i am the violence in the pouring rain
i am a hurricaneStraia is rarely what anyone expects of her. It always makes her wonder what exactly has caused the whispers of the Raven Queen. Kushiel expected some mysterious mare, cloaked in secrets. She was nothing of the sort. Straia was blunt and to the point, keeping on secrets that she must. There were few of those, honestly. Only Weed. He was not a secret, necessarily, but she simply wasn’t the kind of mare to run about speaking of boys. It didn’t suit her, and never would.
Many expect some blood thirsty, impossible Queen. Certainly, she longs for power for her kingdom. But what good monarch doesn’t? Her kingdom asks for chaos, and so she is happy to work toward that end. All of Beqanna has grown restless, even those that won’t admit it. Straia and her kingdom are simply happy to play the bad guy, to give everyone what they want. Of course, she will only do so if they have a chance of coming out on top. She will not send her kingdom to slaughter. She doesn’t long for death. Not for her kingdom, or any other.
She seems to have surprised Fiasko some as well. Straia is not un unkind jailor, assuming the captive deserved kindness. Not that Straia is kind, but Fiasko is safe. The ravens watch over the ex-queen and her children, and the Chamber members are not allowed to touch her. Gryffen had his moment, yes, before the ravens were in place. But she will do what she can to make Fiasko’s life comfortable enough. But for now, keeping the mare serves a purpose.
And now, she seems to have surprised the Amazonian Queen as well.
“Immortality does not mean I cannot bleed to death. Only that I won’t die of old age and brittle bones. They wouldn’t be able to see internal bleeding. I’d need a few well place cuts somewhere important, but it would be easy enough to think you’d damaged my organs. As for your other concerns, I admit, I have no easy for them. But no matter what the cause of the war, Beqanna is looking for a war, and death is a possibility. But yes, I admit that, particularly without me, some of my kingdom members might try to burn Beqanna in retaliation.”
Though at the same time, some of them were reasonable. Warship and Erebor and Killdare all head solid heads on their shoulders, and wouldn’t necessarily destroy the world over the loss of their Queen. They would know they were outnumbered. But at the same time, war had a way of bringing so many out of the woodwork. Perhaps the Valley and the Chamber would be perfectly fine against the other kingdoms. Really, the only potential other threat was the Deserts, and even they were growing quiet.
And then, it is Lagertha’s turn to surprise Straia. She grins, that quirk of her lips and a mischievous gleam to her eyes. “If you tell me the Sisters want to ally with the Chamber, I believe an alliance could be arranged. The Chamber would be happy to have such a powerful friend, and in truth, half my heritage is from this kingdom. I don’t really have any desire to go against you.” Except of course if they find a mutually beneficial way to do so. But either option could be tricky, really.
“Starting a war would not be hard. The Gates is already rallying for help, as you know.” Of course Straia knows that Magnus is here, and she knows what they want. They want revenge, and probably Fiasko back. She wouldn’t mind being on the leading side of that war though. “I could see the Deserts, Fall and Gates siding against us easily enough.” She isn’t against attacking the Tundra either, but it doesn’t seem like the logical choice. There’s nothing up there, and the brothers are near silent. And besides, she’d already lit a few embers to start a war. It wouldn’t be hard to make it a full on fire.
straia
the raven queen of the chamber
