Falliere left Eir at the steps of the castle, stating that she should speak with Seren and resolve any issues. His farewell was as it always was: his snout pressed momentarily to her forehead before turning to canter down the sloping mountainside. She watched until his antlers vanished from her sight, a ghost of a smile still faint on her lips. Then, she rushed inside, her feet quick upon the long stone steps. When she managed to open the wooden doors and slip inside, Eir sighed in relief when the warmth of the castle enveloped her. She stood close to one of the lit torches, rubbing her frozen hands and watching them fade from blue and purple to her natural skin color. When her fingers had regained their feeling and her nose had quit its ceaseless running, she set off in search of her eldest sister.
She searched for nearly a half hour, though she knew Seren could be in any number of places. After some time, she stopped and leaned against a wall. Perhaps she's hiding from me, thought Eir, but she quickly stifled the irrational thought. Then I suppose I'll take a break, I'll find her one day.
Eir pushed away from the wall and stood to her full height. She set off rather pointlessly, not knowing what to do with herself at the time. She hummed quietly, an old lullaby she remembered from when she was a girl. Her dress snagged on broken pieces of stone on the floor and Eir's humming would occasionally stop long enough for her to pull it free and continue on her way. She remembered, quite fondly too, a time where the floors of that castle were as smooth and flawless as a porcelain bust. It was many years ago, but the beauty of the stone estate was unparalleled. Long years had taken their toll, however, and the castle now drooped and nature had begun to reclaim it. Besides, Eir kind of liked it. The castle had more personality, she had told her sisters, though they had all but laughed.
Her meandering brought her to the great hall and relief flitted across her features when she saw that one of her sisters had lit the fireplace that took up a large amount of space on the wall opposite of her. She hurriedly dashed to the fire, her figure shivering with delight – or was it just the cold? She twirled in place, as if she were a roasting pig, so that she felt the heat on every inch of her skin.
She remained there for some time, her goose bumps slowing diminishing until she was left with smooth skin once again. Only when the sun lowered enough to shine directly onto Eir's face (at which she cursed and lifted an arm to block the blinding light) through the west window, did she squint and move from her position. She went to the glass-stained window, climbing the few stone steps that offered her a platform to see out into the land beyond. She wrapped her arms around her torso and shivered, feeling the frigid winter air seep through the thin-paned glass. Sitting on a step stool that rested at the foot of the window, Eir watched the forests of the valley.
They were far from her, but her keen eyesight could easily see how the tree limbs seemed to shiver themselves and she just knew that there would be no sound from the wood that day. The snow seemed to rest over the trees like a blanket of silence. It muffled any sound that one would normally have heard on a spring or summer day. But not a single chirp or growl could be heard from any forest that day.
She sighed, her disappointment evident in her features. The forests of Isseria were where her heart rested. Within those trees, where they cracked in the wind and where she could climb the highest and see for miles. The mountains were bland, in her eyes. They were gray and cold and harsh – much like Seren. Eir longed to be elsewhere, among the woodlands and their many inhabitants.
She and her sisters hardly left their castle; their gates always shut and their spells always used to ward off unwelcome visitors. Seren had chosen it, as it had once been a great citadel of the Dwarven people. The elaborate fortress had been abandoned centuries upon centuries ago and the sisters claimed it as their own when they came to Isseria. The people of the Valley always whispered of that castle on the mountain, knowing who resided there but never quite believing it. The sisters fabricated their own rumors and spread them like seeds, that the castle was home to bears and wolves, creatures that would quickly devour any one person who came upon the site. Therefore, the sisters were never bothered by the race of men or any other, for that matter. They were left alone.
