The sable-shaded woman saw thick smoke rising on the horizon. This did not indicate an emergency to Eris; she recognized the place where the fire burned as within the Millstone Village, and believed the fire to be a controlled one. Nonetheless, she made her way toward the pillar of smoke, primarily out of curiosity. As she drew nearer, there was a scent upon the air -- faintly moschate, but certainly the smell of cooking meat. Lots of it. The hybrid's curiosity became even stronger, and she moved toward the source of the smoke, spying several canines standing around it, along with the larger of Salsola's pair of horsecarts.

As she drew nearer, she recognized Miqui, Darijus, and Draugr moving about the fires. Miqui seemed to be unloading massive pieces of meat from the cart, and Eris trotted toward them, finding the scene irresistable. Darijus shifted pots and pans about, while Draugr used an oversized knife in a strange shape to cut thick pieces of white flesh from the meat, tossing them into the pots hanging over the fire and the oversized pan Darijus held. Eris surveyed the scene for a moment -- only Darijus faced her, and only the crippled slave took note of her, though he dared not speak. His eyes remained glued to his task after he'd glanced her coming toward them. What's this? she asked, cocking her head.

Miqui turned from the cart with a piece of meat draped over both his arms, and he let it slide to the ground before Draugr, straightening up. The man smiled and inclined his head toward his Auxiliary. Lo siento for not greeting you proper, Eris, he said, fanning his arms to indicate his blood-spattered form. I am a mess. Tlantli find whale, to the north of Salsola. She carves it, I bring first load back, he explained, grinning broadly. There was clear pride in his tone, but Eris did not understand -- she tilted her head to one side and looked at Draugr, who quickly turned her attentions back to her carving of the meat.

Whale? To eat? she said, wrinkling her note. She had never tried such a thing before, but if it was possible and good, she supposed it was worthwhile. Surprisingly, it was the Bambino rank who spoke up. Eris had given Draugr her task for an adult rank, but the deep brown youth had yet to complete the task. Now was not the time for such inquiries, however -- there was no point in shaming the girl in front of Miqui.

Oil, miss Eris, she said, quietly. Oil can be used for many things -- lamps, candles. Wool, the youngster said, never lifting her eyes from her cutting. The meat can be eaten, yes, but the oil is very valuable, as Miqui tells it, the youth said. Eris considered her a moment, and turned back to Miqui, indicating the cart with a nod of her head.

There is more to bring back? At his affirmative nod, Eris smiled herself. How much?

Three, four carts. Maybe five, he said, hesitating. I do not know how much... insides whale have, he said, rubbing his stomach to indicate his intestines. Never whale so big as this one in Barbados. Mostly small -- ah, how you say -- delfín? he said, grasping for the English word.

Dolphin, Eris supplied, nodding her understanding. Well, if it's quite so much work, the rest of Salsola should assist us, no? To work, my dears, she declared, indicating the last word for the ranked members of her pack. Darijus did not qualify as a dear, and had remained steadfast in his task anyway.

The dark woman stepped back and lifted her head, summoning the available canines of Salsola with a howl -- she might send some to carve the whale with Tlantli, or she might leave that task to the hybrid alone. Gjalda appeared shortly thereafter, bearing a bag full of empty jars, the utility knife kept in the shed, and a jar of salt. He gave the bag over to Draugr and moved to help Miqui unload the wagon. In the end, Eris commanded Gjalda to go with Miqui and help Tlantli. For her part, Eris grabbed a pan and stuck it over the fire, taking the white slices of fat from Draugr as the youth cut them. For one ranked as a child, she seemed to possess an adult's mannerisms and abilities -- her cutting hand was steady enough, after all, and she supplied pieces of blubber rather quickly.

When Molcaxitl appeared, drawn by her mistress's summons, Eris bid the woman take the pan she had used to fry the first batch of blubber, and listened to Draugr instruct the woman to pour only cooled liquid into the jars, separating any remaining chunks of meat and blubber to be reheated. Miqui and Gjalda departed soon after that, leaving Eris, Darijus, Molcaxitl, and Draugr alone around the fire. Eris engaged the youth in conversation then, questioning her regarding an adult rank. It was safe to do so around slaves, especially one without a tongue and one belonging to Eris herself.

Eris is by Alaine!

(531) Larkspur can go help cut stuff, but I wanted to have him come here first.

It seemed that fate had smiled upon Salsola. Magnolia had been returned to them in exchange for the odd puppy her mother had taken in. That had been a laughable deal to Salvia; it was obvious to her that Magnolia was the more valuable of the two, and the mountain pack were fools for valuing a lesser life. Of course, she hardly had time to worry about the politics of the outside world. Ten new lambs had been born, and Salvia was immensely thankful for her father’s presence. The eldest D’Angelo was well versed in the sheep, and he helped her mark them. This was a process he had begun with the flock from last summer; twin notches were cut into the mewling lamb’s ears, imitating the Hand of Eris’ extended lines.

For the past week the duo had been working in tandem, swapping off the endless duty of guarding the flock. Larkspur sometimes brought her brother, Basilaris, along. At nearly three months, he was a gangly boy that reminded Salvia of Pandemic. She favored him over her sisters because of his sex; as a male, he was more valuable to her. None of her sisters had proven themselves at all useful, remaining quiet things that showed little potential. This displeased Salvia greatly, and she often refused to visit her mother when they were around.

They had been made aware of something going on when, upon returning to the stable, both cart horses were gone. Rowan was waiting for them, and took Basilaris despite his protests. The pale girl empathized with his desire to see what the adults were doing, but knew he would only end up underfoot. Larkspur closed the gate to the sheep’s pasture. While the animals were taken out to graze in the early morning, by afternoon they were penned. After losing several animals to bold predators, they no longer allowed them to graze without supervision. At the barn they were safer; the stink of wolves kept even the boldest animals away.

Eris’ call rose above the forest, and both wolves lifted their ears to the sound. “Let’s go see what yer mother wants,” Larkspur grunted. Though his wording might have been odd to others, Salvia was used to his referral of Eris as “your mother”. It was apparent that there was a tension between her parents, but this was not a new development. The Arbiter snorted in agreement, and on their own two legs, they traveled towards the source of the call.

It was apparent they had arrived late. A group was already gathered, consisting of two slaves, Eris, Odessa, and the foreign girl, Draugr. It did not surprise Larkspur that his sister was not present; he had seen her leaving the territory with Siv, both riding northbound. They did this often, collecting odds and ends from the city and whatever sort of things women of magic did. Larkspur wasted little time in advancing towards Eris, greeting her with a lingering touch that spoke of their mateship. In public, one would hardly be able to see any friction between them. Odessa had asked the obvious question, so he remained quiet, orange eyes focused on his mate alone.