The Keep, Ebon Askavi, Kaeleer, Just Before Sundown (Kaeleeran Time)

[glacial_witch]

Karla tried not to look nervous as the great doors to the Dark Altar opened in front of her. Inside, Opal witchlights danced in sconces, forming a path for her to follow, rather than illuminating what was within. This was very different than her Birthright Ceremony, where she'd had the company of her parents and several other children, where a

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[endsthegame]

It was only right to come here, considering the circumstances - if he and Ben were to be stuck at Fandom on the wrong weekend, they might as well do something worth doing.

He smiled at Karla as she went, but he hadn't bothered to approach: she had made it clear it wasn't entirely welcome, and this was hardly his time.

"Well," he said, as the doors closed. "This'll be interesting."

[changeable_eyes]

"Interesting?" Jaenelle asked lightly. "You're a fan of waiting, then? Or are you hoping someone will pull out a board for cradle?"

[endsthegame]

"I hope you won't take it as an insult if I decline your offer to playing cradle," Ender said. As he turned to Jaenelle, he had a real smile on his face. "I'm not sure what the protocol is."

[changeable_eyes]

"For most of the boyos, it's a look of terror, followed by a frantic shoving of someone else under the Coach and then a break for the closest door," Jaenelle assured him. "A simple 'no, thank you' will be refreshing."

[trigons_child]

Once the doors closed, Raven couldn't get a good feel for Karla anymore. Maybe if she pushed harder, but that wasn't her right. She just had to wait for Karla to re-emerge.

She was a little worried about what Karla was going to face in there, but her faith in her friend was strong. The waiting threatened to be maddening, but she could be patient.

Mostly.

[offers_choices]

That was fine. Lucivar was there to keep her mind occupied. Like how he was just going to stand there, in front of Raven.

And wait.

[trigons_child]

Raven wasn't terribly surprised, but she did feel a little bit guilty.

"Hello, Prince Lucivar," she said softly. "I suppose you are wondering where I have been...."

[offers_choices]

"One could assume that," he said genially.

That was a sign that you were in trouble, Raven.

[changeable_eyes]

Jaenelle was curled up on a couch, her hand buried deep in Kaelas's fur. She knew that tradition dictated that sometime soon, she should be in Karla's place, making the Offering that would deepen her strength, widen the distance she felt between herself and the rest of the Blood. But she wasn't going to. She had no desire to rule, no reason to make the Offering. She was already strong enough.

She was happy to be here, waiting for someone else, rather than being the one who was waited for.

[offers_choices]

Lucivar glanced around and shook his head. For all that Karla was feeling the loneliness of the Offering itself, Lucivar was marveling at how many people were packing in this antechamber. His own Offering had been a silent affair. Most Eyriens had a feast waiting for them at the camps when they came back from the altar.

Not the bastard half-breed, for all that he came back wearing a Jewel darker than most had seen in generations.

[blondecanary]

"Hey, big guy." Dinah was perched on the back of the couch now, next to Morton. "Something wrong?" Gaaah, no, say there wasn't!

[offers_choices]

"Hmm? Oh, hey Dinah."

Look, Dinah, you weren't a threat! You were able to get close to Lucivar without his hackles rising.

"Just brooding. This--" he jerked his chin to gesture to the room around him "--was pretty different from my own Offering."

[blondecanary]

Yay! ... wait, right? Oh, sure, yay. Threats to Lucivar weren't the sparring-fighting-active kind. They were the things that got under his skin and made him wary.

"Different how?" Dinah asked, curious. "Was it an Eyrien ceremony, or something?"

[hells_highlord]

Rather than taking a couch, Seatan had chosen a large, comfortable chair next to a small table. A decanter of yarbarah and a goblet rested there, though he hadn't reached for either yet.

"Do try to keep the rumpus down," he said with a fond smile. "The rest of the Keep still exists, children."

[blondecanary]

"You seem-- perky." Dinah gave him a smile, nerves thrumming through her. Which was ridiculous, because this was going to take all night, and if she stayed wound up for most of it she might sleep through Karla coming out when she crashed. "Does that mean good things? You think Karla's ready?"

[hells_highlord]

"She's ready," Saetan affirmed. "Though, whether she thinks she is is a different story. Perhaps it is better for me to say that I don't think she'll be getting any more ready."

Saetan gave Dinah a smile and inclined his head. "You seem tightly wound. Do you think she is ready?"

[blondecanary]

"I..." Tough call. "I don't really get some of this. What someone needs to be ready, compared to not ready. It's magic, and some of it is so mystical the way Karla explains it, I just end up nodding my head." She swallowed. "I wish the Coven had felt she was ready enough to advance in her Healer and Black Widow studies. I keep wondering if that's going to mess with her."