[center][h3][color=b069d4]Liviana Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire[/color][/h3][/center]

Liv was, at first, woken by the sound of chirping. She rolled over, brain not quite processing what it was, and was rewarded by a hard peck on her temple. With a muffled cry of "Deum damneris!" The girl sat up, then groaned and fell back over as the world spun around her. And of course after falling back down she was immediately rewarded by another hard peck. In exasperation Liv slowly pushed herself up into a seated position, knocking the small bird that clung to her blankets into her lap. Her tired brain didn't quite process and she was left staring at the sparrow in confusion.

There was a cough from the door and she looked up slowly, still not awake enough to process. Then she finally realized who she was staring at and groaned, flopping back down again. Aeila Hadrianus and Claudia Balbinus. Daughters of some of the oldest families in all of Lusitania, tracing back to the ancients themselves. And Liv's lifelong friends, maids, and confidants.

"Quid? Domina vos accipit?" (What? Did my mother (literally, the empress) send you?)

The taller of the two girls at the door laughed humorlessly. "Your father sent us, and after your little... fumble yesterday, he demands that you use the English tongue for the remainder of your stay, and would like to remind you to mind your manners and your tongue when speaking to your betrothed. We cannot afford to anger the Britannian Empire. Your mother sends her regards, and tells you that the dress you wore for your arrival was exceedingly indecent. Aurelia sends your sparrows, and tells you to never leave your pets at home again or they'll end up as toys for her cat."

Claudia elbowed her companion to silence her. "Liv, are you ready to go to breakfast? The others are starting to convene."

"I must say my prayers and get dressed before then." She said, cursing her fumbling tongue. She carefully lifted the sparrows off of her, ignoring the indignant peeping, and eased out of bed slowly, careful to not stand up too fast. Once she was on her feet she wobbled over to the table that held the small statues representative of her people's gods. She winced slightly as she sank to her knees on the bare wood floor, striking a match and lighting a long candle.

There was a small candle before each of the figurines. Some were far more used than others, out of habit- obviously, she could not pray to all the gods every day, so she would choose only a few per day

First she dipped her candle to light the flame at the feet of the proud god, carved of marble, with a gleaming golden bolt of lightning in his hand. [i]Father, protect my family. Serve them with the diligence that I serve you.[/i]
 
Next she lit the candle before the wooden figure of the kindly god with the copper staff. [i]Healer, give me strength to survive this day so that I may not shame my family.[/i]

On and on the reel went, the wizened goddess with an owl on her shoulder, the five dancing goddesses carrying implements of writing or music, the wiry god with mechanical wings, the burly one with a smith's hammer.

At last Liv hesitated before the last two statues. The silver statue of the running maiden, her hand raised clutching her bow and her dogs racing at her feet. And the golden figure of her counterpart, the graceful mother with one hand on her pregnant belly, the other holding a basket laden with fruit, and child clutching at her skirt.

One candle was nearly burned through, the other never touched.

She hesitated for a moment longer, then bowed her head as she touched her candle to the previously unburned one. [i]Mother, give me the strength and grace required to be the best wife that I can be. And... grace my body with your blessings, if you may, so that I shall not disappoint my future husband when he seeks to produce heirs.[/i]

She looked up then, taking the small ivory cup and pressing it over each of the candles, extinguishing the flames. Then she stood, wiping her suddenly wet eyes.

Claudia was watching her. She was rather small for a Lusitanian, though still had seven inches on Liv. She was quite pretty, her straight auburn hair falling to her shoulders and framing her alert chestnut eyes, with a smattering of freckles dusting her otherwise rather fair skin. 

Claudia shook her head to clear her thoughts, standing in front of Liv and eyeing her with a wry expression. "Which outfit today, Liv?"

"Perhaps the pink long dress would be suitable?"

The maid helped her get dressed, kneeling before her and lacing up the gold sandals around her calves. Then she stood up. "Aelia! Where are you! Lady Liviana needs her makeup done!" 

There was a thump and a yell. Liv jumped, racing to the bathroom, where the thump seemed to emanate from. There was a struggle going on inside. Asavi and Aelia were wrestling on the floor.

"AELIA!" Liv squeaked. The maids were startled enough that they both let go of each other, scrabbling on the floor to separate themselves.

Asavi was the first to apologize. "I'm sorry, my lady, but I was not expecting you to have had other servants given that you hadn't arrived with any." Liv then noticed a line of blood on the girl's bare shoulder, and the small blade in Aelia's hand.

"Aelia! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You could have warned me that you had loaner maids. I thought someone was trying to murder you." The girl shrugged.

Liv sighed, turning faintly pink from exasperation and rage. "Aelia, go. I'll be with you shortly." She then faced the tall Orthan maid, who wouldn't meet her eyes. Carefully she inspected the mark from the blade. "It is just a scratch. You should be alright. I... am sorry for Aelia's vigilance. She is simply overzealous. If... er. I do not expect any individual to put their life in danger to serve me, and with this occurrence I fear it may be. Consider your service to me finished, Asavi. Go with grace and the gods' goodwill." She pressed a gold coin into the girl's hand. The maid looked down at it confusedly, then curtsied deeply to Liv and left the room quickly. 

Liv sighed heavily, exiting the bathroom and plopping down on the chair to allow Aelia to work her magic with her hair. Aelia grinned at her, though she had to bend down to see properly, being nearly a foot taller than Liv. Her green eyes were bright from the battle she had just been in, her wavy golden brown hair only slightly mussed. The tall girl worked quickly, braiding the front strands of Liv's hair back and clasping them with a jeweled hair clip in the shape of a laurel branch. She then stepped in front of Liv, brandishing the cosmetics, and went to work with blush, bright gold eyeshadow, thick mascara, and soft pink lipstick.

After this, she settled Liv's wrap around her shoulders. This one was lace woven out of thick cotton thread, rather reminiscent of crocheting. The four sparrows, taking this as a signal, fluttered into the air and settled on Liv's shoulders, setting their feet so as to not pinch her skin. Aelia said, "oh no you don't--" but Liv silenced her.

"Fareeha Amari brought her serpent - coiled around her wrist - to the arrival ceremonies. Why should I not be allowed to bring my sparrows to breakfast?" Liv asked, while reaching to the bird closest to her left shoulder. Lumina was her name, for her pale tan color flecked with white and gold. Next to her was Sylvus, a russet bird with black and dark brown flecks and a few specks of white. On the other side stood Rhea, a nondescript mostly brown bird who had a few flecks of light gold on her wings, mottled shades of brown on her back, and an oddly crown-shaped circle of gold on top of her head, and Romulus, who was such a dark brown that he seemed to have purple undertones, save for a speckling of white on his head and the tips of his wings.

Aelia sighed, but didn't question it. She stood to Liv's left side, Claudia to her right, as they made their way down the hall and down the stairs to breakfast.

Once there, Liv was nearly overwhelmed by the number of people she saw. She scanned the crowd but did not yet see Edwin, so instead she cast around for other familiar faces. The most familiar face she saw was that of Mai Mei of Liang, and so she made her way to join that small congregation of ladies. Claudia and Aelia broke off, likely to go stand somewhere out of sight and observe things as they normally did.

She eased into the group, blushing slightly as she did. "Ave." she said softly, glancing up at the faces that surrounded her. Mai and Elizaveta and Raven. "Is it acceptable if I join you?" She asked. Lumina chirped softly, and Liv squirmed uncomfortably, reaching up to pet the little bird with a finger to quiet her.