Athaliah and Rhiara had both been staring at The Rock for quite some time. They had both left Herbert and Erika alone so they could have some room while they got ready for the coming trip to Mirador. Or, whatever it was that couples did. They were sat in the middle of a roughly square, grassy park bordered on all sides by white stone colonnades. There were plenty of other people in the park as well, but that was to be expected from a city such as Viarosa. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Athaliah said, half to Rhiara and half to herself. 
Rhiara nodded slowly. “It is. It’s amazing to see civilisation and nature this close to each other.” If she had to be honest, she felt small looking up at the behemoth of a hill. She told her best friend as much.
“It’s kind of humbling. You can be the strongest, biggest man alive, yet you’ll still never come close to even the smallest of mountains.” She inhaled and exhaled deeply, as if to prepare herself for something. “Anyway, I’ve got something to show you.” 

Athaliah pulled out a small wooden sculpture, in the shape of a winged unicorn. “I had it carved by Barclay last week, and I was waiting for a decent opportunity to give it to you.”
“I love it, thank you!” Rhiara replied, throwing her arms around her friend in a big hug. “Look at you, giving me a gift and I’m here with nothing.”
“That hug was enough of a gift, trust me.” Athaliah said, with a small laugh. She was sincere about what she said, though she hid it behind humour so she didn’t make Rhiara uncomfortable. Truth be told, she was quite smitten with her friend.

“Don’t be silly,” Rhiara replied, still smiling and staring at her wooden figurine. “You’ve started a dangerous game, Athaliah. You can’t get me a gift and expect me to not get you anything back.” 
“Consider yourself lucky – I thought about carving it myself and you’ve seen how bad I am.” 
Rhiara looked at the ground and shook her head with a smile. “That I have. Remember that time when you tried to carve a stag?”
“Don’t remind me…” Ath covered her face with her hands and exhaled deeply. She suddenly brightened up and pointed at Rhiara, usually her signal to say, ‘I have an idea’. “Hey, maybe you could teach me!” 

“Well…” Rhiara began, in thought. “once we get back home after the feast, I will.” 
Athaliah held out her pinky finger. “Promise?” She apparently took pinky swears more seriously than she should, if their past swears were anything to go by. She’d never let anyone hear the end of something until the promise was completed.
“Promise.” Rhiara replied, entwining her pinky finger with her friend’s. An unbreakable pact was now in place that could only be removed with the completion of that promise.