The Covington Manor, East Shroud, 1561
The door slowly shoved open, a pair of wide, blue eyes the color of a cloudless sky peeking in through the the crack a few ilms wide, a button nose set beneath them, and under it a pair of soft lips. Through the small opening, she could only see a forearm and a pale hand clutching a pen, busied without writing upon a parchment spread out across the desk. Just a little more... She pushed the door open a little wider, cringing as a loud creak broke the near silence, drowning out the sound of pen scratching over paper. Had he heard? The hand suddenly halted in its writing, and there was a pause before a voice calmly answered.
"I know you're there, Faye."
The eight-year-old frowned, puffing out her chubby cheeks and pouting as she shoved the door open all the way. The man sitting in the chair was a Hyur, tall and broad-shouldered, with silver hair that made one wonder if it had always been that way, or if it was simply greyed with age. Nicholas Covington was a high-ranking soldier in the Order of the Twin Adder, and never seemed to run out of work to do, always either out on the field or front lines, or holed up in his office. His eyes were a shade of blue similar to his daughter's, perhaps a bit lighter, keen and focused knowingly on the girl. Her lips parted to respond, but before she could manage to get any words out, another voice rang out from down the hall.
"Faye, dear, leave your father alone. He's busy. You know to stay away from his study," her mother scolded.
The child breathed an exasperated sigh, only nodding obediently to her father, who offered a gentle smile in return that made his eyes wrinkle at the corners. She stepped out of the doorway, shutting the door carefully and quietly behind her. She turned to see her mother bustling down the hallway toward her, a slender Midlander woman with curly, platinum blonde hair, violet-colored eyes, and the same soft features of her daughter.
"But, Mom, I'm bored," the young Faye whined.
"Bored? Impossible. You have plenty to do. Shouldn't you be studying conjury with your tutor?"Â
Faye rolled her eyes stubbornly. "I don't want to study. Besides, why can't Daddy teach me?"
"Your father is a very busy man." She bent down to grab the child's small hand, already beginning to lead her off. "Come now, let's leave him to his work."
![[Image: NCtCate.png]](http://i.imgur.com/NCtCate.png)
