1. Venla Thiel

    Private Steady Hearts, Open Minds

    "I meant to seek you out." He hadn’t sought her out, however, and she knew, with a quiet, certain sort of understanding, he did not wish to pick up the thread they’d left between them, and that was fine. Best not to hold too tight to such things. Venla had learned to accept such things without...
  2. Venla Thiel

    Private Steady Hearts, Open Minds

    Venla wasn’t entirely sure when she had left the Knoll. One moment, there had been the clink of cups, stories, that sweet-blackberry tang lingering on her tongue... and then she was outside. Cool air slid under in her hair, coiling arround her neck, smelling of night flowers and wet stone. The...
  3. Venla Thiel

    Dare Wild Strawberries

    Little red threads began to creep into her vision, thin as spider silk. Weaving like whispers through the air. Her eyes snapped wide. One red thread slid out from the shapeshifter crouching over the dock, a slender pulse of thread alive and writhing. Others rose from the water, countless and...
  4. Venla Thiel

    Hub Breaking Bread at the Knoll

    Venla reached for the frosted horn. “Now that..” she said, admiring Josai’s handiwork “...is a fine trick!” She didn’t answer the question. The moment had moved too quickly, and Petra had swept in like a gust through an open door. And truthfully, there were things she wasn’t ready to explain...
  5. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    Walking the sun-dappled path that wound between weathered arches and stone walls. The stepping stones beneath her feet were warm from the morning light, and behind her, the low nicker of a horse still echoed softly from the stables. She was halfway past a stumble on an ivy-choked stone when the...
  6. Venla Thiel

    Hub Breaking Bread at the Knoll

    She hadn’t meant to lean in. Not really. It had just… happened. Venla blinked, once. Then again, slower this time, as if the spell hadn't quite worn off, the shimmer of those violet eyes still caught somewhere in her like a stray ember. Her mouth had gone dry. Not from the drink, but from him...
  7. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    Venla had listened carefully, head tilting in that quiet, thoughtful way of hers, as Syr Aarno listed the small rules of the place. Stay on the paths. Mind locked doors. Watch out for loose stones and wandering things. Expect the last part, felt familiar enough. The bells. A simple thing, but...
  8. Venla Thiel

    Open The Inn at the Crossroads

    “You’re stubborn, Castor" Her tone tried for teasing, but her eyes lingered on him longer than jest demanded. "No need to worry over him," the other knight said. "he's seen worse luck." “Aye… maybe. But seen worse don’t mean you deserve worse.” Venla’s brow furrowed as the man reached across...
  9. Venla Thiel

    Hub Breaking Bread at the Knoll

    Venla nudged her empty horn gently toward Josai with the back of her knuckles and while watching the barwitch clean it: "Josai of Ihreco and Rovias, what an honor to meet such company." Blinking once in that startled, almost affronted way girls did when caught picking berries where they...
  10. Venla Thiel

    Dare Wild Strawberries

    And then… the dog was gone. Gone under the water. What rose up was not. A shapeshifter always broke trust. It couldn’t help it. But that was what it was. It didn’t matter how gentle their approach, or how soft their voice. It didn’t matter if they wore the skin of a dog, or a woman, or...
  11. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    Venla walked quietly for a few steps, letting his words settle like dust on an old path. Six years. Trouble. A choice, or something like it. She didn’t press. Everyone had their own stories. Tavern life taught her that well enough. Folk told you what they wanted, when they were ready. No sooner...
  12. Venla Thiel

    Hub Breaking Bread at the Knoll

    Venla watched the man over the rim of her mug, her green eyes sparkling like moss after rain. “Only one?” she echoed, tone teasing and soft. "And here I thought I was speakin’ with royalty.” The redhead smirked in good-humored confidence. She set her horn down gently, steady despite the Sting...
  13. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    She huffed a little laugh, low and fond, the way someone might when hearing an uncle grumble about his knees. She gave him a side glance, half teasing, half honest. “Some roads are long enough without needing to race down ’em.” Venla’s steps slowed just enough to show she was listening, even as...
  14. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    She shut the door behind her with a soft click and locked it, the key warm in her hand. “Age perks?” she repeated like a soft echo. She glanced sideways, eyes twinkling “Though I must say, Syr Aarno, you don’t look old enough to be using that as an excuse.” "Safer to ask things, no? Our...
  15. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    Anyone who isn’t rattled after watching their friend get slapped across the face in front of half a courtyard... well. That’s someone with a heart carved out of river rock. Of course she was torn up. Who wouldn’t be, seeing someone they trusted, someone who had helped them, watched over them...
  16. Venla Thiel

    Open Under an Old Tree

    She and Aarno were not that far away, and though Venla kept her eyes turned from the exchange with the knight, her ears had nowhere else to go. Authority that didn’t need to raise itself to be heard. The words were meant for Willard alone fell heavy all the same. “A tavern girl.” The phrase...
  17. Venla Thiel

    Hub Breaking Bread at the Knoll

    She could smell the bread rising in the back, soft yeast and hearthstone and it tugged at something in her, memories rising like dough left in the sun. A hundred early mornings with her mother, flour on her skirts, laughter in the rafters. Venla rested her arms lightly on the bar, her fingers...
  18. Venla Thiel

    Dare Wild Strawberries

    The breeze smelled of turned earth, woodsmoke, dripping sun-warmed pine resin, of green things growing and something older beneath it all. Venla sat with her skirts gathered over her knees, feet still trailing in the lake, stirring the water into lazy spirals. The lake licked softly at her...
  19. Venla Thiel

    Dare Wild Strawberries

    Somewhere near Astevale Monastery There was no reason to take notice of the woman sleeping on the sun-warmed jetty, unless you were the curious sort. Or a dragonfly. Or the kind of woodland spirit that still lingered in old green corners of the world. The forest lake opened up in front of the...
  20. Venla Thiel

    Open The Inn at the Crossroads

    Venla watched the coin skip across the table and land with a soft clink beside the others, Isander’s easy grin settling like warm smoke. She arched a brow at the trio he revealed, letting herself smile. However smile faded the moment Castor almost doubled over with that cough. “Easy now,” she...
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