Christine leans into him and laughs softly. "True. They are a very easy-going people, though every hold is different and I am lucky to have not met one full of angry ones yet."

She sips at her mead and it's like she's back there again, sitting by the fire as the skald sings and children run around with their simple wooden toys. There had been a chill in the air then, trying to penetrate her thick furs, but in the here and now she doesn't have to worry about being cold. She has Church.

"The Avvar treat their mages the same as everybody else. They are not set apart, or feared, or punished for what they are. They can have families and contribute to the hold." And she wants that life. Not until all this business with the war is done, but someday she wants that safety and protection, so unlike the "protection" mages received in the Circles.

"I was wondering..." she begins in a slightly nervous way, "what you would think of not only living in a hold with me, but more." She meets his eyes, sure she wants to discuss this and know his answer, but at the same time so amazed that they've reached the point where she's actually asking.

"What I mean is, a family. Settling down and starting a family? What do you think?" And then she rushes to add: "Not now, obviously, but someday?"