Hida was getting married.
It was a bittersweet moment, as her father was no longer around to break bread with her soon-to-be husband, as tradition demanded. She wasn't sure if the passing of Savos's mother a few years prior rubbed salt in the wound or not, as that meant she wouldn't have to eat with her own mother-in-law.
No matter. She would have to do what she had always done, and simply make do with what she currently had on hand.
They were having the ceremony along the rocky shoreline away from the docks, where the waves crashed and demanded to be acknowledged. It was along the sleek rocks that she stood, gowned in a silky green dress that ended just above her bare feet. A thick, heavy cloak made of pelts from animals Savos had hunted hung around her shoulders, and her hair was tied into a thick, articulate bun held in place by a silvery, leafy-designed brooch - a gift from her sister, although how Erlan had gotten such a piece was still a mystery Hida wasn't sure if she wanted solved.
While the late spring air and breeze were much warmer than its winter counterpart, the spray from the clashing waves still very much held onto its icy touch, as Hida had found standing so close to the water.
"I am not redoing your makeup if it washes away," remarked a young voice from behind. A ghost of a smile touched Hida's lips. Both, Erlan and the girls' mother, had spent the past few days dyeing and matching inks and powders to get the colors just right for this specific day. They'd painted the space just beneath her eyes a shade of green that matched her dress, with thin, gentle lines curling back to her temples in delicate strokes, followed by painstaking silvery swirls around the bridge of her nose and cheeks - something Erlan had done, because apparently, those markings were actually words in some ancient seafarers' language.
According to her sister, one slight tilt of a stroke could mean the difference between writing "new life" or "smelly nappies". Hida wasn't at all certain if this was accurate, being information Erlan had gotten from the many books the runkist lent her. Hida found it hard to believe that some distant foreigner knew the language her ancestors spoke, but the girl was insistent on making sure she got it right.
Hida had never seen her sister pay so close attention to detail before.
"Relax, dear sister," Hida said. "I will be okay if there happens to be a smudge here and there."
"My sister is not getting married with "Adtros' Pits" written across her forehead," the girl objected. Hida turned to face her, eyebrows raised. A brief, familiar twinge of wistfulness rose in her chest at the sight of her sister. The younger girl was just shy of fifteen, but Hida remembered all too well the small child that used to be incredibly afraid of the dark.
She still is, Hida thought. She just doesn't let it stop her.
"You would be the only one to notice," she pointed out. Erlan scowled.
"I shouldn't be," she insisted. "Do you even know why you're dressed the way you are? We follow Nevhian gods, but our traditions aren't even Nevhian culture-"
"You know, sometimes I wonder if it even matters," Hida interrupted with a sigh. "What god stems from where. Doesn't the she-demon teach that they all exist? How can you be a god of something when there are others just like you?"
"Because we misunderstand the way- oh, you're worse than Beamol," Erlan scrunched her nose. "You don't even care, do you?"
Hida laughed, moving to pull her younger sister into a side hug.
"It's tradition stemmed from ignorance, Erlan."
"How can you claim our ancestors were ignorant when you don't even know why brides and grooms go barefooted in our people's weddings? Or what's written on your face?"
"I am speaking about the gods," Hida replied, moving to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her sister's ears. Her sister was wearing a simple golden dress, as all the other young women in their village would be, and her light blond hair was tied back by a narrow strip of white ribbon. Still very much a child, but it was times like these where Hida could catch a glimpse of the woman her sister would one day become.
"We believe they contain more power than they actually have," she continued. Erlan rolled her eyes, but Hida shook her head. "Did you need me for something?"
"Aside from kissing Savos so that I can go inside?"
"Oh, it's not that cold."
"You have a cloak!"
"You have shoes."
Erlan grunted. "There's a reason for that."
Not wanting to get into another history lesson, Hida turned her back on the water, watching familiar friends and neighbors - people she'd grown up with, as well as people who had moved nearly a decade ago - walk along the shoreline, dotting the rocks and sand in pine needles and twine as they went. Makeshift torches also burned throughout the area, casting shadows upon the landscape. In the center of the clearing was a circle someone had drawn, where she and Savos would kneel the moment the last of the sun's dying light hit the waters - which would be any moment, now.
Hida spotted him making his way down from the docks, wearing a green pair of trousers to match her dress, but was otherwise barefooted and bare chested. Silver symbols had been painted over his exposed bronze skin, but he didn't appear at all bothered by the cold as he strode over to them, eyes meeting Hida's.
"Savos!" Someone else called - and the joy in Hida's heart quickly turned to loathing. A figure clad in white waved to him with a sharp, demanding flick of her hand. The man paused, still quite the distance away from Hida, before turning to walk in the direction of the foreign runkist.
The same one that had executed him all those years ago. She'd vowed she'd do everything in her power to tear the Circle down, and yet here she was, soon to get married beneath the council of the very person that had taken someone from her once before.
"You know, it may seem like the whole attire is meant as a test to prove he strong enough to take a wife," Erlan commented beside her, oblivious - or maybe not so? - to the thoughts coursing through Hida's head. "Giving you his cloak, doffing his shoes to match your pain. To us, he's willing to sacrifice even the basic comforts for you. But it goes both ways."
Erlan paused, reaching out to brush her fingers over Hida's cloak.
"The cloak is heavy, isn't it?" She asked, and when Hida forced her gaze away from the talking runkist and her soon-to-be husband, she nodded. So her sister continued. "This single item - along with what's written on your face - is meant for you to prove that you can handle his burden. What he was on his skin are promises to uphold his family - that's what's on his face - but his chest and back contains what he is willing to give, no matter the cost. What he has already given, and would give again even if it would always weigh down on him."
A chill not from the wind snaked its way down Hida's back as she met her younger sister's serious gaze.
"You both go without shoes to show you are willing to walk alongside each other, even if your roads are different. He keeps you warm by shedding blood -" Erlan dropped her hand at this, "and you promise to be his guide. You look to him to do what needs to be done. He looks to you to ensure that his decisions are sound."
Hida released a soft laugh in an attempt to hide the uneasy pit forming in her stomach. Erlan grabbed one of her hands - it amazed Hida, how much smaller her sister was in comparison to her - and interlocked their fingers, just as they had used to when they were younger and Erlan had depended on Hida to guide her.
"Do you see, now, the difference between knowing and ignorance?" She whispered.
"Hida!" The runkist called suddenly, beckoning her to the circle drawn in the middle of the small gathering. Erlan gave her hand a squeeze.
"Your new life is waiting," she said, half-jokingly. Hida scoffed.
"The gods help your future husband," she scolded lightly. "If this is your way of assuring those around you."
Nonetheless, she forced herself to break free from her sister's grip and walk what felt like an eternity to the demon in disguise and the man who had managed to catch her heart, even when her intention had been something entirely different when they first met.
Erlan, on the other hand, stayed behind for a few moments, watching her dear sister get one step closer to a life Erlan would never have the pleasure of knowing.
For she wasn't going to marry. No, she was going to join the Reftin Circle. Hida may not believe in the gods or their order, and in a sense, neither did Erlan. From her time spent learning under the guidance of the mysterious runkist, the way people talked about the higher powers was quite different to what they actually were.
It was all a massive misunderstanding, the ties that bridged realm after realm together - and Erlan wanted to help clear it. She knew that once she confirmed this with her family, Hida would never be at peace with her. A wedge would be drawn.
So she watched, happy for her sister, and encouraged her heart to relish what she had now. Because in only a few months' time, once she turned fifteen, those easy talks and smiles would be tainted.