The day Ovina first met Amelia Feistra, it was one of those days she had been driving her maid, Fiena, crazy.

The thing is, the Hundreis family is so huge that her own branch of the family would be considered poor by the standards of most nobles. Her own parents were often away, trying to claw their way to getting more recognition. Recognition meant funds, funds made it easier to keep growing, and growing meant they didn't have to worry about being yet another branch of Hundreis that would be kicked out of the capital.

Ovina had been a little girl at the time, though, so she didn't see the problem. Their house was still large enough to have maids and a butler. No security, but that hardly mattered when the Hundreis family was so huge; enemies usually only focused on the top brass.

The house is big enough to run in, to fight with Ivan, and to pull his hair. When he breaks into her room to blow out her candles, she doesn't have to run down many hallways to get her revenge. He's just next door to leave his door open, or put food on his face while he sleeps.

Ovina is young yet and unconcerned with silly things like political standing.

She's worried about running from frilly dresses and bows; she worries about hiding from her many annoying cousins when they visit, and she prefers to play outside.

This sort of behavior is exactly what has Fiena taking her to the local gardens in the noble sector, tired of dealing with the child running amok at home. While Ovina felt the small manor was big enough to run in, the adults weren't so likely to agree. This is especially true when Ovi's running resulted in more cleaning when things inevitably ended up knocked over.

As soon as the scent of flowers and fresh air hits her, Ovina runs.

Her arms pump, her small feet thumping against the gravel below. Her breath catches on gleeful giggles as she bolts through the paths, weaving around dresses and fancy canes.

Running feels like flying to Ovi. Adults should do it more. They'd complain a lot less if they'd just let themselves fly.

Still, even she isn't an endless source of energy. Eventually, she is forced to slow, kneeling with her hands on her knees as she catches her breath.

"My. Aren't you the little escapee," A voice, soft like summer rain, says above her. Ovina looks up at a sea of pretty dark green to find a beautiful woman standing there, her back straight. Curls of brilliant red move down her back, her face adorned by pretty blue eyes and a calm smile. Her attention is drawn back to the dress by a shimmer, made by the raised golden lace. Usually, she doesn't care for lace, but it's really pretty under the sun's gaze.

She giggles. "Uh huh. I'm suuuuuuper fast," She glances over her shoulder, another laugh escaping.

Fiena is jogging her way towards them, her expression a mix of annoyance and concern. Her apron is lifted as she runs.

"Your maid must be quite busy with such a fast runner." The pretty woman says, her tone amused. For the time they spoke, the red-haired lady had stood utterly still. Ovina was about to ask why when she noticed the slightest hint of pink behind the woman. Ovi leans around.

She's met with the sight of a little girl, her tongue poking out in concentration. Her eyes are a light green, narrowed as her small, pudgy fingers try to weave some rose petals in the gold lace of the pretty woman's dress.

Ovina drops beside her, eyes locked on her hair. Pink. Usually, Ovi doesn't like pink much, but it's pretty on this girl. Her fingers twitch with the urge to touch, but Fiena says it's rude to touch people without permission. She pushes down the desire, instead turning her focus to the flowers.

"Watcha doin?"

The other girl startles a tad, peering at her with some uncertainty. She fiddles with the petals in her hand.

"Dress des... dein... deining?"

She looks up to the pretty lady for confirmation. The woman just smiles down at the two girls, unbothered by her daughter's antics.

"Designing, dear."

"Yeah, that."

The pretty woman laughs. Ovina eyes the petals lodged among the lace. The red does look kinda nice against the green.

The pink girl offers a fistful of petals, looking nervous. "Wanna help?"

Ovina, ignoring the sound of her maid's calls, immediately nods, taking some petals.

They tug and pull, putting the roses in place, commenting together on how they think adults would.

"That one's crooked..."

"Ew, don't use that one, it's black on the edges-"

Fiena apologized to the pretty woman who waved off her apologies. Her charge was certainly a charming little bulldozer.

From then on, despite the disapproval of her maids and parents, Ovi gets to see Amelia often.

It's impolite to ignore the summons of a higher-ranking family, no matter the history of rivalry. Sienne oversees their visits in the gardens regularly.

When Sienne passed, it fell to Kayra.

When Kayra passed, Ovina took on the responsibility herself.

She had been told a hundred times why she shouldn't.

She's ignored it a hundred times.

She'll ignore it a hundred more.

For one, prophecies aren't that special. Most people had a prophecy. There's a whole family that deals them out, for goodness' sake. Some families have magic, some have wealth, some have strength of numbers. Almost everyone has a prophecy, even civilians.

Ovi herself had one. One of many generic ones, something about being a child who would have a strong sense of right and wrong.

Well, good for them that they got that much right. Ovi knows one thing. Treating people poorly because of a prophecy is wrong. She knows it's why she wasn't allowed at the Feistras household, even when Sienne had lived. Probably Sienne and Kayra were trying to avoid Ovina seeing the disharmony in the family.

The prophecy about Mila was well known. Everyone knew it. It was one of the only 'big' prophecies in years. The last big one before Mila's had been for the crown prince, but supposedly, they had refused to release it.

How stupid is that? Everyone else is expected to have theirs broadcast, but not the royals.

Total phooey.

Yes, Ovina has other friends. Yes, she could even comfortably stop being friends with Mila, probably.

That said, Mila is one of her only friends who doesn't try to get her to be a lady. She has to talk about fashion and boys, things she doesn't care about with others.

When Ovi is with Mila, she can be temperamental and not be scolded. She can complain about the stupid politics going on; she could be Ovi. Not Ovina.

The other person she can be Ovi with is Ivan, but he doesn't count.

It was actually Ivan who told her about Kayra's passing.

He did it at a dinner, with only the two of them present. Their mom and dad were at yet another Hundreis meeting, trying to curry favor.

He had been pushing his peas around his plate, the squeal of his fork against the plate making her wince. He's such a wuss about vegetables, but especially peas. He dropped the information like it was the weather, not the death of one of Mila's only supporters.

If their mom had been present, he would have been scolded. Ovi tosses a few peas at him, ignoring the sharp look she gets from Fiena across the room. He squeals like he has been mortally wounded.

"First of all, what is wrong with you! Second of all, what is wrong with you?!" She asks this in a rush, pointing at him. "You can't just drop that sort of thing-"

Ivan brushes a pea off his shoulder, shuddering in disgust. He interrupts Ovi. The gall.

"I can and I did. So, what are we gonna do about it?"

Ovi is startled at the question. She hadn't even fully processed Kayra's passing yet, much less started thinking about what to do with the information.

"Eh?"

Ivan rolls his eyes. "Mom's gonna try to get us to cut off Mila again, you know that."

Ovi sniffs, raising her nose. "She can try. I won't listen."

Her brother nods, agreeing. "Obviously. What I'm getting at is we're probably the only thing Mila has left."

That earns a grim nod from her. It's no secret that Mila is at best ignored in her house, ridiculed at worst.

Huh. Sometimes, even Ivan wasn't a total idiot. Who knew.

Ovi sets her next letter for Mila in the little crack in the stone walls outside the Feistra manor. Kayra had been the one to set that up. Her family was too poor to afford the carrier pigeons that Mila's family could. The wall was an easy place for her, Ivan, or Fiena to leave letters. Mila could send her pigeon to retrieve it, or grab them herself.

The news about Mila's adopted brother made it clear.

If no one else was gonna be at her side, Ovi would be.

Now and always.