Despite the fanfare of the changing of Nevermere’s guard, life in the village carried on much as it normally did. After all, the burden of managing a smooth transition between deployments fell more upon the Nevermereans than it ever would the Cambrians, and although this season apparently brought with it a new command - she’d heard that a new leader, a man, had arrived with this latest and largest retinue of soldiers - the change itself seemed to have happened as painlessly as before.

That wasn’t to say there was no disruption. Distracted by all of the activity from the additional soldiers, the girls under her tutelage had more difficulty focusing on their training, and Rina herself weathered the usual gawking from the newest Nevermerean arrivals for whom a woman in Cambrian dress was still a novelty. With time, she knew, most of the staring would fade, but until then, she would silently stare down the oglers until shame had them turning away.

Evening meal found Rina sitting beside Ferra, cutting her daughter’s food into smaller pieces in the hopes that it might reduce the mess that the four-year-old always made at mealtimes. With a fiercely independent spirit that would serve her well as she grew, the girl had started adamantly protesting that she could prepare her own food when Sigyn slid into the seat across from them.

“Good evening, sister,” Rina greeted her with a quick glance and smile. “And may She bless those whose hands have made it and those whose hunger it will sate.” She would have said more but her daughter’s antics claimed her attention.

“Ferra.” She addressed the girl now in a stern voice that held a note of warning. “You have two options. The first is you sit still and let me finish, and you can help me cut the last one. The second is we can go home now and eat later. Which will it be?” Predictably, the child picked the first.

Once she finished helping Ferra cut the last piece of meat and ensured that her daughter had started eating well enough on her own, Rina turned toward Sigyn with a quiet apology written across her face. “I’m pleased that you could join us for this meal, sister. I hope this evening finds you well?”