15th Vhalar, 720
Seira and Seri found an unoccupied corner of the mess hall to eat their breakfast. They were ignored for the most part, and Seira couldn't help but be relieved. Being ignored was far better than being pointed at and gossiped about. Some of the Knights tended to shun them because they were "failed" Knights. Those that didn't weren't quite sure how to deal with them. So they ignored them. Or gossiped about them to their friends. Or both.
Likewise, the civilians didn't seem to know what to make of two girls who started out as Knight Initiates and were now civilians. Civilians that didn't belong there in the minds of most of the civilians who were at the outpost. It was one thing for a Knight Initiate to be young and still in training. But none of the other civilians who were at the outpost there. The civilians who had come to work at the outpost were all skilled doctors, carpenters, and such. There were children there too, of course; the families of merchants and such who had been stranded at the base when the siege first began. But Seira and Seri didn't fit into that group either. They were children who had signed on as Knights with the intention of helping the Knights in every way that they could...and were now civilians that nobody really wanted to deal with.
It was a difficult position to be in at best. Even so, the twins did the best that they could. No pair of hands was ever going to be turned away in the infirmary so they helped out there. And when they weren't working, they were taking advantage of the books that were there to learn everything they could in order to make themselves more useful. Trying to learn how to defend themselves was harder than studying herbs and such on their own out of books, but they managed as best they could.
Seira didn't really mind being ignored for the most part. Growing up the way she had, being ignored was usually a good thing. She and Seri had always relied on each other for companionship, and they could do so now. As long as they could get the lessons that they needed, they could get by on their own for everything else. And while actual lessons were hard to come by, and grudgingly given at best, they managed.