castlenim | I saw rise in the heat settle soft and as pure as snow

[ Yelena goes quiet for a moment as she mulls over the information. the candy's still melting in her mouth when she speaks again, but it's obvious based on how clearly she's able to speak around it that talking with her mouth full is old habit. ]

Sounds like he thought it was inevitable because he put the curse on you. If you've got faith in something, you don't add in a fail-safe to make sure it happens.

[ it's a comfort to FrostNova, in a way. if Kaschey had to use ageless witchcraft on Talulah to try to bend her to his will, it means part of him knew she wouldn't submit to him so easily. ]

I'll follow up with the Lich King when I get the chance. I probably don't need to tell you this, but for now, don't repeat what you've told me to anyone else here. Kaschey's crimes in Ursus haven't been forgotten. Some of the old timers would want you arrested if they found out you're carrying something from him.

It's something I've considered.

[She smiles, faintly and a little wry. Long has Talulah contemplated if it is as Frostnova says, or the opposite is true, that Kashchey is certain Talulah will break and his curse will take root, no matter what.

That Frostnova goes with the former option immediately is heartening, honestly.]

But no, you don't have to remind me. I'm well aware of what others would think, say, and do if they knew this. I'd be searching for a way to break it entirely more, but that kind of free time is a luxury under the circumstances.

[ despite the horror she was born into and the stoic face she shows to the world, FrostNova hasn't lost her faith in the rest of humanity quite yet. it's why she made her bet on Talulah in the first place. ]

Yeah, it is.

[ the "circumstances" they have to operate under remind FrostNova of the other question she needs to put to rebellion leader. ]

As for the second thing— we'll be backing you as the rightful heir to the throne. Only problem is, you've got competition for that title. The leader of Dublinn says she won't make a claim, but you'd have to be stupid to believe she isn't considering it. Then you've got the rumors about a survivor of the Aslan house hidden away in the capital.

[ at least three would-be queens, all with a different set of backers behind them. this fact alone has been enough to dissuade some people from supporting Talulah, foreseeing a nation plunged into one civil war once the current powers are uprooted. ]

Our intelligence officers are going to tell you the simplest way out of a crisis of succession is to kill off your competition. Have you considered that before?

I'm aware.

[Talulah sets her teacup back down and sinks a little more into the backrest of her seat. It's not the first time she's been asked a similar question.]

And I have. I don't know a thing about the Aslan heir, but I had the misfortune to run into the Dublinn sisters and learned quickly that their current leader needs to be eliminated. As soon as it's politically or logistically feasible. In fact, I'd liken her to Kashchey, down to the way she tried to sway me to her mad worldview. The other one is...at least reasonable. But I have no idea what she'd do if her sister were killed.

[Especially by another party vying for the throne. Nothing like revenge to spur on someone's own desire to claim it.]

On that note, how much do you know about their leader's arts?

[ so she's not against using force to solve that problem. good to know. what Yelena's still curious about is what she thinks of more conciliatory methods— a renewal of the joint royal lines, or even a political marriage to combine them.

Talulah's own question distracts from pursuing that topic. at least she's made it patently clear what she thinks needs to be done with one of her rivals. ]

The older one, Eblana? There's a lot of rumor, but our intelligence networks aren't what they used to be. I've heard things that sound straight out of the folktales grannies tell to scare children.

[ still, she gives a slight shrug of her shoulders. ]

But I know my father, and the Lich King. I know what arts can do. Are the stories about dead men marching true?

[Talulah would always consider conciliatory methods first, but Frostnova did ask her about her willingness to consider other options, if it came down to it.]

They're true. A Draco's arts aren't exactly fire. They're more akin to energy manipulation. You've just had a sparring match with me, so you know I don't need an ignition medium.

[She'd run into similar arts, ones that keep dead or dying people on their feet as shells, but Eblana's are wholly unique.]

And Eblana uses hers to reanimate the dead. The worse a battle is, the more slaughter that piles up...the stronger she becomes.

[ FrostNova is silent after Talulah finishes her explanation. she bites down on the remaining sliver of candy in her mouth, cracking it into bits, and mutters under breath. ]

Unbelievable.

[ to her, the very idea of the Taran rebellion leader's arts is sickening. as even-tempered as she is, the one thing Yelena cannot tolerate is cruelty. leading a force of desperate fighters with the promise of a better life in store, then using their bodies like puppets to continue on with the battle— Talulah called the younger one reasonable. FrostNova can't understand how any person could watch something like that happen and reasonably not want to strangle the perpetrator with their own hands. ]

If it comes down to open warfare, our army has ways of dealing with her. Most of our generals aren't thinking that far ahead yet, but after we finalize the alliance, I'll bring it to their attention.

[Reasonable in the sense that she can be talked down and likely doesn't have goals or viewpoints that are utter insanity. Talulah hasn't the slightest idea why she hasn't broken free from her sister yet, or if she even wants to.]

That's good to hear. I've seen plenty of Victoria's armies underestimate what Dublinn is capable of. All the better if you can avoid that particular pitfall. That said, besides the fact that one supposedly exists somewhere in the country, I know far less about that Aslan heir.

[Rumors and real intelligence had really blurred together as far as this situation went. Talulah also didn't have the benefit of running into her.]

We haven't been able to confirm anything, but based on the reports I've seen, there's a woman in Londinium's slums who fits the age range and physical description of Alexandrina Victoria, if she managed to escape the Aslan purge.

[ most importantly, their spies have crossed paths with individuals who are attempting to investigate and monitor the same person of interest. even if Ursus' intelligence agents haven't found a smoking gun yet, the activity around the woman is enough to raise eyebrows. ]

Look, this is all speculative, we don't even have ink on paper yet, but I've heard this floated more than once, so I have to ask— re-establishing the joint royal lines. Do you have strong feelings about it?

Personally? I've long understood it's a possibility, so I'm not opposed to it. However...Victoria, in general, is a different story.

[Forget the nobles, many common people would riot over joint royal lines ruling over the country. There's certainly a cohort who couldn't care less who's on the throne, and they just want everything to go back to relative normalcy. But that's just one subsection.]

But maybe figuring out how to navigate any opposition can wait until any ink is dry.

[ the reasoning she's gleaned behind the proposition is that a return to an old status quo would be the easiest pill to swallow for some people, but she figures Talulah can argue her case if the idea starts to gain any serious traction. ]

Yeah. Everyone's more concerned with the logistics of taking on Victoria's army for now.

[ candy finished, Yelena picks up her cup again and knocks back the last of her tea. ]

The real obstacle we need to worry about is convincing one of the more defensive generals that making the first strike will be worth it. There's a couple of them, but with the rest of your list, winning over one of them is enough.

Just one?

[Talulah thought she had more of an uphill battle than that. But maybe a single general is as tough to crack as she already expected.]

I haven't been making much headway with that. I'm guessing you've got a better plan?

[Considering how much better Frostnova knew the inner workings of the Ursus military, she probably knew a far easier way to go about persuading the generals than Talulah.]

I do?

[ she responds with mock surprise. ]

My plan is to pick out the one I think will be the easiest to convince and tell them if they want to wait for Victoria to start a land war in Ursus, its their men I'll be sending to dig trenches around the border towns.

[ FrostNova's negotiating style is blunt, to put it mildly. within her own court, that's usually enough to get her what she wants, though she's never had to weigh in on a decision as serious as the one she's currently undertaking. ]

You're farther along than you think, Artorius, you just don't want to put your foot on anyone's neck when you're our guest here. I can take care of that part, just keep charming everyone else you run into.

[Talulah laughs in genuine surprise at just how straightforward the other can be.]

Well, no. It'd be pretty bad diplomacy if I started off with the threats and strongarming while I was trying to convince everyone Victoria would do the same. But if that's what it takes, I'll leave you to it.

[Things do seem to have fallen into place now that Frostnova is working with her. Which is a thought she thinks to voice.]

You say I'm far along, but after this meeting, I'm wondering how much rockier the path would have been if you had decided to be a part of the opposition while I was here.

[ Talulah's laughter is unexpected. she'd expected her to look at least a little scandalized, but Yelena's been finding that Talulah isn't nearly as uptight as the other Victorian nobles she's met. ]

If I were more neutral, I think you'd still have a shot. If I'd come out against you, we would've sent you home after a few days.

[ the fact that Talulah's been hosted in the palace for as long as she has is proof of her negotiating skills. neither her father nor his inner circle like to waste time on prospects they have no intention of pursuing, even if it risks coming off as unnecessarily hostile. ]

[She probably would never had made headway with the rebellion and its many, many commoners if she'd been like a typical Victorian noble.]

I think you underestimate your influence. But that's coming from an outsider.

[As far as Talulah's seen, while Frostnova doesn't have the sway of General Hellagur or her father, for example, there are several people who would be equally unmoved if she expressed an indifference towards Talulah's party.]

I'm glad I managed to be persuasive enough that I wasn't sent marching home after less than a week.

No, I know my opinion holds a lot of sway, but I don't respect anyone who puts my stances over their own.

[ and most that respect is simply due to her status. while it's true that FrostNova is a formidable warrior, compared to the other top military officials, the gap in experience is staggering. not to mention, on a more personal level, Yelena knows a good portion of that favoritism is based on the paternal feelings many of Buldrokkas'tee's shield guards hold for her. ]

Victorian's been a problem for a while. We all know they need to be dealt with eventually. Being the first one to offer a real solution took some pressure off of our people to come up with one.

[That is something Talulah has also noticed. The huge entourage that came with Frostnova for their first meeting is something difficult to forget. But she doesn't think it's all favoritism from Buldrokkas'tee's subordinates, either.]

It was one born out of necessity. As I mentioned, Victoria seems to be up to something, and I don't think "eventually" is very far away anymore.

[She'd like to go digging into whatever-it-is, but she does have some important matters in Ursus to handle first, after all. Hopefully, the teams she left back in Victoria are collecting some better intelligence.]

[ in the time of the Witch King, Yelena was once told, Leithanien's armies could be moved across counties and over borders on the whim of their ruler. such manipulation of arts is a feat few are capable of performing, and no military has been able to replicate the practice on a larger scale since.

on a smaller scale, though— apparently someone among Victoria's war casters has been very busy.

when FrostNova regains her senses, she feels like a weapon that's been disassembled and put back together by amateur hands. her stomach roils, the acrid taste of bile teasing at the back of her throat as she struggles to sit up, everything about the ground beneath her and sky overhead unfamiliar to her senses.

she and the Yetis had been far from the front lines, nearer to the Ursus-Victoria border. they'd been dispatched as a rapid response to an elite squadron that had been caught moving towards a rebel base with the intent to neutralize the leadership there. they intercepted them some ways outside the town, trying to avoid civilian casualties, but when one of their long-range agents started advancing—

shaking her head, FrostNova looks around again, trying to gauge how far she'd been sent from the battle. the surrounding farmland looks nothing like the forested area she'd been in just a few seconds ago. ]

Yuri? [ she calls out hoarsely, trying to recall who was nearest to her when she was hit. ]

Marina?

[In her defense, these kinds of arts aren't supposed to be possible nowadays.

But her ignorance of what Victoria's casters are capable of doesn't really help much. She'd been blasted into that weird swirl of arts all the same. And doing so had likely been their intention all along. She's not sure how many of the rank-and-file Victorians know who she is by sight, but to them, she'd obviously been a leader of some kind, and that had been good enough.

Good news: it's not her sword arm that's injured. The bad news is...everything else. Talulah is too disoriented to know where she really is, except that it's not where she'd been before. She's bleeding from her shoulder, and her side hurts enough that, at minimum, she's got bruising that will take a week to heal even with curative arts.

With some effort, she manages to push herself upright in spite of the vertigo, and manages to catch a voice the moment her ears stop ringing.]

...Frostnova?

[ her ears swivel in the direction of the noise, eyes following a moment later. ]

Talulah.

[ she doesn't call the rebellion leader by her first name, at least not when she's speaking to her. in her internal dialogue, though, the rules are less strict, and doesn't care to correct herself in their current situation.

rising to her feet, she shakes off the natural instinct to panic. survival comes first, and FrostNova smells blood on the air. she crouches low as she pads over to Talulah, partially obscuring her form in the flowering wheat. ]

Are you hurt? Can you show me?

Here.

[Her sleeve is torn enough that it's easy to peel away to show more of the wound to Frostnova, a gash that nearly extends to her elbow. It's deep enough to be a problem, but not life-threatening.

She does it without hesitation or even a question about what the other is doing here. For one thing, she's still a little dizzy, and thinking too focusedly makes the world spin. For another, even if this is some kind of bizarre hallucination, it's good to see a familiar face.]

The explosion that knocked me into a...portal, or something, bruised my ribs pretty badly, too.

Shit.

[ the expletive slips out on its own as soon as she sees the size of Talulah's wound. FrostNova feels like easy prey out in the open like this, but they need to slow the bleeding before she can think about relocating Talulah elsewhere.

working quickly, she shucks off her coat and pulls open her jacket underneath. using her knife, she makes a cut in her undershirt above the hem, then proceeds to rip off a longer, winding piece of fabric. ]

It was one of the enemy casters. There shouldn't be anyone alive right now who's capable of those kinds of arts.

[ but that's a broader worry she can examine when the queen her country wants to crown isn't at risk of bleeding out. using Talulah's sleeve and makeshift bandage from her own shirt, she wraps the wound tightly, managing to make a decent dressing considering the materials she has. ]

Do you think you can stand? I can carry you if I have to, but we'd have to ditch your sword.

That's what I thought, too.

[Which is why she never suspected the enemy's movements would be in service to getting her into one.

She winces when Frostnova ties off the makeshift dressing, but nods at the question.]

I can. I might need some support walking, but you won't need to carry me.

[Wasting time without cover in an unknown area is just asking for more trouble, so Talulah doesn't hesitate to shakily get onto her feet.]

I've got you.

[ FrostNova stands with Talulah, staying close in her space in case she needs to lean on her sooner rather than later.

glancing around again, she notices what could be a road in the near distance, and a forested area beyond it. if they'd both come out that last fight unscathed, she'd immediately head for the wilderness, but Talulah's condition forces her to consider other options. ]

Be honest— how bad does it feel? I can do basic first aid, but we might be better off heading for a village or town with a healer.

[ even with the risks, if Talulah's wound gets infected, they'll be forced to seek outside help anyway. ]

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im too lazy to do a proper transition

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