Alexandria didn’t have a lot of input for what Ceri had been saying, so she merely stood there in silence as Ceri said what little she did. The girl was shy and didn’t look like she had the mettle for combat. Alexandria didn’t know much about Ceri, which was probably intentional. Alexandria couldn’t judge, however, as she remembered the problems that she had with self-confidence when she had first been picked up from the streets and taken in by her adoptive family. Hopefully Ceri would grow into her chosen path in time.

The silence was broken by the sound of rapid running. Alexandria turned to the sound, and a soft smile came to her lips as Saeko came running to the training field. Returning the brief bow Alexandria watched in silence as Saeko explained herself. She had no input here, and was not the one being referred to. Alexandria continued to stand in silence as she had nothing that needed to be said. That conversation was between Saeko and Illedrith. Alexandria had no place in it. Maintaining her composure, Alexandria basked in the pleasant weather for a bit until the relative silence was broken by the arrival of Cyril, and the delivery of a cheesy line with obvious hints of flirtation.

Appearing to be completely oblivious to Cyril’s feelings and antics, Alexandria hardly moved as she gave a slight bow and offered her greetings. “Greetings, Cyril. I hope the day finds you well.” His comment about beauty sleep fell on deaf ears as Alexandria had nothing to mention about the subject. Her fair looks were the result of only a little effort in keeping herself clean and tidy as she cycled through days.

Alexandria shifted slightly to bring the circle into a more inclusive state, though she promptly returned to her prim and proper pose of having her heels together with her arms folded behind her waist with her hands clasped together. Alexandria didn’t say anything, as she had no real reason to contribute to the conversation. There were no idle stories for her to tell, and she had a learned barrier against making random comments and potentially disrupting the conversation already taking place. Such was what was drilled into her during her years of being a maid.

Alexandria smiled slightly as Illedrith dismissed the kids from training. Such an innocence was lost upon her, but she was glad to see it remaining among the newer generation. In the back of her mind she knew that few of them would keep it as they grew up, like Cyril had, but hopefully some would. They would make good teachers. Perhaps not the best leaders, but good teachers. Hope was something that would be hard to come by from time to time, and they needed to have as large of a reserve of it as they could.

Alexandria took a brief glance up at the sky and noted that the sun had moved slightly since she had arrived. In a rare move, Alexandria spoke. “Time has passed a fair amount. Perhaps we should move along before we grow rooted to the ground here and miss the meeting in town?” With a look to Cyril and Saeko, Alexandria spoke again. “Illedrith, Ceri and I were going to walk together to the meeting that’s happening in town. Would you two care to join us, barring any objections from the others?”

Alexandria’s tone was polite and welcoming, though didn’t have any hints of flirtation within it. This would likely cause Cyril a bit of a dilemma as he tried to flirt back and would continually be shut down or ignored. Alexandria always found it slightly amusing that he tried so hard on a cause that would quite likely not be. Such was the life of a grown up who still had their innocence.

([@Lord Sawsaw2][@Savo][@Suku][@Rune_Alchemist])