<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/Y3n5ibZ.png)</div>Larissa forced a smile onto her face as Kasala praised her. And yet, no matter what the elf did, the tears continued to stream from the young Ruxvan's eyes. "Of all that I have no doubt," she managed, her voice cracking over every other syllable. "...and yet, with such greatness in front of me, there's nothing I can do for Elaine. Nothing but avenge her and even that won't bring her back."<br/><br/>She slumped against Kasala, her arms down at her side. She took in a sharp, shaky breath and wept into the elf's shoulder. "I wrote to her before we left," she wailed. "I told her to make room for us in the keep, that we'd visit often. She was already dead when I wrote those words. She'll never read them."<br/><br/>There had been a squabble between House Ruxvan and House Bedegar when Larissa was young, barely eight winters. It was prideful non-sense between her mother and Elaine's father and it fractured their good tidings for a few months. Larissa had cried into Kasala's shoulder then too, when she thought she wouldn't see Elaine ever again. When their houses made up, the agreement was signed - that the houses would be forever joined with the marriage of their youngest to one another.