Her parents are deceased, and we of the Creset family are unable to take her in.

Soft footsteps, then the sharper sound of bare feet against cold marble reached her ears, nearly obscured by the louder thuds of rubber soles on the palace floor.

We humbly request the aid of the Queen to relocate our distant cousin, Liza Creset, to other residences that have both the adequate resources, patience, and accommodations to take the girl in.

The letter was delicately refolded and slipped back into its envelope. How this family could think to lie to her by saying that they had no resources to take in this child was beyond her- the parchment and the lettering on the paper was finely cut, and the financial situation of the Creset House was not lost to her. They were well-off- it was simply because of greed or selfishness that they denied this girl a home.

No matter. If they had the audacity to try to pawn off an innocent, poor child on her, she would make sure Liza would only receive the best.

However, she thought as she looked down at the disheveled, barefoot, unhappy wreck of a girl, perhaps that would not be her wish either.

The two messengers standing behind Liza Creset were dismissed with a flick of her wrist and a gentle thank you as the two bowed and made their way out, the large, heavy doors gliding shut without a single squeak.

She turned her gaze back upon the girl and smiled kindly, gesturing towards the corridor behind her, and began walking, making sure the girl was following by laying a gentle hand on her back and leading her forward into the smaller chamber.

"Hello, Liza Creset. I am the White Queen of Prospit. A pleasure to meet you." She paused. Perhaps the girl would be better suited to take a walk with her, seeing as how the girl's scowl deepened with each passing minute and how she fidgeted incessantly. "If you'd like, we can sit for a while for refreshments, or we can skip straight to talking about your future." Another pause. She would address Liza as an equal, rather than a child. The intelligence and stubborn fire behind those blue eyes would testify to that, no doubt. "I have a choice to offer you, dear, about your lodgings and where you will stay. I am sorry about your parents, and I will make sure you are as safe and happy as possible."

Liza walked down the hall, her arms crossed and shoulders hunched. Her awe when entering the palace had already faded, it was just another big building of yellow rock. Nothing special at all!

The small girl couldn't look more out of place among the finery. Her dark hair was a tangled mess from avoiding her aunt's attempts to brush it, she refused to wear shoes over her dirt clad feet, and she wore a dress that neither looked her size or her taste for all the dust, dirt, and frills on it. The black colour of it didn't help with her outlandishness either. There were streaks of dried tears from a recent tantrum on her face, but she looked more angry than upset.

She looked up at the queen with suspcious eyes when she was brought rather unceremoniously in front of her. The queen was being nice, and Liza rarely trusted anyone that was powerful and nice. She pulled away from the carapace's soft touch, taking a few extra steps forward to keep out of contact with her. She kept tugging at the dress, either pulling the sleeves back onto her shoulders when they slipped down or pulling at loose threads on the cuffs.

Finally pulling free a particularly stubborn thread, Liza looked up at the queen again and cocked her head. "Ye're givin' me a choice?" She asked, the accent from spending as much of her time on the streets as she chould unhidden, "Them others tried ta tell me whada do, but you ain't? Ain't you yerself said you was the queen? Ain't you s'pose to be like, bossy?"

She shook her head, "Barely liked them, barely liked me. Dun be sorry, lady." Safe didn't mean happy to her, safe meant rules and walls. She liked neither of them. "...Refreshments. Ain't that fancy people talk for snacks?" Liza's eyebrows creased, she herself trying to figure out if her assumption was correct or not.

She hid another smile as she entered another room with the girl, soft light from Skaia filtering in through the multicolored panes of glass onto the table laden with fresh fruits and sweet biscuits.

Feeling the girl's hesitant and glowering gaze on her, the Queen simply gestured towards the table. "A wise ruler does not lord over others with their power," she said quietly, folding her hands in front of her simple golden gown. "They use their power to help and benefit the people. As Queen, I aim to aid others as best as I can." She turned her gaze upon the girl. "Yes, snacks. Please, help yourself." She herself took a seat and a plate, using delicate tongs to pile equally fragile butter cookies onto the sparkling-clean surface of the plate. "These ones are the best-tasting," she confided to the girl in a low whisper, smiling. "And while you eat, I will explain to you the choice you will have."

Waiting until Liza took a seat, she bit into a cookie. She always was partial to sweets. Taking the time to observe her latest young companion, she observed the black mourning dress, the messy hair, the tear tracks dried onto skin. Slight anger rose in her, though she did her best to hide it- did the caretakers not even bother to care for the poor girl and make sure that she looked her best before having an audience with the Queen? Had it been anyone lesser in generosity than she, they would have only given the girl a standing audience before dismissing her with a final verdict.

For a short moment Liza stared at the pictures of the glass windows, even stopping when the Queen continued to walk in order to see them better. She began walking again, eyes still on the coloured panes, and reached the table. She looked at everything on it and then watched the queen. "Peoples is always tellin' me what ta do, saying s'for me 'benefit' but they then dun pay no attention."

Turning her attention back to the mountains of food, she was sure she hadn't seen these many sweet things laid out since Christmas. Even at the funeral, which had been more a party than anything else. Some place for the high class to meet up, gossip, and drink expensive wines.

"Thanks, highness." Now she stood on her toes and reached over the table to grab a few starwberries and drop them onto her plate. She knelt on the chair with her feet folded under her to give an extra boost to reach the pastries better when she wanted to. She picked the leaves off a strawberry one by one before shoving the whole fruit into her mouth. It was sweet and juicy, tasting like pure skaian light. The child didn't stop to savor it, already repeating the process with the next fruit. After three she picked up one of the cookies the Queen had taken, not bothering to use the tongs or put it down onto her plate.

She put an elbow on the table and rested her head on her free hand. "So where's you gonna stick me?" Liza asked before biting into the cookie. The lady was right about one thing, they did taste good. She reached for another.

Listening to Liza talk, her inner dissatisfaction deepened. Why had the parents caged this child to the extent where she needed to rebel in order to be free? In deep thought, her fingers wiped clean of the last crumb and folded neatly in her lap, she nearly didn't catch Liza's question. She looked up after feeling the child's gaze on her.

"Ah- placement," she said distantly. If she placed her with a surrogate family, which would be dangerous, especially in these times, for war mobilization was proceeding and they would be short on manpower, Liza might be placed in further danger. If she was raised once again with the royals, there would be a likelihood that she would still be in danger because of the potential attacks against the palace members by the Dersites. Those two choices were automatically struck out.

The Queen sat up straighter and cleared her throat softly. "As I said before, there will be a choice you can take, and my offer is this: I can issue a Royal Command for your relatives to take you in, or you can join the Maidens in the Temple of Life."

A worthy station and both a calming influence on Prospit. The Temple of Life was a place of sanctuary and healing, and perhaps Liza would learn what she had not been taught by her negligent parents, as unfortunate their deaths were.

A rustle of skirts as she shifted, her deep black eyes directed straight at the little girl, who had now taken the entire platter of cookies and was methodically munching on them one by one. "The choice is up to you, of course," she said soothingly. "I understand that a transition like this may be frightening or unfamiliar to you, so of course, if you are uncomfortable at all with making a decision like this of this magnitude, you will be given temporary lodgings at an orphanage as a third choice."

Liza slowed down her chewing while thinking of what the Queen had said. She knew the of the Temple and the Maidens, mostly from hearing her mother's regrets of not sending her there in the first place. It had only been a few times that she had heard it, the most recent almost a year ago when she had come home with a split lip and a few fractured ribs. Staying with relatives that hated her would probably be easier, but then she would have to listen to her cousins every time she got in trouble. Which she knew would be a lot.

"I'll be honest," the brunette said before swallowing the half chewed cookie in her mouth, "I dun wanna do any of them things. I wanna adventure. Me's already got all the knowings I need to, too." She didn't doubt she would get what she wanted, after all it was she always got after enough nagging. People didn't want to deal with her, she didn't want to deal with people, it was all fine in her opinion.

(sorry it's short!)

Adventure, was it? The Queen let a small smile curl her mouth. She was much the same- her short childhood days of wandering in the expansive gardens with her dear King, tiny, slippered feet traversing hallowed golden halls, clothes stained with dirt and cheeks flushed with the day's adventures came flooding back into her mind.

"Well," she began, folding her hands, "I do have a feeling that you don't want to go back to your relatives, Liza, and an orphanage is a strange and lonely place for adventurers-to-be. So, if you'd like, we shall discuss the Maidens. After all, the Maidens teach patience. Perseverance, healing, kindness, a keen and sharp mind- these are all traits that Maidens possess, and I daresay they would do you well."

Pouring herself more tea, she stirred in two sugar lumps and a splash of milk, setting aside a second for Liza. After taking a sip, she laid down the porcelain cup- so fragile that she could see the shadow of her pinky through the milky, silver-gilded material- with a gentle clink. "Knowledge cannot ever be over-gathered, Liza. The more you know, the more resources you have at hand to protect yourself. This is a trait all Adventurers need, and I do think that the Temple of Life will provide ample instruction on how to heal basic wounds, on how to speak with such a tone that will have no other effect but to calm any opposition."

She leaned back with a nonchalant air and added offhandedly, "Well, I hear the Temple has a garden that has a very convenient back door, by the way. It's hidden beneath the bell arch and the ivy- but be sure not to mention this piece of information to anyone who'll sneak out to skip praying sessions." With that, she brought her cup back up to her lips and sipped lightly, wondering what Liza's response would be.