Loa II

14th of the month of Ice, 16:47, after Midnight

From six to sixteen years of age, every child in Neth, be it from the city or the villages outside of it, had to attend classes at the Ogdra. These classes varied from science, history, asha control and basic reading and writing. Depending on the strengths of the child, they could be lead to a particular career path.

Loa herself had not enjoyed her time at the Ogdra. Since Artemy had private tutors and Hilde was a few years younger, Loa had been alone and forced to interact with strange children.

A respite of this became the archives at the Ogdra, open to all students, and that's were Loa got to meet a friend not imposed by her parents.

Nasaru Kyome, Saru for short, was a few years older than Loa, but as interested as her in experimental asha uses. He had been quiet the first times they had shared a table, but after the third meeting, he started to comment about Loa's reading choices and recommending others.

He had been too old to play with her and her other parent-approved friends, and their interactions and conversations had mostly stayed in Asha uses and the Fimbul Rebellion conspiracy theories that ran rampant at the Ogdra in those years.

After Saru had left the Ogdra-mandated studies, Loa had kept in touch—something that had not been difficult since he had been chosen around that time as the Nashe for the Augur—mostly meeting in the archives and talking in hushed voices.

Such nights as tonight, with her future husband busy with his dead uncle, Loa is able to make time to visit her friend.

The Ogdra is almost as grand as the Lunar Palace, made of white stone in the outside and many wondrous arches and towers. But the most peculiar part of it was the inside; Every surface was made of mirrors: the walls, floor and ceiling. The only thing that escaped this peculiar architectural choice were the doors, that were made of polished wood.

They had been taught once why this was. The Ogdra was a place of worship and individual insight, where the gods watched the people they had created, and the mirrors of the Ogdra symbolized that. You are always being watched and judged by the eight gods, the Og of Neth.

Loa walks around the many confusing halls of the building until she reaches the House of feathers, the space reserved for the Augur, located in one of the many towers of the building, it was essential for the Augur to be close to their subject of study, after all.

The door is easy to find after Loa finds the correct spiral staircase that takes her to the tower, it's a magnificent set of double doors of white wood with carved birds covering every inch of the door's surface. Without even realizing, Loa finds a vardera among the many birds and lightly touches it with the tips of her fingers, her house sigil may look small and innocent, but her family took pride in that under that small appearance, the vardera hid a terrible poison able to kill a full grown faux without much trouble. It is at that moment that one of the doors—coincidentally the one she was touching—opens and Loa flinches backwards.

It's Hilde Gernot. Current Nashe to the Augur. Wearing a black and white dress that accentuates her peculiar black streaked white hair and pale skin, Hilde definitely stands out, even in a crowd of Netherians.

Loa smiles at her old friend, but the girl does not return the smile, and merely looks down and pushes forward, not crashing into Loa thanks to her stepping aside, walking fast and leaving Loa's sight in less than a few seconds. Loa frowns at the top of the stairs where Hilde had disappeared and shakes her head. Hilde has always been like that, never rude intentionally, but rude as result of her immense shyness and anxiety. Loa remembers that, back in their childhood, she would hide behind Artemy whenever something happened and she didn't know how to react. Loa had found it extremely annoying at the time, most of all when Hilde reacted that way to something Loa herself did or said.

Without thinking too much about it, Loa enters the House of Feathers, where, in the middle of the room, she can already see the stark figure of the Augur, fully immersed in some book. The round room that makes the House of Feathers is covered in towers of books, papers and empty bird cages, with a a spiral staircase hugging the wall going upwards and a table in the middle of the room, with even more books on top of it and a bird skeleton kept upright with the help of wires.

"Vyshe Kyome" greets Loa with a bow that is bordering on mocking.

Nasaru jumps and turns, his white mask still in place but the vest he wore over his shirt had been discarded, his long black braid around his neck, like a long loose rope.

"Loa! You're here, wonderful help me with this, will you?" Says Saru as he waves at Loa to come forward

"You should be more respectful, you know" says Loa as she approaches with a smile "I'll be queen soon"

That comment is enough to make Saru raise his head.

"I knew I forgot something important" he mumbles and turns again, taking his mask in the process and throwing it carelessly behind him, his lone eye bright with excitement while the other hides under a black eyepatch. "When is the wedding?"

"Too soon for my taste" replies Loa as she watches Saru's disorganized table, the papers are filled with drawings of a bird Loa has never seen before, with, curiously, just two eyes instead of the normal three Neth's birds have. "What's that?"

"Oh! This, my precious friend, is what Enma has informed is called an Owl" Explains Saru with a proud expression on his face "It's a marvelous bird from the Outside that often migrates into Neth, isn't it beautiful"

Loa huffs a chuckle at his excitement and studies the picture, finding more interesting the fact that it can cross freely into Neth than the physical beauty of the animal. She raises her eyes to look at Saru, himself also staring at the picture with fascination.

It had taken a lot to get used to see his face. It was against the law in public to see the face of a Vyshe. Saru had been fast to find the loophole, seeing the House of Feathers as private as his home and as such, he could take off his mask without fear of breaking a sacred law of the Creed.

"What did you want my help with?" Asks Loa, remembering his excitement at her presence.

"I need to bring some maps to the upper tower, and two set of hands are always better than one!" Says Saru as he points to a box filled with rolled parchments "I'll be faster with some help and then we can have our tea time!"

"I'm surprised Hilde is not helping you, isn't that the job of the Nashe?" Says Loa even as she moves towards the box and starts picking up maps and putting them under her arms.

"Ah, Hilde has not been feeling well" says Saru with a worried frown on his face, he scratches at his face in discomfort and also starts picking up maps.

"The flu? She didn't look particularly sick when I saw her" says Loa with a raised eyebrow. Hide had looked…weird, but not sick.

"Not the flu, I think, I didn't want to ask" mumbles Saru "She's just been down since…well, since last night, when, you know, that happened"

Loa nods with understanding. Family was a complex thing, more so with Hilde's family, their ties to the royal family thanks to Hilde's grandmother being Wina Ulrik, the Soothsayer and eldest child of king Enke. This had ended up creating an awkward situation, since the Gernot family was not well-off. Hilde had been one of the appointed friends in Loa's childhood, always with her cousin and the fact that she was allowed to do so had never been mentioned—And Loa had never wished to ask.

There had been…rumors. About Mikhe and Hilde, but Loa had never been that close to Hilde and had never dared to ask.

"I just want to give her some space" sighs Saru as they start to climb the narrow staircase towards the top of the tower.

Loa smiles even as Saru cannot see her.

"That's very nice of you, Saru" she whispers and lowers her head. How lucky is Hilde, to have a mentor like Saru, that takes care of her in the most important ways, Loa is almost jealous.

"Argh, let's not talk about such sad things Loa! Tell me about your future marriage!" Laughs Saru.

They finally reach the top and with a heave, Loa drops the maps on the desk in the cluttered and very small space there, right next to a glass door that leads to the terrace Saru uses to watch the sky.

"A winter wedding" says Loa as she scratches the side of her face "A week from now"

"You don't sound very happy" mumbles Saru as he also drops his maps, he leans against the tower's wall and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I don't really want to marry him, but my mother insisted, she said it was the better choice, and I know I need to marry soon" states Loa with lowered eyes "I talked with the prince, he doesn't want to marry either"

They stay quiet for a minute and Loa spends the silence fiddling with a loose thread in her dress' skirt.

"Well, there goes my chance of talking about something uplifting" chuckles Saru awkwardly "You never said you didn't want this before"

"I guess I just didn't think about it, about the proximity of it more like it" says Loa as she shrugs and chuckles "I'm sorry I thwarted your efforts"

"You're making me feel bad now! I just wanted an excuse to talk about my lady love!" Laughs Saru as he scratches the back of his neck, surprisingly embarrassed.

"Since when do you have a lady love!?" Asks Loa with surprise, her voice shrill enough to rival the birds that Saru adores to watch.

"Not yet! I'm just courting at the moment" replies Saru with a heavy blush decorating his face "She has been very receptive to it"

"Don't talk about it like she is one of the birds you're studying!" Exclaims Loa with a giggle "You make it sound so weird! But forget about that! Who is it?"

"Dagma Eddala" mumbles Saru and then preens like a prideful faux "She said she finds me handsome"

Loa laughs loudly and briefly forgets her own problems. Dagma Eddala has always been a unapproachable nomad, too brash and violent for many of the citizens of Neth

"Has-has she even seen your face?" Asks Loa, managing somehow to do so as she laughs.

"Of course! She visits Enma and grandfather often" yells Saru with embarrassment and stomps towards the stairs.

"Don't get mad Saru! But I'm pretty sure she can break you in half with her pinky finger" adds Loa as she follows him, picking the bottom of her dress to avoid tripping.

"Oh, I'm counting on it" says Saru with a mischievous smile "Come on, I owe you some tea"

Loa smiles at his back and hurries to follow.