[private] Offer you a better life; Litotes

[Ilma]

Ilma

And there's a lesson waiting to be learned
the firestarters always get the burns
and the good guys never get the girl

I’m wary, but it’s not showing, when I walk from the Cove into Pangea to find it’s supposed leader once more. This time I know I’ll get an answer, and I feel pretty much the same as when I went to find Castile after my trip to the Mountain, receiving what now impresses itself onto me as an impossible-looking quest. Make peace for yourself, the perhaps we can help you.

I’d been a former friend, carefully testing the waters, knowing that my friend had been damaged. But I’m not about to give up on any of them. Unlike a certain predecessor, perhaps.

I still hardly believe she did it - nor do I understand why. In fact I had believed for a long time that it was something they had mutually agreed to (albeit maybe reluctantly) when the cremello stallion had been in Loess. But it’s in the past and no matter how much I didn’t like the decision when I finally found out how it had come to pass - I cannot change the past. I may be able to predict parts of the near future, but that only means that I know this discussion will not be an easy one.

After all, his allegiance would be with Loess more than the Cove. I wonder what he would think of my other ideas - ideas however, that would depend so greatly on my next encounter, that I could not share them with him right now.

I’ve seen Pangea once before - it’s pretty okay, but also pretty barren. Nothing like the Cove with it’s waving grasses, even though there also, the land seems empty to me at times. It’s Hyaline with her mountains and forested slopes that I’ll always compare a land to, and find it unfit to replace her as a home. Unfortunately, sometimes we just better make do with what we currently have.

Perhaps our plans may yet align, I muse by myself, walking the landscape until I find his scent. Then, I stop and let out a whinny for the new Archon. If that’s what he wants to call himself still, that is. The title seems almost cursed to me, what with its former bearers not lasting very long.

If he wants to change anything, now would be the only time, I believe.

and shooting stars cannot fix the world

@[litotes] I keep messing up with the non-capital names haha oops

[litotes]

As presumptuous as the Cove continues to remain, Litotes is in good spirits. His nights in Pangea are comfortable: a warm nest of soft moss wrapping the walls of a large cave keeps him still. He spends most of his time familiarizing himself with his Kingdom and with what little life remains. As lonely as it may seem to others, he finds that a lot of his free time is filled with his children, and there is almost no loneliness in watching them grow up.

Crybaby and Hatchetface trail behind, weaving in that strange way they have found. Their too-bright eyes remain on him when he turns to check if they are okay. Daisi curls up back in the cave - she seems brilliant but sad, and Lie wishes he could track down her mother to see if that will lift her spirits. His callousness melts when amongst his offspring, and one can see that in the way he herds the twins before him with a gentle nudge. Despite their strange ways and completely insane mother, he finds they suit him just fine, and patrols spent with them are entertaining.

A scent from the Cove passes quickly over his nostrils. The Archon draws quickly to attention then calls the boys back to his side. Though not exactly hostile, the diplomats of the kingdom are not exactly friendly. Polite, maybe, but welcoming? Absolutely not. Lie does not like them - that much is clear in the cold way he scans the border for the citizen - but for now he does not mind living with them.

It is clear by the white and angelic glow that it is Ilma who arrives. A breeze swings Lie’s thick and tangled mane floating like a scarf in the wind, though his eyes do not offer the same carefree feeling. For now, he remains out of eyesight, pondering why on earth this visit is necessary after two separate discussions have passed. The cremello has made it clear he only wishes to rule Pangea. Why do they continue to press him?

The twins, a little over six months and adorably lanky, peer up with a question in their eyes. Litotes sighs and begins his approach to the kingdom leader. They may remain for the time being, but he will shoo them off when the time comes.

By now, he is certain Ilma has noticed him, tail flicking harshly against his hocks as he walks. “You two, continue down that way,” he orders once within earshot, gesturing a little further along the border. The twins grin up at him and trot off. The Archon has reached the Caretaker.

“Ilma,” he says, not quite stern but not friendly, either. “Is this another interrogation? I figured you three would communicate better.”

---

@[Ilma]

[Ilma]

Ilma

And there's a lesson waiting to be learned
the firestarters always get the burns
and the good guys never get the girl

I probably should not be surprised that he immediately assumes I’m here to..., interrogate? Defy? Replace? Still, when he calls out like that I stop in my tracks and frown at him. I blink the face away when I figure that perhaps Dawn had not been as diplomatic with the father of her children as she should have been, and Clayton had been too diplomatic to come off as genuine. I know they’d gone to talk to Lie, but exactly what had been said and in what tone - what Litotes might have heard in their tone - I could not know until I came to see the cremello myself.

I see now, that perhaps I am too late even for this.

Holding in a small sigh at the realization, I wait for the cremello to send the children away, for them to be out of earshot, since apparently he does not want me near them. It pains me to see that, as a mother, and a friend, I am apparently not to be trusted. I know I must represent something he dislikes, but I hadn’t thought he’d make it so obvious. That it’d be so deep-rooted that he has to pour his hate for Kagerus - or even Dawn or Clayton? - over me personally. I knew this talk might not be easy, but a girl could hope.

I look at him closely, then smile a little apologetically. ”I’m only just training them, Litotes. They’re not perfect, but I hope we can learn from the experience.” Myself too, because apparently I should have kept the heirs on a shorter leash if this is the result of letting them pursue their own curiosities and interests. Flicking an ear backwards as I am currently in annoyance with the Cove’s leadership - something I’ve barely sorted in the short time I had between the descension and the challenge - I wait for him to finish a possible retort if he wants to, then look from him to Pangea. ”I’m sorry to say I was a little too late to approach you in Loess. I’d wanted to ask you, if you wanted to come back to lead Pangea for us. But you beat me to it.” I smile a bit, knowing that it is full well possible he won’t believe me. But it would have allowed him to stay close to his family, without having to give in on his position. You could take a person’s crown, but you can’t take leadership out of a person. Used to giving orders, a forced step-down like the one that had happened, would never work. So why not? I couldn’t think of anyone better to lead the place - not then, and frankly, not now either. ”Unfortunately I can’t change the past or undo what’s been done to you.” I add, fully hoping he gets the two meanings of that sentence.

I know that he’s endured too much ’diplomacy’ and possibly even lies to give me much wiggle room by now. Since I don’t know how long it will take for him to get annoyed with my presence and my talk about the past, straight-forward is the only way to go.

I take one breath and look him in the eye if he’ll let me.

”So I’m here because I was hoping that you might accept my apologies, instead.”

and shooting stars cannot fix the world

@[litotes]

[litotes]

There is a certain release Litotes feels in the face of Ilma. Check after check from the Cove is what he has come to expect, and he thinks he may have been anxious to get their discussion over with. Relief does not mean comfort, though, and her too-kind gaze unsettles him.

The lion-man purses his lips at the mention of “training.” His relationship with Dawn complicates their interactions in so many deeper ways than diplomats in training making mistakes. They share children, and because of that bond they are connected for at least the next few years. Her accusations did not come as diplomacy, they were personal. The entire interaction did not feel as if it were strictly business. If he is to be honest with Ilma, he will tell her that Dawn is a fine diplomat caught between weak and capricious mentors.

It is quite a pity, he thinks. She already has what it takes to make a fine queen.

The dry Pangean breeze blows between the two as Lie opts to remain quiet, golden eyes calm and considering. The Queen speaks yet another piece, the same vague and hard to believe line Dawn offered him. An imperceptible twitch of his eyelid is the only tell that he wants to roll his eyes. Once again, he cannot find a single way it would make sense for the Cove to request his services. Litotes is not exactly the . . . kindest individual - no, time has sharpened his gentility into a fierce protection. Asking him to return would have been a wild card he seriously doubts.

The Archon stands readily in his stoic silence. His mane and tail floating in the wind are the only pieces of him that move.

Ilma continues in that same peaceful, apologetic tone. The cremello cannot help but to feel every single word that comes out of her mouth is insincere. How many times will the East lie to him? And how many of them so desperately wish to live in Kagerus’ legacy? Their idea of a sanctuary is not nearly as moral as they may believe: remaining neutral in the face of other’s pain is as cold as they believe the Archon to be.

It is unfortunate that Litotes may have turned into one of the very opinionated monsters they fear.

“I do wonder, Ilma,” he begins, chewing on her apology, “why the East had time to send someone to me only after I challenged? And, actually - while we are on that topic - why did I hear nothing at all from the East in regards to my unjust dethroning until Dawn questioned me like an enemy? I also wonder if apologies have been extended to Kensa for the accusations she faced during my sentence.”

This is the man he is now: suspicious, calculating, and unforgiving. Lie’s gaze is void of emotion as he stares down his Queen.

“You cannot make up for what Kagerus did. An entire nation turned its back on me when I tried to bite the head off of a war and now you face me with these base niceties,” he spits, lips curling in distaste.

“My business with Pangea is just that: mine. I do not have to like you, Ilma, and I do not have to accept your apology. My loyalties lie with my family - all of my family,” he pauses and emphasizes, thinking of Isilme and Austra still in the Cove. “I love them. I bear them no ill will. And as for you, and the eventual rule, let’s just say I am no nationalist.”

---

@[Ilma]

[Ilma]

Ilma

And there's a lesson waiting to be learned
the firestarters always get the burns
and the good guys never get the girl

I’m not as stupid or whimsical as he seems to believe I am; but then again neither of us have seen each other for a long time, and even then only once or twice before. He doesn’t know me. Litotes and Kensa dealt with Solace or Kagerus, and I dealt with the Field and recruiting those who needed the sanctuary of a safe land. A few have found our haven in the time since the Plague started, and I certainly had wished not to have anything to do with Loess. Tephra had been a steady relationship of mine and I believed Nerine to be the same.

As I mentioned that Dawn was still in training, as well as Clayton, I see him think. I watch for micro-expressions, which is what helped me survive the politics of Beqanna so long. Surely he sees as well as I that Dawn will do well in time, as queen. Which in turn makes him a good leader, too. Perhaps more of a protector than a diplomat, which is just fine in his position and with what I was about to ask of him.

He said nothing and so I continued; a small twitch of his eye confirms to me that he doesn’t believe anything I say. If that wasn’t clear to me then, it is when he finally gives me an answer. He’s not about to forgive me for what my predecessor did to him - well, to be honest I had nothing to do with it, but carrying the responsibility of the Silver Cove now made me pursue a form of such forgiveness anyway. His questions are suspicious bordering on the accusing, and at his distaste my face changes only slightly; a similar emotion takes hold of me, though only my one ear turns back and then forth again. ”Kensa is on my list of visits, and doing fine as far as I know. She’s a strong woman. Don’t worry about her too much.” She’s doing fine, and I’ve met Amet now and come to see him as an ally and friend. To her, he is no threat, I believe. Whatever Litotes thinks she is being accused of, I am not the accuser - and I won’t blindly follow in the footsteps of my predecessors even though he still thinks so. ”You’re right about not having to like me - I already expected your allegiance would be more with Castile than me.” I see things now - I know things. But I don’t elaborate on my statement; he has a tongue to ask questions with if he wants to.

I’m silent for a few heartbeats - then I speak up again. ”I suppose it’s time you heard my side of the story of our history with Loess, if you can bear listening to me that long. It starts several years ago, before you joined us in Hyaline, in fact even a few before that.” Maybe even two years, I think? I’m getting old, I begin to notice - another reason why I won’t hold the throne for long.

My gaze distances a little before returning to him (if he’s still here to listen). ”You see, I was stolen to Loess once, just like you. Wolfbane ruled at the time, though we learned quickly that it was his diplomat Lepis who had sparked and executed the idea herself. Her attempt failed, but it set Kagerus off - there was a rather big verbal explosion from her side, as she was the Sanctuary’s only general and champion at the time. What is a Sanctuary, if it can’t protect its own from being preyed upon? Had she asked me, I would not have agreed with her methods probably - but what you must understand is that Kagerus has ranked above me since I joined Hyaline, and has been our fierce protector since as long as I can remember. She would always act harsh to make sure the Sanctuary doesn’t look like a weak excuse for a kingdom that can easily be preyed upon without consequences.”

“As retribution for my steal, I stole Lepis in return - it seemed a better idea than yelling at people who only shrugged off our warning words; and a much more equal act since we held similar positions. Lepis did everything to be a pain in the neck, in hopes we would return her, which did nothing good for our diplomatic relationship. I agreed on the term that Loess would owe us - which would have been her original intent with me. I sometimes wish she would have succeeded in stealing me, so she would have seen that I would have stayed there the whole year instead of taking such a deal, but such luck was not on our side at the time.” I shake my head. Pity. Lepis was led by emotion at the time, I’m pretty sure. Too young to have been burdened with a kingdom, losing it, and with diplomatic responsibilities. But she wasn’t mine to train. ”Regardless, my relationship with Loess was damaged to the point that I asked my queens to leave me out of Loess’ matters for a long while. When the Plague struck, I focused on Tephra, the other sanctuary we knew, and on recruiting; on keeping the wanderers of Beqanna safe from the Plague if they wanted to be.”

”Now, at the time Loess gathered it’s healers in the unconventional way, I only knew that you tried to steal someone from Loess for their own protection, but got stolen yourself in return. I didn’t get involved any further; neither would our Queens go to lengths to get you back since you weren’t being physically harmed and the Loessians stated - which was at least partly true - that your steal was a retribution for your own earlier attempt. I figured you would serve your time and return and Kensa would rule Hyaline alone for the time being.”

I sigh, knowing how naive I sound now. Too trusting. But I’d never thought my queens would turn on anyone they named their own. ”I only heard that your de-crowning was a forced one and not a mutually agreed one, in the days after my ascension to the throne. I’ve discussed with Dawn if you would return to us, and if so on what condition - I figured it would be better if you were accessible to your girls. And I’ve come to know you as a fine General, Litotes, and a good ruler of Hyaline. I would have liked to return you to a similar position,” I nod to our surroundings there, ”which is why I went to Pangea to check if anyone was still here, not a month after my coronation. As it turns out, this coincided with your challenge, and since I never had a chance to talk to you; here we are now. I’d like to rectify the idea that the entire nation turned against you - Kagerus handled this herself and we weren’t asked for our opinions. Perhaps I trusted her too much, just like you did in the past, and for that I wish to apologize.” But I can’t force him to accept such an apology. Then again, I don’t really need it to rule or to let him rule. I won’t be queen much longer; the potential he acknowledged in Dawn is reason for me to quit it and fall back into my advisory role - this time I’m pretty sure I’m with a queen who asks advice before acting like a landmine.

And he still doesn’t have any reasons to believe me, other than my word. I know. But I hope that perhaps in time he can accept that I had nothing to do with it, and neither did Dawn. ”I don’t need your forgiveness for your dethroning, Litotes, because it wasn’t something I had anything to do with. The apology I had was on behalf of the crown, because I know it wronged you in the past. But I can’t change the past, only offer you your current position, which you already took for yourself.” Factual, I waylay this for him in my neutral, to-the-point tone. Not for him to immediately answer right now or today, as far as I’m concerned, so I continue.

”You’re right, we don’t need to be friends for either to rule. But if you can stand us just a little, I’d like you back on our Council as our General, and I’d like for Pangea to be the home of our Sentries - just as the Silver Cove would house our Sheltered, and Hyaline our Speakers.”

Giving him the military base is a bit of a gamble, I know. Should he turn against us, we don’t have a whole lot of warriors left in the Cove and Hyaline. But I hope he sees it for what it is - a sign of trust, of confidence that he isn’t really against us. After all, didn’t he say he wants his daughters safe and happy?

Trust takes years to build and can leave in moments; that’s what happened, but I’m set on building again. Not for me; but for the ones who come after me. The ones who might come after her.

I’ll know soon enough if he’s willing to talk. If not, it’s a pity, but I suppose it’s not the worst thing to happen in the world.

and shooting stars cannot fix the world

@[litotes] Here is... explainythings (:

[litotes]

It is true.

The rulers do not have to like each other to rule next to each other. Though, Litotes does quite have a distaste for leading under anyone. Not that he cannot swallow his pride and follow orders - it is more that the last time he blindly listened, he was cast aside like a mother cat leaves a sick kitten.

So, it is only natural that he does not believe a damn word that comes out of Ilma’s mouth.

The Queen delivers her story, hardly offering the Archon a chance to object. Litotes does not find a moment he feels he needs to interject, though he does find it irritating to have to sit through the same story for what feels like the one millionth time. Patience is kind, though; and he finds what reserve he has of it purely to not laugh in Ilma’s face. It is truly maddening, the way the diplomats have spun around him as if they can catch him in some web. If he were a lesser man, he would have snapped some months ago.

Alas, lesser men do not carry the same iron chains of unkempt spite.

When Ilma finishes, Lie regards her with an analytical stare. He has already made his decision, but desires to scan the earnestness of her face before responding. That same kindness remains in her eyes. The cremello just does not understand it.

“I have no love for those who look up to Kagerus,” he begins, pausing for a moment as if to ponder his next phrasing, “and it is clear the East still loves the previous ruling.” Litotes’ mouth is a hard line when he stops, golden eyes aloof as he stares into the Cove’s skyline. “But I do enjoy leading warriors, and I find it quite fascinating you would trust me with a position so quickly.” His gaze drifts back to Ilma’s. “I accept the position of General, though there is something you, Clayton, and Dawn must absolutely get straight.” Even Lie is a bit surprised at the ice in his tone when he finishes:

“My only allegiance is to myself.”

---

@[Ilma]

[Ilma]

Ilma

And there's a lesson waiting to be learned
the firestarters always get the burns
and the good guys never get the girl

My mind is full of emotions, hence my fixed, friendly expression. A diplomat’s and mostly, peace-keeper’s, face at the base of everything that is thrown at me.

I want him to be my friend, like I want everyone to be; unfortunately he feels fit to cast me out because I’ve associated with someone who wronged him (way after I became attached to her). Alas, it seems that he is not capable of forgiving anyone for having been a friend of Kagerus’. He’ll find out soon enough how many of those live in the Silver Cove, but I’m not about to tell him. I listen, I feel disappointed, and I let my sadness at his inability to look past my former friends to who I am now.

But it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we will hear his opinion when we need it, whether we like it or not (in fact, that Dawn and Clayton hear it, whether they like it or not). I’ll not be able to always guide them - in fact, I’ve had quite enough of ruling by now. I just need to find out if Castile means to start a war with us, or not. That’s all I need. Then I’ll go.

I nod to him, this is his choice and not mine. ”I’ll call a meeting shortly - that’s going to be the last time you’ll have to bother with me, I promise.” I smile a bit, and take my leave.

Perhaps he remembers that I’m in a similar position as Kagerus - I could simply cast him out and choose another general. But while we have been friends as long as I had lived in Beqanna, we differ like night and day. I choose to trust him. In time, I hope he can learn to trust someone once more in his life. (Someone that is not a child he raised himself, in fact, because those children are always biased.)

A girl can hope.

and shooting stars cannot fix the world

@[litotes]