5th Cylus 718
Anagénnisi
4th-9th: The celebration of Treid allowing the moons to light up Viden, as the citizens of the ice fortress excitedly wait for the sun to return. For the next 4 days, the city lights bonfires in honour of the Immortal of Moons.
Once she'd heard that the delegation that had gone to Scalvoris were due back in the afternoon, Maebella had gone out of her way to prepare herself for Virikai's return. It was a happy time for it, a trial earlier likely to have been a more subdued affair as the first trial of Anagénnisi was a time of quiet reflection and reverence to Treid. He'd returned in time for the trials of revelry instead and while it wasn't something that would have been a great source of excitement for her in recent arcs, tonight she hoped to have a good time with her fiancé; having him as a fiancé was something to which she had yet to become accustomed. Although she'd always been able to gain some pleasure from the bonfires, but she'd only hovered at the edges. It had been different when she'd had her father and brothers around, although it had been a family affair then, a matter of reminiscing on their younger trials and enjoying some simple amusements. A date would be quite a different matter altogether.
The Eídisi had gone dress shopping, a new experience for her considering how against skirts and dresses she'd always been. She always deemed them impractical and yet now, she found herself willing to wear them for the Talius scion's sake. He seemed to enjoy the sight of her in them and so she'd decided that she'd choose her own. Perhaps it'd be more to her own tastes than Kai's, perhaps he'd prefer to see more of her soft blue skin on display. The dress that she'd chosen had a figure hugging bodice and carried a reminder that she possessed cleavage. It would accentuated her waist but didn't cling in an unseemly manner to her hips and legs, instead flaring out in a more modest manner, the hemline falling to the knee. She'd also purchased some new shoes and while they were heeled, she'd ensured that they were quite low pumps. The aristocrat would still have a fair few inches of height on her, a fact she felt would please him.
The scholar had gotten dressed up and had taken care to brush her hair until it shone, asking her roommates for advice about what to do with it. Apparently the use of hot rags could enable one to add curls and ringlets, and her roommates had helped add a pleasant wave to it, pressing it down on one side and affixing it with a decorative hair comb of bone with beads and ribbons. She wasn't sure if it was garish or not but the human women persuaded her. They even wanted to put make-up on her but they weren't entirely sure how to do it given her colouring and she had to draw the line somewhere in any case.
When she finally sought the man, the young woman felt quite peculiar indeed, not quite herself but not quite as out of sorts as she'd expected. In fact, she was excited to see him, eagerly anticipating his response to her appearance but also looking forward to seeing him. It had been many trials since she'd seen him last and a great deal had happened in the meantime. Maebella had ended up in a very stressful, life threatening situation at the end of the previous season and a great many feelings had been dug up, but she hoped that a lot of complex emotions had been resolved as well. She felt lighter, less burdened, and it meant that she could approach her relationship with Virikai in a fresh state of mind.
It had been easy to find him. Obviously, the delegation that had returned from Scalvoris had split up, the delegates going their separate ways. After trials away from the city, it made sense that the heir would end up at home. That didn't mean that she was eager to go there. Still, she steeled herself and did just that, knocking for entry and finding herself greeted by a slave.
"I'm here to see Lord Virikai," she told the young man, anticipating that she'd be led to him.