"I'm a skilled archer," said Cil.  "You won't find better.  I have a keen eye and can hide in the shadows, moving as quietly as a cat.  I think I'm fairly agreeable, and I have my wits about me.  And you?"

"Ah," said Giulia.  "Was that a hardship for your family?"

"Sometimes, yeah," Gregory said. "But I was really good at helpin' out on the farm."

"I'm more of a brawler than anything," Karine said.

"Is that why you're here, now?" Giulia asked.  "To raise money for your family?"

"And strong as anything, I'm sure," said Cil.

"Once I'm out there, yeah," Gregory said. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty strong," Karine said.

"I need to make a place for myself in the world now," she said.  "I can hardly inherit, and sadly, my old position is lost to me by marriage."

"Well, I'll be counting on you to hold the front lines together, then," said Cil.

Bern was giving Karine a searching look.

"Who'd you marry?" Gregory asked.

"I'll do my best. I'm not used to fighting with other people," Karine said.

"Not I," said Giulia.  "My foster sister. I was her guardian, and her companion in all things-- but her new husband didn't think she needed me, and I don't think he wanted me there.  So... here I am."

"Neither am I, but we'll work it out," said Cil.

"Ah, Karine," said Bern.  "...I do have a question."

"Sorry to hear that," Gregory said.

"Hmm? Go ahead," Karine said.

"...are you related to Gregor Otlinesti?" Bern asked.  "You know him, but your similarities go far deeper than that."

Giulia shrugged.

"It is a loss, but in its own way, freeing," she said.  "I must make my own way now, but I can.  I have that strength."

"That's good," Gregory said. "Not everyone can do that so easily."

Karine sighed

"I am."

"Sadly, this is true," said Giulia.  She shrugged.  "I must do what I can for my own life, in the end."

"And probably tired of being asked about it," Cil observed.

"True, and a good enough thing to drink to," Gregory said, downing some ale.

"No, my father and I don't get along," Karine said.

Giulia took a drink as well.

"I just hope that we can forge a team out of the set of us," said Giulia.  "We're all going to have to work together."