Cedar Sweep I dropped the berry in a stream

Indeed she had other reasons to join the Malkaria, but she voiced the chiefest among them. Their god and their ideals did not clash harshly with her, else she might have left. Though the less palatable of their traditions still haunted her, she could look beyond the strangeness of their culture and see the good of it. And, after all, good is not always kind.

But it was their openness to her most damning idiosyncrasy that truly won them the shield maiden's heart. She did not often speak the truth of her heart in plain terms for fear of being misunderstood, but the Malkaria had emboldened her. Still, would she trust Saena with this? The other had shown trust in Ragna when it came to her wayward daughters, Ragna thought she could do the same. I am man and woman both, something the Malkaria accept, she said, nonchalant despite her nervousness.