Maeven Keras was not used to change, she had been raised within the Minearak Order for the entirety of her admittedly short life. At twenty two she lived inside the Dukes Citadel her entire life as at first a ward of the state and now as a stewardess of the Tentran branch of the Minearak Orders vault. Her position as a stewardess meant she checked the crystals, minerals, stones and gems twice a day looking for any change. Some might have called her job boring, or dull and most definitely lonely, while Maeven agreed with the last; she found her job endlessly fascinating. She took pride in her work, while the posting was traditionally wholly symbolic, the position afforded her the ability to explore and study the vaults. Maeven enjoyed her time in the vault, surrounded by the shelves upon shelves of different crystals. The peace and solitude she felt when she walked the crystalline maze was something that she seldom found. It was Maevan’s lifetime in the Citadel, her implacable attitude and her general unassuming look and nature had provided her with this opportunity. Maevan often cursed her short stature, ashen skin and matching hair, her hatred of her native features only made her appreciate the looks that her Kerantian mother had passed onto her. Maevan was walking through the vault when she heard it, a crack that set her nerves on edge, it reminded her of the sound of ice clinking in some Kerantian nobles drink. The sound instantly set her nerves on edge and she rushed towards the origin. Her flight sent her deeper and deeper into the vault until she reached the very back, there in a cage under lock and key the salts were held. The bars of the cages were bent and inside the shelves that had been lined with various salt crystals had been destroyed. In their place sat one massive salt crystal, violently beautiful the crystal branched off in different directions, the fractals poking through the gaps in the bars. Brilliant white it came to sharp angular points and razor edges that cut into the metal of the bars and shelf that held it.

Maevan’s hands raised to her mouth as she stared at the horror in front of her, the crystal had completely destroyed the cage. The blades of the crystal bent and cut the bars with the force that its rapid growth had generated. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard footsteps behind her but they failed to register as she looked at the intricate crystal with a mix of fascination and terror. Maevan started to kneel trying to scoop together the fallen pieces and granules strewn around the shelf that held the enormous crystal. She was on her hands and knees when a firm hand clapped down on her shoulder. Letting out a small squeak she stood up and turned around while trying to brush down the frock covering the front of her dress. In front of her stood the squat figure of the Iron who stared up at her. She smiled as she saw him, he was one of very few people that had to look up at her and even though she knew she shouldn't she enjoyed it. His mustache twitched slightly at the look of shock and the smile that followed on the girl's delicate features. Her thin lips quickly moved from a smile and pressed into a thin line and her thick eyebrows drew together drawing to her green flecked brown eyes.

“My lord Iron, I believe I have told you before that I prefer not to be snuck up on, have I not?” The formality of the words were in sharp contrast to the almost playful tone of voice that leaked through her reprimand.

His mustache twitched again as he tried to hold back a smile and he sneezed hard enough to shift the grains of salt on the ground and then he turned back to her.

“Aye girly, ya have, but what would the fun be in starting to listen to you?” Rubbing his nose the Iron did not try to hide his playful, loving tone as he replied and the smile that had threatened to fill his face flooded across it.

Unable to hold back herself anymore and unconcerned for decorum Maevan bent down and the Irons grip on her shoulder changed as he pulled her into a tight hug.

Releasing her, the Iron pushed Maevan back and looked her up and down, “Aye Mae seems like you grow more and more into a woman every day I'm gone” the Iron said the corners of his eyes wrinkling as he smiled.

Blushing slightly, she ignored the Irons' compliments and began to bombard him with questions “when did you get back? How was your trip? Was there any movement at the front? Has the expedition been a success? Did you bring any books back for me?”

The smile never slipped from his face. Gallowglass began to answer her barrage of questions just as quickly aware that the young woman he had known since before her first birthday wouldn't stop her onslaught.

“I got in around noon yesterday, and before you ask I had a state function which is why I haven't seen you sooner. The trip was good, the fronts at a standstill, they've stopped raiding but we can't make any movement. You know I can't tell you anything about my reasons for going to Boros” Seeing the girl take a breath to pester him with more questions Gall raised his hand to forestall them “And if I told you I got you something better than a book would stop interrogating me?”

Interest piqued Maevan nodded and from behind his back Gall pulled out a small rosewood box which he handed to Maevan.

Opening the box Maevan gasped,

“The natives call it Aopoak, the scholars want to call it Ammolite seeing as it's made from some wee old sea bugs called ammonites, the boys on the front are taking to calling it shellstone, we've taken a few from Native mages.” Gal answered her question even before she asked.

Inside the box rested a shining piece of stone that reflected rainbow colors along its curves and edges touching it hesitantly feeling its smooth cool surface.

Running her fingers along the piece Maeven whispered, “It's beautiful, it looks like a pearl or opal, I don't think that a name like shellstone does it any sort of justice.”

“Aye I would have to agree” The Iron nodded in agreement “you can see the ancient sea creatures in the rock if you look close enough.”

Gallowglass pointed at the stone and Maevan leaned down looking intently at the small stone and seeing the tiny shapes of shells in the beautiful rock. Maeven was shaken out of her reverie by the sound of crunching glass beneath her feet as she shifted. Looking up sharply she looked back towards the destroyed cage and the reason for its destruction which sat there. She turned back to look at Gallowglass, the concern and curiosity she felt clearly played across her face.

Clearing his throat slightly the Iron looked back at her “Don't worry girl, you did nothing wrong, truth be told I didn't come back here just to visit my favorite ward of the state.” The smile that covered his face soured slightly at what he was about to have to say, “I was expecting something like this, maybe not this drastic but I'm not too surprised all things being equal.” The Irons voice was low, more subdued than was usual for the jovial man.

“What's that supposed to mean? What are you some Borosian shaman now predicting the future?” Maevans voice was teasing as she poked fun at the Iron, a smile returning to her face as she did what he had done to her so many times. The Iron too smiled at seeing one of his own favorite methods of mockery used against him.

“Girl you're going to make me regret sharpening that wit of yours if you're not careful, but no I'm no soothsayer.”

The Irons voice darkened as he spoke to her as though the joy leaked out through his words as he said them. Maeven knew the Iron better than perhaps any other person alive and was concerned at the darkening tone of the man she had come to see as a father. Maevans' face shifted from teasing to questioning as she looked down, he looked smaller, somehow frailer than she had ever seen him.

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“What aren't you telling me Gall?”

The playful tone had left her voice and was instead replaced with a genuine concern. The Iron sighed and he seemed to look his age for the first time in all Maevans years of knowing him. He looked up at the girl that he had seen as his daughter since the day her mother had dropped her on his doorstep.

Looking directly into her eyes he spoke,

“Gears are turning Mae, gears that have not moved since the first days of the empire and I’m afraid that we may all end up as grist for this mill.”

The tone of the old man's voice conveyed the seriousness of his statement, the dark meaning of his words sinking into Maeven. With a sharp click the Iron took out a pocket watch and checked it briefly before snapping it closed and putting it into the pocket of his vest.

“This will be cleaned up Mae, go and get yourself some breakfast and before you try and tell me you've already eaten try and remember i've known you all your life.” The Iron brooked no argument and reminded her of why the man had earned his title. Nodding slightly she bent down and hugged him before standing up and walking by him back towards the entrance of the vault. Making her way towards the door leading out she puzzled over the Irons cryptic words trying to piece together the meaning behind Gallowglasses statement. As soon as she stepped out of the vault into the quartz lit hallways her nose was filled with the scent of fresh baked bread and frying bacon. Following the smells of breakfast she made her way down the hallway, the Irons words put to the side, at least for the moment. The sweet and savoury smells filled Maes with thoughts of Gallowglass, memories of him chasing her down the hallways as a little girl. She smiled as she remembered him taking her into the library when she had stubbornly refused to learn to read. He had sat her on the ground and read story after story stopping just before the end, telling her

“Now girl if you want to know how the story ends you've got to read it for yourself.”

She remembered how she had stormed out of the library to the deep melodious laughs of the small man. She had stayed in her room furiously trying to learn to read by herself not wanting the matrons or Galloglass to know his trick worked. Thinking of the first story she finished she remembered the firm hand that had patted her back, scaring her out of her own world just as it had moments before. The fierce little girl saw the beaming smile of the Iron behind her, “So girl, did you like the ending?” The little girl nodded slowly

“Could have been better, if I were the princess I wouldn't have had to marry the knight, I understood the riddle right away so I wouldn't have needed him.”

If the Iron's smile could have widened it would have, “Aye Maeven you're much smarter than both of those daft fools aren't you? You'll just have to have to write your own story won't you.”

This memory had etched itself in Maevens memory, Gallowglasses bright twinkling eyes looking at her as he taught her the first of many lessons. Maeven was rudely roused from her memory by the sound running behind her, looking over her shoulder the figure that she saw made her groan. A small girl dressed in a maids dress and an apron was running towards her red braids bouncing behind her and cheeks flushed, as she approached Maeven braced herself for what she knew was to come.

“Gooooood, Morning Mistress Keras!”

The girl's high pitched voice grated against Maevens nerves, Maevan liked most people, tolerated most of the rest, some people though, people like the girl running up to her were too much.

“Good morning Molly, I believe I have told you that mistress is too formal, please call me Maeven or Miss Maeven if you absolutely must.”

Maeven tried to infuse her voice with as much tolerance as she could for the small girl trying to remember that patience was a virtue.

“I know I know, but Matron Mina told me that manners are what separate us Kerantians from the muddies.”

Molly's chipper voice cut through her as the little girl so casually used the slur so casually seeming to forget who she was speaking to. Maevan knew that the girl not thinking of the darker skin of the woman in front of her, and she knew this was a good sign but knowing this didn't make it hurt any less. Maevan even knew that the slur wasn't even really meant for her, she was afterall half kerantian and there were other slurs for her. Knowing all this the words cut into Maevan but she had become well practiced at ignoring it.

“Yes Molly, manners are very important, especially when you're serving guests here at the citadel but there's no need to be so formal with me we’re equals.”

Maevans' patience was rapidly running out as she tried not to snap at the poor girl knowing she was young and ignorant.

“No no, Mistress Maevan, you're the custodian, that's a very prestigious job, Matron Mina says that you have to be polite to people that do important jobs.”

Maeven sighed knowing that “Mistress Maeven” would be the best she would get. Looking back down at the girl Maeven opened her mouth to relent to the girl's insistent chatter on the nature of etiquette when a loud deep voice boomed out from the kitchen they had just reached.

“Maeven I was wondering if I’d ever see you again, I'll assume his lordship, the Iron has returned seeing as you're taking your meal at a normal hour.”

The thunderous voice filled the kitchen as a huge man stepped forward, he seemed to fill the room with his immensity as he walked out from the kitchen into the dining hall. The effect was only amplified by the white cloth the man seemed to be wrapped in from head to toe. He wore a thin shirt tucked into a long skirt of intricately folded and pleated white fabric that wrapped around the man's ample waist and hung to his feet. Sleeves rolled up and collar unbuttoned; he stood out against the formality of his surroundings and the fine suits and dresses of the few men and women eating in the dining hall this early. Over all of this he wore a heavy white apron that was festooned with pockets made with different colors and patterns that clashed wonderfully with each other in a panoply of colors.

“Manto, you know I could never abandon you, or your food.” Maevens annoyance that had filled her moments before disappeared completely and a smile slipped onto her face at the big man's words. Walking forward on sandaled feet he beamed down at Maeven, his white teeth sparkling white against his brown skin. Tattoos covered his face in intricate patterns and lines that curved along his heavy cheeks and jowls and down his neck. Walking forward he swept Maeven up into a great hug, his similarly tattooed arms wrapping around Maeven. He lifted her slightly off her feet as he raised her up to his height making her feel like she was a little girl being thrown into the air by him again. Letting go of her the huge chef gestured towards a small table that was set in the back of the kitchen for the staff to eat at.

“Sit down my little vota, you came right at the best time, breakfast is just beginning, the cakes are coming off the griddle right now.” Turning back towards the stove he caught sight of Molly still standing at the doorway where she had stopped after Manto had hugged Maeven.

“Ey girl, time for you to go, you stay any longer and I fear Matron Mina will have your head.” He used his head to gesture back towards the doorway to the dining hall where a tall stick thin old woman stood with arms crossed. Letting out a short squeak Molly turned and scurried out of the kitchen and back towards the hallway where the old woman could clearly be seen talking down at the girl. Maeven smiled up at Manto after watching the young girl run off.

“Thank you Manto if she said one more thing about manners I don't know what I would have done.” Manto nodded while he turned to the stove and took a plate from a rack that was positioned to his left, not looking up he said,

“I know what you woulda done vota, that's why I sent the poor girl off, I didn't want you bringing another poor maid to tears.”

Maeven grinned sheepishly at Mantos admonishment but shrugged knowing that what he was saying was more than likely true. Manto piled wheat cakes onto a plate before grabbing another and placing two eggs with wobbling yellow yolks on it, placing three thick slices of bacon beside them. Turning he walked to Maevan, setting the plates onto the table in front of her he reached into two pockets he pulled out utensils as well as a stoppered jar. Placing those in front of her he turned and began taking plates from a sill of a window that was set into the kitchen and looked out onto the canteen. Unstopping the jar Maeven drizzled the sticky substance inside over her wheat cakes until it ran down the sides. She smiled down at the honey covered pastries and grabbed her fork and knife ready to attack the food in front of her. She stopped as she started to cut into them and pulled out the small pendant she wore around her neck. On it was a small medallion with writing around the edges and a faint outline of face in the middle, her fathers a token that had been on her when she had been left at the Citadel. She held it in her hand and silently spoke what had become a very hollow prayer. She prayed that her father, a man of Kerantian blood, had passed on the one gift that he could give her. Finishing the prayer she took her fathers pendant and tucked it back into her dress before she tucked into her meal.