#Stef is 2.5 inches short than Riley btw

[arazolasecrets]

A Talk Over Drinks

It was a cold night in Wexford, and the inn was full of people eating, drinking, and taking it easy after a long day. In the inn was Estefania, sitting with Hana Yasmin, who had decided to stay and was trying to figure out what to do next.

“You could start to work here in the inn. That’s how I started. Finn helped me with that,” Stef informed her, which prompted a nod from Hana as she drank her warm water.

“He offered me a job to work behind the bar top,” Hana stated, looking back at Finn, who was busy with patrons, “I may do that, and then figure out what I want to do. Starting over has been frightening...but exciting.”

Stef smiled, understanding completely. “You’ll do fine. I’ll help you the way you helped me way back then.”

The two women smiled warmly at each other as they lifted their cups in a toast, but soon, a pretty, short-haired woman holding a cup full of wine approached Hana, and tapped her on the shoulder. Hana looked back and stood up.

“Aunt Riley! Hello!” She greeted, prompting the shorter woman to one-arm hug Hana Yasmin tightly.

“My dear, darling Hana Yasmin! It’s so good to see you again!”  She said to her, pulling away, but still held on to Hana’s upper arm. “I’m so sorry about what happened. As beautiful of a man as he was, you deserve better! You deserve consistancy!”

Stef watched as Hana gave the woman a sad little smile, but soon, she turned and extended an open hand towards her.

“Aunt Riley, this is Estefania Arazola, a good friend who is also my former trusted advisor and councilwoman. Stef, this is Riley Sargenis -- my true father’s half sister.” Hana told her, and Stef stood up to give her a respectful and proper nod.

“Oh! You’re so small!” Riley remarked in surprised. Indeed, both women were small-statured, but Stef was smaller by a few marks. Riley grinned. “Sorry, I usually never get to say that. I’m usually the smallest person around!”

“I only get to say it to children,” Stef said with a laugh, “Please, sit with us.”

Riley pulled over a seat and sat with the two of them. “I was talking to some of the women of the town today. Apparently there’s this amazingly good looking man that looks like a god that lives here, and I was hoping I’d see him here for myself but...” Riley let out a long sigh, lifting her wine to her lips, “I guess I just missed him.”

Stef raised a brow. Leviticus had been the man women all over town had hounded over before, but once they married, the women of town would still look at him, but no longer approached him. She wondered if it was Keiran, Leviticus’s father, but she wasn’t sure, as Keiran usually kept to himself.

“Maybe the man isn’t a people person,” Hana commented, shrugging, “I’ve heard women here mention such a man. But, I’ve been too focused on other matters to pay attention to that talk.”

“Hah. I am never busy for a beautiful man. That man is quite the looker, although he also looks awfully mean,” Riley gestured towards Finnegan, who was giving a drunk patreon a stern talk, “Listen, if they call a man as beautiful as a god, Riley Sargenis will find him and judge that for herself!”

Stef couldn’t help but grin at Riley’s determined declaration, finding herself liking the woman already. Then, a thought popped into her head.

“Wait, are you Caspian’s Maxson’s aunt as well?” She asked as Riley drank her wine.

Riley wrinkled her nose, and once she lowered her cup, she let out a loud scoff. “I haven’t heard that name in ages. Unfortunately yes, I am Caspian’s aunt, although I don’t recognize him as my nephew anymore.”

There was a loud whistle, and when the three of them turned around, it was Finnegan, holding up a plate of food and gesturing towards Hana.

“Oh, excuse me, I have to get my dinner,” Hana told the two, and got up, leaving the two petite women alone together.

“I... was courted by Caspian once,” Stef revealed, causing Riley to look surprised, but Stef added in, “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

“Oh! Oh, good for you! I’m glad you got to escape that mess,” Riley said  with a big smile, before she tilted her head, “So... spill it out. Why did your courtship end? He was always surrounded by women, so it’s a surprise to hear a woman actually ended something with him. ”

Stef took her cup of mead and took a drink, looking up as she began to recall events.

“One reason was an occurance that happened during the funeral of his father, Ryan Maxson. I was there, and watched everyone speak: his relatives, even women rumored to be his mistresses. And... get this -- When the service came to a close, that’s when I realized: His wife wasn’t given the chance to speak.”

This prompted a loud, theatrical gasp from Riley as Stef nodded while pursing her lips.

“No! They didn’t let Destiny Maxson speak?! His very wife?!” Riley asked in shock.

“They did after I said something out loud,” Stef told her with a shrug, “And that’s when the poor, grieving woman was finally allowed to say something. It was awful.”

“Good god. Well, I would have said something as well if I were there, but I wasn’t even told Ryan was dead until days after his mother left for the funeral,” Riley said indignantly with raised brows.

“They didn’t tell you?” Stef questioned her in disbelief.

“No. That’s why I didn’t go. That’s why I refuse to call Caspian my nephew. The only nephews I have are Benjamin Areli, and now little Erik Adair.” Riley declared, lifting up her wine before taking another drink.

“I do not blame you at all,” Stef told her with a firm nod, “But anyway, so I saw the way they treated the Queen and you know, I was a powerful woman in the kingdoms I had lived in. I had pride. I didn’t want to go through that, especially since I had been Destiny’s presence before. She was a strong willed queen who cared about her kingdom, her husband, and Caspian -- she didn’t deserve that treatment. So, I told Caspian I needed some time away to think things through. But then, he said his father said he should marry a docile lamb, not a lionness like myself. That’s when we parted ways.”

Riley let out a loud snort, then let out a laugh. “Oh, I forgot what a buffoon Ryan could be when he still lived. I went to Caspian’s wedding, mainly for another family matter, but god, I feel bad for his wife. She seemed nice, as she was the one to invite me to the wedding, but if her husband followed in Ryan’s footsteps? Oh boy.”

“I got married to a wonderful man. He’s the blacksmith of this part of town.” Stef told Riley with a pleased smile, and Riley grinned.

“Oooh, I see that you’re living the blissful married life. I’ll toast to that,” Riley declared with a wink, and the two women toasted, clinking their cups together. “You dodged an arrow, darling. Snow Mystic is in a problematic state from what I heard last, and well, while I never got to spend time with Destiny Maxson, I do hope the poor woman is resting in peace.”

“Me too. She treated me with respect, and I’ll always appreciate that.” Stef said, feeling sad for how the woman’s life turned out. “And Caspian wasn’t bad towards me, so I hope he fixes his life and finds some peace.”

“Hah! Don’t count on it.” Riley replied with a roll of her eyes. “But, if he does finally stop his stupidity, then that would be good, I suppose. It’ll take a miracle for that to happen, however.”

Riley tilted her cup, frowning as it was revealed to be empty. “I’m getting more wine. Do you want some?” She asked Stef as she stood up.

“I wouldn’t mind some.” Stef replied with a chuckle. “I love wine.”

“Good! ... Hm, by the way, you know my sister Slania right?” Riley asked, and when Stef nodded, she continued, “You haven’t seen her with a man, lately? Or getting closer to one?”

Stef thought for a moment. “Slania is a pretty sociable person. She has a lot of friends. In fact, I’m sure most of these people in here with us consider her a friend. I haven’t seen anything particular yet.”

Riley clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Ugh. She’s so BORING! It’s always battle things or scary things she has to tell. She never has anything of the fun kind to tell me. Even our older sister Fay had fun things to talk about.”

Stef chuckled. “Maybe she’ll find someone here. I found my husband here, and he was once the talk of town himself.”

“Ooooo! Well, next time I see you, you should introduce me. I want to see the man that ‘outwon’ Caspian,” Riley grinned but then, she remembered: “Oh, right! Wine!”

Stef watched the woman move through the crowd towards the bar, passing by Hana as she returned to the table.

“I hope she didn’t seem too intrusive,” Hana told her with a half smile as she sat back down, setting the plate in front of her, “She loves to ‘investigate.’“

“Oh, I don’t mind. She’s a fun woman. I really like her.” Stef said as she raised her cup to finish the rest of her drink.

Hana blinked and then smirked amusingly.

“Of course you do.”