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

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

[This, honestly, took a lot of work. More work than some of the battleplans, but admittedly the machinations of the Victorian nobles are predictable. The only thing Talulah knows about the northern territories is what she's gleaned from her father's journals.

Edward Artorius apparently had a decent enough relationship with the ruler when he'd been alive, and since the wendigo race of Sarkaz live for a very, very long time, perhaps any goodwill towards her parent might be extended to her.

She has also gleaned the northerners are not unreasonable; they've crossed paths during various skirmishes at the border, and they ignore all rebel forces once their own task is complete. Talulah has made it very clear no one from her side is to engage with any other party that isn't either obviously Victorian, or strikes first, and it seems the courtesy is returned.

That said, isolationist policy is hard to overcome, and what she's asking isn't a mere favor. To be embroiled in civil war in another country is an idea most people would scoff at, but...the north has undoubtedly seen the writing on the wall for what will transpire after the dust settles. Victoria's appetite is ever unsatiable.

The Gaulish castle she walks through is a testament to that. It's nothing but ruins now, good for little else besides neutral territory. She's brought two members of the rebels with her, two with a calm rationality suited to negotiations. She'd be fine going in alone, but, well...if Talulah saw another group's leader sitting all alone during a meeting that was meant to be a peaceful talk, she'd think there was an ambush waiting.

Still, no matter how rational one is, curiosity tends to win out, and she can hear her escort party gossiping even behind their masks. They're wondering if the northern princess is as beautiful and strong as the rumors say. If she's half as strong as that Cautus she'd seen once during a border skirmish, then her alliance would be more than a boon.

By her estimation, the meeting time is near, so she supposes she'll find out soon enough.]

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I'll look forward to it then.

[Talulah smiles, genuine about the sentiment. The other rebels will probably find it further odd behavior for her to be waiting for a package, but that's not something at the top of her mind at all.

What is instead is how...reluctant she feels to give Yelena a goodnight and head back to her own tent. But she has to, before someone comes looking for her. With a small sigh she hopes most of that hesitance doesn't show in her expression.]

It wasn't any trouble. Sleep well.

Yeah. I'll see you in the morning.

[ it's more of a hope than a certainty, the chance that one of them is called away before they can meet again always looms in the background, but Yelena says it all the same. in case it doesn't come to pass, a part of her wants Talulah to know that she was looking forward to it.

in the following months, Yelena finds time moving at an incomprehensible pace, a syrupy slowness that rapidly escapes through her fingers in the brief moments she tries to hold fast to it.

an arts device is supplied for her and Talulah to communicate through. while FrostNova acts like she forgets it at times, she is a princess, and fully entitled to the rare impractical demand. she doesn't regret leaning on the communications team to have her request fulfilled, not even when tense glances exchanged between the Yetis finally prompt her to sit her vice-captains down and put their feet to the fire over their grievance with Talulah.

that sliver of information never makes it to the recordings she passes along to Talulah's receiver. she doesn't need to know about the idiotic speculation of Yelena's squad. they swore on their lives to never indulge in the absurd gossip again, and Yelena will take the heart-stopping embarrassment of hearing it to her grave.

well, sestra, you have to know, it's kinda obvious that the two of you got ... involved while you were alone out there, yeah?

Yelena pushes the memory away, out of sight into the deepest recess of her mind. she ignores shared looks her comrades still shoot each other whenever she speaks of Talulah, just as she ignores the similar emotions that are dredged up when she reads that first unexpected, bizarre missive from the self-proclaimed queen of Tara. her words feel slippery, an oily cast brushed over her sentences, something about her coy phrasing that makes it too easy for Yelena to imagine the madwoman's fingertips tickling the back of her neck, cloying and playful and utterly inappropriate for an official communication.

she can't spare Eblana Dublinn's ramblings any serious thought. not when the war is quickly approaching its finale.

for the siege of Londinium, she takes a group half the size her orders dictate. if lives are going to be lost on the battlefield, Yelena knows it will be here. they slip away from their encampment in the dead of night with no warning, already through the walls by their absence is realized.

moving through the city is a nightmare, but Yelena and her elites have seen worse, remember worse. they reach their classified target within 72 hours of running ahead on their own. when the towheaded punk leading the defense of the shipping docks drops to one knee and renounces her claim to the Victorian throne, Yelena distantly realizes she's living through one of those moments people write about in history books.

Alexandrina Victoria will not abandon the civilians she's kept alive throughout the fight, so FrostNova brings a quiet death to the duke's men that have kept them pinned down for days. her squad is halved again as some of them break off to rush the former heir to Ursus' main force, while the Yeti Princess turns her attention to assisting the rebels being strangled in the factory district.

it becomes a blur after that. FrostNova calls an early winter down through the streets and duchy-occupied buildings. her cold spreads until she tastes thick iron on her tongue, every last ounce of her spent, and the air goes dank around her as she's hefted onto a feline man's back and spirited away beneath the ground.

she doesn't know how long she's been out by the time she starts to stir, voices in the near distance rousing her from dreamless sleep.

woah there, we're friendly! you lads got any space for a couple of wounded freedom fighters? ]

[For Talulah, time moves much more rapidly, even with the unfortunate weight of the distance between them. Maybe it's because she's much more in the thick of it, having to plan and make decisions and battle in skirmishes and interpret reports and deal with the nobles in an endless cascade.

The times she does get to talk to Yelena are a welcome respite, though, even if she doesn't ever hear about what had been behind the Yetis' odd actions. She figures that if Yelena doesn't bring it up, it must have been something harmless. On the other hand, she is slightly more aware of Eblana Dublinn. There's no way she couldn't be, when the talks about what to do with Tara are swirling around. She maintains the elder Dublinn sister is a madwoman and should be dealt with, but that's currently rather politically unsound.

And honestly, she's getting a little sick of politics. Now that victory doesn't seem like such a pipe dream, the nobles have begun to talk about what happens after. The rebels do as well, but they speak of normal things, like wanting to open up a shop or start families, once Victoria stabilizes. The nobles speak on divying up the spoils. On who to keep in check, and how. On what other countries will do. On alliances.

If Talulah manages to pull this off, every world leader will be salivating at the chance to get a sliver of Victoria's power. They'll do anything for it, and they'll get it by might, diplomacy, or...marriage. There are many good options, or so she's told. Talulah's getting rather sick of being spoken to like she's going to be sold to the highest bidder, but it's not just that.

Can she really mourn something she didn't realize she'd be losing until this moment?

Lately, they've gotten close enough that she can practically feel the weight of the crown on her head already. Every inch they take in Londinium adds a little more. But equally, she can feel the weight of the expectations of those she led here. The last thing she'll ever do is ruin the world they're seeking, ruin her own chance to put a sword through the dregs of Kashchey's ambitions for good, because of her own emotions. That doesn't make anything easy, though.

Especially not this final siege on the city. It feels as though it takes all of their effort just to claw a block or two, or a district, but they are making steady and sure progress. They're also trying to throw off the opposition by keeping her location as secret as possible, so Talulah's a little surprised when someone comes to her in the temporary stronghold and mentions that there's an allied party that's arrived. Curious, she gets up from where she'd been resting and poring over a map to go see what the matter is.

Oh. It's just some fellow rebels who had uncanny luck.]

Sorry about the cold welcome. It's because I'm here, and the fewer people who know that the bet--Yelena?

[The moment she notices who's being carried on the back of another rebel member, she instinctually sends warmth down the connection of their arts bond.]

[ she hadn't realized how cold she'd gotten before that familiar spike of heat races through her veins. the young man carrying her (Feist, she thinks he said) has Petra's coat draped over his shoulders to keep Yelena's from coming into direct contact with skin, and he makes an unflattering noise of surprise when his cargo jerks to life. ]

Talulah?

[ her mouth is suddenly dry. shit— does she still have blood on her lips? how long was she out for? a wave of panic hits Yelena when she realizes that she's absolutely not prepared to talk to Talulah right now, and must look like a complete child being carted around by the Londinium rebels she was tasked with saving.

she moves to stand, head swimming as her feet wiggle awkwardly in the air for the few moments it takes her to realize that she's being carried. ]

I'm good to stand. You can put me down. [ Feist replies with a skeptical well, whatever you say princess, but crouches down to accommodate her all the same. ]

[Talulah doesn't see Yelena being carried by the other rebels and thinks it childish. She sees this and thinks Yelena has overexerted herself with her arts.

She gives instructions on where the wounded and healthy newcomers should go, still sharing a bit of her arts with Yelena as she does so, before addressing the other directly.]

Did you run into trouble to have to use your arts that much? The comms have been spotty. It's the whole reason we're holed up here.

[ considering her condition, FrostNova should be in line with the rest of her group to find somewhere to hunker down for a few more hours of sleep. with her adrenaline crash come and gone, it's a mix of Talulah's arts and sheer determination keeping her on her feet, and she doesn't know how much time that will really buy her.

she feels an unnatural stiffness creep into her muscles as she stands across from Talulah. instinct tells her to go forward, to huddle closer to that blaze of warmth, but the heavy atmosphere weighs her down, keeping her fixed in place. ]

I'm not sure if I can say that when I ran into it on purpose.

[ Yelena's guessing Talulah wasn't given a full rundown of the Yeti's mission in Londinium. hell, she disobeyed orders for her squad size before she even entered the city, and she's positive there's some hand-wringers in charge here who would want to keep that quiet. ]

We came from the factory district. Creating an exit route for the rebels there was part of my agreement with our original target.

Ah. This makes a lot more sense now.

[She knew Yelena's task had been to handle the Aslan heir, which had been successful, as far as the brief communications had announced. After that, things had gotten much murkier.

But this could actually be a boon. Yelena mentioned they came from the factory district, which means there's a good chance members of their group have the skills necessary to help stabilize the comms.

That said, she should probably get Yelena somewhere she can rest...or force her to take a break, is the most likely outcome. She takes a step closer, near enough that Yelena can use her as a crutch if she needs to.]

We've got a short while before we're meant to receive any signal. You can give me some more details while you defrost. This way.

"Defrost"? What am I, your dinner?

[ Yelena's complaint doesn't have any teeth behind it, but she tenses when Talulah moves closer to her. unbidden, the conversation she'd had with a few of the senior Yetis replays in her mind, the looks they'd exchanged between each other as FrostNova had pressed them to explain their recent behavior. she'd been mortified after that exchange, storming away from the campfire with her face burning red. Yelena hadn't been treating Talulah any particular way, had she? even if she was— was there anything so wrong with that?

she shouldn't be thinking about this right now. taking a sudden step forward, her knee wobbles questionably as soon as she tries to shift her weight to it. her hand shoots out to grab onto something nearby— which can only be Talulah, who moved into range just to let her do something like this. ]

—sorry. I don't think I was resting for too long.

Do you have a better word for it?

[Talulah tips her head to the side, thinking that's a pretty apt description of what Yelena has to do when she overdoes it on her arts. Before she can make any other quip about it, though, she sees Yelena lose her balance and is already offering her hand in case the other needs more support than her shoulder. It's a thoughtless action, the same as her moving closer in the first place.

And maybe it shouldn't be so easy or instinctual, but Talulah isn't about to ponder over that when they're this close to their goal.

Thankfully, she also doesn't have the same knowlege as Yelena about the Yetis' thoughts, so she just peers over her shoulder at the small compound of buildings and one communications tower they turned into a temporary base, judging the distance.]

It's fine. Are you good for a short walk? Then you can actually take a break.

[ she doesn't dignify that first question with an answer, complaining more on principal than a sincere objection to the phrasing. the hand Talulah conjures up another memory of the time she'd made a fool of herself in the Hillock base. Yelena had been much colder then, without the small buffer of however long she'd been carried through Londinium's underground between the peak of her arts usage and now.

remembering the feeling of clutching at Talulah's hands fills her with an odd, impatient tension, the same kind that hounds her whenever she thinks too hard about Talulah in general. part of Yelena already knows what this, but she's stubborn to a fault. if she acknowledges it, it becomes real, along with the harm it can do.

Yelena releases Talulah's shoulder, reaching down take her hand instead, allowing only the barest flicker of emotion to cross her features. ]

I'll be fine. Let's go.

[Talulah nods, taking Yelena's word for it, but her pace is rather sedate as she leads the other into one of the buildings and into a room just off the entrance.

It's a simple one, with just a cot, chairs, and a table. The scattered papers and maps suggest that this is the spot Talulah had been using as her temporary break room. There are plenty of other places she could have brought Yelena, but nowhere else where she could count on at least a little bit of time alone without interruptions. Barring emergencies, that is.]

You can sleep if you need a nap. There's water and rations, too. Did you just overdo it, or are you injured, too?

[ she allows herself to be lead along without any fuss, making no comment on the careful pace Talulah sets for them. when they reach their destination, Yelena finds herself hesitating as she looks around at the seating options. the warmth of Talulah's arts is stronger through physical contact, and she hesitates to relinquish that connection, but there's no point in delaying the inevitable.

lowering herself into a worn chair, Yelena only releases Talulah's hand when she's fully off her feet. ]

I got knocked around a couple times, but nothing serious. The rebels didn't need to be told that keeping me covered keeps the rest of them alive.

And these were the ones with the Aslan heir? How did that go, by the way? We only heard the mission was a success.

[Talulah would have kept holding Yelena’s hand, if she knew just how much it had been helping. Instead, she thinks things like getting the other a flask of water and dried fruit, before sitting in the seat beside her.]

…and where’s the rest of your squad? I don’t think I saw that many Yetis with you.

Some of them are. Most of the rebels we found with Alexandrina Victoria went with her to the main body of our forces. I sent the other Yetis to make sure they made it there.

[ there's nothing untrue about that statement. if she had been with the whole of her squad, it would mean she sent nearly the entire unit to escort the Victorian princess, and she won't hurry to correct Talulah if she assumes as much.

she eyes the provisions set before her, but doesn't make a move to take them. Yelena's still in that odd, in-between place of having too little rest after hitting the point of exhaustion. which means she should eat and drink something before her body catches up with her, but that would be a waste of what little time she has with Talulah. ]

As for the mission ... she claims she doesn't want the throne. I can't make a judgment call on how truthful that is, but she'd been playing hard to get with at least one other faction who wants to put the crown on her. She told me she doesn't want anyone to take the title— but there's a path forward for the common people with you, and she renounced her claim in front of a dozen witnesses, so she's under my protection for now.

[Talulah sighs a little and presses a hand breifly to her forehead. If only it is that easy to leave the Victorian throne empty. She'd thought of it again and again, but she couldn't see a way out of the resulting power vacuum undoing everything she fought for in the first place.]

That sounds about accurate from what our intel said about her. Some of the nobles aren't going to be happy about any of that, but they can complain after.

[They'll suggest Talulah eliminate any loose ends, but if they manage all of this, she'll certainly have some leverage pointing out she doesn't want to start her new rule with a total and bloody purge.]

Did you notice anything else on the way here? We're trying to coordinate simultaneous attack with the allied nobles and all other nearby squads, but someone is jamming most communications.

[ Yelena's well aware of the risks that come with taking in the Aslan heir. even if Alexandrina is sincere in forfeiting her claim, her existence will be enough fuel the ambitions of present and future opposition groups. but from what FrostNova saw, the woman is sincere. she had months to mount her own claim or cut a deal with the dukes, and kept herself hidden instead.

speaking of which— ]

If you're sure the dukes aren't behind it, it might be the faction that Feist, the guy who carried me in, was with. There's been an underground resistance based in Londinium for years, and I guess they were planning to put Vina—Alexandrina, forth as the true heir as soon as the ducal forces made a major blunder.

[ the fact that she'd come clean about the proposal to Yelena without much prompting makes her think the resistance corp wasn't built for the Aslan princess, but around her. ]

Seems like we moved faster than they were expecting. She convinced the ones she had with her to ally with us, but there have to be more out there who don't know she made that call ... or don't want to believe it.

Hm. If that's a possibility, I wonder if there's some sort of message we can get out now that we have that group here. I'd rather not send out anyone on these streets if I can help it.

[Things are rather tense, and there's no telling what factions are thinking or planning at this juncture. Sending out a scouting party to search for a rebel base that may or may not be manned isn't something she wants to risk unless there's no other choice.

She should at least go convey this information she's learned. Even if Fiest and the others need more of a break, they can at least start brainstorming and sharing intel.

But...she doesn't really want to leave Yelena. Honestly, she's a little worried that the other has overdone it more than she's letting on, and on top of that, Talulah knows in the very core of her heart that this is one of the last moments like this she has. After it all, if they win...she'll have another kind of sword hanging over her head.]

We also might get away with just strengthening the signal here. There are engineers working on that now.

The Londinium faction had their own comms running through a hidden network. It was out by the time we got to the group in the factory, but they might be able to re-establish the connection.

[ without the threat of the Victorian military banging down their door, repairs will probably go a lot faster.

Yelena's become accustomed to navigating the rhythm of war, keeping tally of resources and men and what they can and can't afford to trade away. her personal thoughts are murkier, darkened around the edges by mounting exhaustion. she hasn't been awake, pushing herself this hard, for a long, long time. sleep means staving off total collapse, but it also means giving up the thing she really cares about. ]

How have you been? [ 'with things here', she thinks to add, but doesn't. Talulah might take it that way, and that's fine. Yelena finds herself wanting to hear anything she has to offer, even if it's just more babble about munition stocks or territory lines. ]

[Talulah's first instinct at that question is to laugh. She doesn't even begin to know how she'll answer that. Beneath all of the necessity, beneath all of the constant thoughts of plans, and how to outmaneuver the nobles, and contingencies, she hasn't really given a thought to how she feels. Or...some of it she has, but those thoughts are a dangerous trap this close to the end.

She does need to answer, though, and maybe if this had been anyone else besides Yelena, she would have played more of the leader. But Yelena is different. A friend and partner and equal in addition to being an ally. While Talulah is still only Talulah, she can probably afford to be just a tiny bit more honest.]

I'm fine, and I'm not injured, or anything...but is it bad that I think this fight is going to be easier than putting on that crown?

No. It's the truth.

[ leaning wearily against the table, Yelena props her chin up in her palm, eyes cast down. ]

One way or another, there will be an end to this fight. Once you take the throne ... that's the rest of your life.

[ the life you pleaded with me for, she doesn't say aloud. with their victory seeming more tangible by the day, the conversations going around through Ursus' high command have taken on a different tone. there were always expectations put on FrostNova, but the weight behind is gradually beginning to drag her down. they look to her now as a true player in the greater game of politics, the lowborn princess who may have instigated a total regime change in one of the most power countries on Terra.

the phrasing of that letter Eblana Dublinn sent her rises in her memory— naming her as the master holding Talulah's leash. in a twisted way, she's beginning to suspect that the woman's ramblings might not be far from what the rest of Ursus wants from her. ]

I know. But I'll finish what I started.

[She couldn't have known back when she spent so much effort to get Yelena, and by extension Ursus, on her side that her emotions would be like...this now. But that didn't mean she's allowed to second-guess herself now, of all times.

And while "leash" possibly isn't the word Talulah would use, it's undeniable that Yelena has her trust, and her opinion holds significant weight. If they make it through this and Talulah does take the throne, Ursus will have a level of esteem from the new leader of Victoria that other nations couldn't dream of in their wildest fantasies.]

I couldn't live with myself if all your effort was for nothing, either. I promise.

It wasn't just my effort.

[ Yelena insists it, but even to her own ears, it rings a bit hollow. she remembers that night in a sad little field where Talulah's blood flowed in rivers down her arm, onto Yelena's hands as she ripped up whatever fabric they could spare to staunch the wound. how many rebels can say they cared for Talulah like that?

a pang of guilt quickly follows the thought— people have died for this. more will likely follow before the day is through, both willful combatants and those caught in the crossfire. she took this up because the cost Talulah presented to them then outweighed what they might pay in the future, a careful balance of risk and reward, so what gives her the right to feel this ... possessive, over where the credit lies for Talulah's ascension?

she tries to evade the feeling with one of her usual barbs, but it comes out sounding more sullen than sarcastic. ]

If you were having second thoughts this late into things, I'd drag you into the palace myself.

See, that's what I mean.

[Yelena can definitely feel at least a little possessive about how much Talulah likes her. And that has nothing to do with anything besides the two of them.]

Besides, I still have to prove you wrong when you said all of my ideas were pipe dreams, right? I definitely can't stop now if I want to do that.

[Although...even if Yelena said that at the start, she's the one who first believed in Talulah so wholeheartedly. Betraying that trust feels unthinkable at this point.]

What? Are you saying "you couldn't live with yourself" means "I couldn't live with what FrostNova would do to me"?

[ she scoffs, ignoring the persistent itch building at the back of her throat. it's been a while since she's cast this much, and should probably focusing on rest rather than chatting up Talulah. Yelena drops her free hand down to her jacket, digging into a pocket to feel out one of her candies. ]

I'm starting to feel like I'm the only person my age who isn't blindly optimistic. Between you, the Aslan princess, and whatever Loughshinny Dublinn is doing—

[ the cough hits her before she manages to peel back the candy wrapper. she moves quickly to cover her mouth, shoulders shaking as her body attempts to expel the ice loosened from her lungs that results in wet, ugly noises. ]

[Talulah is about to come back with some remark about what Yelena's just said when the coughing starts, and she practically startles out of her chair. She does end up half-kneeling in front of Yelena, one hand on her back in an instinctual motion to soothe her.]

Yelena?! Nod if you need a medic.

[She's going to be really annoyed if the other had been injured this whole time and hadn't told her. Or, probably, Talulah will be more annoyed that she hadn't noticed at all.]

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