• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.
OOC
Here
"Oh," Lara said quietly, closing her eyes for a moment.

"We'll be on our way," Gigi offered. "If you can just give us directions, and the key-"

"Don't be stupid," Lara snapped. Her eyes were damp, but her tears went unshed.

"You are staying at least a few hours- Long enough that you could be friends visiting for dinner and drinks, not strangers dropping by unannounced for ten minutes," she pointed out, then reconsidered. "No. You are staying the night. He's not leaving until we are certain a fever won't set in," she said of Lanea. "'Reconnaissance by the bar'," she scoffed, clearly of the mind that such efforts would not accomplish much in his current state.

"Sit," she ordered Gigi. "Put this on your burns," she said, placing a jar of salve on the table.

"They're really just superficial," Gigi protested, but she squeezed Alyx's hand on her arm in silent thanks, and did as she was told.

"And eat something," Lara added, nodding at the food sitting on the plates. "Before it goes cold. The rest of you," she said, eyeing the vampires. "Will stay away from my veins." She was apparently comfortable working with vampires, but like most Eldergaardians, didn't like the idea of being a food source. "But I might have some blood still in the cellar," she mused.

"Down those stairs, and there's a trapdoor on the left under the rug," she told Henrick. "Second shelving unit on the right, there's a bunch of jars- Do you know the alchemical symbol for iron?"

"Uh- Yes," he answered.

"Any of the jars with that symbol, in red paint- Bring them back up here," she instructed, and he nodded. He was already headed down the stairs when she added, "And don't snoop."

"So Bicksley's taken over Jorgenson's ship, huh- Bicksley the younger, I presume," she clarified. "How'd he manage that then?"
 
Maksim shook his head at Lanea’s babbling and patted the elder vampire's arm. “It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

Alyx did studied her boots as Lara processed the news. They were very dirty. She probably shouldn't have come into a woman's house with boots this dirty. She looked up as Lara insisted they stay. She frowned slightly, but this place was as good as any, she supposed. She was fairly certain Lara Crane wouldn't turn them in for a reward at this point. And if this woman could keep an eye on Lanea, she was willing to risk it.

She shot Georgiana a small smile. She wasn't really sure exactly how she felt about the princess--she was still a princess and all that entailed in Alyx's oppinion--but she thought she understood her a bit better.

Maksim acted offended that Lara felt the need to tell him to stay away from her blood, placing his hand over his heart. "I have never mistreated a lady."

Alyx snorted and sat. She was tired of pretending she wasn't exhausted.

"You don't count," Maksim said snootily. "You're not a lady."

"I'm honestly not sure," Alyx admitted when Lara asked how Bicksley--who was denoted as "Cyn's platonic husband" in her head--had taken down an admiral's flagship. Normally she would have left it there, but the woman was taking them into her home, so it was only fair to give her information as payment. "They infiltrated and blew up part of the ship."

"And barred off my squadron," Maksim added, rubbing his eyes. "Wait, Bicksley the younger?"

Alyx draped her arm over the back of the chair. "Yeah, he seems to have more... political prowess than his father."

Maksim stared at Alyx. "How the ever-living stars do you know that? You made a point of not listening during the politics part of training just to irk Professor Thrud."

Alyx shrugged. "The big Allarian?"

Maksim's face split into a grin as he did not look at Lanea. "The hot one?"

"Works for him. The little one?" Here, Alyx held her hand up to about her shoulder, despite the fact that Cyn was several inches taller than her. "Knows him, too. My second knows him as well."

Maksim's smile had soured at the mention of Cyn but eased at the mention of Leo. "Well you just met all his friends, didn't you."

"I assume those two you were trying to take on like an idiot in the corridor worked for him."

Maksim was prepared to act insulted before something clicked. "Damn Henrick. I thought the girl he was making out with looked familiar."

Alyx blinked. "Wait. When did you see Henryk making out with a girl?"

Maksim waved away Alyx's confusion. "Not that Henryk, my Henrick. I caught him and some human and I thought she looked familiar in a weird way. I just figured it out. She's got to be related to the hot Allarian. She was coordinating the attack."

Which also meant that Freddy probably knew and hadn't told him, but he'd fuss at him about that in private.

Alyx nodded. She must be the sister Cyn and Rose had mentioned. She returned her attention to Lara. "Anyway, it seems to have been a team effort."

"Not bad, though. They did take out an admiral," Maksim said.

Alyx nodded but mused, "I'm not sure that was their main goal, however."

Maksim frowned. "How was that not their main goal?"

Alyx shook her head. It was just a nebulous idea she had from her understanding of Finn Bicksley and the apparent goals of the two in the corridor. She'd think on it for longer and try to figure out what they had really been doing in the corridor.
 
Last edited:
Lanea's face flushed dark when Maksim said he was cute. It wasn't something that was usually said about him of all people. It was embarassing, but he didn't entirely hate it, even if it was clearly just a joke. But it didn't suit him.

"I'm not cute," he grumbled, "and I'll be fine. I never get sick. Don't even catch a cold."

He had once as a child, and only once. His mother had been terrified he was dying, and the entire clan had fussed around him for two weeks. He doubted Lara would do the same, but it was still a little embarrassing. But she didn't seem to be willing to let them go, so.

"I guess we could stay until tomorrow," he conceded finally, relaxing a little bit. He was tired, and he really wanted to go to sleep. He didn't even care that Lara acted like they would eat her, and he was impressed she was even providing them with blood to begin with. But then the conversation turned to his least favourite person, and he couldn't help but sneer.

"Younger or older, they're both bastards," he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. He realized a second later that Georgiana and Lara might have been associated with him, but he couldn't really bring himself to take it back.

He was a bit surprised when Alyx seemed to have a knowledge of the Allarian nobility. He raised his eyebrows at her, then flushed when Maksim called Rose 'the hot Allarian'.

"He's not that hot," he grumbled, even though he really was hot. But still. People didn't need to keep saying it.

Saying that Rose 'worked for' Bicksley made his mouth twist, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from refuting it. It wasn't his place to talk about it if Rose hadn't told Alyx the truth, despite apparently trusting her enough to divulge other information. Though he was surprised when she mentioned the 'little one', as well as her second.

"Little one?" he asked, looking surprised. He kind of remembered that there were others there when they had taken Alyx and the princess, but he hadn't recognized either of them. He sort of knew her second, though. "Wait, your second knows Rose? Was he... Working for the company?"

He said it bitterly, though he tried to keep his tone neutral. He knew Alyx and her fledgelings were closer than normal, but he hadn't anticipated that they might actually know his Allarian. They really needed to pool their knowledge.

Especially when Maksim mentioned Frederick making out with someone.

"His sister?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. That... made sense. Rose had mentioned the assassination, but he hadn't clarified when it was happening, and he hadn't given many details. This was turning out to be a bit of a mess.

"Rose didn't tell me much about their plan. I just know they were targetting Jorgenson. I didn't know it was happening so soon, though. I would think that they'd need to take more time to lead up to it, and the execution seemed.... sloppy." He pursed his lips. "I agree that there might have been something else going on."

He wondered if Rose would tell him about it, when they met up again. He was cagey with the information he provided sometimes, because Lanea knew that the most important person in his life would always be Finn Bicksley. There were a lot of things Lanea new he wasn't telling him about, and he didn't push, because he was a big softy and he cared about him too much.

But he kind of hoped that he would be honest this time, now that everything had gone to shit.
 
"Her second is General Vesper's son," Gigi told Lara, so the older woman could follow the conversation better. "Leonardo, the younger one. And both of the Barlowe brothers are involved, too, I don't know if you remember them-"

"Your brother befriended them while trying to get his laws passed, yes?"

Gigi nodded, smearing the thick paste on her neck. It stung a bit, but she wasn't sure if it was whatever was in the ointment or just the act of touching the burns.

"Finn Bicksley and Hyacinth are married apparently," Gigi admitted. That had been a surprise to her.

Lara frowned. "That's disgusting," she snapped, and Gigi shrugged.

"I don't think it's like that," she clarified. Romance between someone indentured and those holding their debt was generally frowned on. "I think it was mostly for Cyn's career- And maybe to piss off Lord Bicksley," Gigi guessed.

She disagreed that the current head of the Bicksley family lacked political prowess- He'd managed to be quite a nuisance to the crown during his tenure in the Assembly. But he certainly lacked the vision and willingness to embrace change that his son had. He probably would have thought it wasteful to advance Cyn's career, but there was no doubt he was reaping the benefits. And he probably would have preferred if his son had married one of the various nobles he had no doubt already vetted.

"Vesper grew up with the Barlowe's- He isn't in the Bicksley's service," Gigi told Lanea, and frowned as the conversation continued.

"Wait- That was Camellia?" From the conversation on the lifeboat after they'd escaped, she'd known there was an Allarian woman leading the chaos, but she hadn't made that connection. "Oh- That son of a bitch," she swore angrily, an unusual break in her composure.

She'd felt guilty when she'd realized both Rose and Cyn were being dragged after her into enemy territory- Freddy had liked them, and she'd known he would have been angry with her for it, if he'd been alive. So she'd asked Isadora to buy out Camellia's indenture from the Bicksley family, and to eventually try to do the same for Rose and Cyn... Assuming they made it back. Nothing had been finalized, but Isa had said her offer hadn't been outright rejected - which had surprised Gigi- and she'd seemed optimistic about the negotiations.

But Camellia hadn't even been in the country. Whichever odious member of the Bicksley family Isadora had been in contact with was only cooperating with the older princess as a means of stalling her, to prevent her from digging further and uncovering whatever Finn and his competing intelligence operation was up to.

"There's definitely something going on," Gigi said bitterly, cursing herself for realizing it but not understanding the scope- Finn and Cyn were married! How had she not been more suspicious of Finn having sent his husband on a possible suicide mission? Sending all three of the Barlowe's into Eldergaard was risking significant investments, and Gigi couldn't see a way to mitigate that risk. Which meant the potential reward must be great indeed.

"It hardly matters what Bicksley's goals were- He'll turn whatever was accomplished into a great success regardless," she said with annoyance, stabbing at the vegetables with more venom than they probably deserved.

"You have a remarkable ability to disparage in others what you would pride in yourself," Lara told Gigi. "If Jorgenson is dead- I toast whoever was involved," she said, not caring much for the political intricacies of the matter, or the power struggle between the Allarian crown and its nobles.
 
Maksim was delighted at Lanea's obvious embarrassment, and his smirk widened at his insistence that Rose was not hot. "He is, too, hot. I think so. Alyx thinks so."

Alyx rolled her eyes. Personally, she classified Rose as someone she liked but was still a little wary of. "Neither of us thinks that, Max."

"I might, you don't know."

"Yes, because you interacted with him for all of five seconds."

In Maksim's opinion, half the fun was that Alyx hadn't figured out that Lanea thought Rose was hot, yet.

Maksim scowled when Lanea acted surprised that Alyx would know who the Bicksleys were. "Seriously? Was I the only one who paid attention in training?"

Alyx waved him off. She hadn't seen how Allarian politics were pertinent at the time. She hadn't exactly been planning on teaming up with a freaking Allarian princess.

She did frown when Lanea had mentioned Rose by name. She had been purposefully vague in front of Lara. "The big Allarian" or "the hot Allarian", even, could be any of over several million people, at least, she assumed. Her frown deepen and then eased at his question about Leo. Clasping her hands in her lap, she shook her head. "No. My second, uh..."

This was Leo's story, not hers. She stared at her hands, picking at the dirt on her palms. He hadn't told her until they had fallen out of the sky--literally. It wasn't that she thought he should have confided in her. But he had, and she had probably shattered that growing trust. She had known there had been something there so she hadn't pushed. But now? She had been so wrapped up in her own pain she hadn't thought about him. She hated herself for it.

But then Georgiana went and explained. Alyx stared at her in open horror. "Georgiana!" she snapped, her tone a mix of shock and anger.

And the princess also divulged Cyn's secret husband. "Georgiana!" she repeated, her tone shifting to a scolding warning and her eyes narrowing.

Maksim made a "oh shit" face because that was the scolding tone he got when he'd done something really stupid.

"That," Alyx started, her tone taking a step towards a growl, "is not your story to tell. Even if you trust Ms. Crane--no offense," she added quickly with a glance at Lara. "Leo might not appreciate you telling people his past without his permission." That he had only just told Alyx was something that went unsaid. Her eyes narrowed. "Or does being a princess mean you can just throw around your subject's secrets?"

"Alyx," Maksim said, his tone a gentle warning.

"And Cyn is in a platonic political marriage of convenience," she added, shooting a scowl at Lara. She didn't know the full story behind it, but she supported Cyn and didn't want anyone thinking ill of him.

"We support platonic political marriages of convenience here," Maksim said cheerily, trying to lighten Alyx's anger into annoyance. This just turned her ire on him however, and he quickly held his hands up in surrender. Well, he had tried.

A change of topic was clearly necessary, so Maksim latched on the continued discussion about the assassins like a lifeline. He frowned, having no idea what else the trio of troublemakers could have been up to. He trusted Alyx's instincts when it came to this sort of thing, but also she was tired and stressed. "Or maybe something spooked them and they had to rush the assassination." He raised his eyebrows at Alyx, who was still glaring at Georgiana like she was rethinking joining forces. "Well? Oh great schemer of schemes?"

Alyx clicked her tongue derisively. "Which was why they were in the hold fixing to skewer you after Jorgenson was dead. No, they were up to something else. Did you not see that other ship that came along side the Griffin?"

Maksim sighed. At least her snooty tone was better than her fixing-to-beat-up-a-princess tone.

"If that was their only goal they would have just taken a lifeboat like we did," Alyx finished, leaning back in her seat.

Maksim shrugged, and then something hit him. "Wait. The Hot Allarian and the Assassin Lady are related to the Little One? Huh. I feel better about that."

"Don't," Alyx said with a snicker. "Hyacinth is the sweetest, most precious human ever and you are just an idiot."
 
Lanea was a bit surprised that everybody here seemed to know all about the Barlowe family; he had figured using a first name was ambiguous enough, but clearly the Allarian nobility were more close-knit than he thought.

"It isn't like that," he agreed when Georgiana corrected Lara. He did agree with her, though, to an extent.

Sleeping with an indentured servant was disgusting, even if the person in question had agreed to it. Thinking about that topic made him scowl, though, and he was also glaring at the plate of vegetables like it had personally offended him.

He startled when Alyx was so upset, and actually scolded the princess for her indiscretion. He was a bit surprised she was being so protective of people that she hadn't known for very long. Except Georgiana had said that her second was the Vesper son... Maybe she was more tied up in everything than he had realized.

Leonardo... Leo Vesper. Lanea frowned as he put two and two together.

The student that Rose had been so protective over, who had been sent to war for his indiscretions that caused the family to lose face. The one who had died in a mission he wasn't prepared for.

He knew who she was talking about now.

It wasn't the first time they met, but the incident following it had led to their entire arrangement and relationship. If Rose hadn't been despairing over the loss of somebody he cared about at that time, then things would probably have gone differently. Rose would still have his arm.

Lanea would probably be dead.

He swallowed down the saliva gathering in his mouth. He couldn't lie and say that he didn't think about that time, because he thought about it a lot, but realizing that the kid Rose had been crying over wasn't even dead made the entire situation hit him differently. He had assumed that Vesper's son would be killed outright as a display of power, so he had never actually considered that he might still be alive. The knowledge made the guilt that was always there in his stomach twist unpleasantly. He was glad that he hadn't had blood since before they left, because otherwise the nausea might have gotten to him.

Except the conversation had moved on. He snapped back to himself and tried to focus on what they were talking about now.

"Little brother," he supplied when Maksim mentioned the 'little one' again. "I didn't know he was in the military. Thought he just liked to build things."

He could hardly understand Maksim's distrust. From what he'd heard, Cyn was just a nice kid.

"Wait, what happened? Uh, if you don't mind explaining. I didn't even know Rose was there when Jorgensen ordered us down. We weren't supposed to meet up until next month." He hated feeling like he only had one small piece of the puzzle, and right now the big picture was entirely lost on him. At least the tone was a little bit lighter, even if Georgiana seemed determined to murder her food.
 
"You can call me Gigi, I think we've passed that point," Gigi told Alyx, taking a sip from the wine Lara had poured. Lara's own glass was... Substantial.

"It's hardly his story, either, not anymore," Lara snorted. "Any gossip about the nobility gets passed about Allaria like a spanner wrench at a broke mechanics. The families will take any chance to get at each other's throats. Her Highness here may use people's secrets against them," Lara agreed. "But she's hardly the worst at it. Or even the best at it."

"Thanks," Gigi said dryly. Nothing like a compliment on your morals, and a dig at your effectiveness. But it was clearly a sensitive subject for Alyx, so she demured. "I apologize, I was only trying to provide Lara with some context, so that she could understand our present situation, and future hopes. Not to dig up anything in the past," she said, promising to let it lie.

"Uh," said Henrick as he emerged from the staircase holding three jars. They looked small in his hands, but looked more average when he passed them to Lara. "This is what I found?"

"Oh this one's open, who put this back," Lara said with annoyance, having put the others on the counter. She opened the jar a crack, sniffed suspiciously, and pulled a face that made her impression of the contents obvious. She inspected the flat tops of the other jars and nodded her approval.

"You want this heated up?," she asked the vampires. She had a double boiler in one of these cupboards.

"Pretty much everyone's in the military, these days," Gigi told Maskim. "Anyone who gets funding from the government for their research has been recruited into various projects. Though... I am a bit surprised that Cyn was even in a position to be assigned to my mission in the first place- I would think marrying into the Bicksleys would come with some perks," she mused.

"Hyacinth married into the Bicksley's? That's disgusting," Henrick said, aghast.

"It's not illegal," Gigi sighed, though she knew her brother had tried. "Wait," she said with a frown. "How do you know-"

"You were all just talking about it," he pointed out quickly. "It's a basement, not a sound-proof bunker."

"Well- Cyn seems fine with it, so," Gigi allowed. "And I really don't know the status of his indenture- Maybe they absolved his debt, or changed the terms," she suggested. "I've no idea- I was trying to buy out Camellia's," she admitted. "But I hadn't made any inquiries about his."
 
Alyx bristled. It was Leo's story. Some people clearly didn't want people knowing who they had been. She cast a glance at door Maksim's fledgling had disappeared through and frowned. But she supposed this woman could hardly understand what it was like to be forcibly recruited for the other side. And anyway, Georgiana was making concessions. Alyx folded her arms across her chest and scowled but, judging by her lack of a sharp retort, was placated.

"Sounds like the clans," Maksim said with a snort.

"The clans are more... secluded," Alyx countered. "We don't know everyone's dirty laundry."

"We do," Maksim asserted.

Giving him a look, Alyx retorted, "That's because your clan is everyone's dirty laundry."

"Rude," Maksim said with mock offense.

He shared a look with the other three vampires at Lara's question. Cold blood was nasty, but they didn't want to be too much trouble. But also Lara seemed to be determined to make sure Lanea wouldn't get an infection and die a horrible death, so maybe they could be a little bit of trouble.

"If you don't mind heating it, that would be best," Maksim said in his meekest voice.

Alyx nodded. Engineers being in the military made sense. "Sort of like how the wardmagi have all been recruited for the Eldergaardian military."

"Ah, ok," Maksim said, nodding. So Cyn was the science equivalent of a wardmage. That made sense. "Well, it's a good thing those perks didn't count for much," he said dryly, "or you never would have escaped in the first place."

"I could have taken you."

Maksim rolled his eyes. "Oh sure. I saw those bars. You would have spent all your energy just escaping the cell. I would have been able to push you over with my little finger. Hyacinth may be a sweet little flower but he got you out of there."

Maksim arched an eyebrow at Hendrick as he slipped up and nearly came to his rescue, but Alyx beat him to it.

"Wait, Cyn is indentured?" Alyx stared at Georgiana as if she were somehow personally responsible. And Camellia? Then that meant that-- "Oh fangs. Rose is indentured, too."

So many things he had said made sense now. She ran a hand over her face. Had Leo also been indentured? No... his father was an important general, right? Still, she had been a little angry when she realized he was so young. Sending an eighteen year-old to the front lines was stupidity.

Maksim sighed and dropped into a chair. "Good to know Allaria doesn't actually have the moral high ground," he said dryly. "I'll tell you what happened," he added, glancing at Lanea. "It begins with Georgiana being an idiot, continues with Alyx being an idiot, and then--"

"No," Alyx interrupted. "We were on patrol and we come across this little scout ship. We were just going to blow it out of the sky, but then they run up some royal flags and signal surrender. So Astrid decides she's going to take the ship prisoner--which I was very against."

Here, she shot a look at Georgiana as if to drive the point home that it was Astrid the princess had to thank for her continued existence.

"We got a tip that a princess had crossed the border and was in our airspace," Maksim added. "So we went looking for it and came across the Dragon grappled on to some little Allarian ship. It was obvious what had happened, and Jorgenson was delighted to take the prize from uh--Astrid." It felt so weird to call Captain Leon by her first name, but it was a common name and figured he shouldn't mention her family name. "It would have been fine if someone hadn't come up with a crazy plan."

"It wasn't mine," Alyx said. "We told Georginana that we were the lesser of the two evils--"

"Fair."

"--and then pretended like they were ordinary scientists that had gotten lost."

"Which was stupid, but then Alyx made it stupider. When I called them on it, she asked me to cover for Astrid, so I did, but then Alyx made it look like she had known who the 'researcher' was the whole time." Maksim shook his head. "And Jorgenson was fine agreeing that Astrid was too stupid to know because either way she looked bad. So Alyx got taken prisoner with the princess."

"Which was my intention," Alyx explained.

"It was," Maksim confirmed, rolling his eyes.

"But Jorgenson also took Cyn. Just to slow us down in the event of escape, I think," Alyx continued. "Fortunately someone was more interested in feeling me up than searching Cyn."

Maksim shrugged. "Cyn's cute, but he's not my type."

"So Cyn retained his uh... fire-thing. We used that to break out--"

"How? Those bars are silver coated, but that's steel underneath."

Alyx glanced at Maksim. "I increased the energy output."

Maksim muttered darkly under his breath while Alyx continued, "The princess must have set off a bomb in Jorgenson's office--"

"I let her," Maksim said. "He had it coming."

Alyx raised an eyebrow. "Well that was stupid, wasn't it?"

"I didn't expect her to get very far!" Maksim protested. "I thought we had at least another half hour before you made it out. I underestimated Cyn, all right, are you happy? I didn't know he was the youngest in a family of assassins!"

"He's not an assassin," Alyx pointed out, thoroughly enjoying that Cyn can completely caught Maksim off guard. "Anyway, then Maksim and and company caught up to us and Cyn--"

"Georgiana continued to blow things up. She blew a hole in the side of the ship," Maksim cut in.

"Everybody already knows what happened to your face. I told Lanea already," Alyx said, rolling her eyes.

"You told Lanea! Whatever happened to it not being your story?!"

Ignoring him, Alyx turned to Lara and explained, "Hyacinth Barlowe melted his own ring on Maksim's face. It was silver. It caught all of us off guard."

"That family is mad. How long do silver burns take to heal, anyway? I like looking rugged and all, but it still hurts."

Alyx reached over and patted Maksim's cheek. "A few weeks. It should stop hurting soon." Returning to her story, she said, "Anyway, yes, the princess did blow a hole in the ship. She also pulled Cyn and I out of it and we fell for about a hundred feet before she activated some sort of flying thing. Luckily, Astrid had got my message and had come to our rescue in an Allarian stealth ship."

Pausing, she shrugged at Lanea. "To be honest, I'm not sure of the full story. Apparently Rose was trailing the princess in a stealth ship. Leo says he would have shot them down if they hadn't involved him, so I suppose they contacted him and joined forces. Rose, Astrid, Leo, and Lt. Crane came to our rescue and pulled us inside. Everything was fine until Georgiana decided to try to take us prisoner. I thought she wouldn't want to fight in such a cramped space but that didn't work out so well."

Alyx paused, frowning at her hands. "I was going to go for her but Rose anticipated me and grabbed Leo."

"Damn, how'd he peg you so fast?" Maksim asked, his tone impressed.

Alyx made a face. "I may have been tired and stressed and got over-protective."

"He saw right through the ice-queen act, mm?"

Alyx sighed. "Yes, but I think someone told him what to look for."

Maksim blinked. "Who?"

Alyx arched an eyebrow and watched in amusement as he got it. "Anyway, I wasn't willing to gamble I was faster than him in my tired state. But that hardly mattered when the Griffin started firing on us."

Maksim held his hands up in innocence. "Don't look at me, I had blacked out by that point."

"We went down and that's when we... lost Lt. Crane." Alyx let out a long sigh. "Then Georgiana revealed she had made a not-alliance with some of the clans and Astrid wanted to go see what she could learn. That's how we ended up with Salazar. They were extremely insulting, but Lucia asked after you." She glanced at Maksim who looked pleased before returning her attention to Lanea. "I was going to go yell at the clans, but then Georgiana told me Allaria tried to surrender and I figured I couldn't make the situation any worse. And you know the rest. Also, I'm going to kill Henryk and Maksim can't stop me."

"Touch my fledgling and I'll--"

"Not that Henrick," Alyx cut Maksim off, shooting an apologetic look at Fredrick. "Henryk Salazar beat up my fledgling and I'm going to kill him for it."

"His volatile behavior will serve us when he's Head Elder, Alyx, how many times do I have to go over this." The thing that concerned Maksim the most was that Alyx's tone sounded light but her eyes were deadly serious. She might not kill him, but there were fates worse than death. "And Rose tried to kill Leo and I don't hear you breathing threats--in fact, you seem to like him."

"Rose and I came to an understanding."

Maksim rubbed his eyes. "Well you and Henryk Salazar need to come to an understanding or I'm going to be dealing with an interclan crisis for the rest of my life." Supposing he got out of this war alive. He glanced over at Lara. "And now we've all teamed up with Princess Gigi and we're going to topple the Supreme General, doesn't that sound fun?"

Speaking of. He glanced over at Georgiana. "We need to talk about your political strategy. Sounds like you've got some of the big separatists, but you have got to get some of the heavier hitters on your side. Frankly, if you don't have Fiona or Draya, you're in trouble." He glanced at Alyx. "If Bast was there, that means he thinks he can get Jahna Draya on his side, but you might still want to make overtures to her. Saying you're working with Alyx is honestly your best shot whether she likes it or not. Fiona is going to be harder to get--they have eleven of our generation in the military including their heir." He paused and glanced at Lanea. "And I'd get Grigori on your side, too. Them coming out of the woodwork to join the cause will shock some others to do so as well. I don't need to stress that keeping this quiet is of the utmost importance, I'm sure. If anyone finds out, all the commanders in those clans are as good as dead, and the clans can't afford to lose our entire generation."

"Love her or hate her, the Supreme General's plan is good," Alyx agreed.
 
Lanea was quite glad when Maksim agreed that the blood should be heated up.

"I can do it," he suggested. "I'm good at boiling things."

The very first thing his mother had taught him about magic was temperature control. 'If you boil herbs too long or too hot, they lose their effectiveness. If you don't go long or hot enough, they're not as effective as they could be.' Blood was an easier subject than some of the more finicky medicines he had to brew back at home, and he figured he should offer. Lara was going out of her way to host them, after all.

He did pinch his brow when the topic of Cyn's indenture came up.

"Apparently his debt was cleared when he married into the family," he explained, though he still sounded like he didn't quite approve. "Rose explained it, but it was a lot of politics I didn't really get, honestly. I think 'not getting into an actual marriage' was a big motivator, though."

He felt a bit weird being the one to explain things, as he was the only one present who apparently had not actually met Cyn, aside from maybe Lara.

He grit his teeth at Alyx's surprise, but he decided he'd let the Allarians explain that one. Rose had talked to him about it before, but he always had a weird way of viewing things. He insisted that Finn Bicksley was a good person, for one.

He hadn't quite been expecting the big story that Alyx gave him, but he listened with rapt attention. A lot had happened in a short period of time.

"Wait, Cyn, Rose's little brother, melted a silver ring onto your face?" he asked in horror. "Like, the guy who hates violence? How did you piss him off that bad?"

Well. Actually, he could kind of imagine. Maksim was very good at making people angry, for better or for worse.

The Henryk thing was going to give him a headache, though.

"Ok, we have got to sort that. From now on your fledgling is Henry, so I don't go crazy," he said dryly, then realized that said fledgling was actually in the room with them. "Uh, if you're ok with that, that is."

Alyx wanting to kill him was not a surprise.

"Henryk Salazer's a spoiled, stuck up prick," he said with a snort. "If you do kill him, let me get a good shot in there."

He had heard far too many rude comments about his family history from some of the more uptight clans.

He was... a little surprised that Rose had threatened to kill Leo. A little, but not entirely. He knew him too well to think that he would allow sentimentality to affect him in the moment on a mission, but if he had gone through with it, he would have been a hell of a mess to clean up afterwards. Lanea was only glad it didn't come to that.

Leonardo Vesper was alive. Huh. He was still wrapping his head around that one, but he found himself glad for it. He'd only ever met him as Alyx's fledgling, and they weren't on good terms, but it would definitely alleviate some of Rose's guilt that the kid he used to look after wasn't killed after all.

He did glance at Lara when they started discussing clan politics. He wasn't entirely sure if they should be having this conversation in her presence. But she had been good enough to them so far, and if nothing else, they could probably pay her to keep quiet.

"I'll need to talk to my mother, but clan Grigori will likely be on your side. It would make a statement, if nothing else," he mused.
 
Lara poured the blood into a pot, and filled a larger one with water. The smaller one rested in the larger one, and Lara set it down in front of Lanea.

"Be my guest," she told him.

Gigi made occasional noises of assent - or doubt- as Maskim and Alyx relayed the events of the last few days.

"This all true, then?," Lara asked her.

"More or less," Gigi allowed. "Though-"

"The Dragon, Gigi? As in, the ship captained by the Supreme General's daughter," Lara said. She glared at Alyx, presumably for being Leon's Commander.

"Uh-"

She reached forward and pulled on Gigi's ear sharply as if she were a misbehaving toddler. "You are very stupid, for such a smart person," she chided.

"Ow," Gigi complained.

"Uh- Henry is fine," Henry agreed. It wasn't like he had strong attachment to the name.

"No one is going to shoot at you here, Henry," Lara told him meaningfully.

"Um. No thank you," he said. "I have... Some scarring," he tried to explain, and Lara shrugged.

"I sell goods, not secrets," Lara reassured Maskim when he mentioned the importance of confidentiality. "Or half baked plans."

"Thank you for your confidence," Gigi said dryly. "Well," she asked Maskim and Lanea. "What sort of things could persuade them?"
 
Alyx frowned. So his indentureship was bought out when he married Finn? That sounded like a load of crap. She silently added the Bicksleys to the list of people she would have words with once this was all over. And screw them, making Rose chose between the people he cared about and his mission. She had a feeling that they weren't completely to blame for Rose's apparent line of thinking, but she still felt like blaming Bicksleys young and old.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

Maksim rested a hand on his chest in mock injury. "I wasn't doing anything--"

"He was being a prick, obviously. Don't let his sweet-as-sugar act fool you. At his heart, he's a prick."

"You wound me, woman."

Alyx slid her eyes open and slid them to Lanea. "To be fair, I think Cyn was just trying to protect Georgiana."

"And you," Maksim added. "He liked you."

Alyx's lips twitched at that, and it was the closest thing to a smile he'd seen on her all day. The cheery expression disappeared when Lara turned a glare on her. Alyx reached over and lightly swatted Maksim.

"Ow!" Maksim said, even though it hadn't even hurt. He hadn't realized this woman would immediately know who captained the Dragon. "It's not my fault you're her commander. If you hadn't been such a pain in the ass, they wouldn't have assigned you to her."

"Personally, I agree with you, Ms. Crane," Alyx muttered. "For someone so clever, the princess tends to be an idiot."

"Pot and kettle," Maksim said around a fake cough.

Alyx shot him a glare.

"You can't just change people's names, Lanea," Maksim sighed dramatically. Really, he had been enjoying the Henryk/Henrick confusion. "And leave Henry alone. He is being considerate. He doesn't want to blind us with his beauty. He takes after me, you see."

"Lanea!" Maksim huffed when Lanea joined Alyx in her desire to see Henryk dead. "She needs no encouragement! We could have so many clans at our beck and call if you would only blackmail him instead of murdering him!"

"I'll let you land a good hit," Alyx promised Lanea while Maksim groaned loudly.

Maksim considered Gigi's question. "Well, the truth about Supreme General Leon not accepting the surrender for starters. That will shake up the ones who are in the mindset of just surviving the war."

Alyx grunted an agreement. "Before we approach Fiona, we may need to get at least their heir out."

"Ilona is with Benu Squadron under Captain Axel on the Southwestern front. Axel's a wind mage, you don't go after a wind mage in the sky."

"Not a problem if you have another wind mage," Alyx countered.

Maksim grunted because he wasn't about to say it. "Anyway Ilona isn't going without her cousins." He turned back to Georgiana. "You need to convince them that you care about their people--not just that you care about yours. Many of them are facing having war-scarred kids return--if they return at all. Our generation is going to be worn thin. All our elders are worried that if you win, you'll just turn around and do exactly when Eldergaard did. You have to prove to them that you're not going to do that. Prove by your actions. We don't trust words." He paused. "And, to be completely upfront with you, the three of us are from strong clans, but each of our clans have a certain..."

"Stigma," Alyx provided. "Grigori is a bunch of heartless torturers, Grivvin is a bunch of blood-drunk hedonists, Draya--"

"Is a bunch of scheming mavericks," Maksim cut in, not allowing Alyx to be kinder to her own clan.

Alyx shrugged. It was true. "I'm sure you've figured out those stereotypes aren't true, but I think the point Max is trying to make is that he doesn't want you to think our support will instantly win you favors. Each of our clans have their place during war, but we're not necessarily well-liked during peace. Other clans will only join us if they see a need for us to fight."

When she arched an eyebrow at Maksim, he sighed. "Yes, which leads us back to needing Fiona, I know. Fiona is sort of like... the peacekeeping clan," He explained. "Unofficial leaders, almost. But they have only two kids in Cyril's generation. They can't risk Ilona and the rest. Ugh, fine, you're right. Are you happy? You're right. Then how do we get Ilona and her cousins out, oh great schemer of schemes?"

"Working on it," Alyx said.

Maksim turned and wiggled his eyebrows at Georgiana. "See? My clan works in the political realm, hers is in the tactical, and Lanea provides us with information. Speaking of." He nodded at Lanea. "What you got for us, oh great collector of information? What other commanders do you think would be best to recruit?"
 
The corner of Lanea's mouth twitched as he listened to Alyx and Maksim bicker. It was kind of nice. It felt familiar and easy, and some of the tension drained from his shoulders.

He glanced to the water and it boiled almost instantly, a slow bubble that wasn't quite rolling, but enough to warm their blood quickly.

"Eh, he's not that bad," he said when Alyx said Maksim was a prick. "There are worse vampires to be planning a revolution with."

He did give Maksim the stink eye when he mentioned names. It wasn't his real name, so it was fine. But he couldn't exactly say that out loud, so he just huffed instead.

He was not going to comment on the beauty thing. Sure, Frederick was pretty attractive, even with the scarring. In a way it made him look rugged and dangerous, and his body was nice enough to make up for--

Not going there. His mother always told him he was weak to anyone with a decent face and nice muscles, but this was not the time. Especially not when said decent face and nice muscles could more or less read his mind.

He thought very firmly about the plan instead.

"We could always beat him up and then blackmail him. Win win situation," he suggested with a hint of a wry smirk, then sighed as his family's reputation was brought up.

Even years after the Eldergaard/clan war, there were nasty stories and rumours about clan Grigori floating around. To say that there was a stigma might have been an understatement.

But Maksim was right about it shocking the other clans into action. Clan Grigori, for all their use during wartimes, were fairly individualist. They didn't get involved with clan politics often, and the last time they had really joined in with everyone else had been the last war. Their knowledge had been invaluable then, but after the war's end they'd secluded themselves again and had been content to go along with whatever the other clans decided. Them taking action first might be enough to convince some of the smaller clans that the alliance was a big deal.

"Fiona is a must," he agreed, thought getting their heir and her cousins out was going to be easier said than done. It would take a lot of planning and a lot of money to pull off anything he could think of.

Rose was better at this sort of thing. He could probably figure out the bare bones of a plan all by himself if he needed to.

There was no point in being wistful or mopey, though. Information was something he was good at.

"We should focus on Ilona to start. Right now, trying to recruit others would be too risky. We'd be asking them to risk their lives for what would seem to be a lost cause. But if we can liberate Ilona and her cousins, it would be a pretty powerful statement. It might give the smaller clans some incentive to stand up for themselves," he mused. Nothing spoke better than results, after all.

He considered for a moment, then made a face like he had eaten a sour lemon.

"There is one other option... Though it would take a hell of a lot of skill to make it work," he said, sounding both wary and tired at the same time. "If we could convince Fenrir to move, then it would make enough of an impact to sway everyone."

Clan Fenrir were even more secluded than clan Grigori, nestled in the most northern part of the continent. They didn't involve themselves with anyone and didn't allow anyone into their territory, and almost never got involved in conflict. They were as stubborn as they came, and refused to get involved in politics. Their land was so northern and harsh that it didn't hold much appeal to humans anyways, and they defended their borders aggressively.

Lanea could count on one hand the number of times they had made political moves in the entire recorded history of the clans' existence; every scenario had been a major historic event, because nothing less would sway them.

It would certainly make an impact and convince the others of their cause, but even getting a meeting with their elders without being skewered by icicles would be a tall order.

"But more than that, I think we need to figure some things out," he added, turning to Georgiana. "You're a researcher, so I don't think you would be here yourself if this was just about politics. What's your goal here? What are you trying to find out? Unless we're all on the same page, there's no way we'll be able to work together effectively."
 
"You are hoping to liberate the commanders from their service," Lara said slowly, looking at Gigi. "But your only ship is a lifeboat."

"Yes," Gigi admitted sheepishly, as Lara brought out two mugs from the cupboard and a set of chipped cups and placed them on the table.

"What I have is cargo ships," Lara told her irritably. "And they may have some... Modifications, so as to get past patrols more easily. But those won't pass muster if you pull up close enough to a warship to board," she warned.

"I wasn't planning on requisitioning your ships!," Gigi protested. Well- If Lara was willing to part with one for awhile, she would certainly pay for the lost profits. "But... I did suspect you might be able to put us in contact with people who might be able to sell us... Suitable transportation and supplies."

"Uh-huh," Lara said doubtfully, and passed a ladle to Lanea.

"I know Allaria has reached out to quite a few of the clans - Not all so overtly as with Salazar, obviously," she clarified. "But I don't think Fenrir is among them."

At Lanea's question, she sighed and ran her hand over her face in frustration.

"I want..." She hesitated. What she wanted was... Hard to articulate. She wanted to sleep peacefully at night without guilt on her conscience. She wanted the things she gave up to not have been in vain.

"Eldergaard is our closest neighbor, but also the one with whose government our own government has the least contact with- But that isn't true for our citizens. Allaria is full of people who have Eldergaardian heritage, or have lived in Eldergaard, or have family who do- But south of the mountain, we don't acknowledge that magic exists. Much less believe in it."

Lara snorted- She could certainly attest to that. Her mother was from Eldergaard and her father from Allaria, and she'd lived in both countries. It was... Interesting, to say the least.

"I want Allaria to be stable. It isn't perfect, by a long shot," she admitted. "But- Things have been improving. Food insecurity has dramatically declined since my father rebuilt the irrigation systems in the north. We've been able to contain disease outbreaks much better than in the past. Trade relations with other countries have been stable. I'm optimistic that we can keep improving... But even before Leon mounted an invasion, Eldergaard's instability threatened that."

Gigi had had tutors in the topics of history, and foreign relations- A government in which the power was concentrated in a single authority rarely worked out well in the long term. And it never worked out well for that government's neighbors.

"I may prefer to be cooped up in a lab somewhere, studying my samples," she conceded to Lanea's point. "But- My life of privilege has come with implied responsibilities. My family- past and even some present- have been comfortable ignoring those responsibilities. Coming here myself instead of sending someone else was... Stupid, in a lot of ways," she acknowledged. "But... We didn't exactly have a lot of available people to send. And I knew that my status protected me. I'm not invincible, but I'm worth more alive than dead. So."

She wasn't going to put someone in great danger, when she could put herself in less.
 
"Lanea likes me," Maksim said with a smirk at Alyx.

"Because he hasn't known you as long as I have," Alyx muttered. She leaned forward as Lanea started warming the blood, suddenly very hungry.

She frowned at the topic of ships. That was something she had been having trouble with. Too bad the Dragon was out of the question. It was the perfect ship in Alyx's oppinion. "We need something small and stealthy, but with enough room for passengers. Preferably with an Eldergaardian design just in case we were spotted. It would probably also be good if Cyn could fix it up with some Allarian technology." Toying with the fringe of her scarf, she mused, "It needs firepower and we don't have any fire magi... Unless we count Cyn, I guess."

A small smile slid across Alyx's face when Lanea agreed with her. "Lanea likes my plans better than yours."

Maksim rolled his eyes but didn't have time to retort as Lanea moved on. His eyebrows shot up. "Fenrir? That's a little... well. Has your clan had any contact? Mine hasn't since the war. I'm pretty sure they don't like us."

"We worked with them," Alyx murmured, "but my aunt hasn't mentioned much about it. But yes, the shock factor would certainly be in our favor. I think we might want to get more on our side before we go that route. I'm not sure that they... would be to amiable unless they also thought we could win."

Maksim nodded, agreeing. He listened to Georgiana thoughtfully. Brow forrowed in thought, he tapped his fingers on the table. So, she had a strong sense of responsibility. He glanced at Alyx. Great. Another one. "Alright, that's a start. You want stability and peace for your country. Good. But how does allying with the clans achieve that? And don't just say it ends the war. What happens after the war?"

Alyx let out a long sigh. She hated politics.

Maksim shot her a look. "Then plan how you're going to rescue Ilona if you're bored."

"I'm just glad this is you doing this and not me," Alyx said.

"Yes, because you'd give terrible advice along the lines of 'just threaten them'. You are blessed with my presence."

"So blessed," Alyx agreed dryly. "Friggson's under Admiral Soren, right?"

Maksim nodded.

"Good."

"How is that good?" Maksim asked. "Soren is terrible--almost as bad as Jorgenson."

"For one, Friggson is older than Soren, which annoys him. For another, she puts a lot of importance of doing things without help. Friggson won't dare signal for help even if anyone else in Othila Fleet is nearby. But getting on board would be the easiest part. He has a whole compliment of wind magi."

Maksim rolled his eyes. "Shush. Gigi and I are trying to talk politics." He turned back to Georgiana. "Part of what I'm asking is: is Allaria planning on taking some of Eldergaardian land? Or just all of it? If the government is the problem, are you going to contol their government? Tell them they can't have a supreme general? Then what happens when their whole government collapses? How do the vampires fit into all this? And--as I'm sure Alyx would like to know--what about all the turned vampires who used to be your citizens?"

"You told me a turned vampire who wanted to go back to Allaria would be shunned at the very least," Alyx put in. "We're prepared to take them back to our homes, but there are doubtless many who will want to go back to Allaria. We don't want our fledglings to be treated like second-class citizens."
 
Lanea took the ladel and filled three cups, taking one himself and relaxing a bit as he took a sip. It was a little weird to be drinking blood in front of humans. Most of them found it a bit off-putting, so he usually avoided it when he had the choice. Beggars couldn't be choosers, though.

"Honestly, before we worry about getting a ship we need to get our entire company together," he said with a sigh. He was not entirely looking forward to that. "Planning is all well and good, but concrete stuff should be saved for when we're all together to compare ideas."

In other words, he had no idea what Rose had available to him, and wouldn't put it entirely out of the question that he had some kind of macguffin that would fix everything. Maybe that was just his wishful thinking, though.

"I'm not surprised you haven't had contact," he said to Georgiana, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mom sends some supplies up sometimes since our territory almost borders theirs, but we haven't really had any major contact with their head elder for... Maybe forty, fifty years? It was before my time, anyways."

There was an occasional dignitary that came by every few years or so, but they rarely stayed long. Lanea had the feeling he was distinctly disliked, but he could just be self-conscious.

The topic of fledglings made him cringe a bit. He could imagine that most of the nobles would not be pleased to have those citizens back, and it would likely cause a whole new turn of class inequality. Maybe in another thirty years or so things would settle into a status quo, but that was way off in the future.

"If you try to take the whole country, I feel like it would go wrong. The clans wouldn't agree to living under your rule any more than the supreme general's, and I know at least some of your nobility would want to put pressure on us," he said with a frown. He could just imagine Arnold Bicksley or his ilk trying to squirm his way into clan politics. It was a nightmare he wanted no part of.
 
Gigi snorted at the idea that Allaria had interest in Eldergaard's lands. "Oh lords no," she clarified. "Don't get me wrong- There was certainly discussion of it, when the war was in Allaria's favor," she admitted. "But the land that is most easily annexed is what's immediately on the north side of the mountains- The leeward side."

The fact that the clouds dropped all their moisture on the southern side was exactly why Allaria had enough rich, fertile farmland on their side of the mountain to feed their country and sell the surplus and Eldergaard.... Did not.

"That land isn't arable for crops. There's minimal population centers to support trade or business development. There was some interest in mining," she conceded. "But none of the lords are willing to put the work in to build the infrastructure to make that profitable."

"We do want our land back, south of the mountain- The proposal has been detailed in the surrender terms we've offered to the Supreme General," she said, "Basically- We can farm that land much better than Eldergaard. But we are prepared to offer up to 18% of national crop yield to Eldergaard on a monthly basis for five years after signing a peace, half as tribute and half at bulk cost. After the five years, the percentage lessens as does the portion that is tribute, and focus shifts to supplying Eldergaard with seed and resources to build your own stable agrarian economy, and establishing exchange between the countries as commerce," she explained.

"Eighteen percent? That's... A lot," Lara said, trying to consider. She wasn't entirely how much Allaria sold in surplus to other countries, but it couldn't be more than ten percent and even that was a very generous estimate. Sending that much food to Eldergaard would mean significantly less on the table for Allarians.

"Well, that's the high limit- So I probably shouldn't have announced it just now," Gigi admitted. The Assembly had carefully run the numbers and scenarios, and that was what they had presented to the Crown as the absolute furthest they would go. "My father originally offered 7%, I believe, when he was just trying to get Leon to the negotiation table. I think the latest offer was twelve."

She sighed. "As for the Eldergaardian government..... Well. That's really up to Leon, isn't it? If she'd negotiated a peace with us, it might be in Allaria's best interest for her to continue hold her position, even if she and her consolidated power made us nervous. But if we are working with the clans to subvert her war efforts, we might as well dream big. The problem is that getting rid of Leon doesn't get rid of the role of Supreme General, and it's a role with power that needs checking- Ideally, by vampiric factions. What if there was a vampire general on the council?"

Lara scoffed. "That'll never happen."

"Wasn't asking if you thought it was possible," Gigi countered, unbothered. "I'm asking if it would make a difference for the vampires."

"In terms of Allaria and the clans directly," she told Maskim. "I have been given a fair amount of freedom in the scope of my bargaining. Crops are certainly on the table in a similar manner as what I described for our surrender to the Supreme General, though a much reduced amount. Obviously, the food needs of the clans are... Distinct from other Eldergaardians, but uh-"

"But your blood humans need food," Lara said, because Gigi was obviously struggling to come up with a polite way to say 'the people you eat from need to eat, too'.

"I'm hesitant about this though, as the clans don't have a centralized agent for distribution," she said. The average Eldergaardian was represented by their government, but the vampires didn't have a parallel. "We could use that to our advantage, though- Offer it to individual clans, instead of the clans at large. If it is only applicable to the first five clans to join the alliance, it could incentivize them to not drag their feet," she suggested.

"The fledglings.... One vampire in Allaria would find difficulty, yes," she admitted. "But a host of them, welcomed back by the Assembly and the crown as war veterans? People in Allaria may have hard a time understanding magic. But I think they will reconcile their confusion with their relief at having their children and siblings and lovers and friends back in their arms again," she said.

Henry, who had been sitting on a stool in the corner and turning his head whenever he lifted his helm slightly to drink, suddenly found his cup to be very interesting.

"I would like the clans to agree that they will not turn out any fledgling who might wish to join them," Gigi said cautiously. She thought they would, but she wasn't sure. "But I also want the fledglings to have options, and to continue to have them. Their Allarian citizenship will be restored in full, and notices of death revoked. Any titles or inheritance they had or were eligible for will still be valid under Allarian law," she explained. "They will be granted full pardons for any actions they took between their turning and the end of the war that may otherwise be considered treasonous or at least a military transgression."

"And how are you going to feed them," Lara asked.

"Still working on the particulars of that," Gigi shrugged. "But if we can fit veterans with metal limbs, I should hope we can figure out a way to supply them with blood."
 
"I'm not sure you're prepared to deal with the wild magic, either," Alyx agreed.

Maksim frowned, trying to figure out how much 18% was. It seemed like a lot, and fortunately, Lara clarified for him that it was. He nodded to himself, thinking of where Eldergaardians tended to farm. "More of the land might be arable if we got Salazar and Killian to work on clearing out the wild magic from the soil," Maksim added thoughtfully. "That could be something we could offer in the event of an alliance."

Alyx quirked an eyebrow at the thought of the supreme general being power-checked by a vampire. The Eldergaardians would hate that.

Maksim considered it seriously, though. "Hm, that would be one against four--or five, if we don't change the number of human generals."

"Two," Alyx suggested. "If we based it on population, two and four would be fair. The likelihood of them ever being elected to supreme general is nearly nonexistant, though."

"I have to agree with Ms. Crane a little bit, though," Maksim sighed. "The clans... we just don't really operate as a unit. That is why we lost the previous war so badly. We only survived annihilation because Fiona was so well respected and called us all together." He paused, thinking. "But, maybe it's time for a change. We really can't afford to keep fighting Eldergaard. I think I could convince Sebastian it's a good idea. He could work on the clans."

He hesitated, not sure how to explain his thoughts. "I'll be honest. I'm... a little wary of removing Leon."

Alyx arched an eyebrow.

"Her predecessor was worse, and I don't like any of our options in the five generals. We could try a governor, but they are..."

"Conniving," Alyx suggested.

"And anyone Allaria tried to appoint would be suspect and hated on principle. Plus, there haven't been many murmurings about who would succeed Leon. At this point, it's the enemy I know sort of thing. And I'm not sure of anyone who would be able to rally the country behind her with all the changes we're proposing besides Leon." He glanced at Alyx. "You understand her tactics. Thoughts?"

Alyx swallowed. She didn't want to weigh in on this. She was painfully aware of her biases. One of her current fears was that Astrid would be forced to watch her own mother executed after helping the enemy win. But Maksim had asked. "I can't say I'm the most unbiased source, but I do know how she thinks. She is ambitious and cunning. She'll stop at nothing to do what she thinks she needs done but..." Alyx hesitated. She had never met the woman, but Astrid had told her a lot of stories about her parents. Alyx almost felt like she was betraying Astrid a little by using that knowledge. "She's not... malicious. It's not personal for her. She does what needs to be done. We could... use that to our advantage, perhaps? Make agreeing to diplomacy more favorable than continuing the war." Alyx paused. This part she had deduced from interacting with Astrid and interpreting her stories through her friend's personal work ethic. "And she's worked long and hard to get where she is. She'll want to keep her power, so we could use that as well."

"And we have a host of younger officers who have interacted directly with vampires. They might not balk so much at working with vampires in government. It might almost be beneficial in waiting for the changing of the old guard, so to speak." Maksim shrugged.

"I feel compelled to point out none of the clans will want her around after we break the news to them about her plans to get us all killed."

Maksim snorted. "Compromise means that no one is completely happy."

He tilted his head, thinking about how much easier it would be to feed their blood humans than relying on trading with nearby humans. Several clans grew their own food in the form of crops and livestock, but those that didn't would like the option to have it sent to them. He nodded, "Yes, that would help those more hesitant for certain."

"We are fully prepared to take on the fledglings," Alyx said quickly, her tone almost insulted. "We discussed it in length after the Supreme General approached us. They are our family, now."

Maksim glanced at her. That was true for her fledglings, but those they hadn't turned properly would be more difficult to manage. But no, it was something the clans had decided. They would take them on.

"Feeding them should not be too challenging," Alyx said. "Offer compensation to any human who wishes to sell some of their blood. Many of the clans have similar arrangements with nearby human towns and villages." She paused, realizing that if a society had indentured servants, they would quickly find a way to turn that into an indentured job. "It should have tight controls on how often humans can give blood, though. And how much they can give at one time. And make sure they drink plenty of water before hand and eat red meat and liver. And watch them for signs of weakness right after--"

"Alyx, I'm pretty sure Allarian doctors understand the dangers of sudden blood loss," Maksim broke in before Alyx gave Georgiana a laundry list of things to watch out for.
 
Lanea hummed as he considered the conversation. A lot of it was a bit over his head, but there were some good ideas. Crops in particular.

"The fact that we don't have any central leadership is the issue," he said with a sigh. "You can't really think of the vampires as being Eldergaardian. It's like negotiating with a whole bunch of small, independent nations with their own leadership. Even little things like personal values and rules can vary a lot."

Maksim was right that it needed to change if they were going to get anywhere, but putting that change into process would take decades.

"I hate to be the devil's advocate here, but what about Leon Jr?" He asked, turning to Alyx with a questioning look. "If we could convince her to take over for her mother and put Leon Sr in a prestigious but less free role, it might be able to keep the people primarily on our side. She's pretty well known and has had a lot of successes in the military. People generally like her. In terms of a figurehead, she could be useful. But that's only if you think she'd be capable, or if you think she'd even be willing."

He sighed, scrubbing his hand across his face.

"I think... Getting the clans to work together will be tough. But... If we were able to cultivate the land properly, we might be able to form... A board of representatives, maybe."

He knew that getting any form of centralized government with the vampires was a pipe dream, but maybe they could start smaller.

"The younger generation has seen the war first hand. It's devastated us. Even if Leon suddenly changed her mind and decided to surrender tomorrow, if any other foreign power decided to come after us, we'd be wiped out. Entire clans could be destroyed. The only reason we've been able to last so long against Eldergaard is because of our history. We know their weapons and their magic. Even Allaria, we have knowledge of the enemy because of a shared border and cultural exchange through that border. If some other power decided to come in while the clans were weak to take our land, we'd be powerless."

It kind of hurt to say. Vampires were a proud people, but pride had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

"This is a crazy idea, but I think that the only way we'll come out of this is if we manage to put together some kind of combined front. If each clan is represented equally and willing to work together, we could deal directly with Allaria and Eldergaard both."

He frowned, considering things. There was one thing that he thought might be able to convince Eldergaard's people that an alliance would be useful. Airships were the only way to travel from city to city at the moment, and they were costly to build and maintain. Wind Magi were a finite resource, and even with the military controlling the vast majority of them at the moment, it still made travel expensive and out of reach for many. Most people in smaller villages stayed in their homes their entire lives.

"I... I don't really know what I'm talking about," he admitted, because Rose had told him some things, but he didn't really understand all of it. "But... The clans and the people themselves might be willing to accept a peace treaty if we could borrow some of Allaria's infrastructure. You have that rail system that transports crops and people all over the country, right? Most of the small villages here are pretty isolated, but if we could put pressure on Leon while also promising the people a stable mode of transportation for supplies, food and the like, they might be enticed."

Or, the humans would be. He had a feeling the clans would prefer for everyone to fuck off and leave them alone.

"But all this relies on putting pressure on the government. They won't listen unless we pose a significant threat, and the benefits to their people are too big to ignore. It's a tall order, and it would take years to put into place."
 
Gigi supposed Maskim's point about Leon made sense. She was a familiar player, and changing too many variables at once always made things tricky.

"Well, it's supposed to be a position based on merit, not inheritance, isn't it," Gigi asked when Lanea suggested Astrid might take over from her mother. "I'm an outsider," she conceded. "But I don't know if she's had enough years to gain enough merit, that it wouldn't just be seen as starting a new, de facto royal family. I don't suppose the actual royal family could be any help...?"

"I doubt it," Lara laughed derisively. "They are even less useful than you and yours- Whatever authority they might have had, they have traded away over the generations so that they can lounge idly behind gilded walls on velvet cushions. They are rich, yes, but people bow to them only out of habit and ceremony, not respect," she sneered, and Gigi winced at the assessment. She knew her father's interest in agricultural engineering and her siblings' roles in various military branches had endeared her own family to their people, but she was sure such opinions could have been reasonably voiced in generations past- Maybe even today, though she hoped not.

Her wince turned into a slow smile at Lanea's words. "Funny you should mention that," she said. "When I said that the Allarian nobles don't seem to have much interest in Eldergaard.... Well. They aren't interested in much in Eldergaard. There is interest in your borders. Specifically, the mountain border you share with Kasair," she explained.

Kasair was a major trade hub, and shared a border with nearly every land-locked country on the interior of the continent. Many of those countries had tense relations with each other but good relations with Kasair, and Allaria's merchants were eager to trade in the neutral kingdom. Unfortunately, it was a long trip around the tip of the continent to get to Kasair's port city, and factors like weather and raiders meant shipments were unreliable. And because of Kasairian trade laws, the goods had to be sold in the port to a middle man who then transported stock and resold it to customers in the cities that had sprung up along each border. Allarian merchants could be getting more money for their goods if they could take them through Eldergaard, across the mountains and directly to Kasair's capital, and be losing less money in the transport.

"I believe most of the passes along that stretch are fairly narrow," she allowed. "But between explosives and earth mages, I imagine a wide enough and flat enough stretch could be created to build a rail line. If Eldergaard allowed us to ferry goods across their borders to Kasair, I think we would lend you the use of the Rail Corps Engineers happily enough," she said. Even if there wasn't much trade to be had with Eldergaard and its cities, she knew even the expense of building secondary branch lines would likely be worth it to trade so directly with Kasair.
 
"Yes," Maksim agreed enthusiastically with Lanea. He had been trying to figure out how to explain the structure of the clans. "That's the perfect way to describe it."

Alyx's eyebrows shot up at Lanea's question. "Astrid? Well..."

She had joked about it a lot--what Astrid could change once she was Supreme General--but Astrid had always laughed it off and said she never wanted that job. But Lanea was right. Astrid was a good leader. She had, after all, won over a particularly petulant vampire already. She had a strong moral compass that could be annoying but Alyx also respected her for it. And she was something of a darling of the populace. Supreme General Leon had done everything in her power to keep her daughter out of the press, but that had failed once Astrid had become a captain. Lanea was right, and Alyx was kicking herself for not considering it earlier.

"You're not wrong," Maksim agreed with Gigi. "Well, not exactly. It is supposed to be based on merit, but there's also a whole lot of who you know and how much power you have. Leon had enough military deeds under her belt, but her backing amongst the other generals won out over the general who had equal merit." Maksim paused and briefly wondered what had ever become of the other general who had been a favorite after the previous supreme general died. "But if you deposed Leon, you'd have to replace her with someone with military know-how. And while it might not technically be an inherited position, you can't tell me the thought hasn't crossed Leon Sr.'s mind."

At his glance, Alyx shrugged a "probably".

"Anyway, Lanea's got a good solution. All the other candidates are terrible, even if we considered one of the admirals. We'd want a Supreme General who was favorable towards both Allaria and the clans." Maksim turned to Alyx. "But you know her best."

"Of her capabilities there is no question," Alyx said, looking down her nose at the others and daring them to disagree. "She listens to people and is humble enough to take advice. She would work with any generals the clans would elect." She paused. "Her willingness is another thing altogether. She's not... power-hungry. But I think I could make a case to her of why it would be in the best interest of everyone involved. Especially if we could demote the Supreme General to an advisory role." She hesitated, because this was once again not something she knew for certain but... "I think that her daughter replacing her is the only option that Leon would not immediately refuse."

Tactically, though, that could be problematic. They would need to keep Astrid's involvement in any subterfuge under the table. Alyx frowned. "That is something we should keep quiet for now."

Maksim shrugged inwardly. That seemed like as good an idea as any. He wasn't as convinced about Astrid Leon's abilities, but he couldn't deny she had got results.

"A 'board of representatives'?" Maksim echoed in amusement.

"It's not a bad idea," Alyx said.

"It's not the idea I'm taking issue with, it's the name. 'The Board' sounds like a bunch of angry aunties."

"If you don't think angry aunties are formidable, you clearly haven't met the clans," Alyx muttered. "But it's a good idea. We could have two or so elders be on the board of representatives. We could have Jarek preside."

Maksim nodded. Jarek Fiona would much rather work on his family's famous tapestries than get into politics, but his clan had dealings with all the other clans. He would be an ideal candidate for the job. They were legendary peacekeepers, and--despite their fiery magic--had the calmest tempers of any of the clans. Except Ilona's cousin Ondrej, who tended to pick fights with just about anything that moved, but he was an anomaly.

Alyx nodded. She hadn't been aware that the Allarians were desperate for a land trade route to Kasair. She wondered what would have happened if there had been diplomatic talks and Allaria had offered either farming land or produce in exchange for said route. She scrunched her nose, however, wondering if that rail system woulf have to go through the land of one of the clans. "Building a rail system would be desirable for humans, but the clans wouldn't much care for that plan. We would really have to sell the idea of centralizing clan government."

"It almost seems that we are proposing more intermingling between the clans and the humans," Maksim mused. "That would be a hard sell, but we have been stagnating for centuries."

"And Lanea is right. We wouldn't be able to stand against an outside force," Alyx said, scowling at the admission. "We do not have hardly any dealings with Drasia or Kasair, and we have absolutely none with any of the rest. We would have no idea how to counter them."
 
Lanea couldn't help but flush at Maksim's criticism of his naming choices.

"The name isn't really important," he grumbled. "And if you're so much more eloquent, you can come up with something better once we put stuff into practice."

He was being a little bit petty, but he figured after the past few days he deserved a bit of pettiness. He wasn't actually annoyed or anything, but the little back and forth helped him to relax a bit. It felt comfortable to actually be himself around other people without fear of repercussions for once.

He had figured that the issue of the clans and their isolation would come up sooner or later.

"I mean..." he trailed off for a second, resting his chin in his hand as he raised his eyebrows. "It isn't a bad idea."

He had never truly understood the disconnect between vampires and humans, but his clan had always had unique opinions on that. Their deep understanding of human culture and human anatomy had been one of the reason why they had been so adapt at torture and interrogation in the first place. It was hard to get information from your prisoners if you didn't actually know how they worked or precisely how to keep them alive.

They didn't advertise their relationship with humanity much, though, and had leaned into the image of torturers over the years because it allowed them privacy and the freedom to conduct themselves however they wanted. His mother would probably be quite angry at him for actually talking extensively about their lifestyle, but she was also always the most vocal when she complained about the other clans and their refusal to get on in the world.

Secretly, he thought she just liked the idea of being the smartest person in the room when it came to the subject of human gossip.

But the idea of a rail line with direct trade between the diverse villages, the clans and the rest of Eldergaard was one that appealed to him. Regardless of his reputation, he had always enjoyed helping people, and that kind of structural integration would make that so much easier. He could offer his services as a doctor to farther places, and maybe they could even introduce some of Allaria's technical advancements to Eldergaard. He had been truly fascinated by the 'camera' that Rose had shown him ages ago, even if it was a big clunky thing that he needed two hands to hold and operate--

He was daydreaming. They were having a serious discussion, and he was thinking about silly things. The tips of his ears turned red as he picked up his mug of blood and took a sip.

"What's the land route to Kasair?" He asked after he had refocused himself. "Or, nevermind. I don't know where anything is unless you show it to me on a map."

He had terrible spatial awareness and a difficult time orienting himself. The only reason he didn't get lost in the mountains up north was because he grew up there.

"Anyways, I guess we know what we need to do now. Liberate the clans, create an integrated overseeing government, and overthrow the supreme general." He snorted. "Sounds easy enough."
 
Gigi nodded as the others spoke, making mental notes in her head.

"Well, it's unlikely either country would try to interfere with the clans, or Eldergaard at large- Not unless they perceive a threat first. Kasair cares about their trade and Drasia... Admittedly, they fear magic almost as much as they fear science, but they don't have a strong enough military to wage a religious crusade against either of our countries, so."

"You must have maps, yes," Gigi asked their host, whose mouth had settled into a bit of a frown. "Could you fetch one?"

"Course I got maps," Lara said. "And no, I will not."

Gigi looked confused, but the older woman continued.

"These are a lot of big ideas, for a very small group of people who have had minimal sleep and a fair bit of bodily injury," she pointed out. "You are all going to bed. Before you start drafting constitutional charters at my kitchen table."

She straightened from where she had been leaning against the wall and brushed her hands against her thighs. "Boys: The attic's got two singles," she said, pointing at the staircase. "Trunk along the far wall has blankets and a bedroll. Might only be two pillows, though," she said, trying to recall. "I'll let you fight it out. You two," she said, gesturing at Gigi and Alyx. "Will have to share mine." It was big enough for two people to sleep comfortably, and that wasn't even accounting for the fact that both of the younger women were much slighter than the usual occupants.

"I don't want to put you out," Gigi protested. There was a stuffed chair and a beat-up settee that was far too short to stretch out on in the far corner of the main room- Gigi didn't think either of them would make for good sleeping, but she was the one who had surprised Lara with unexpected guests, so it should really be her. Though Alyx would probably object more to sharing with Lara than she would with Gigi-

"I won't be sleeping tonight," Lara said with a wave of her hand. "Based on what you said- It is unlikely anyone is coming after you, but it would be foolish not to have someone keep watch."

"No," Henry said abruptly. "I mean-"

"You don't trust me," Lara surmised. "Good." Skepticism was healthy, in her opinion. "But you are a Grivven, yes?," she asked Maskim. "With the..." She wiggled her fingers in the direction of her forehead, her lip curled in distaste. "Can you vouch that I have no ill intent, that the only people I wish to contact are the ones whose help I need in getting things ready for you lot?"

She was going to have to buy so much random shit to obfuscate the amount of blood they were going to need at the storefront.
 
"We are both weakened by war," Alyx began to point out, but Lara quickly put a stop to all further discussion.

Alyx supposed that was fair. She was running on spite at this point. She glanced into her cup but the blood was gone. It had been hard to sip it like a civilized vampire. She stifled a yawn.

"Welp, who wants to share with me?" Maksim asked standing and stretching. "With your permission, Alyx."

Alyx rolled her eyes as she stood. "You're the smallest. It makes sense."

"Hey!" Maksim protested. "No cheating on me with the princess."

Alyx glanced at Lanea as if to say, "see what I have to put up with?" She turned to Lara. "I really can sleep on the floor. I would probably fall asleep if you stood me up in a closet."

But Lara was right. Someone needed to keep a look out, and they were all far too tired to be trusted to not fall asleep.

Maksim leaned back slightly, a little surprised at Lara's question. It almost sounded like an accusation, but then it usually was. "Um... yes?"

He blinked. He really should not be using magic right now. But Henry had a good point. He shifted his gaze into the magic of his clan. There was a lot there. He mentally teased it apart before blinking and rubbing his temple. Great. The headache was back.

"Her intentions are good," he announced. "She'll help us, but I suggest we keep Georgiana around. You hear that, Alyx?"

"I'm not going to hurt her," Alyx said with a huff.

"No, I meant no running away together to become pirates or something."

Alyx grabbed the tip of Maksim's ear and pulled his head down to her level.

"Ow! Owowowow--"

"Are you done?" Alyx asked.

It didn't really hurt. It was the principle of the thing. "No goodnight kiss?"

Alyx twisted lightly to make a point.

"Ow! Yes! I yield! Why are you so cruel?"

Alyx released his ear and pushed him in the direction of the stairs. Maksim hurried up them, apparently deciding he wanted a head start at getting one of those pillows. Alyx shook her head, hoping that the deluge of two years of pent-up innuendoes would end soon. It probably wouldn't.

As they made their way to bed, Alyx glanced over at Georgiana. "Do you really think we have a shot at this?"
 
Lanea was, quite honestly, a little glad that Lara had put a stop to everything. He was exhausted, and he wasn't sure he was much good at the planning table anyways. He was a practical action person more than a planner. The only time he really took an active role in planning things and figuring out logistics outside of the mundane was when Rose was involved, because Rose was worse at planning than he was.

Oh, he could come up with a million ways to open a jar if he was asked to, but sometimes he didn't realize the difference in scale between 'running it under warm water' and 'blowing it up'.

"Sleep definitely sounds nice," he admitted. He had gotten a bit of a nap in earlier, but it wasn't much, and now that he had eaten he wanted to curl up and go to sleep. "Thank you again, for the supplies and the shelter."

If things did go as planned and the end of the war came about without his peoples' destruction, he'd have to remember her name. His mother was very serious about paying back kindness and debts.

He returned Alyx's look with a wry smile of agreement, then slowly stood and stretched.

'Henry' had been quite quiet so far. It was to be expected, really, considering his situation. But a fledgling who had only been a vampire for six months would probably be more exhausted after this debacle than any of them. He resisted the urge to make sure he drank an extra mug just to keep his strength up, and instead just clapped him on the shoulder as he passed to head up stairs.

"I'll take the bedroll," he said, because single beds were kind of a pain to sleep in anyways. His feet always hung over the end. Sleeping on the Gargoyle had always been horrible, with how small the beds were. He was sure his knees at least would thank him for sleeping on the floor if his back didn't.

He headed over to the trunk Lara had indicated and opened it up, digging around. The bedroll was not new, but it was in good enough condition, and the blankets smelled fine. They were also soft, and he headed to the far wall and began to spread his bedding out.

Once he had a nice little nest made out of the blankets he sat down, leaning back on his hands and letting out a soft sigh. He hadn't even taken his boots off yet, and he felt a little bad as he began to unlace them and set them aside. He'd brought his coat up with him and set it aside, debating whether he should rebutton his shirt or just take it off for the night. Eventually he settled for the latter, folding it with his coat.

They all had scars, of course. It was impossible to not have scars of some kind in a warzone, so he wasn't too self-conscious. Freddy's face had been badly scarred, so he supposed his back wasn't as bad in comparison.

The burns spread across his shoulders had healed over as well as they could, and it didn't even really hurt anymore unless he stretched in a weird way. They continued down to about his mid-back, although they were more scattered. All things considered, he had gotten off pretty lucky. He was sure his mom would have a fit when he went home, though.

Now they just had to sleep.

He glanced to the other two, worrying his lower lip. He wondered if asking would do any good, but considering that they were alone now and all the women were downstairs, he might as well give it a shot.

"Are you two... doing ok?" he asked, genuine but a little awkward. A lot had happened, and now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off, the reality was going to start sinking in. Lanea had always known that this was eventually how he was going to end his military career, chasing after Rose on some crazy impossible mission, so he'd had time to prepare. Maksim and Freddy had had maybe twelve hours. It was a lot to take in in a short time.
 
Freddy paused on the second story landing, standing awkwardly until he heard the low voices of Gigi- the princess, he should really think of her as the princess- and Lara resume conversation before he uncomfortably cleared his throat to get Alyx' attention- Not that it was likely she had missed his presence.

"Commander Draya, uh- I appreciate your... Discretion," he started. They hadn't really had a chance to talk since their escape, and he hoped she had kept his secret due to discretion, and wasn't simply waiting for the best opportunity.

"I do not mean to be deceiving her," he said. "I want to tell her- I will tell her," he said defensively. "But I don't think it does her much good to know I am alive, until it is more likely I will stay that way."

He winced a bit at how blasé he sounded about his own life, even if he knew it was practical considering their situation.

"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure her safety and her success," he explained. "If I can return to Allaria with her, then her mourning will have been in vain. But if I cannot.... I do not want her to have to mourn again. Please try to understand," he implored.

____

Lara watched the vampires troop up the steps with the narrowed eyes of drill sergeant with trouble making charges - Or of a mother with worry-inducing children.

She began to gather the cups from the table, but Gigi laid a hand over hers.

"I'll wash," she offered gently.

"Oh, the princess is going to do my dishes for me?," Lara asked, mockingly.

"I have some practical skills, you know," Gigi said primly, and Lara snorted.

"Just rinse 'em so the blood doesn't dry- They'll be used again," she pointed out, and Gigi nodded.

"So," Lara said, as the younger woman picked up the cups and mugs and brought them to the counter by the window. "I noticed you didn't mention why you're really here."

There was a large, low ceramic bowl sitting on the counter that served as a basin, and Gigi held one cup over it before pouring water from the pitcher into it. She turned to Lara with a raised eyebrow, swirling the cup so the water splashed up the sides. "What are you talking about?"

"Power is appointed, in Eldergaard. The Supreme General, even the governors and many of the other government positions. But in Allaria, power is inherited."

"...Yes," Gigi said cautiously. She poured the water from the first cup into the second, placed the first on the far side of the basin to dry, and began to swirl the second.

"So, from the perspective of the Allarian Assembly, alliances are traditionally solidified with a marriage. And children."

"Well, there is quite a bit about.... All of this, that is non-traditional," Gigi hedged, starting on the third cup. "If we have an Allarian marry a high-ranking Eldergaardian military officer, there is no guarantee that their children would carry that rank. And if we have an Allarian marry into the Eldergaardian royal family- Well, as you said, they have so little power that it makes my own family's seem dictatorial. We will need an alliance that can survive without a marriage between the countries regardless, so perhaps we will not have one at all."

"But I imagine the Assembly would feel more at ease if there was one," Lara pointed out. It was how things were traditionally done, when making alliances within Allaria, and often outside of it as well.

"...Yes, probably," Gigi agreed. She opened the window, and poured the blood-tinged water from the final cup into the flower box that hung below its frame.

"And what? It's been decided that it's your turn?"

Gigi sighed, turning to Lara and crossing her arms over her chest somewhat defensively. "Millicent is too valuable to give up. And too beloved," she added. "Lucille is... Well. I hate to speak ill of my sister," she said, which Lara snorted at. "But she is rather.... Prickly, at times. She would be unhappy in Eldergaard and unhappy with her spouse, and that would make Eldergaard and said spouse unhappy with her, and then with Allaria. She would not make for a good wife, at least not in a marriage of diplomacy. And William and Caroline are far too young," she concluded, though legally that wasn't true.

"So- It's your turn," Lara summarized, unimpressed by Gigi's non-answer. Most of the time, she did not like the girl very much. But she had made a promise to Nathan, to love and support her regardless. Approving of all of this, did not seem to be in the spirit of that promise.

"Like I said- Treaties and alliances don't need a marriage. And in this particular case, the more I learn, the less I think it makes sense. Perhaps some sort of.... Official ambassador, with more power checks than a standard ambassador might be more appropriate? With an equivalent Eldergaardian appointment in the Allarian government, of course," she mused.

"But if the Assembly insists on a marriage regardless?"

"It isn't necessarily me," Gigi tried to convince her. "Marrying someone from one of the noble families on the southern mountain border might make more sense, depending on how trade focused things end up-"

"I believe you count as someone from one of those noble families," Lara pointed out dryly. Gigi's mother, after all, had been born a noble, but not a royal.

Gigi gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine! It's an option- Of course it's an option! What more do you want me to say?"

"Is it what you want?," Lara pressed.

Gigi shrugged. "It would be an adjustment," she allowed. "But I'm not opposed to it." She held up her finger to silence Lara's protest. "I am not giving up some great love to do so," she said, the bitter edge in her voice almost entirely buried beneath the veneer of practicality. Lara, at least, did not notice it.

"I've always known I would marry and have children for political advantage," she pointed out. "And goodness knows I could do worse- If I'd become a Drasiac archduchess, for example...." She trailed off. She would have made the best of it, of course, but she would not have even had rights to her own children after a certain point. "If I married into Eldergaard's hierarchy, I would I will still be able to help people, on both sides of the mountain, and pursue my research- Though perhaps in a different vein," she admitted. She would be able to study those mushrooms much more extensively, for instance.

Lara made a noise of cautious consideration.

"It's not something I'm here to pursue," Gigi promised. "But if it makes sense for it to happen, with myself as a candidate... Well. I will consider everything I have learned so far to be an excellent primer on the multitude of things I will need to know going forward," she said.

"Nathan knew, I suppose?"

"It was a possibility we had discussed," Gigi admitted.

"He would have come with you?"

"Yes," Gigi said. It was a smart assumption- Where she went, Crane followed. "...I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Lara closed her eyes, sagging back into her chair. She had been pushing it out of her mind, trying not to think about it.

"I'm so sorry," Gigi repeated. She dropped to her knees and took Lara's hand between own.

Lara snatched it back. "Don't," she warned.

They sat in silence for a long while, silent tears on both their faces, until Gigi's knees began to hurt.

"Tell me something," Lara said.

"Of course," Gigi said immediately, straightening up to a standing position.

"The truth, please," Lara specified. "Did you get captured on purpose?"

Gigi frowned. "Of course not- We knew it was a possibility, but we would have much preferred to make it to Salazar without problems. The fact it was The Dragon was poor luck- Well, maybe not, considering how it's turned out," she conceded. "And I knew Bicksley had sent a tail so-"

"Not with The Dragon," Lara clarified. "When you were a child. With the indenture ring."

"Oh."

Crane had asked her the same thing, all those years ago, immediately after. They'd returned to his house instead of the palace, and he'd tucked her into a single bed that he'd just put sheets on, that sat across from an identical but bare bed. At the time, she'd been too tired- or maybe just too young- to wonder why the Cranes would have two empty beds in an unused room.

She knew, what she had told him when he had asked that night.

But... Lara was asking now.

And regardless of the what the true answer really was- Gigi could guess there was a specific answer she wanted to hear. If nothing else, Gigi could at least give her that.

"...Yes," Gigi said finally, and Lara sagged forward, her elbows hitting the table so her hands could support the weight of her head.

"Please go," Lara said, her voice thick and choking.

"Go," she spat, after Gigi hesitated. The princess nodded- not that the older woman could see- and slipped silently up the stairs.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top