one small life in exchange for a second chance at history?
            I'VE ALWAYS LOVED A BARGAIN

Maybe it was foolish for her to continue picking the metaphorical seat next to Mauja instead of sitting with her blood relatives, her family but her father's sudden (and surprisingly easy) departure from her life before her first birthday only served to skew her concept of family. To her, Mauja is family. And he's needed far more protection lately than either her aunt or her mother. Her aunt's presence in the gathering hadn't escaped her notice and though she stood near the back of the gathering, she was still too close to the fire for Naerys' comfort. Mauja is far enough back for her to feel safe, though she doesn't fully relax until she feels his bulk pressing closer against her. With a gentle sigh, she turns her head in time to lock onto Iona's familiar green eyes. The mare winks, causing a small smile to curve Naerys' own lips before the cringe-worthy squawking pulls their attention back to the fiery center of the crowd.

Naerys' own ears flatten back against her skull in an attempt to muffle the creature's rather unpleasant voice. Fortunately, however, it didn't last for long and soon it was Mauja's voice offering her the explanation she sought. "Magic." A familiar concept though some details are certainly unclear. Having been born with her magic flowers, she didn't understand any other way to acquire such things. To her, it seemed far more logical that one was either born with it or not. So when Mauja continued and made mention of something called a magic orb, her brows nearly furrowed. "Oh." she replies softly, her own voice intended only for the stallion pressed against her smaller, more slender side. But then she could feel him peering at her, a hint of something oddly serious in his icy gaze. "Do you want it?"

For a moment she could only meet his gaze with silence but soon she's lost in her own thoughts. On the one side, she's seen magic do good things (most notably, her mother's healing magic). On the other side, she's seen a far more destructive and fatal side to magic that leaves her practically cringing. She's seen it cause death and physical harm ranging from minor to severe. Magic, she presumed, had been the cause of the severe burns on Mauja's face and if that particular type of magic didn't exist then would there be a need for healing magic like her mother's? It was a rather simplified thought process but every bit of it made perfect sense to her. "No." she answers Mauja rather matter-of-fact. "I don't want it." and Naerys is completely sincere. She doesn't want it. Not in the least bit. But that certainly begs the question, then, as to why she's here in the first place.

And then, rather suddenly, almost as though it were an afterthought the girl speaks again. "There's fire. Maybe we should go?" But it isn't her she's worried about, no. It's him.

NAERYS