"Oh, that? That’s nothing," She said, rolling her eyes at herself. She was used to tramping across the south: back and forth between taking care of the orphanage (and trying not to be missed!) and meeting up with the resistance. She was sure she looked more disheveled than she felt. She laughed at the thought and said, "Although, I’m sure I look like I’ve just run all the way from the north."
Her eyes twinkled mischievously as Ivette told her that she would obtain Ana’s measurements, “Oh, good. That’s a relief. I wouldn’t want to do that by myself. I’m not as subtle as I think I am,” She said, scrunching up her nose as she thought about the many times she had tried not to be obvious about something when she was planning a surprise. Maybe this would go better with a coconspirator.
"You know, once I was trying to make a pie for Edderick’s nameday — oh, Edderick is one of the boys at the orphanage who came to me when he was about twelve or thirteen," She explained, "He once mentioned this pie that his mother used to make that I had never heard of and I asked him all sorts of questions, but it was more complicated that I had hoped and in the end, he told me that he knew what I was doing and ended up helping me make it. Looking back, it’s probably best that he did, but at the same time it would have been nice if it had been a surprise.”
Her smile fell when she heard Ivette talk about the southern weddings. It wasn’t as though she was surprised. But the reality still rattled her. “That’s horrible,”She said, her voice a loud whisper. Things in the south were bad, she knew, but everytime she heard Ivette speak of the southern isles, she knew things here could get much, much worse.
"Well, this wedding — and all the weddings you attend in the future — will be much better. I promise.” She doubted that, whatever mishaps occurred at Cris and Ana’s wedding, it would not be anything like the weddings she had seen in the Southern Isles.
"I should probably go soon, but — " She stopped and looked at Ivette, " — is it true?” She asked, her voice was a soft whisper now afraid that the walls had ears, she stepped closer, “Did Rob really find a dragon egg?” She had heard something from Ned when she passed him in town that suggested it, but she could not be explicit there and Elyne would not press him.
Ivette laughed with Elyne, wrinkling up her nose. “Not at all! I simply meant that you must be quite breathless. It may be little to you, but you’ve come a long way, and running all the while!” But then, Ivette was aware that distances seemed more extreme to her than they probably did to others. She had rarely been allowed to venture much beyond Valerian’s own keep and had, thus, seen very little of this world.
In fact, Ivette liked even just the mention of the north. She was hugely curious about Aragoth and always had been. Having come from such a tiny island nation, the vst breadth of Aragoth proved nearly unthinkable and she often traced its outline in her mind: the wild South she was growing to know, but the untamed west, the glittering east, the frigid north all remained mysterious to her and Ivette wished, someday, to see it all. She had no idea when she might ever make such a journey, but it was a pleasant thing to contemplate.
Ivette grinned, “Fortunately, I was trained in how best to go unnoticed, so I think we shall make a most formidable team in this,” she said, merrily. Ivette clasped her hand to her mouth as she giggled. “Well, perhaps it proved a wonderful bonding experience,” she pointed out, half-serious, half-teasing. “Baking is much more complicated than it gets credit for, so I tend to think it’s rather a blessing that you had a cohort in the matter. Besides, it might have been a pleasant way to remember his mother on that day.” There were things Ivette still did, of the kind, just to feel closeness to her own mother. It was a blessing to think of her in that way, still, rather than focusing on her awful fate.
Ivette shrugged. “I gather some things are better. People aren’t forced to remain together, after love has fled and, I grant you, the...kinks haven’t been worked out of the system, but to those who are free, there are many perks.” She didn’t precisely condone most of the practices in the Southern Isles - in fact she vehemently protested many of them - but she knew it wasn’t all bad. There might even be some good things that both societies might learn from one another.
“I have no doubts,” replied Ivette, brightly. “I’ve hardly ever seen too people more in love than Cris and Ana and I’m certain their nuptials shall reflect that.” Ivette would be sad to part with Ana, she could admit that, but she was glad, too, that she was moving on to something bigger and better. “Are there any particular...traditions I should be prepared for?” she inquired. She wondered if being an inmate of the bride’s home required any duties that she, perhaps, had to foreseen.
Nodding, Ivette’s brows arched happily as she released a breath. “I can hardly believe it, but...yes! He did!” The possibilities of such a discovery were endless and Ivette felt overwhelmed with the hope of it. She clasped her hand to her abdomen. “This makes everything possible in a way we never hoped before. It seems surreal, but I’m confident,” she said. “That it must be some sort of sign.”
