Northstar Vale When Stars Align

so sorry for the delay on this!

She'd not been expecting the summons, and as such it found her on the fringes of the Vale - where she'd taken to wandering whenever the anxiety curdled in her guts and that restless need to escape relentlessly persisted. 

Something had changed in the woods, ominous and unknown to the woman of low status. Suspicions fogged her paranoid mind and doubt filled her bloodstream with every thud of her heart. 

Yet, the midwife remained tethered here as surely as if she were still shackled and bound. It was a different tie than servitude, one that was far more effective: loyalty. Her subservience had belonged to Lady Reiko the moment her weary bones crossed this border. Now with the birth of her Empress' young princesses and prince, Awen was trapped by adoration and protection. The more children were born, the more she would be needed - the more her heart would grow until she could not desert this place, even if danger truly lurked around the corner. 

Unlike the many aristocrats that strutted in, Fen's arrival was perceptible only by the oddity of her features - and the unconscious, doe-like grace the fae moved with. 

Shoulders curled inward like the last stubborn leaves upon bare autumnal branches, head and ears ducked with respect, a deferential gaze flickered up to the Empress briefly as she settled in amongst the crowd. 

"Lady Corra," she whispered as she took up a perch alongside her patient, her head dipping in a polite nod.