It is a tranquil place, where voices are rarely raised and shouts are never heard. Laughter, sometimes. Very little changes from year to year, decade to decade, except for the ships that come to the harbor and sometimes some heavy rain in the summer. It is the perfect destination for people who are ill or elderly and want some peace, quiet, and rest in a slow-moving, colorless, and unexciting environment."

Avari grinned tightly, showing a flash of teeth. "I do not know how far you gazed into my chavi, but I...well, I was never at home there. It may be different for you. If I may ask, where do you call home, Nira'lia? If not Mura, where do you come from?"

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia listened, her eyes wide and naive, interested in the other girl's story. She found herself unconsciously leaning forward to hear Avari more clearly, even though the girl spoke with clarity and a voice that left nothing behind. Her eyes widened in excitement, her mouth grinning widely. She was intent on catching every word. Avari was right -- it shouldn't be too difficult to travel to Mura. But Niralia couldn't, because it would break her mother's heart. Sometimes, Nira'lia wished she would recieve her call, and that the connection would be so strong that her mother would have no choice but to let her leave her side. And when that happened, aside from finding where her call led her to, she could travel the world as well. "Slow-moving, colorless, unexciting..." repeated Nira'lia, her breath barely a whisper. Even if Nira'lia had not touched enough into her chavi to answer the question of why, it was obvious that Avari held some negative feelings about the isle of Mura. However, Nira'lia chose to see her words in a good light -- a peaceful and beautiful isle. In contrast to a life that was mostly held in slavery, it was all she wanted. If she looked into her chavi once again, she might find why Avari thought the isle was colorless, but she chose to answer Avari's inquiries instead. "My mother was enslaved long before I was born... I was born in slavery, in Sunberth, only to escape half my life ago. Technically, we call Zeltiva our home, but... I would rather be some place else." She was pertaining to the isle of Mura, and she wondered if that was too easy to see. Nira'lia looked at the beautiful Konti woman before her. Her eyes were confused, but also sad. She was a naive one, but she intensely wondered why anybody wouldn't want to stay in the isle of Mura, if all she heard in the past was goodness. "Why did you not find Mura to your liking? I could gaze into your chavi, yes, but..." she trailed off, not continuing her sentence. She had seen the slight look of disdain on Avari before when she had tapped into her chavi, and she didn't want to repeat that. Nira'lia had sensed the fact that Avari was different from most Konti, but she had not focused on that, and thus she couldn't answer her questions about this girl's past.

[Avari]

Avari's jaw dropped with unabashed astonishment when Nira'lia explained her origins, born into slavery in Sunberth. She knew little about the city, but the rumors and stories she had heard about the denizens of the anarchistic settlement had strongly discouraged any desire to visit it someday. It was a wild and dangerous place, all the sailors said, crawling with common criminals who weren't averse to killing in broad daylight and slitting someone's throat for a copper miza. She hadn't known that the citizens there practiced slavery as well, but she wouldn't have put it past them.

Keeping all this in mind, Avari regarded the breathy, soft-spoken Konti before her with new eyes. Did her masters used to whip her if she ever raised her voice above a whisper? Had their cruelty bled all taste for defiance and adventure out of her? Poor thing, she thought involuntarily, unwillingly. Avari herself might have been born into slavery in Ravok, had her mother not used her last reserves of courage to escape from the slave pens. Even she, probably one of the least empathetic Konti ever born, could dimly imagine the miseries this pretty Konti had undergone and perceive the hint of wishful sadness in her light-blue eyes. No wonder she longed for a land she had ever seen, a home celebrated for its placid beauty and peace.

That tiny spark of empathy, however, wasn't nearly strong enough to overcome Avari's distaste for the memory of Mura. Nor was it enough to give her the good grace to smile and tell a beautiful story about the city's wonders, even though Nira'lia clearly wanted one. Considering all her grandmother's years of effort hadn't been able to polish Avari into a sparkling gemstone of Konti brilliancy, a chance encounter with another Konti woman wasn't about to improve her manners, no matter how tragic the woman's history.

Instead, Avari brusquely pursed her lips when Nira'lia brought up the subject of Mura again. "You can gaze into my chavi again, yes," she echoed shortly, "but I think it's quicker just to tell you, don't you think?

"Why did I not like Mura?" Instead of answering Nira'lia's question directly, Avari instead answered, "I have read that there are cultures in Mizahar that by custom wear pure white clothing when they go into mourning. Or perhaps there used to be such cultures; my memory of my history books is a bit sketchy. Anyway, the point is that, for them, white was the color of death, when blood ceases to flow through the veins and the entire body becomes pale and cold. If red is the color of blood and life, then white is the color of a face that is not warmed and brightened by living blood within. White was the color of lifelessness, of stillness, and finally of grief.

"Perhaps if more people came from those cultures, they would see Mura, the whitest city in the entire world, the same way I do." Avari glanced narrowly at the wide-eyed Konti across from her. "Perhaps they too would see the city as a place with no energy in it, no spark of vitality, no living blood flowing through its veins. Only vision water from the Silver Lake. It has no color, because it has no life. It is quiet there, but the quiet is like the silence of the grave. It is beautiful, but the beauty comes from its perfect order, complacent and sterile, where no one ever strove or struggled, nothing ever changed, and nothing ever quickened.

"Perhaps someone with vision water and ice flowing in their veins would live there happily. But..." Here Avari raised her hand, turned it over, and pulled back the long sleeve of her tunic to display the fine blue veins that coursed through the translucent skin over her inner wrist, pulsing with heart's blood. "Not I."

She covered her wrist and shrugged. "But perhaps you have seen enough of blood, I suppose? Enough of it flowing from someone's body that you no longer want any part of it ever again."

Avari's eyes glowed with genuine interest as she went on, "I have told you about the city where I was born. Might I ask what Sunberth was like? Is it as wild and lawless as people say? There's a place full of life, no doubt. Probably more than anyone could ever stomach. Like a rotting midden heap covered with flies, while Mura is…I don't know. An ice sculpture, maybe. Something like that."

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia tried her best to hide the sadness in her face, but even though she tried, it was still apparent that the joy was being taken away from her. She listened to Avari's words carefully and with much loneliness. Even as the woman spoke of Mura like it was a city with no life or color, Nira'lia's thoughts about it were not stirred. Instead, in her mind, she thought -- this girl seemed to sought adventure and adrenaline, a fast-paced life which could not be found in the isle of Mura. That was not a bad thing, but it was probably very difficult for this girl to grow up in the Konti island. "What exactly do you seek?" whispered Nira'lia. "You're correct... I've seen enough of blood. I've seen much suffering, not just in myself. I've seen people being pushed around like they are nothing but rats... Sunberth is full of people who like the thrill of danger. Is that what you seek? Because I beg of you, don't go there. You are a Konti, and you would be nothing but priceless merchandice." Even though Nira'lia had light skin, she was visibly starting to go pale. Her face was the color of ice, just like how Avari described Mura. Just remembering what she had gone through always frightened her. However, her eyes were vidid, and stared at Avari's own with much seriousness, hoping she could get her message across. "The people of Sunberth... they are so full of hatred. I do not know exactly why this is so, but their hatred drives them to practice all sorts of crime and evil out in the open. It is the complete opposite of what you say Mura is like... thieves are rampant, drugs can be found anywhere. Even I, a marked slave with a master, could not safely walk through the streets without the fear of being abducted because of my race. "I understand that you think Mura is lifeless. Maybe one who craves excitement and is born in such a place would really think so. But I think Sunberth is the lifeless city, in the sense that life has no value. Life is thrown around... life there is meaningless. People waste their days with no intention of building a better life. They only think about theirselves. For me, Sunberth is not full of life... in all honesty, it lacks life. Those who live in it are nothing but slaves to their own hatred. They are even worse than the real slaves." Nira'lia looked upset just looking back at her memories, but she didn't blame Avari for bringing the question forth. She had asked about Mura, and had brought about a negative answer. Nira'lia herself had done the same about Sunberth, though she knew Avari was a smart woman -- she probably already knew about Sunberth's wild nature. Forcing a smile, she said, “Surely there are so many other cities with much life, but Sunberth is not one of them.” Nira’lia looked at the woman before her carefully. She was quite surprised that she could actually find a person who was the exact opposite of herself.

[Avari]

Avari winced as she listened attentively to Nira'lia's description of Sunberth. No one she had known had described that fearsome city better, she thought. But then, Nira'lia had lived there for years as a slave, and who better than a slave to truly know the soul of a city, to experience its darkest and most shameful horrors? Slaves were spared nothing when it came to pain, deprivation, and depravity; slaves received the worst from strangers and masters alike, saw the worst, performed the worst duties, and suffered the worst in any city. Involuntarily, Avari's lips shaped a wordless prayer of gratitude to whatever god had aided her own mother in her escape from Ravok's slave pens, thanking them for the good fortune of not having been born in slavery.

She wouldn't have to touch this girl's hand to know what she wanted most, she thought. Just looking at the way Nira'lia's joyless smile faded back into the same expression of wistful sadness that she'd worn all along, Avari could see that her own dour portrayals of Mura hadn't altered Nira'lia's views a whit. But perhaps, after seventeen years of fear and despair, boredom didn't seem so bad. After whatever Nira'lia had suffered in Sunberth, perhaps it made some sense that the pallid monotony and inactivity of Mura would seem like paradise in comparison.
Besides, Avari told herself, what did she expect? That this whispery, wispy Konti would experience some kind of epiphany and cry out, "By Avalis, I see the truth! Now I no longer wish to return to the city of my people! Let me join you instead and become a thief, wandering these streets in grubby clothes, never sure of where my next meal will come from"? No, that wasn't petching likely. Even her cousin K'Sondra had never contemplated anything remotely like that.

Too bad, though. Avari could have used a comrade, particularly a fellow Konti, for two-person scams, the most effective kind, and as an assistant on second-story jobs. Good help was so hard to find these days.

Thinking about her chosen profession turned her back to thoughts about Nira'lia's clear desire to visit Mura. Perceiving and exploiting those desires was what her work was all about, after all. Narrowing her eyes, Avari returned Nira'lia's searching gaze with her own careful scrutiny. Persuading this girl to not long for Mura was clearly a lost cause.

However, if Avari was wise, rather than changing Nira'lia's heart's desire, she might be able to take advantage of it instead.

"I have never heard a better description of Sunberth in my life," she remarked honestly. "It sounds even worse than I thought, and I was the one who compared it to a rotting dung heap. Believe me, I have no wish ever to visit Sunberth. I have no taste for that much danger, and I know full well how law and order keep people like us safe. You poor thing," she added, with genuine sympathy. "Being around that much hatred and suffering must not have been easy for you.

"After hearing that, I can almost, almost understand why you would want to go home to Mura." She smiled faintly. "I dare say, by your definition, Mura is teeming with life, positively overflowing with it. You and your family would fit right in, I'm sure."

Now, she leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Would you like me to get in touch with a ship's captain or two on your behalf? I've gotten to know quite a few of the ones who sail the Mura route, and I'm pretty sure I could, err, persuade them to give you and your family a berth on one of their ships, even in the winter. I could probably even get them to give you a discount on the ship's fare. You'd get what you've been dreaming about, the captain would get his payment and I'd owe him a favor, and...well, we could discuss my part in all of it after we make the arrangements." She smiled winsomely at Nira'lia, deliberately focusing on looking at her face and not at her clothing or belongings.

"What do you say?" Avari asked her. "Does that sound like something you might be interested in?"

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia's eyes widened at the other girl's offer. A ship to Mura, and even one with a discounted fare? She had all the reason to trust this woman in front of her. She knew a fellow Konti would never dupe her. The idea caused her face to sparkle up, all thoughts about her past easily forgotten in a second. Her mouth was agape in a wide and joyful smile. Excitedly, she grabbed Avari's hands and held them tightly, looking at the other woman's face like a child who was offered a toy. "Yes! That would be splendid!" But then, in a moment, her expression changed. She quickly let go off Avari's hands, practically dropping them like hot coals. Nira'lia's eyes showed much fright and sadness. She couldn't leave! It wouldn't be right to leave her family here. "I... I can't..." whispered Nira'lia. She looked down on the ground, avoiding Avari's eyes, not wanting her weakness to be so apparent. "It would break my mother's heart." Admitting the reason to Avari somehow lifted something heavy within her. It was the first time she had ever told another person the reason why she was in Zeltiva. "But!" she continued, forcing a smile that was partly genuine. "One of these days... who knows when, I will receive my call. Who knows what it will be, but maybe then perhaps I can sought you out on your offer?" She couldn't help but chuckle at her next statement, "But the Gods know we have many years. Perhaps you won’t even be in Zeltiva anymore by then."