#[ i know literally nothing about her aside the fact that she's somehow MORE seirous than lucanis but has his big soft heart ]

[spitedriven]

after his assertion of being first talon, lucanis takes a few months or so to settle into the role. there's an attempt at his life, but it wasn't particularly threatening and not worth mentioning.

it's towards the end of his first year that he starts to put his plans into action.

first, he wants to genuinely help antiva recover. the aantam occupation left many scars, and some of the most hurt are children throughout the country. so he purchases an old, decrepit monastery, funds it's rebuilding and renovation (supplying quite a few jobs to those in need along the way), and opens an orphanage. a true, non-chantry, non-crow orphanage, where the children are cared for. and due to it being an old monastery, the grounds are self-sustaining, with food and livestock grown on site. while lucanis sets up a large trust for them, they also have the means of supporting themselves through trade and crafts.

the second is that he finds his first apprentice. he was unsure of how best to expand house dellamorte--the last few generations had done so through marriage and the birth of children, leading to an actual blood related family for a house, unlike many other crow houses. caterina certainly would prefer it to continue that way, but (romanced or not) lucanis is unsure if that's wise. he's not sure he'd want to put his children through crow training. he doesn't have the heart to do to them what caterina did to him, even if it was for the best.

the idea of training any child like that churns his stomach.

but along comes an sickly old man, señor aiello. he knows he's going to die soon, his cough ensures it. he heard of the opening of a new orphanage, but he wants more for his goddaughter. she's his last surviving family. she's quiet and watchful and serious but sharp as a needle, and he knows in a group environment like that, she'll wither. he hopes that by begging one of the great crow houses, they'll take her and care for her.

aiello is on his knees, hands shaking, tears in his eyes. lucanis can't say no, his heart won't let him.

so chiara aiello comes to stay with the dellamortes. and chiara says, every night, that it is her dying wish--an intense phrase to hear from a seven year old--to become a crow.

lucanis and caterina fight endlessly for a month over whether or not to do such a thing. caterina wins, but only with the caveat that lucanis is the one to teach chiara. the only one.

lucanis tells chiara that her training will be difficult. it will be terrible, and she will suffer, and she will hurt. it is not glorious. the life of an assassin is dangerous. an assassin--and a crow--deals in death and witnesses suffering and misery like no other. being a dellamorte, being the first talon's apprentice, will make her a target. she will not be safe. not with the work he has to do. not with the change he wants to bring to the crows.

"i understand." chiara, grey eyes hard as any steel, chin set, says with her whole being. "when do i start my training?"

lucanis gives chiara three outs: the first a month into her training, the second after a year, and the third after her second year. he front loads all the most generic training--acrobatics, etiquette, general education, self defense. he takes her to other houses and shows her the more senior fledglings--shows her her future, if she continues. he makes the training and methods as clear as possible, both the rewards and the punishments. lucanis tells her each time to take an entire day and reflect, to consider what she wants. that he will buy her an apprenticeship anywhere she desires if she would like to leave.

and every morning after he offers, chiara says, "thank you for your generous offer, first talon, but i want to be a crow. i want you to train me."

chiara dellamorte is the first fledgling under lucanis, but far from the last.