DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: Midsummer's Day - Council

Mikal

He watches as the Khorall, his retinue, other witnesses, and especially the Eye of Hastur leave the room, and as Daxia and Kay move to ensure no one else can leave without going through them.

At Kadri's 'so innocent' comment he grins grimly, and when Daxia locks eyes with him he nods imperceptibly.

Taking a step around the table, he places himself between the Montague and Kadri, hands firmly gripping the hilts of his two main weapons he calls on Jvrill in a silent prayer.

**My Lord. Your servant beseeches you. In furtherance of my contract my companions and I are about to engage in combat with those whose words and oaths are shown to be worthless. I ask for your blessing in infusing myself and those who fight alongside me with the fanatical righteousness of your might.**

(OOC - Wolf - Morale.)

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Mid-Morning, Midsummer's Day

Kadri, Mikal and the Mouse, Daxia, Dandelion Koromov and Kisa Allaine and the Scamp

"Hoi your Daxiness ..."

A table? That was nothing to stop a Koromov. A step forward, a hop up - almost but not stepping on an heiress- and then a two footed drop to the floor. In the end the Initiate was a proper two steps behind Daxia, just off her right shoulder. The proper place for a spear bearer to be.

From the far side of the side table Jakal glowered. he counted those against him, matched the numbers of his foot soldiers and growled against battle lin set before him.

"So which one of you wants to be the one that dies?"

The Warlord's hand slowly drifted to the hilt of his sword; as if matching the set of Kay's spear and Mikal's powerful words.

"No one."

Two words, solid and resolute.

And spoken by Hadrian Montague. At those two words Captain Dandelion frowned. She frowned, leaned back against the wall and stayed silent.

The Khorall of Montague keep slowly dusted off his hands and pushed himself away from the table.

"Stand down, Brother."

His words were curt and coarse.

"You may forget your place with others but not me."

The Warlord turned, just the slightest.

"We can take the witches with us ..."

"Did you not hear what I said."

The quarry lord straightened his tunics.

"We have lost this fight, Jakal. Have the good sense to realize it.

"We cannot afford to lose another."

With a nod, the Lord of Montague Keep slowly walked towards the big doors. Two of his retinue immediately followed.

Jakal Montague watched his brother, his gaze dark and narrow. His lord doesn't even turn around when he speaks again.

"What are they going to do? Murder us in cold blood?"

Very unhappy ... the Warlord followed in Hadrian's wake.

His three liegeman, in turn, followed him.

Kadri:

An impish look crosses her face. And her voice was sly.

"I have had a burst of creativity. Something to commemorate Jakal to posterity. After all, he is one who knows something about cold blooded murder ... so why should he not always be remembered?"

One thing those on the plains were expert at was the art of the insult - and the key was not in the words used, although they could help, but in their delivery. Scorn, condescension, amusement: The impression that your target was but an object of ridicule. Her face lit up like a bonfire, and the grin on her face was quite savage. She belts out a sing-song dripping with pure acidic mockery - staring right at Jakal. Her voice was, of course, accompanied by appropriate illustrative hand gestures.



Oh yes, she despised this man. This was a bully. Someone who viewed people as THINGS for his pleasure. The same voice she had used at her entrance into the hall whipped out again - only this time it wasn't tinged with frustration and anger against a man who, despite all, she still loved. This was unalloyed scorn, tinged with razor blades and sharp thorns.

She jabs a finger definitively in Mikal's direction.

"You call yourself a man, Jakal? You DARE insult men that way? There is a man who knows more of honor that you could begin to comprehend."

She motions to the Kierkegards and the other men present

"Over there, too, are men."

She then motions to her brothers and father.

"And there are men. You would not survive a fortnight on the Plains of Kaa, as someone would have to put you down like a rabid dog, before you further stained their honor. They know what honor is. You are not a man, Jakal of Montague. You are an animal. A mere beast. And real men can recognize one who is without honor for what they are, and act accordingly."

At the last sentence her eyes deliberately flit towards Hadrian - if only for the briefest of moments.

She then holds up a hand to check herself then corrects herself.

"No, you are worse than that, Jakal. You have been gifted with the mind to know better - yet you choose not to use it. You. Are. Beneath contempt."

She spits on the ground to one side.

Then she slowly deliberately, and in an exaggerated manner ... curtsies.

Because, after all ... She was a 'lady'. It would not do to forget the graces.

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

She stared at Hadrian Montague as he approached, listening to the insult Kadri slathered on the Khorall’s brother.

As the Montagues neared the doorway, the Dayalan held up a hand... the one not resting on the hilt of her sword. “If your lordly Montagueship would wait but a very small moment...” She held thumb and forefinger perhaps slightly less than a finger width apart. “...there’s a slight matter of bureaucracy that needs to be tidied up, da?”

Then the Verchovai looked at her Initiate.

“Lady Kay, I’d be most appreciative...” There might have been a glance at the top of youngling’s head. “...if your Imperialship would instruct the Noblenesses of Montague to sit themselves back down. I think there are folk here who’d like to chat with them.”

She nodded to Kay as a confirmation to proceed, but stopped in mid-nod. “Oh, goodness, we need our tiles all lined up properly, don’t we?”

Daxia looked at Kisa then. “Dama Kisa, will the Noble House of Allaine recognize Ekaterina Koromov as a member of the Imperial Family Koromov, having been born prior to the disenfranchisement of said Family and not being the daughter of Thomas Montgomery Koromov?”

She tilted her head as she looked at Hadrian Montague, her expression one of slight frustration... as if she was forgetting something. Her friends, of course, knew better.

“Oh! Right!” She rolled her eyes. “Silly me...”

She cracked open the large door to the Council chamber, and spoke to the guard outside.

“Most sincere apologies for upsetting your Lord. We’ll be needing a Justice in here as soon as you can fetch one, please. Oh, and Lady Anastasia, too. Justice and Mercy, da? I’m sure Lady Jasmine is ever so qualified, but... well... the Lady Anastasia has much more experience. We’ve quite the tangled web here. Thank you.”

Daxia closed the door and turned back to Hadrian.

Then she looked behind him to Jakal, just barely managing to control the scorn she felt.

Finally, she glanced again at her Imperial Ladyship Ekaterina Koromov. Or rather, at top of her Initiate’s head.

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Mid-Morning, Midsummer's Day

Kadri, Mikal and the Mouse, Daxia, Dandelion Koromov and Kisa Allaine and the Scamp

"Gawk?"

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

The redhead reached over and tousled the dark hair of her Initiate.

“Nothing gets by you, does it, Scamp? All the excitement seems to have scrambled the mess in there, though. Now, don’t you worry about it, child. What kind of Knight would I be if I didn’t take care of my Squire, train her up right and all? Hmm?”

Daxia still gave Kay a look, however.

“Just tell their Montaguenessess to heave their nobley selves back to their seats, reacquainting their backsides to the chairs over there.

“It’ll have to be you, my dear Kay... because you’re a Koromov and because you’re not the Captain’s sister. Well, but for the part about being a Temple Sister, you’re not.”

The elder Dayalan tsked and shook her head. “I’m sure we talked about all this, and I thought you’d attached that bit to another bit to this little bit and came up with a handful.

“Now stop your gawk gawping, and just tell the naughty boys to sit down, Kay.”

Mikal

"No. Murder in cold blood is a Montague specialty. Perhaps you should spend some time working your own quarries? It builds character, something you sorely lack, until it kills you."

He watches as they try to leave. "Huh. For all your talk. Afraid of a girl."

He's been struggling internally since Daxia's speech about Innocence. All the time he's been in the room with Hadrian and Jakal he's wanted nothing more than to kill them. Jvrill's teachings, however, don't account for revenge or even righteous retribution. They are extremely mercenary. Personal feelings don't really come into it. No matter how much he'd like to pay them back for his family, that is a personal vendetta and not something he'd expect Jvrill to sanction.

Plus he is Kadri's bodyguard. His first mission is to protect her, and anything he does reflects on her right now. Would Korie want to be known as condoning attacking in cold blood? Of course Mikal's blood is anything but cold at the moment. He could boil water with it, metaphorically.

**Now**, he muses harshly, **if someone in the room offered me a reasonable sum of money, (not a token amount, it'd have to be a real fee), to kill Jakal, I'd take it in a heartbeat. Presuming, of course, that Kadri temporarily released me from her service.**

A thought occurs to him, as he glances at the Kierkegaards. His eyes lock with the elder Khorall as he says. "Offer me a contract to return justice to these men for your loss. An eye for an eye. No trials."

He then glances down at Kadri. "If the offer comes, release me from your service."

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

Lips pressed together in a thin line, Daxia scanned the room yet again... this time watching the Kierkegaard delegation carefully before looking at the Montagues.

“It would appear that you are not very well liked.”

The Dayalan paused, giving the impression of thinking through a variety of complex topics. She was buying time for Kay... to recover, to remember that no matter what other role she might need to play here today, she was still a Dayalan, still Verchovai Daxia’s Initiate, and still expected to bloody well do what she instructed to do... even if it was strange and unsettling.

No more strange and unsettling than being taken to the Allaine Court for the first time and instructed to watch the Heir... who did absolutely nothing. Nothing! Well, that’s what it seemed like that first day.

Yes, we all have our burdens of strangeness to bear.

She shook her head and looked at Hadrian as she spoke, although her words were meant for Jakal.

“Now, the Kierkegaards... they’re honest, honorable, hard-working folks. Do you think Khorall Kristoff would take the Jvrillian up on his offer? You did, after all, kill his eldest son.

“Of course, you’ve been blessed with a bit of luck that Khorall Linnell sent her Heir to Council this year. I suspect she’d have already seen your head rolling across the floor. I must say, you did make her very angry, and even though her anger was focused on Korie at the time, we all know it now belongs to you. And the Heir has already spent her allowance on securing the services of Captain Koromov and Wild Horde.

“Well, who really knows how much allowance an Heir gets, da? Oh, but does it really matter? I mean, she’s already hired the Horde.

“Yes, yes... a mercenary troop headed by a Dayalan might have different sensibilities than one headed by a Jvirillian. Oh. Did I say ‘might’? Yes, look at the difference between the Horde, who go about keeping people safe, and the Dark Mark who... hmm... come to think of it, I’m not sure what they do beyond the dirty jobs no honorable mercenary would do.”

She shrugged, and then tilted her head as she stared at the Khorall of Montague.

“Do you believe in the deepest part of your black heart that the Gods we serve will save you from a skewering or a lopped off head or a seriously damaged body bit? That’s not a threat, by the way. I really want to know if you think we’re so good and pure and honorable that we won’t cut you down where you stand.”

Blue eyes looked between the two dark brothers.

“I hope you don’t think that.

“Because while I really want to believe that I’m that good and pure and honorable...

“I have doubts.

“I have some very, very serious doubts.”

She smiled grimly.

“But I also have an Immortal companion who, let us all hope, will talk me out of doing something monumentally stupid.”

Daxia’s smile turned almost predatory.

“On the other hand, he might very well consider you an annoying little nuisance, like a tiny fly buzzing about on a hot day, and think it a fine idea to eliminate the annoyance.

“You don’t know.”

Daxia was fairly certain she knew what Morning Star would say — at least the gist of it — but he’d managed to surprise her more than once.

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

Strangely, bizarrely, and perhaps seen even as a sign of madness, the flame haired Dayalan smiled. She didn’t smile grimly, she didn’t smile with an eye towards vengeance.

She smiled as if today was Midsummers Day, as if she was looking forward to celebrating and dancing, and as if perhaps — just perhaps — she held a secret far too delightful to share just yet.

And then she stepped aside, motioning for Kay to do the same.

“Between Her Light and uncertainty, I pray I shall always choose Her Light as I have on this day,” she said as she swept her arm towards the door. “As it is Midsummers, I do wish you a day, Hadrian and Jakal Montague, and pray that the noteworthy care you have shown the people of the Highest Tarn as their Khorall and Warlord be returned to you nine fold.”

Daxia watched with thumbs tucked in her belt as the Montagues and their retinue left the room. As soon as the alleged nobles were through the doorway, she shot her second a hard look and minutely shook her head.

When the last of the Montague guards had left the room, she looked at Kay.

“Yah, holding two or even three contradictory thoughts in your head at the same time isn’t easy. It takes some practice. Da, okay, a lot of practice. Your clever cousin over there,” she said, tilting her head in the Captain’s direction, “had a few words of advice that helped me. Maybe she’ll have some words that will help you.”

She glanced out the door, then turned on her heel and strode to the Korie end of the high table, standing almost toe to toe with Mikal. She was certainly close enough that she needed to look up at him.

“I see you.”

It was said softly, and it was all she said for a moment.

“There is a Jvrillian I trusted enough to Contract with him, to have his God stare over my shoulder for a fullhand and more. We all almost lost that Jvrillian today, along with my own honor.”

Again, she was silent for several heartbeats as her blue eyes met his.

“It is easier to be cruel and evil. It is so very hard to be fair, kind and honorable. Those are Romana’s words, and it says something about how the world has spun and flipped end over end and shifted into a new place that an Immortal whose brother died at the hands of Easterners at the Bordertown Temple would not only repeat them to me, but admit that she is right.

“Montague lost this battle.

“There may still be other battles to fight, but killing Jakal here and now would not undo all the evil that he’s done, and it would make him a martyr.

“It is better that they leave in disgrace.

“It is better that we retain our honor. As warriors, sometimes that is all we have beyond our skills, da?”

A worried look flashed across her features in an instant, and was gone again.

“You and I both came too close today to falling into their trap, be it a conscious one or not. We can’t be like them. We must be better, we must be more, we must be the heroes and not the villains.

“It’s much harder to do the honorable things. But we would not be here today, together... all of us... if we were not up to the task. Da?”

Kadri:

Her voice is low and quiet, and her eyes narrow.

"I ... But I... I am no honorable warrior. I'm just a girl from the plains. I'm not better, I'm just me."

She frowns.

"And they are just walking away unscathed. Unaffected. Unharmed. They _got away with it_. No consequences."

Her hand is clenching white-knuckled for a moment at a knife-hilt.

"Free to continue ..."

She closes her eyes, and bites at her lower lip, and let's go of the knife as they approach the door.

"... It is what it is."

She calls out quite a bit louder before they leave.

"Ta, Jakal, Ta Montagues - you have just been given your life back. By a GIRL. By Amber reckoning, that means she OWNS whatever small pitiful tattered and dishrag grey scraps of honor you have left. Think on that, sit on your swords and spin. Ta. Farewell. Run along now."

She makes shooing motions with her hand, as to a recalcitrant puppy.

"Shoo."

Mikal

He watches the Montague leave. As Daxia moves up to him his eyes remain locked on them, even as she speaks. She can see the hardness there. The simmering anger. The muscles in his arms and hands twitching as they beg him to let them draw his sword. The growing frustration as the target of his life's misery is allowed to simply walk away.

As the door closes behind Hadrian, Jakal, and their retinue, his gaze turns to Daxia. For a split second the anger behind those eyes seems to be redirected, but it evaporates quickly, replaced by sadness. Where before there had been lingering sadness, mixed with a small amount of hope, now the hope seems to have leeched away, replaced by guilt. And the sadness has taken on a permanency it did not have before.

He simply stares at Daxia, glancing briefly at the Kierkegaards, then back to Daxia, then to the closed door.

"That was my decision to make."

His shoulders slump, and he emits a deep sigh. Returning to his position behind Kadri's chair he says softly, so only those near him, such as Kadri, Daxia, and Dean can hear, "My best chance. Perhaps my only chance. Lost."

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

She watched Mikal, watched the emotions so clearly written on his face and then in the set of his shoulders. And she worried for him.

“Yes,” she said simply.

The journey this group had made together was a string of decisions... some individually made, and other reached by the group. This one though...

“And no.

“You are my Second... Contract or no Contract, until we part ways, I will look to you first in martial matters.

“This is a political matter, however. Montague is sly and treacherous, and set their trap well. They could not have known so much light would be shed on their darkness. Perhaps it was a hastily laid trap, and I don’t think Jakal quite realized what his brother was doing. Oh, it was cunning and devious, and very, very political. You... I... all of us very nearly stepped into the trap they set.”

Morning Star’s final question still echoed in her mind, so when she spoke again it was as a friend, as a swordsister, as one who had stood beside him to face the terrible things they’d faced on this journey.

“Mikal, we have a saying so old that I found it on a scroll in the Temple, written in Ancient, but it is still a cautionary note to every Initiate.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process she does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

She could never begin to understand in the depths of her soul what it meant to Mikal to watch the Montagues leave unharmed. But she did understand the anger. More importantly, however, she understood, finally and perhaps not fully, what seeking revenge could do.

“Best chance for what, Mikal?” she whispered. “Vengeance? Vengeance is a monster that you chase; it is the deepest of voids you gaze into. Would justice not be better?”

The Dayalan then turned her head to look at the Amber princess.

“No. In this instance, you’re very wrong, Kadri. Do you claim to be without honor? I would then say you speak falsely.

“You picked up your knife to attack and not defend. Perhaps that does not make you a warrior, but it does make you willing to act as one.

“Most importantly, though, you are no longer ‘just a girl from the plains’.

“You are Lady Kadri Terilanquel-Korie, and for all your protests that you are just you, just ordinary you...” She chuffed out a quick breath, half grim laugh and half frustrated sigh. “You will never be ordinary again. You are wed to Lord Dominic Dominie Korie, you have thrown your lot in with a Dayalan who rides a unicorn, and trouble followed you even before our paths crossed.

Dazi raised an eyebrow, almost — though not quite — daring Kadri to contradict her.

“Ordinary, indeed.”

Taking a step backward, the Dayalan surveyed the council chamber.

“Yes, they’re walking away. But they’re walking away in shame. They have been exposed as dishonest and dishonorable. Unaffected? Do you think these good people here...” She gestured to the Nobles in the room. “...will be quick or eager to trust the Montagues in the future?

“And unharmed?” Her eyes met Kadri’s. “There are more ways to harm a person, to harm a family, to destroy a dynasty than with a knife or a sword or a spear.

“The Nobles of the Little Kingdoms know who Montague is now. Montague hid their activities these several generations since breaking from Brockman. And now they will be seen as the bullies they are.”

Dazi looked at Mikal. “How would you balance your loss against what you have helped to accomplish for your Khorall? You have won back a chance for Brockman’s Holdfast. The Noble Family Brockman will retain their rightful place among the Noble Families.”

She shook her head, looking first at Kisa, then Khorall Kristof, and finally Khorall Tieg.

“How do Noble Families treat the people who live within their borders? A true Noble serves his or her people as much as their people serve the Khorall. A true Noble respects the efforts and labors of the farmer, the fisher, the smith, the merchant, the baker, the cooper. This I believed even of the Kories when I had what I thought were good reasons to hate them. A true Noble does what is best for their people, and some decisions they make are hard. Very hard.

“Outsiders may even see the results of those decisions as unwise and inflammatory, yet I do believe that within the reach of each Noble Family, those unwise and inflammatory decisions were the best at the moment to make.

“Montague made easy choices, and proved they have no respect for the people who unwillingly serve them.

“Kay has pointed out more than once that Montague is not a noble family. They are not in her teaching poems.”

Dazi looked steadily at Mikal. “Nothing they have done can be undone. But they can be undone. Justice often arrives more slowly than vengeance, Mikal. But justice is sure.”

She sighed and addressed Kadri again. “It is not I who should be credited with sparing Jakal’s life. I am only the messenger. An Immortal reminded me who I am, and in the process quoted the words of an Eastern princess. But I don’t think Romana would be any happier owning someone or even a part of someone than I am.” She smiled wryly. “I don’t even think Morning Star would be interested in eating them.”

With a final look at Mikal, allowing him to see her concern, she returned to the Allaine side of the table.

But she didn’t take her seat beside Kisa... not yet.

She looked at the Kierkegaard and the Amber delegations... father and son and House Guards; father and sons. Perhaps not unexpectedly, there were looks ranging from mild bemusement to outright confusion at what had just happened. The Terilanquels were looking at one another and their expressions almost seemed to say, What was that?! Rikart Kierkegaard stared at the door and didn’t look a lot happier than Mikal was.

She wanted to say something to the Kierkegaard Heir, but what was there to say? He’d been the first Noble from outside Dawnview Vale who’d noticed her existence, although in truth it was likely only because it had been Midsummers and he’d made a point of dancing with every woman and girl in the room... from the Khorall to the Khorall’s youngest daughter. Eleni must have been only a handful of years old then. Dazi remembered the ease with which he seemed to glide across the floor, whether it was oh so courteously with Khorall or trying to control his laughter when a bold, red haired, newly made Initiate of Dayala showed him the right way to perform a certain set of steps in one of the country dances... because that was the way her beloved older sister had taught it to her. Why remember now the thought she had when he patiently followed her lead.

Bekkah would really like him. He dances almost as well as she does!

Shaking her head slightly from her reverie, Daxia glanced at Dandy and Kay before sitting down beside Kisa. She folded her hands in her lap, and murmured softly, “That was not fun.”

Mikal

He listens stoically, and when she is finished he replies, "You say things have changed, and while they may have here, in a Noble's Council, out there," his hand points vaguely out the window, "where real people live real lives, nothing has. Did we force Montague to leave Brockman's holdfast? To pull their occupying troops out? To return the lands they stole in order that Brockman might be a viable Holdfast once more? To stop their depredations of the people? To allow those falsely forced into labour in the quarries to leave if they wished? To pay reparations for the decades of vile activities in which they have engaged? To pay for killing the Kierkegaard Heir?" He glances at Rikert Keirkegaard briefly. "No, we did not."

"You say Brockman remains as a Noble Family. With what? It's an empty title. His lands, even his keep, are overrun and occupied by Montague. He has as much authority as Khorall of his lands as I would were I to claim to be Prince of Bankerpool."

His voice softens a bit.

"You say we should not become that which we despise, and yet if keeping ourselves pure means allowing evil to flourish then perhaps it is worth the loss of a single soul to benefit the thousands who suffer? Are you willing to explain to the mothers who will lose their husbands and children in the next years that we had a chance to stop it but we chose not to in order to follow the process of justice, no matter how long it took and no matter how many had to pay the price of our honour?"

He closes his eyes in despair, adding quietly, "I was not prepared to make those explanations. I was prepared to make that sacrifice."

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

Daxia looked up, looked over at Mikal as he spoke. She made no attempt to maintain her Court persona; it was abundantly clear to everyone that his words were giving voice to her pain and doubts as well.

After he spoke his last quiet words, she nodded... acknowledging the validity of his questions, acknowledging his willingness to make the greatest sacrifice for the people of Brockman’s Holdfast and the Montague Highlands.

“I know you were, my friend,” she said as quietly. “And I couldn’t let you do that.

“We few here are, in effect, only the small troop holding the bridge against the horde of the East. The Council represents the forces of Roth, for they are the ones who can crush Montague.

“Not us. Not we few.”

Dazi stood again and leaned with palms flat on the table. She looked around the room, she looked over her shoulder at Kay. Then she looked at Mikal before speaking again.

However, now... now it was not the Court trained Dayalan, speaker for the Noble House of Allaine, whose voice flowed through the room. It was the Knight trained, bloodied, battered and oh so lucky to be alive Dayalan warrior who spoke.

“We few could not stop all that is wrong in the Montague Highlands. Killing Hadrian and Jakal Montague would not have done anything to stop it, Mikal. We are warriors, we are commoners, and we have no authority to affect any change in this matter. None. If we are to make a change in the Montague Highlands, we must be given that authority by the Council or one of the Noble families, or we are no better than the Montagues themselves. I will not allow us to become something so abhorrent.

“Even with Hadrian and Jakal Montague dead, do you really believe the people of the Montague Highlands would be free overnight? That the Holdfast of Family Brockman would be restored in a day?

“Mikal, it is easier to break a seven generations long curse, defeat a horde of Chaos Riders, and kill the Avatar of an Eastern god than it would be for us... for we few... to cure the ills caused by the rogue family Montague.”

Her eyes were sharp with determination; if any of the Nobles had entertained the idea that she was the polite, well educated retainer of Family Allaine, she was swiftly disabusing them of that notion. Perhaps she was polite, and certainly she was well educated... but she was not a retainer of Family Allaine.

Starrider Daxia Yurisdotter was a Wild Dayalan who had strong ties to the Noble Family Allaine, that was true... but she was first and foremost accountable to Dayala, and her loyalty was to The Heartwood even before the Family Allaine, even before her liege, Lord Kisa... though it was a convenient Pattern that Kisa’s interests were so well aligned with hers. Oh, there was no coincidence there.

She lifted a hand and brought her open palm down sharply on the table.

“Tcha, Mikal! We are only the foot soldiers holding that bridge. You know very well what that means.

“And I will say now, with Dayala as witness to my words, I will not see that bridge destroyed again.”

For a moment, her jaw clenched tightly and her eyes flashed with an anger that had little to do with the events of this day, or in this place. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

“I will not let that bridge be destroyed again,” she said more softly. “I fear that is the effect your sacrifice would have had. I will not allow my brother in arms to be the one to destroy that bridge.”

Daxia straightened and turned slightly, so she could glance between Kay and Mikal.

“I won’t speak of honor, then. I won’t speak of the political ramifications of spilling blood in the Great Hall of Talantal’s Keep. I will speak of pragmatism, I will speak of strategy.”

She tucked locks of hair behind an ear, locks that stubbornly threatened to fall over an eye again when she shook her head.


“What changed for the people of Cragside when we took an interest in an orphan girl, and returned to her what had been taken? The ordinary folk, I mean, as a whole? I doubt much changed in their day to day lives. We could not undo the murder of the child’s father, but that small act of kindness continues to have far reaching consequences to this day.

“What changed for the people of the mainland when we rescued a damsel being chased into the Forest of Roth? Nothing, Mikal, for not even a fullhand of people even knew about that rescue... and yet everything changed. Everything. And only we and a handful of others know how drastic that change was.

“And at Highside Heather, what changed for anyone in the whole of the world, Mikal? Except in our memories, and except for a single young farm girl from Darkdown way, absolutely nothing changed... except for our understanding of the world, perhaps.

“I should not even speak of Bordertown, for that was probably the most spectacularly stupid and irresponsible thing I have ever done in my life. The fact that the rest of you followed my lead didn’t make it any less ill-advised. Yes, in Bordertown more people were affected, more people noticed our actions.

“And many more people died, Mikal. A lot of good people died that night who didn’t need to die. One of our own died there.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head again. She swallowed and sighed, then looked at Captain Koromov when she opened her eyes. The pain of all that loss was reflected in the young Starrider’s blue eyes, but the set of her shoulders said that there would be no doubt she would do the same thing again... even though she was not quite so laughably naive anymore.

Daxia blinked; her eyes clear, the pain tucked back in a corner of her mind and heart, and she looked at Mikal.

“Do you see it?

“Do you see the connections?

“Our ragged band of misfits is best suited for the small tasks that have few day to day consequences for most people, but have repercussions that can be seen only seasons or even years later... perhaps even generations later.

“Montague would be another Bordertown for us. But unlike Bordertown, we are not part of a small group of people even aware of this problem. We are not in the minority of those willing to solve this problem.

“We are not even the most capable group for dealing with this problem.”

The look she gave him was, to an outsider, possibly more anger than anything else. But he would know, Kadri would know... perhaps even Dean and Kay would know... that she was, in truth, merely frustrated. Only the fullness of time could solve all the problems the Montagues had created and perpetuated, and she didn’t like the idea of people continuing to suffer any more than Mikal did. But her Lady had created Time for a reason, to bring Order to a world that was only Forest, Horse, and the many ever-changing forms of Chaos. The Dayalan needed to respect that.

There was one other thing though...

“Sea and stars, Mikal!” she said, giving the impression of tossing her hands in the air merely with the inflection of her voice. “Just how did you expect our motley crew would save the world next time if you’d gone and gotten yourself killed here today? Hmm?”

Mikal

"Sometimes", he replies gently, "a person can do more as a symbol than as a living being. Imagine the rallying power of a simple farmer from Brockman's who had died killing Hadrian and Jakal Montague? An entire Small Kingdom could rally around that."

Returning to her earlier comments he sighs.

"You said not us, as we are too few. I know the people of Brockman's. They would rally if someone would lead them. If someone would train them they could create a Troop that would toss off the yoke of Montague. That would take back the lands stolen so that Brockman's could thrive once more. As good as he is to his people, he would never take that step."

He seems to be looking internally and musing out loud.

"Yes. Someone who could lead them. Train them. Heck, make me Regent and I'll do it."

He pauses, chuckling in embarrassment, and hoping no one heard him or took him seriously.

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Mid-Morning, Midsummer's Day

Kadri, Mikal and the Mouse, Daxia, Dandelion Koromov and Kisa Allaine and the Scamp

"Tax rolls.

"Accounting.

"Trade balance and Household affairs. Does the keep have enough flour. Does it have enough grain? Are your farmers working two, three or four fields? How hard was last winter/ How hard will be the next? Arbitrating an argument over a horse. Breaking up an argument over a mule. Discovering its the same argument. When it doesn't rain its your fault the crops are dying. When it does rain, its your fault it floods. Having to be at every single wedding in your lands. Having half the new children in the lands named after you. trying to decide what to do about the fact that someone built a windmill. Trying to keep the millers from killing the windmill owner in his sleep. Trying to keep the mill owners from killing each other every time someone does something to change the head of mill stream. being nice to your neighbors because they are your neighbors. Trying to figure out how not to have your sister marry one. Realizing your son is more valuable as trading piece than a person.

"Discovering you cant even lift a sword any more because you've gained three stone and haven't lifted anything heavier than a pen in months.

"Discovering that you need to send other people out into the world to do all the things you want to ...

" ... because your are imprisoned behind a fifty foot wall and a gate."

Kisa Allaine of Dawnview Vale looked across the room, to the man guarding Kadri.

"I am sure, if that is what you wish, it can be agreed to."

She simply folded her hands before her.

"You don't understand.

"This is Council. What happens here, becomes Law.

"The Council has decided to grant Larsen regency over Brockman's Hold, and when the child is old enough and learned enough, she will rule. That is now Law.

"If Montague dares act against that?"

Kisa looked across to the tall blonde behind her. Captain Dandelion Koromov just nodded. Kisa continued.

"They will not face Brockman's alone. But everyone at this table. That is something that Hadrian will think long and hard on. That is something that will make him keep Jakal on a leash.

"Yes we have a viper at our backs. But it is a viper we know.

"All we have to do is keep Talantal happy ... with ..."

Kisa's word, however, are interrupted by the great doors opening, thrown aside in a grand manner. Through them storms back Dorian Korie and his entire revenue. He does not seem too displeased that one family is missing from their ranks. His arrival stills the Kierkegaards, the younger standing down from his martial stance and looking to his father. For the Amber clan their disappointment in their wagering falling apart is hastily replaced by a sudden volley of new bartering, their attention shifting between Kisa, Daxia, Kay and someone not there? Or at least someone not their but known enough to cause a fast and intense exchange of words and coin.

It is the Korie who steps up, flanked by the elderly Atterran and an equally wizened man in blue robes.

"I was partaking in tea and someone summons my Judge and the retired Priestess? This is Council, not bawdy game of come out come out wherever you are in a second ring tavern!"

Except,of course, he was interrupted, by the flurried arrival of younger, but more officious looking healer.

Almost out of breath, this one turns her attention to a certain woman with re hair and a sword.

"You!

"Where is your sister!

"Does she have any idea what her white haired wench of an Initiate is DOING!"

Mikal

He shudders at the litany of responsibilities as Kisa lists them, eventually holding up a hand. "Enough. You have more than made your point. Being slowly gnawed on by a Softpad would be preferable."

He sighs.

"Yet, as I said, nothing of this helps the people of Brockman's now. Today. Or even tomorrow. How will Brockman's survive with no viable income? What will make Montague pull their occupying forces from the Holdfast? Return the land and the people falsely imprisoned? How many more will die before the Heir reaches her majority? And when she does, then what? Is she to rule over a land emptied of people by starvation and imprisonment?"

He falls silent as the doors bang open.

Kadri

She looks at Daxia for a moment, but says nothing.

She listens to Kisa's statement to Mikal, and his reply ... and then she fell silent as the doors opened. She briefly considered the dress ... and then decided to leave it folded on the table. It was not worth trying to get back into it. They would either take her as she was, or not. She moves back towards her seat.

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

Dazi knew all too well the duties of one who was in charge of a Keep. Kisa had spent many an hour explaining the importance of the tax rolls, the connections and interconnections between the people, the land, and even random events like weevil infestations in the farthest corner of the Vale. By the time the Khoralls of Allaine and Korie began their embargoes of steel and grain, the Dayalan well understood just what that embargo would mean for Dawnview Vale and the common folk who lived there.

She was a warrior and had no need to know any of that. Despite it all, despite the fact that learning the things Kisa was learning as Heir was far more difficult for Dazi to grasp than any of the lessons Kassia taught — except the one about the buckets; that had been the hardest lesson — Kisa never stopped gently nudging her friend to think and learn about the demanding and mundane duties of the Khorall and her Heir.

Whatever Kisa’s reasons had been, they’d been sound. It was easier to see how one thing connected to another in the larger world outside Dawnview Vale, though by easier it only meant that Daxia wasn’t a complete cobble block... it was still only in hindsight that she saw with clarity how Cragside and the Forest of Roth had affected Bordertown, how Bordertown had affected Highside Heather, how the deliberate choice to travel toward the Highest Tarn in Montague lands made today’s events possible... even inevitable.

“You know, you could take a journey to the seaside,” she whispered to Kisa before the Heir looked at Mikal, “before you imprison yourself in the Vale again. Lord and Lady Larsen would be delighted.”

Daxia straightened, pretending she had not just suggested that the Heir do something so frivolous as enjoy a journey for the sake of the journey... to see something spectacular that she might never have the chance to see again.

But she barely had a chance to begin a smile at Mikal’s response to the litany of duties, no chance to remind Mikal that Khorall Larsen held the Regency of Brockman’s Holdfast and, knowing the Larsens, would send the very best seneschal he had who would be — again, knowing the reputation of the Larsens — extraordinarily capable, when the heavy doors were flung open.

The Dayalan blinked and looked between the Khorall of Talantal and a Priestess of Attera.

Wisdom dictated that the happiness of the Korie was of more importance than finding out what Romana was doing to upset the local hospice workers. If Romana was doing any of the things she imagined Romana might be doing, it might be difficult to keep from grinning.

She bowed to the Khorall.

“My lord, I do beg your forgiveness for interrupting your tea. The matter to place before Lord Hawthorne and Lady Anastasia had a greater urgency prior to the departure of the family Montague. It is now, perhaps, merely something of academic curiosity, though your Lordship might find it of some small interest.”

Daxia looked at the Justice. “I’m sure every follower of Lord Hastur will find it most intriguing.” She smiled slightly, and with some small amount of fondness. “Especially that delightful Lord Random out in Bordertown.” Then she paused, recalling how annoyed Lord Random had been when she couldn’t provide more information on her family. He’d worked himself into such a frenzy, she had thought he was accusing her of not being who she said she was. And an Eye of Hastur certainly wouldn’t do that!

“Well, then again, perhaps not Lord Random.”

Looking at the Atteran, she fixed a countenance of puzzlement on her features. “Lady Jasmine, I presume? As I am sure you are aware, my Lady, I am merely the younger sister of the esteemed Lady Bekkah.” Gesturing to her own attire, she said, “I could certainly have no authority over a Priestess who serves the Kind Lady Attera, even if that Priestess is my own sister by blood.”

Sidestepping, for the moment, the matter of Bekkah’s location, she focused on Romana.

“If the white haired wench, the Initiate Romana, is doing what Lady Bekkah likely instructed her to do, then yes... I’m sure Lady Bekkah is aware that her Initiate is practicing the skills the dear Lady, my sister, has been teaching her. It is possible...”

She paused, biting the corner of her lip with a look of deep concentration on her face.

“Well, it is possible that Initiate Romana is... ah... being extremely enthusiastic in her practice. She does so love to learn, and she wants so very much to help people in the Lady of Mercy’s name. Is that what the trouble is, my Lady?”

Dazi glanced back at Kay, then looked back at the Khorall, the Justice, and the two Priestesses, shrugging and spreading her arms out slightly, palms up.

“It is the nature of Initiates, is it not, to be eager to learn all they can? My own Initiate has that quality, as did I when I was an utter nuisance to my own teachers.”

Although quite aware that all the attention in the room was focused on her — except perhaps the Amber delegation, and she’d really like to know what they were nattering about — she maintained a poise that would have at least gotten approval from Kassia in the form of not being rapped on the head. And although her own attention seemed to be tightly focused on the Khorall and those of the Imperial Court, she was paying attention to the entire room.

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Mid-Morning, Midsummer's Day

Kadri, Mikal and the Mouse, Daxia, Dandelion Koromov and Kisa Allaine and the Scamp

"And by what word were the Montagues given leave to abandon their noble responsibilities before this Council?"

Khorall Dorian Korie just stood there, arms crossed, glowering at the allaine side of the hall, as if nothing good could come from that corner of the mainland. Thus it was Kisa Allaine who spoke up, to defend her side of the Council.

"It was commanded by the Family Korie, in the word and deed of your newest daughter."

The Allaine Khorall bowed her head towards Kadri.

"I believe the word she used was ...

"Shoo."

Dorian Korie just raised a brow to that, looking sternly to his newest relation. His finger drummed on the sleeves of his tunic before he turned to face the Amber Continent.

"I shall expect her dowry to arrive within a fortnight. We are keeping her."

The Amber lord, he slammed his hands down on the council table. And then took a deep deep breath. he turned his head and just looked at his daughter.

"You. Then. For your wedding, I give you the Parent's Blessing."

Across the hall it was Captain Koromov's turn to snort.

" ... may you be blessed with children just as troublesome as you are ... "

Dorian Korie then brought his attention back to Daxia. "You. Be quiet. You will explain yourself later."

He then turned to the Rames Knights, first - and then the High Priestess of Atterra in Talantal.

"What is it that you couldn't keep your Priestess in line? Satisfied? Taken care of?

"And you ...

"What did your Monster do? Turn someone into a possum?"

Priestess Jasmine drew herself up and stomped her foot. Hard and aristocratic like. Her eyes narrowed, sharp and fierce.

"No."

She glared at Daxia.

"Enthusiastic? That's like saying a summer breeze is enthusiastic against a tarn-born tornado."

She looked back to her Khorall.

"She's healing folks. She's healing poor folks, coin less folks. And its not just bandages and potions like she's supposed too. I've been told that she's already collapsed three times because she's given away all her power."

At those words, the scamp suddenly takes a step back from Daxia, not realizing what she is doing until three steps later, before suddenly stopping herself. Priestess Jasmine continued.

"And she's drawn Darcy and Marcy into it ..."

The Priestess held up her hand, as if to command silence as she continued.

"And how can I chastise them? This is what we do.

"Except they are not asking for even a penny in tithing.

"So?

"Think!

"The word has reached the second ring, and those who are sick and hurt have been pouring into our shelters.

"The third ring ... and Goddess bless, the fourth - you know, the Noble and Merchant ring, the richest bloody ring in your keep.

" ... what are we to say when they look at us, when they say so what if you fall flat on your face? Why should we not get the same treatment as the lowest of the city? A tithe? Why should we pay when the first ring, when the slums do not?"

The priestess snapped her head around and then pointed to a large man in fancy robes. The Lord Seneschal of Talantal.

"I told you this would happen. But no, you said the Hospice had to pay for itself."

The man gave the priestess a dark, forbidding look.

"I have told you time and time again that the Keep cannot afford such charity. It would bankrupt the treasury."

The priestess slammed her foot upon the marble tiles once again.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT LORD TRAY SAID."

Mikal

Listening to the discussion he cannot tell whether he is more disgusted at the thought of mercenary healing or the fact that someone is upset that people are being healed without paying. He cannot help but blurt out.

"Pardon, Lord, but it seems to me that this is in your best interest. A sick person cannot work, and thus brings in no income to pay taxes. Not only that, but if he is sick enough to need a healer then he likely needs another to care for him, and that person is also not working and bringing in income to tax."

"The healthier your people are the more they work, the more money they make, and the more taxes you collect. Seems to me free healing for all would more than pay for itself."

"If the wealthy complain, tell them their donations will get them house visits instead of needing to stand in line with the poor. Surely avoiding such embarrassment would make them willing to contribute."

Realizing suddenly that his speech is out of place, he falls silent. "Pardon, Lord."

[OOC: The Allaine Khorall is a pasta bazillion miles away at Dawnview Castle in Dawnview Vale. As far as we know. What we do know with certainty is that Linnell is not here. FOR REASONS.

In my role as Super OCD Woman and Keeper of All the Disparate Information, I feel duty bound to point out that Kisa Allaine is the Heir and is representing the Allaines with the full authority of the Khorall; however, she herself is not the Khorall. As noted previously, she also holds the Corliss proxy.

<shrug> This is what happens when a linguist gets involved in an endeavor in which new words have been coined. It matters not that said linguist is one by avocation rather than vocation.

#sorrynotsorry ]

Kadri:

At her father's statement, she smirks ever so slightly, then grins widely.

"Aba, oh Aba dear, I accept your blessing, and welcome it! Any child of mine should indeed be as troublesome as I, else they would be no child of mine."

She listens to the conversation regarding the Atterans .. And sees Romana in her mind's eye. Romana, the Eastern 'Monster' - healing her way to rebellion, one injury at a time. She taps her fingers on the table - then speaks in a calm and genial tone.

"So, Lord Seneschal, am I to understand that you are upset that Atterans are honoring the object of their reverence in a manner most befitting of her? Lady Attera the Merciful. Lady Attera the kind. Lady Attera who is generous to even those who may not have coin to give in return, and you believe it your place to declare that her followers must act as merchants rather than as healers in Grand Talantal? Are the finances which are in your trust truly in such poor condition that you must extort rent from Atterans to make ends meet? That in all the holdings of the Noble Korie, you cannot scrape together the coin that would allow the benevolent Lady to shine forth her Mercy with all of its grace and grandeur in the grandest of cities? That by your estimation noble House Korie can afford fine drink and banquets but cannot afford simple strips of cloth for bandages? If this is indeed the case, I would have to think that it is time for desperate measures to remedy those finances."

One eyebrow slowly raised up until it achieved maximum arch.

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

The only reaction Daxia had to Dorian Korie’s command was a slight bowing of her head.

If silence made the Khorall happy, then silence she would give him. Easily enough done. She was beginning to suspect the reason certain people, and a certain unicorn, complained — if, indeed, complained was the right word — about her plethora of words was that she just saved them all up to use at once. She could easily go a handful of days saying very little. But it was as if she was storing them all up for the day that a torrent of words would flood over unsuspecting Heirs, Dayalans, Easterners and Unicorns. Not that Kisa or Romana had ever mentioned it, of course... it just seemed to be Dayalans and Unicorns who felt the need to note it.

Oh well.

She bore the Priestess’ ire with a bland look. Lady Jasmine might be a Priestess of Attera, with the sharp corners of personality and sharper tongue that appeared to come with the position, but Daxia had experienced all too often the words of Dayalan Starlord Priestess Kassia Dariansdotter, whose words cut as easily and deeply as ironsilver.

Her lips twitched as her head turned toward her Initiate, however. Her expression implied a certain level of I told you so. And although Daxia sorely wanted to send Kay down to the First Ring to fetch Romana back, she knew Romana was well and truly an Initiate of Attera. She’d return when there were no more people who needed her help. Or they’d wrap her up in her cloak and drape her over Dancer’s back on their way out of Talantal. From the sound of it, there were plenty of people in this city who weren’t able to... tithe to the Church? Who ever heard of such a thing?!

Though it did seem Lady Anastasia’s two scamps were helping Romana; perhaps she wouldn’t wear herself out completely. She remembered letters from Bekkah, who was just as enthusiastic...

Was anyone quite as enthusiastic about life as Romama? Perhaps not.

...and writing that Lady Catherine had cautioned her to not try to do everything at once.

Her eyebrows drew together and lips thinned as she pressed them against her teeth and frowned when the Lord Seneschal spoke. Anger sparked for a moment in the Dayalan’s sapphire blue eyes.

Her attention was diverted momentarily by Mikal’s remarks... practical and prudent in terms of economics.

However, the point was that the Ladies who served the Kind and Merciful Attera were not supposed to beg for payment. She’d never heard of anyone not sharing whatever little they could with one of the Lady’s healers. Oh, there were stories to be sure, cautionary tales every one, that told of the ill fate that might befall a person foolish enough to harm a Lady of Attera; there might well be stories that urged one not to be miserly either. Daxia couldn’t recall one, and found it difficult to comprehend customs where the services of the Atteran healers were parceled out like any other commodity.

There was an Atteran hospice near the Dawnview Temple, near Dawnview Castle — the Atterans were the only branch of the Imperial Church in the Vale, with several hospices — and the kind Ladies never wanted for the few things they claimed to need. She glanced at Kisa, recalling all those many days and months and seasons of pouring over the tax rolls to understand the connections found in them... and it seemed that no matter the individual circumstances of the people of Dawnview Vale, no matter what minor local calamity befell a region of the Vale, the hospices of Lady Attera always had what they needed. Always.

In fact, Bekkah often said that healing was its own reward. If it made her feel that much closer to her Goddess, as she said it did, Dazi could certainly understand the sentiment.

Kadri put it well, though perhaps more kindly than the Lord Seneschal deserved.

Daxia looked from Kadri to the Lord Seneschal to Lady Jasmine. She studied the Priestess for a moment before looking at the Khorall, her eyes scraping across the figure of the seneschal again as she did so.

Quietly and respectfully she said, “My Lord Korie, I ask your indulgence to answer one of Lady Jasmine’s previous questions, which will perhaps allow Her light to shine upon this matter.”

The redhead looked at the Priestess as she began. “My Lady, you asked if I knew where my sister was, and I failed to answer that question, believing it less urgent than your concern over her Initiate’s activities. I see I was in error, and I apologize.”

Dazi fixed her eyes on the Lord Seneschal, although her words were still directed toward the Priestess.

“Lady Bekkah went to visit with Lord Tray, to determine the cause of young lord’s ill health and to make him whole again, if such was the wish of Lady Attera. As I have seen, and as you might know, my sister is humble beyond measure and very much loved by the Lady you both serve.

“If you say that Lord Tray contradicts the advice of the Lord Seneschal, I might wonder — as Lady Kadri more politely stated — why the hospices must beg for scraps when the Lord Seneschal has clearly not missed a meal in many a season, and wears robes as fine as any I’ve seen on the wealthiest of merchants in Bordertown. I might also wonder why it is that Lord Tray continues to languish with so many of Lady Attera’s attendants here in Talantal.”

She looked at Jasmine again. “Surely, it can’t be that there is a lack of skill among your Ladies. That is something I cannot fathom, nor could I possibly believe it. It must then be something that continues to plague the young lord despite all the best efforts of so many of you.

“While it is right and proper for Jvrillians to be paid for their service, to secure coin in return for their service to those they Contract with, such a thing is not seemly for you who serve the Lady of Kindness and Mercy.

“That the Lord Seneschal compels you to austerity while he grows fat... and worse, turns you into mercenaries, which is a profession suited to warriors but not healers...

“That Lord Tray contradicts him and, being bedridden, might be even more bookish and learned than Dama Kisa...”

Daxia shrugged slightly, implying that being a bookworm was no more idiosyncratic than wielding a sword of cold iron; unusual, perhaps... but most assuredly significant.

Her gaze took in the Khorall, as well as Lord Hawthorne and Lady Anastasia who stood nearby... watching, listening. Oh, Dazi was well aware of the presence of the senior members of Hastur’s and Attera’s branches of the Imperial Church.

Her eyes slid once again to the Lord Seneschal. Although her voice was mild — it would take sharp ears indeed to hear the faint hint of mocking in it — the Dayalan looked at the seneschal with scorn.

“I wonder if the Lord Seneschal could truthfully say that he has the best interests of the Noble Family Korie at the forefront of his mind. Or would the Lord Seneschal be most truthful if he admitted he has his own interests or, more damning, the interests of others before that of the Noble Family Korie? Is Khorall Korie, and by extension the whole of the lands he oversees and the Imperial Church itself, being best served by a fat man in rich robes?

“I am a stranger in a strange land, but I have seen many things in my journeys, I have spoken to many people, and I have been well educated. My education may well be more broad than that of a seneschal who insults the women who serve Lady Attera. My experience makes me wonder what else the Lord Seneschal has said and done that benefits him more than the Noble Family Korie, the Imperial Church, the people of the High Tarn.”

Daxia finally returned her attention to Dorian Korie, her bearing and being changing ever so slightly so that she was again the retainer of the Noble Family Allaine. But there was a subtle difference now.

Is this, too, what you trained me for, Kassia? To shed Her Light on those things others cannot see hidden in their own shadows? And you are shining Her light into my shadow, are you not, your Magnificence? Very sneaky, the whole lot of you.

And perhaps, too, she’d been influenced by a rapscallion in Bordertown in more ways than she’d first thought. For, while certainly in a role as retainer of the Allaines, Daxia Yurisdotter truly wanted to see some small bit of happiness come to Dorian Korie.

“You said you said a troublesome child, my Lord. And I would not dare disagree with you, especially after having met the young Lord Dominic. He is, indeed, a rascal. But he also has a good heart, and while perhaps not suited for a life here in Talantal, he does care for his family.

“He made the first blow to shatter the prejudices I’d once held as a daughter of Dawnview about you and your Noble Family. His words were eloquent, and in particular his words about his eldest brother were most... touching. I now wonder if perhaps Lord Tray might have been the man at your side — and, may the day be far off, at Lord Marcus’ side when he becomes Khorall — had he been a healthier man. I wonder at the inability of these fine Ladies of Attera to keep Lord Tray healthy enough to serve you and his brother in the way it is apparent he should... from my humble observations and the words of his youngest brother, of course. I might think the Lord Seneschal had something to do with Lord Tray’s condition if I was a more suspicious person.”

She glanced at the seneschal, and her expression seemed to say, I am that suspicious, however, and I do think you are guilty... of something.

Daxia shrugged and glanced around the room before looking at the Khorall again. “Lord Dominic’s little Mouse was here not long ago. Perhaps she could see how my sister fares with your eldest son, my Lord.”