Chapter 392: Evina
Grass crunched beneath her feet as steps led her deeper into the darkening gardens. The sky donned its pinkish coat, announcing the arrival of a new night.
The air was indeed not as cold as the previous day and thus just sweet on her skin. Edgar had hours since concluded with his tasks and so, Arabella did not expect any soul to cross her path out there.
However, two silhouettes in the distance caught her full attention. It only took her a few steps ahead to distinguish the two people holding each other’s hands.
Estrid stood facing one of the tributes, beneath one of the great trees that surrounded the pond. If memory served Arabella right, her name was Evina,
The two women had their eyes shut and were simultaneously mumbling something that was out of Arabella’s earshot.
That remained the case until, the distance between them was cut to a small number of feet.
"May the will of the great Nokkah be with you," said Estrid.
"And with you," retorted Evina.
After those words, their foreheads joined as their eyes stayed shut, offering and taking from the peace that nature around them granted.
Admiring them, the only regret Arabella held was ruining the moment upon stepping on a branch in her path that she failed to see.
Startled, both of them broke contact and straightened to face the origin of the sound.
"My Lady," Estrid curtsied first, quickly followed by Evina, "Evina has received permission from Madame Arumina to come to the gardens, and I volunteered to accompany her," she kept her gaze on the ground.
"There is no need for any of that with me, Estrid," Arabella did not particularly feel the energy to dispel any misunderstanding with more enthusiasm. She merely walked their way, further chopping the distance that separated them, "But I am curious about the name you made mention of just now. Was it Nokka?" she sat upon the grass beneath them, right by the nearest tree trunk.
"The name was Nokkah," Estrid corrected her, "There is an h at the very end that is pronounced,"
"What a lovely name," Arabella took a deep breath in as a swift breeze blew by, "You may return to your work if you want, Estrid. I will stay with Evina,"
Estrid and Evina exchanged a look and seeing that, Arabella felt the need to reassure them, "It’s really alright. She is safe with me. I hope you can trust me with that at least,"
"But of course, I do. I trust you, my Lady!" Estrid sounded indignant as though insulted to even hear those words.
Eventually though, Estrid left them together in the gardens.
"Evina too is such a beautiful name," Arabella laid the weight of her upper body back on her hands that she dug her fingers in the grass.
"Thank you, my Lady,"
Evina just stood there awkwardly until her posture bothered Arabella, "You may take a seat next to me. In fact, I insist upon it,"
Evina did not need to be asked twice and put her behind on the ground right by Arabella.
"Who is Nokkah?" Arabella asked the moment Evina settled down.
"It is a winter spirit that me and the people from my village worship and pray to for blessings," Evina only answered the question curtly, volunteering no other extra information.
"Yes. Your chart says that you hail from Kalldaggar," Arabella stated simply.
"My chart did not lie,"
"And I suppose Estrid comes from the same village as well, seeing as she worships Nokkah as well," Arabella half asked.
"The people of the colder region worship many spirits, Nokkah only happens to be one of the most known among the rest, but... Yes, for what it’s worth, you are right, Estrid approached and informed me that she comes from Kalldaggar too,"
The raven-haired woman took a moment to breathe it all in and before she knew it, her inner walls could no longer stomach the laugh she tried to stifle, "Pardon me for making assumptions, it’s just that, the two of you share a lot more than worshipping the same spirit,"
"Really?"
Although Arabella had meant it as a joke, the genuine confusion translated through Evina’s furrowed brows prompted her to laugh harder, "Oh my word! You too are almost copies of each other with all the seriousness,"
"Oh...," Evina simply hugged her legs to her chest and buried her chin in her knees.
Quietude claimed the space between them for the wind to murmur its none secrets in their ears.
"I had never stepped out of Regalis before coming here," Arabella inhaled the pure air deeply, "What was life like back in Kalldaggar?"
"Snowy and cold," muttered Evina.
"Is that all it was?"
"Yes. We did not have many sunny days," Evina looked around herself, "To see greenery like this was... Rare, and that’s to put it mildly," her eyebrows rose up her forehead for the shortest of moments.
"So, you have never seen a garden such as this one?"
"Not even in my most beautiful dreams," Evina shook her head.
"I have never seen snow before," after a few seconds of muteness, Arabella had blurted much to Evina’s surprise.
"Wow! I... Well, snow is beautiful but... when you have to live with it day and night it becomes-"
"Did you steal that golden ring like your chart claims it?" once again, Arabella had blurted before Evina finished her sentence, stunning her for the second time.
It was Evina’s turn to be mute, plopping her mouth against her knees until she seemingly had enough of keeping her peace, "You seem like a good person, my Lady. One of very few I’ve had the pleasure of encountering so, I don’t wish to cause you any unnecessary pain because... Knowing whether I was innocent or otherwise is quite literally meaningless for there is nothing anyone can do to bring change to my situation,"
They sat in silence again for a short while, stewing in those words before Evina broke it with a question that came out of left field, "Were you given a choice?"
"A choice to do what?" under the first stars to glisten in the sky, Arabella’s gemstones sparkled along.
"When you were proposed to by your Lord," Evina looked her straight in the eyes.
To that, Arabella could do but smile and nod solemnly.