Chapter Text
The first time he sees her is at Basilio’s return feast. She spends the entire evening by the Khan’s side, looking as if she is trying to physically retreat into herself, and Basilio, as always, does most of the talking, but all eyes are still on her. Lon'qu can easily see why; she must be one of the most beautiful women he's ever been terrified of.
The people in Regna Ferox are one with the ice and cold, as hardened as the rocks that make their great fortress walls, and beauty here means the glint of your sword as it goes into your enemy. But there is a warmth radiating from this girl, one that no fire could replicate, one she hardly seems aware of herself, and it’s so strong even Lon’qu finds himself glancing her way more than once throughout the meal.
He decides then to stay away from her at all costs. But because the gods have never cared about his wants, it’s not even ten minutes later when Basilio calls him over to welcome his newest charge.
“Olivia, meet Lon’qu. If he looks like a complete stick in the mud, it’s because he is. Damn good with a sword though,” bellows the man, already more than a little drunk. Olivia dips slightly, her long braids bobbing.
“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She’s shaking, and he wonders if she’s as bad with men as he is with women.
“Mhmm,” he says with a slight incline of his head. It’s all he’s able to say, not because he hates her but because standing so close to such a woman makes him simultaneously want to jump from the castle’s highest tower and drown in the freezing waters of the river that surround the castle. His sparse reply only makes her more nervous and she’s twiddling her thumbs now.
Basilio watches the entire awkward exchange with more amusement than necessary.
“Don’t take it personally, my girl,” he says lazily, patting Lon’qu on the shoulder so hard he shakes. “Women are a foreign species to this poor boy.”
The look Basilio gives her then is nothing short of pure adoration. He looks at her not with the eyes one might use on a lover but something softer, more protective, like a kind father or an older brother perhaps. (Lon'qu can’t really be sure as he’s never truly experienced either.) Olivia only nods in return, the crimson never leaving her face, and what a sight the two of them must be standing there and blushing like a pair of idiots.
Basilio finally spots some other Feroxi lord he has yet to introduce Olivia to, and he shepherds her away from the swordsman without so much as another word, which is fine is perfectly fine by him.
It’s easy to avoid people in a castle so big. If he’s careful, he won’t have to see any more of that girl ever again.