[color=#b49ad0][h3]Lienna[/h3][/color]

The long ride to Shadow Worth began for Lienna in a sleigh, trudging through the near-constant snowstorms of her northern home, minutes stretching into snow-blind hours as she tried to calm her fits of tears. Of course she cried, it was healthier than letting the water build up inside; for a dam will only last as long as its supports, and when released, the ensuing flood is far worse than the trickle of the former stream. Minutes stretched to silent hours, and by the time Lienna was transferred under guard from the sleigh to the carriage, her tears had all but stopped flowing. In fact, she managed to fall asleep on the way, clutching her little ivory statue in a white-knocked grip, like a single lifeline in the sea. 

Her arrival at Shadow Worth was likely the last; the further distance and storms must have delayed their journey quite a bit. As such, her Drakkn guards ushered her in with urgency, half-dragging the girl to her dressing room and commanding that she hurry. 
She'd trembled for most of her rushed dressing period, and when she had stripped to step into her bath, the touch of her skin brought a thin sheet of ice across the surface of the water. She bathed and dressed quickly, trying to ignore the ravenous stares of her captors. The [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/97/65/15/97651527f48d23274ebe9dc2776d17dd.jpg]dress[/url] provided felt alien to her, the light fabric and exposing design a stark contrast to the fur-lined winter trousers and coat she was used to. She felt horribly exposed in the glorified silk handkerchief, and with no shoes other than fur and leather boots, she was forced into the ballroom barefoot. The one silver lining Lienna could see was that she wasn't being paraded to the Drakken lords naked, as she'd heard in horror stories. 

Yet forced the still was, and into a situation she couldn't have explained if she tried. Numerous Gem girls were already claimed, it seemed, and one Drakken man lay seemingly dead. Three were challenging each other, and a Drakken woman, of all things, had corralled two Gem girls into a corner. For a moment, the shock froze her; the next, she tried to retreat into the corridor outside the ballroom. Much to her dismay, her efforts were only met with impossibly powerful Drakken hands leading her to her place in line. One of her escorts' hands lingered a little too long and a little too low, and she could have sworn he sniffed her hair. Her skin crawled and her gut twisted, but she stood her ground, forcing a calm to wash over herself.

[color=#b49ad0][i]Water always finds a way,[/i][/color] she repeated in her mind, [color=#b49ad0][i]Water always finds a way.[/i][/color] 

And so she stood, back straight and chin up, tears gleaming like ice in her eyes but yet unshed, discreetly turning her little ivory owl in her hands and hoping no one would notice it as she waited to be inspected like a prized fish in a market. Goosebumps spread across her skin - whether from cold or embarrassment, it was impossible to tell. Still, even with her anchor and her mantra, panic swelled like the churning of a volatile sea. She pushed it down inside her, knowing that this was not the time or place to let loose a flood of emotion. Instead, she replaced the fear wth an amount of determination. She [i]would[/i] get through this. For her mother, for everyone in her country that relied on her and her sisters to keep the peace, take the blows for them. She had no choice. 
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(This has been edited)