Northstar Vale "Would you believe my faith if I gave it to you freely?"

Her eyes flinched slightly in surprise as he materialized seemingly from nowhere - a trait she was beginning to suspect was the norm for the male, a suprising one given the bulk of his body. 

The words that graced her sooty auds were only vaguely familiar as the healer had only just begun to learn his tongue. "Heil," she murmured in weak imiation of his command of the language, curling her pale head over his shoulder in a hug though she had to reach for such a feat. "Thank you. Please, make yourself at home," the healer continued, soft voice tremulous with nerves.

Something glimmered in his bicolored gaze as it swept over the meal she had prepared. It was something ancient like his gods but visceral, causing a warm flutter to stir in the pit of her stomach. 

With an indrawn breath, her eyes slid away - silently wondering if she had been too forward in her invitation. She was unmarried now, after all, and taking pains to look after a male who was not hers to worry about - she could only imagine what it must look like from Vangard's perspective. 

The Blackfoot forced herself to will any embarrassment away, lest she lose her nerve. 

"I see no reason to keep you in anticipation, wondering why I invited you to my home," she began, dark eyes lifting to his resolutely despite her anxiety. 

"The group I have gathered here means to see me lead. They have chosen me," Liri murmured softly, observing him for any sign of anger or bitterness at this - knowing that the Viking had aspirations of guiding a pack of his own. 

"But I have chosen you," came her next words, soft and hesitant between them. Her gaze dropped, the words were far too intense for Liri to hold his gaze. 

"My wolves will too, once they come to know you," the healer promised, her dark eyes truthful. "Earn their trust and I do not doubt they will see what I see in you."

She felt a tight band begin to constrict about her chest as her next words rose to her tongue, a knot closing around her throat and keeping her from speaking for a moment. 

"The only thing I ask..." Liri began, heat spreading across her cheeks beneath her pale fur, swallowing heavily against the culture that dicatated that women did not speak with men of such matters. 

"..is that I be granted the right to have children." If her eyes had had trouble finding his own then it was nothing compared to the crushing anxiety that kept them averted now. 

She had longed to be a mother since before she reached sexual maturity. Now, more than ever, she wanted to bring a piece of her own flesh and blood into the world. 

It was no small thing that she asked. The healer was unmarried and had no true blood relations in these lands. Her children would rely upon the pack for protection, she would turn to them for sustenance while out of commission during the first weeks of her childrens' lives. Liri had considered asking the Viking for his assistance in arranging a union for herself. She had no father or brothers and Siqsa was still recovering. In her lands, men took care of such arrangements but in the end, the northron could not bear the thought of putting herself through another arranged marriage - especially not when she had so recently been betrayed by her last mate. 

"I am not one of your people; I am ignorant yet to your ways. But I have never desired something so badly as I have to be just that," she admitted, glancing to him at last to gauge his reaction. Perhaps this one condition was not so great that he would turn down her offer. 

"If you should teach me to be a woman of your faith, should we adapt this pack to the customs of your lands...it would only make sense that we strengthen our claim together." Did he understand what she was asking? 

"That my children, the children of one of the leaders, be sired by a man of a proud, Viking bloodline," she finished, her gaze vulnerable as it searched his for some sign of his reaction.