Painting Seyrsval Eggs

Villa De Karkaldwin, Pryldahn, 1439 ATC

Peculiar and exuberant concoctions of colorful paint stained chaste, polish, oak wood grains of the table at which a few members of the Karkaldwin family were seated; a fragrant and pungent aroma filled the air, and the perfume of many exotic dishes affixed itself to the jovial discussion of children.

Sanna held Rowena's small, sauntering body in her arms as she babbled about the machinations of the wooden grains, strewn about the tabletop. Lucinda and Soarin taught their newfound friend, Madelina, how to decorate a Seyrsval egg.

Seyrsval, also known as the Turning of The Harvest which celebrated Seyr, the Fertility Goddess of The Pryldahnian Trinity who laid the first egg and gave birth to the first dragon, and God Queen Y'vonne and her family were direct descendants. But the holidays itself celebrated the coming of spring and the bountiful harvest and new life it brought.

With the fertility rites of dragos, that's where decorating eggs came in, even though they used any eggs they could.

Madalina Lupator, a hackneyed, fresh, personal guard to Venser and his family, was seated between the twins with a surprising amount of patience for their energetic antics. Lucinda took the gentle approach, and gave Madalina ideas, while Soarin was more playful; many an obscene remark of the male 'peepee' escaped his lips, along with fewer, less immature jests about the pleasantries of the staff and, as the six year old blonde child put it, "Their need for the tavern."

Sanna’s head whipped around the moment in which she caught wind of this conversation, her pristinely sculpted eyebrow arching in a confused manner as her eyes bore into Soarin’s very soul.

“Young man, it is not polite at all to speak of other peoples’ affairs in such ways. You do not know what they go through, aye?” She was not their mother, not by birth, but she spent enough time with them since ending her travels with the caravan that she essentially guided in the right direction from time to time. She had been spending time with their actual mother, a young blonde woman by the name of Kari, but she has excused herself to make a few rounds around the house as their shared husband had put her in charge of the house and it's staff while he was gone.

Soarin nodded, though giggled to himself.

“Yeah lady! But I still wanna see Madalina fight one of ‘em! Kick em in their-”

The guard woman herself laid a hand against the boy’s mouth, halting his colorful language with a chuckle. Looking to Sanna and the others, she set down the paintbrush with which she had been decorating several eggs.

“As much as I might enjoy that myself, Soarin, you might not want to go announcing that. Some guards might overhear and take offense at the idea of a woman defeating them. It’s a matter of pride; you’ll understand, I’m sure. How would you like it if a girl kicked your butt?”

Soarin huffed, nodding, which caused Madalina to remove her hand.

“Yeah yeah. Let’s get back to the eggs! I wanna see you paint a dragon, like The Trinity! Or like, like daddy's dragon wife Nivarah that's pregnant!"

"We're going to have a dragon sibling!" Soarin's twin sister Lucinda pipped.

Grabbing the paintbrush once more, the guard woman with the silver hair began meticulously detailing a rather rough looking dragon that resembled the red, lesser dragon Nivarah. The bulky monster of a woman was not exactly skilled in art or the finer natures of things such as painting, but Sanna knew as she watched her struggle that she was far greater in other skill sets than this.

The two year old Rowena grabbed her mother’s focus again by grabbing at a lock of her obsidian hair, yanking it for pure self amusement while giggling to herself. Sanna let out a surprised yelp but laughed as well when she realized what the little bundle of joy was doing.

“My darling, you have my full attention. What say you help me put up some of the flowers and wreaths, Lucinda? I’ve picked a few of your favorites!”

Lucinda, who had been bored out of her mind with the masculine banter between Madalina and Soarin, practically jumped out of her chair at the chance to do something else.

“Ooh can I hold Rowena after we’re done? I promise I won’t drop her, I promise!”

Pondering this for a few moments, Sanna nodded.

“I’ll sit you down somewhere and you can hold her. For now, help me with the flower basket? I can’t quite carry Rowena and that bulky thing, try as I might. You’re quite strong, too.”

“Okay! Thank you!”

Lucinda took hold of the basket with both hands and lifted, hoisting it to her chest and hugging it like a doll as she walked alongside Sanna toward one of the numerous halls of the villa, and soon, they were joined by a woman with long hair that was so blonde it appeared white and pale skin to match it. With icy blue eyes, girlish face and full lips. Her face is angelically beautiful, and was lovely when it was animated. She wore a simple black gown and wore a large sunhat atop her head.

This was Kari Fullbuster-Karkaldwin, Venser's first wife and mother to Soarin and Lucinda. She gave everyone a hug and a kiss and joined in.

They spent the next hour pinning and tying primroses, lily blooms, baby’s breath and holly against each banister and pillar they came across. Some came with ribbon, and others were blended to bring splashes of spring color to window sills and doors.

After their basket was empty, they retired to the family room and Lucinda sat eagerly on a steady chair, brimming with excitement at holding Rowena. Sanna, showing gentle exhaustion in holding the child, she gestured Rowena toward Lucinda with the remaining strength in her arms waning. The six year old girl was quite happy to help her, knowing how hard she’d been working lately, taking the initiative to stand up and curl her arms her infant half sister, encouraged by her mother. Rowena was asleep, breath creating a slow wave of rising and falling in her tiny chest, as Lucinda tucked her safely into place against herself.

“She’s so small,” Lucinda whispered, beaming with pride and awe, smitten with the plump babe she held in her arms as Sanna watched.

"Yes she is, sweetie. You and your brother were like that only a few years ago..." Kari said kissing her daughter softly on the top of the head, smiling and reminiscing about their early childhood and Venser doing his best to try to care for them as a proper father.

“Yes. You were once this small yourself, Lucinda, when you were a baby. We were all babies once, needing someone to care for us.”

Sanna leaned over and kissed her forehead, supporting her arms gently by tucking her hands under them to help bear the weight of her sister. Lucinda scooted closer, resting her back against Sanna’s torso, Kari smiled watching them, and the three sat for a while as they simply watched Rowena sleep.

A soft tune began resounding from Sanna’s crimson lips in a hum, a lullaby to allow the six year old girl to rest as well with the knowledge that she was safe.

Lucinda’s eyelids grew heavy after a moment and she dozed off herself and leaned back against her own mother now, and as though on some kind of cosmic schedule, Madalina came in quietly with a sleeping Soarin in her grasp.

Sanna had to smirk a bit and hold back a chuckle; she’d never quite seen anything like this.

The great guardian of Venser Karkaldwin, a muscular mass of silver hair and spitfire, was attempting to tip-toe to keep sleeping children from waking while holding one like precious glass in her hands.

"Here sweetie, I can help. They may be my children, but we are all family here." Kari said.

"Of course, Madam Kari." She said looking to the children still sleeping in her arms. She stood then, gently taking the babe and Lucinda into her arms with little to no effort, and slowly made her way over to their brother to lay them down together. After she was sure that they didn’t wake, she took hold of a nearby blanket and covered them up, ensuring that Rowena was placed separately from them for her safety.

"Just Kari will do, sweetie." The short, skinny blonde woman said tending to her sleeping twins.

Madalina paused in front of a small mound of pillows that were carelessly strewn from some maids who’d decided to recline earlier in the day, kneeling to lay Soarin’s sleeping body down on the fluffy cushions and moving to the other end of the room with Sanna so they could lounge and speak quietly.

Once she realized she’d succeeded in not waking him, a light formed in her eyes unlike any that Sanna had seen before. She motioned in a nod for Madalina to sit in front of her for a moment.

Madalina obliged, seemingly grateful for the stress off of her aching legs. It was one thing to train for hours on end per day, but a completely different matter entirely to devote herself to the care of wild children, especially the energetic Soarin who loved to run. She stretched, the cracking of joints releasing stress sounding off loud enough for Sanna to hear.

“Does that happen often?” Sanna asked, tilting her head in concern.

“Eh, mildly so. It is not painful, madam, if that is your question. It feels quite nice once you get used to it,” Madalina leaned back as the answer lulled from her black lips, resting her upper body weight on her arms against the carpet.

Sanna nodded, satisfied with what she’d said.

“How have you felt about living here so far? Do you like your position?”

Madalina was surprised by this inquiry, cocking an eyebrow for a moment in confusion, however her own curiosity as to where this might end led her to play the part and answer honestly.

“Quite frankly, it is the best place I have lived within. I have regular and hearty meals, there are more than enough men and women,"

The silver haired warrior woman paused and look to the short cryomancer cuddled up near them, who pushed up on her big straw hat and gave her a simple wave, recalling a spar between them and having her shield pelted with ice spears and magic ice beams. She thought about Venser's wife, Alex, a fool mouthed fighter who favored a curved saber and how often they sparred.

"Ahem. Who will spar with me despite the fact that I am not a man, and you sweeten the pot quite a lot, as do the other woman of the house. Spending time with you and these young ones has been a pleasure that I would not otherwise have, Sanna, don’t be mistaken. If I hadn’t come to the tavern that day, I would still be another common mercenary scraping by moving from town to town taking on dirty jobs. Work was scarce then, but it’s come in droves now since Venser has me run security for his cigar business."

She let out a sigh, her biceps tensing and relaxing as she leaned forward for a moment and then back again.

It was during Madalina’s response that Sanna took the time to overlook her feminine lover’s appearance, noting its differences today in contrast to most other days that they met like this.

Her breeches were not the usual leather she was seen wearing lately for training, but rather now were a black cotton material that fit her quite well. Custom leather boots, crafted by a shop in the Capital, became a mainstay of such a casual type of attire for Madalina and she only wore them when she knew there was no fighting to be had that day.

A tunic in a similar style to one of Venser’s usual bard tunics lay loose on Madalina’s torso, the clinging cuff cinching her wrist to accentuate her large hands, and the openness of her lapels gave glimpse to the bandage which kept her breasts from being obvious.

Her hair, abundantly long and silver with genetic defect, cascaded in long streams down over her shoulders and to the floor behind her. Sanna felt that this woman transcended what it meant to be man or woman and was attracted to all that she was; fighter and lover, guardian and berserker. She stared a moment longer, a familiar glitter over her eyes that had Madalina focused in further curiosity.

“My, my. Whatever has captured your gaze, madam?”

The warrior woman's smooth voice rang in Sanna’s ear, breaking her wandering train of thought. The sudden blink back to reality caused Madalina to chuckle under her breath lightly enough so that it would not disturb the children, looking to Kari as she watched over them peacefully.

The golden gypsy watched her move so fluidly in awe, finally standing to stretch. Her body was a little sore, but it had been a busy and fruitful day. The eve was growing closer, which meant they had only but a small amount of time to themselves before the festivities that were planned for later began. Both of them knew the children needed their sleep before this as well, so the fact that they had all gone to sleep around the same time was a blessing in disguise. Madalina walked up behind Sanna and wrapped her arms around the dancer’s waspy waist, hugging her gently and placing a kiss behind her ear. The comforting embrace made Sanna melt against her, closing her eyes for a moment to stop and enjoy it. She rested her hands on top of Madalina’s arms, swaying her hips a bit.

“Does the madam wish to dance here or elsewhere?” Madalina’s silken voice permeated Sanna’s hearing once again, trapping her focus.

“Hmm... Perhaps elsewhere for a while, just until it’s time for the party..." Sanna cooed in response, a playful smirk curling her lips as she tugged her lover to their shared bedroom... Just in time for a private dance.
''We should go retrieve Venser first, if he's finished.'' The two women held hands as they walked down the hall, ogling at a few passing servant girls. They exited through the back and into the family garden, boxed in by high hedges.

Sanna and Madalina entered the family garden to find Venser's newest lover interest with drawing instruments in hand, going from her sketch of various details and back to the naked man who stood on a small dais in the center of the garden, posed with his robe over one shoulder. Polina's dark brown eyes flicking to and fro. Madalina's blood red eyes travelled over some of the works initially, and she found herself a little intimidated by the skill that some of the artists seemed to possess.

''That's quite... Magnificent.'' The warrior demoness said as they stood behind Polina, Sanna looking at the detailed sketch and then back to her husband, who let out a seductive growl and thrusted his pelvis at the golden gypsy, causing her to blush.

''Thank you. I'm still practicing with... Anatomy but I think it's good. Could be better...'' The young painter shrugged and began to put collect her goose quill pens, paper, and black charcoal and ink.

''Are we good? Oh I can't wait to see this.'' Venser asked, a nod from Polina, and he slipped his robe over his body and tied the knot.

The proportions and linework on sketch were near-perfect and depicted the handsome bearded man in the process of having definition added to his arms and shoulders, Venser's face fixed in a position that exuded confidence, power. The messiness of his black hair and the strongly defined features of his face were were actually captivating, the proportions of her drawing alright but not the best. Far from it.

''I love it, Polina.'' He said bending down a bit and wrapping his arms around the young painter, kissing her on the neck, followed by the cheek and lips, and she returned the kiss.

''I know you love this one, Madalina. Sanna...'' He said letting go of Polina and moving behind the two women, wrapping his arms around them as they admired the sketch.

''I would like a portrait too.'' Sanna said as he kissed her on the cheek softly.

''The entire family...'' They were all watching Polina now, who felt a proud fire in her belly, and stared at Venser eyes full of lust.

'You were very fun to draw, Venser.''

"And you were fun to model for.'' He smirked, looking her up and down. Flustered, the young painter wanted to jump his bones right there in the garden, and they all knew.

''I'm kind of thirsty, and there are eggs to be painted and food to be checked on. People to be checked on...'' The handsome bearded man continued, kissing Sanna and Madalina on the lips, taking Polina by her hand.

''Let's all go inside and enjoy Seyrsval, shall we?''