Work Text:
Daja woke at dawn with the force of long habit. She yawned and stretched lazily, feeling the lead in between the panes of her window just beginning to heat up at the first light of day. She slid out of bed and began her morning sequence of exercises and stretches. She felt a bit of soreness when she stretched her arms and shoulders and smiled to think of how her younger self had teased Frostpine for his twice daily stretching routine. “A smith needs to take care of their body if they wants their body to take care of them,” he would say.
“Well, I’m not as spry as I once was,” Daja thought as she washed up and dressed for the day in work clothes. “And so the circle turns.”
She took up her trader’s staff and headed to her forge. Sometimes she still marveled at the thought. Her forge. Where she did her own work and taught her students. Two years ago Duke Verdis had made her the Head Smith for the castle, so technically she oversaw the work of all the smiths working at the castle. She had a seat on the Smith’s Guild in Summersea as well, and was often called up to Winding Circle Temple to advise the smiths and mages there. She shook her head at the thought of being so well respected. Whenever Daja found she was thinking too highly of herself she would set herself to a day of making nails with her apprentices. Nothing keeps you humble quite like a day of mind numbing nail foraging.
Arriving at the dining hall shared by most of the craftspeople in the castle, she grabbed a still-warm bun and poured a mug of tea, before taking her breakfast outside to eat it. The sun was just high enough in the sky to warm the courtyard where her forge sat waiting for her. She stoked the fire and set some gold bars to warm. She was planning on making Sandry a necklace to wear for her coronation, which was less than a week away. Daja had bribed Sandry’s seamstress to see the dress Sandry was to wear, since Daja wanted to make sure it would match nicely. Daja didn’t often work in jewelry, preferring something hardy to something delicate in her hands, but she was insistent on improving her skills in all areas, and had spent the past several months learning more about such work from a friend in the city. Daja felt at her core that she should always be an apprentice at something, always be learning or trying to master something new.
The past few years had been that way for Sandry as well, Daja knew how hard her friend worked to take up the Duke’s legacy now. Daja was immensely proud of Sandry. Still as stubborn as ever, unmarried and brave as anything, she had accepted Duke Verdis’s naming her his heir over his own sons. A settlement had been reached before his death, and Sandry’s right to rule was unchallenged. She was giving up the life she could have had as a mage to care for Summersea, and Emelan. Daja knew she loved the city as much as she had loved her late uncle, and Daja loved Sandry for it all the more. The city had grown under the later years of Verdis’s reign, and Daja had every confidence Sandry would be as successful as he had been.
--
She met with Tris and Briar after lunch. They were secretly remodeling an unused area into a private rooftop garden within the castle for Sandry. It would be more difficult for her to roam the city once she was Duchess, although she’d kept up her uncle’s tradition of a morning ride since he became too ill to make them anymore. Her brother and sisters wanted to be sure she would have a sanctuary to retreat to. Briar was designing the plants and flowers, and growing them from cuttings and seeds himself. Daja knew he’d gone up to Discipline and would be using cuttings from some of Lark and Rosethorn’s own plants. Daja herself had forged several benches and chairs for the garden, as well as a few hanging trellises for Briar’s plants. A couple of precious living metal flowers were to be tucked in amongst the regular plants as well. Tris had made clusters of tiny lightning globes to hang around the garden, lighting it softly at night, and glowing and sparkling beautifully during the day. The glass balls were many different colors, and Daja knew it had secretly pleased Tris to create things so beautiful.
That evening the four took a simple supper together. Sandry made a point to eat with her siblings at least once a day. Daja had never regretted moving to the castle, and she doubted Briar or Tris did either. Daja had lived here longer than either of them, and Sandry hadn’t asked them to come and live at the Castle until after Duke Verdis had passed. Tris had agreed once she left Lightsbridge, top of her class and although still equally feared and respected. Sandry had tempted her with a promise to remake the rooms at the top of the tallest tower for Tris especially. Daja was used to sighting her bright red hair from her forge, which had a good view of the tower.
Briar had been trickier to convince. He often resisted the girls just on principle, but with all three leaning on him, he’d given in with a shrug and a smile. His rooms were not far from Daja’s own, on the ground floor with quick access to the main gardens within the castle. Everything looked greener with Briar around, and the last time Daja had been by Briar’s room, she’d seen shoots of grass creeping through cracks in the stone floor. She’d just shaken her head and thought ruefully after whatever poor soul was responsible for cleaning Briar’s room.
--
As she was gathering a book and a small project to take to Sandry’s study for the evening, Daja heard someone call her name. She turned and saw one of Sandry’s favorite scribes, who was walking to catch up with her. She was a bright pixie-faced woman named Kiri, and Daja smiled at her, remembering suddenly being on the receiving end of a few shy looks and smiles over the past few weeks. Daja let her breath out like a bellows.
“Daja, I'm not sure if we've been introduced, I'm Kiri," she said with a shy smile when Daja stopped.
"I remember you. What can I do for you?" Daja asked curiously.
"Well, I just wondered if you wanted to accompany me to Sandry's coronation ball?" Kiri sounded nervous but kept her chin up bravely. Daja stood in shock for a moment. There weren't very many nisamohi around Summersea, a few certainly, and they mostly lived in peace, but such practices were more common among the temple folk. Daja had almost given up hope of finding someone who liked her for who she was.
"I'd love to. Absolutely. I'd really like that." Daja babbled, excited suddenly and filled with nervous relief. Kiri smiled very widely, and it struck Daja how beautiful Kiri was.
--
Daja refrained from telling her siblings why she was smiling that night. Let it be another surprise for Sandry's coronation.