Stephen
Evangeline Luronsque
The Batten Estate

She was, in fact, left alone for most of the day. Until a monsoon of tailors and seamstresses knocked incessantly until Eve had the urge to open it. She was a little undone, her hair loose and over her shoulders, framing her face like flaming curtains, but it didn't stop the servants from insisting on her beauty and exotic descent as they measured and taped along her body. They said she would have dresses made for the weather, finished overmorrow. She was a little lost through it all, but didn't fight it as she wrapped herself in one of the fur blankets and monitored the simple sketches the head seamstress drew up for her. 

"Ah... I like that shape, actually..." She mentioned, trying to normalize herself to the entire idea of being a noble Lady of the Witherlands. 

She wondered if Remus was still out there. After the business of the ladies left, she remained seated on the bed, the dress she was wearing now seemingly plain in comparison to what was in store for her. She scooted out of bed, standing up to stretch her legs and throw another log on the fire. She was numb. 

Soon she was going to be married to a man she had never met, and have his children, and be wrapped in the cold forever. It was so sudden, and scary, she wasn't certain what to do at all. She sat dejected, her eyes downcast through the window, watching the gate to the estate remain shut.
Mary
General Knights and Servants of House Batten
Batten Estate

Remus stood by Evangeline's door, ignoring the going ons of the ladies as they rushed in and out of the room, spoke with Evangeline and grabbed different fabrics to show her. Once they had finally left however, he stood in silence once again. 

The window beside where he stood had frost covering it, the warm air from inside the halls making the glass ice over with the spiked and jagged lines the cold caused on the windows. He found as time went on he started to daydream about what it would be like when Caius returned. Cornelia wouldn't miss a chance to throw a party, especially since showing off a southern beauty like Evangiline among other northerners seemed her style. He pictured what the Batten child would do, returning home to find out he was soon to be married. 
As he continued to stare out the window he noticed the front gate open, and a single rider enter on a horse. 

"Oh... I didn't think you'd show up like that..."

Caius Batten 
Batten Estate, Front Gates 

It was freezing, it was wet, and Caius wasn't happy about it. Early in the morning freezing rain had poured quickly over him and his horse as he rode for home. Once it had ended, the flash freezing of the furs to his body along with the heat his body produced causing it to melt onto him made now riding in soaking wet cloths through the cold wind not the best way to arrive at the Batten Estate. 

As the guards asked him to state his business he was quick to mutter a quiet curse before peeling back his hat and the leathers protecting his face, exposing his red nose and scraggly uneven beard. "I'm cold, i'm wet, and I'm Caius Batten. Open the bloody gate so I can take a bath." 

After a few squinted looks, realisation lit in the men's eyes and they sprung to action quickly opening the gates as Caius urged his horse forwards. Once he entered the Estate proper he breathed a sigh of relief. No more long days on the road in the cold, at least not for a while yet. As he dismounted from his horse and let a servant take it to be tended to he was quick to rush towards the nearest door while stripping off his ice covered cloak, ready to finally get someplace warm and change.
Katherine
***Marshall Crowe || Wilderness Outskirts***

In the outskirts of the forest there was a large clearing, in the clearing was a temporary shelter that looked like it was constructed by a 5 year old. Marshall, the creator of said shelter, sat cross-legged on a large rock as he meditated. His horse, which he named Night due to not having a creative bone in his body, was tied to a hastily set-up pillar. It had been a month since he decided to set up his mercenary group, the Silver Claw Mercenaries, and this was where he and the others decided to meet up and set up base. Marshall had a lot of time to himself, so he decided to show up early and build a house. This was before he realized that he was ill-prepared in both knowledge and materials.

He knew, more or less, how a house was built thanks to his younger days as a laborer. However, there was a big difference between knowing how a house was built and knowing how to build a house. He knew, for example, that a house needed a foundation, a frame, walls, a roof, etc. However, he didn't know how to go about building any of those things or putting them in place. Hence, the creation of a house that was so pathetic that it couldn't even be called a house.

Marshall was so depressed about his creation that he wanted to just tear it down and sleep on the ground, but having no shelter in the Witherlands was a bad idea. Luckily he was able to resist extreme cold extremely well, even sitting out in the snow without a shirt for hours at a time while meditating, so it was less of an issue for him than it was for others. One night, while doing exactly that, he was brought back to reality by sounds in the woods. When looking in the direction of the noise, he saw a few torch lights, around 15 silhouettes, and a few familiar faces. "Hey! Marshall!" Terran called out, waving one of his large arms.

***Marshall Crowe || Wilderness Outskirts***

"Yo! Is everyone here?" Marshall called back, putting on a cloak before walking over. He had hoped that there would at least be 30 people coming here, but 15 wasn't that bad of a size for a new mercenary group either.

"Everyone besides Helena, but you know how she is." Thorin complained offhandedly as he took a swig of alcohol. 

Terran just shrugged in response to Thorin before speaking. "We each found 3 recruits besides Jace, only 2 people weren't scared off by his face."

"Fuck your mother!" Jace shouted, slashing at Terran with his dagger. Terran dodged it easily and laughed. Jace used to be a good looking man before having his face mutilated by a noble's son, so his face was his sore spot.

"Knock it off, you two." Marshall said, rolling his eyes. "Thorin, your old man was a carpenter, right? We need your help in order to build some accommodations, unless you want to live in one of those." He said as he pointed over his shoulder at his sad shack. The others looked over and noticed it, their faces contorting as they tried their best to not laugh.

"Alright, the first order of business will be dismantling that eyesore for raw materials. Someone will have to go to town and buy the hardware, such as nails and woodworking tools. I'll send one of my men."

"No need." A voice came from another direction.

***Marshall Crowe || Wilderness Outskirts***

Everyone looked over, seeing a group of 5 women coming over with a small cart pulled by a lone horse. The leader of this group was, of course, Helena. "I knew I couldn't trust you men to do anything, so I brought along a bunch of supplies such as blankets, tools, pots, pans, etc." Everyone looked slightly embarrassed at her words. They wanted to retort, but it was true that they were woefully unprepared.

"Well, with everyone here, we now have a group of 21. Now should be the best time to assign roles!" Marshall exclaimed, happily clapping his hands once.

"Why now? Can't we wait until we have a building and do this inside with some good alcohol?" Sven complained.

"How are we supposed to have any kind of order without structure?" Marshall replied disdainfully. "This group was my idea so I'm naturally the leader. Jace, you're good at gathering information, so you will be Director of Intelligence, Thorin can be the Foreman when it comes to architecture, Sven can be the Treasurer, Terran can be the Head Trainer, and Helena can be our Chief Strategist. How's that?"

Everyone just looked at each-other and shrugged, they knew their own strengths well and these roles were the best suited for them. Thorin finished his bottle of alcohol and walked forward with a red face. "Alright, with my authority as foreman, I now conscript you all as laborers. Let's try to have an actual place to sleep by tomorrow." Marshall and the other 4 founders of the group sighed, knowing that there was no way that they were getting out of this either.
Stephen
Evangeline Luronsque
The Batten Estate

Evangeline stared out the window for a while, but she did end up drifting off into a minor nap sitting upright in her chair. If someone were to see her, she would look like she was praying, her head bowed and her hands cradled in her lap.

She had cleaned up her appearance with some minor powder on her nose, a soft pink on her lips. She left her hair loose, though, draped down her back.

She didn't notice the man ride through the gates.