Everlong

Say It First

Olly wandered back inside the walls of the Keep, the contact with her father still lingering like a pinch or a kiss. She hadn't realized how much she missed him, had missed her mother, just being in her home felt so warm. Hearing their voices felt like she had been gone centuries instead of only a few years. It was only when she heard a familiar screech as she walked towards her own room that Olly realized she hadn't met everyone that lived inside the castle.

"Allana!" she heard her little sister, Mari, scream from the hallway that led into the kitchens, her small frame flying fast in front of Olly. Short, lithe, with cotton blue hair came bouncing toward Olly with a bright smile. A faint breeze of summer passed by Olly's face with Mari grabbing her hand, the telltale sign of the young druid.

"Mother told us you would be coming! There's so much I have to tell you! Brienne is in the kitchen helping with dinner, come on! Come on!" Mari said nearly yanking Olly's arm out of the socket, not giving Olly a word in edgewise as Mari babbled on excitedly like a bubbling brook against the rocks. Mari went on about the news within Silverymoon as Olly was dragged into the kitchens, the smell of warm broth cooking over a fire as staff of the castle hustled around the oldest sister Brienne, who was commanding with the force of their mother.

"Make sure that the vegetables are cut a quarter inch thick. The fire needs stoked again Rickard, go out and fetch more wood. No Annabella, thyme won't mask that kind of smell" Brienne ordered, reminding Olly of a general in an army, happy that although a lot had changed on the outside of Olly's home, the inside still remained the same. Brienne's tall figure stood high above some of the recruits, her hair long and loose with a small flower crown laced in between the tresses. She had been named the most beautiful baby in all of High Moor, and age had only solidified her beauty into a fine wine.

"Allana!" Brienne said suddenly as she spotted her and Mari in the doorway "Fern, take over the kitchen for a moment, make sure there are two hundred portions this time."

Olly felt a bit sheepish as she watched her sister hand over an apron and then come forward, gripping Olly by her shoulders as Brienne looked her over with a sharp eye. Their mother was their protector and caregiver, but Brienne was the nurturer of the family.

"You haven't been eating, have you?" Brienne said moving Olly's face back and forth by the edge of her chin "Those nourishment beads you are given are meant for rough situations Allana. They will only give you just what your body needs to survive and no more. You need real food in you from time to time you know?"

"I know Bri" Olly said gently taking her hand away from her face "But I've been in a lot of rough situations as of late."

Brienne shot Mari a quick look, just fast enough that Olly caught the tail end of it, before leading Olly further into the kitchen and sitting her down. Already the long wooden table in the middle of the room was being filled with hot steaming dishes that would be served to her family and the recruits that lived at Arrowmoor.

"What happened Olly?" Brienne said, her voice as gentle as fresh snow "We've been so worried. Mother's been scrying every day to make sure you were alright. Father....well you know how he is. He wouldn't tell us he was worried even if he was panicking. We've all been wanting you to come home now for some time."

"He's asked about you every day since you left" Mari said, the sadness thick in her voice "We sent word out for you, but you never responded."

"I never received a letter" Olly said surprised "I haven't been contacted by anyone for five years!"

"We were specific" Brienne said "we told them to find Peren, a high elf and a young woman. We sent recruits to all the major cities in the Sword Coast. You didn't receive anything?"