Tales of the Ice Harpy from Glacia

The last time Karla had been here, she'd been incredibly nervous about how that evening would turn out and affect her future. Standing in the Keep tonight with a crowd of people around her--some of them almost complete strangers--made her almost laugh at how naive her fear had been the last time.

Her Offering was nothing. This was the completely terrifying night.

A small gong echoed through the room. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then, after a pause, a fourth time. Four times for the four sides of a Blood triangle, the fourth side being what was held within the other three. Like the three males--Steward, Master of the Guard, and Consort--who formed a strong, intimate triangle around a Queen.

Lord Mallory shuffled around, making certain that everyone was lined up according to Protocol, light Jewels to dark, first all the males and then the females. A pair of double doors opened in the rear of the room and Karla glided forward to take her place on a small dias, then turned to watch her friends--her Court--file in behind her.

She took a deep breath and completely ignored all of her future Steward's hard work and Protocol and called out, "Prince Regan, will you serve in the First Circle?"

And so it began.

[NFB for distance, some text taken from Heir to the Shadows, Chapt. 16]

It was almost time for then to catch their portal home, but Morton had cautiously decided that there was enough time to visit one more landen village before they left. Even Julian didn't have much a problem with this, mollified by the five Blood males (and seven females) that Karla had handwavily, because cons are exhausting offered a place in her First Circle, once she'd made her Offering.

Once there, they'd scattered to their respective duties with an ease that came with having done the same thing many times within the past two weeks. Karla took over whatever building was the largest, more interested in being a Healer than a Queen, taking care of whatever ailments came her way, either with Craft, mundane medicines, or just some brisk advice. Warren sat nearby, making sure she had plenty to eat and drink, while talking to the people about their problems and their woes, making sure they felt heard, understood, and cared for. People who might otherwise have been afraid to come to Karla were set at ease by his openness and, more importantly, his lack of Jewel.

Jono and Julian were teamed up elsewhere, talking frankly about the war that Karla would be bringing to Glacia, about her plans to depose the current Queen and her Ruling Council, and making it clear that any landen who wished to fight--or even learn to better defend his village--was welcome to join with them. Jono made it very clear that the landens that joined with them would be more than simply fodder for the Blood. Their willingness to fight for a Queen that would see them as people too had even Julian offering a grudging respect.

Morton was out in the fields, delivering the Queen's Gift to nourish the crops. A cupful of Karla's blood in a bucket of water was enough to give the tiny plants new life and fullness, ensuring that the village could meet their new tithes while still having enough leftover for themselves. And Kaelas remained outside of the village, keeping watch with his superior kindred senses, which he never failed to point out to their group of tiny noses and ineffectual teeth.

[NFB, and all PCs modded with permission. Violence and dark themes in the comments, because what would a trip to Glacia be without those?]

Karla had been packing for her move to Haven, to spend a few months being an unofficial Queen to a village full of refugee Black Widows. Had been, however, because 'packing' apparently meant 'getting chased of her chambers by Helene and several other maids while they packed because no guest leaving SaDiablo Hall would ever be seen unpacking the mess that Karla considered properly packed, which, for the record, she should be ashamed of herself for.' There had been more, but Karla had taken the better part of valour and scurried away to hide regally decamped to one of the gardens on the far side of the Hall.

Lesson learned: don't bundle up clothes and shove them into a pack. Hearth witches got testy about things like that.

She'd been hiding enjoying the sunlight for about an hour when the coven piled out of the Hall to find her. Apparently a package had arrived from Emma and if there was one thing they'd learned by now, mail from Emma meant embarrassment for some and hilarity for everyone else.

"Were you expecting anything?" "Is it from that store?" "Did she include a note?" "Open! Open it! Hurry! I want to see what she sent!" "Ten silvermarks says it's going to make the boyos blush!" "Too easy! Fifteen gold says it make ths High Lord put up an aural shield when he finds out about it." "Do you think this one runs on batteries, too? I want one like Karla has."

That last earned several scandalized gasps. "KALUSH!!!"

"What?" Kalush just laughed at them, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "Not all of us get to enjoy a lover before the summer is out, Karla. Morghann."

At which point Karla managed to open the box before the conversation could involve any further mention of her own purchases from Dite's. There was a moment of hushed silence as they stared at the contents of the package. Karla was the first to break down into giggles, especially when she saw that Emma had made sure to include a special adornment to show that they were meant to be Kaeleeran, err, candies. Her laughter triggered the others and soon they were laughing so hard there were tears in their eyes.

"The second one is for you lot to split amongst yourselves," Karla said, wiping her face. "Who wants to borrow a knife from the boyos so you can divvy it up?"

"No, no!" Gabrielle said between gasps. "We should wait until they're around and then take bites off of it!"

"Dibs on the tip!" Morghann said.

"And look!" Kalush announced, snagging a smaller package within the box. "Emma sent batteries, too!" Which just set Karla to facepalming and the rest of them to laughing even harder. Yup. Embarrassing one, amusing to everyone else. Good show.

[NFB, open for folks in Kaeleer, phone calls, whatever! Second and third links NSFW!]

The first week Karla, Warren, and Raven had been back, they had been granted a leave on lessons. After all, Warren and Raven had just graduated from high school and that was an accomplishment of some note. Even Lucivar had announced his morning exercises for the week were voluntary only, making the three of them (okay, Raven and Warren) immediately popular among the coven and boyos.

Granted, calling the lessons "voluntary" was kind of a joke, because Lucivar was a prick, but it was the thought that counted.

The following week, however, it was business as usual, or, rather lessons as usual. Though Karla was the youngest at eighteen, Saetan had a firm rule that while Jaenelle's friends stayed at the Hall, they took lessons. The coven and boyos privately agreed that it was a last-ditch attempt to keep them out of mischief while they stayed, but since they'd all run off the most obnoxious of tutors years ago, the lessons that remained were no hardship.

And some, like Protocol, were necessary. Especially when dealing with the kind of Protocol only found in Courts. Some Protocol lessons were taken together, polishing the give and take between the sexes in a Court. Others, like this one, were separate, with the boyos sitting down and learning about what it was like to act as Consorts to Queens. Granted, Saetan hadn't been a Consort in over fifty thousand years, but that didn't matter. Saetan was the foremost expert on Protocol, then and now.

After the debacle of Agio (and the even more debacle-y aftermath), Karla had promised to keep Saetan, Lucivar, and Morton apprised of major events at Fandom. She might often interpret that promise as conveniently as possible, but there was no way that even she could spin the end of all creation as something other that a 'major event.' Which was why two months after reality had been repaired, she was standing in Saetan's office, telling them what had happened in stark and painful detail. Of course, since what had happened had affected all of Kaeleer, even if they didn't know it, Karla was not delivering her report to Saetan alone, or even Saetan and Lucivar. No, Jaenelle and several members of the coven and the boyos had all crowded in, too, and were listening to her clustered in the chairs at the back of his office.

It could have been worse. There might not have been a Kaeleer to return back to. Or the split between her and Warren could have been permanent, leaving her to stand in front of the High Lord's great blackwood desk alone while spilling out the story. It was comforting, having him beside her, so she could reach out and hold his hand for comfort at a few parts.

Karla had done all of the speaking up until this point, laying out all of what had happened in sparse detail. They had heard the entirety of the account, all the way up to remembering the universe back into existence without interrupting, but she didn't think that silence was going to last for very long, not as her story wound down to an end. From the shifting behind her and the faces that Saetan and Lucivar had made at various points in her tale, once she stopped talking, she was going to face a torrent of words.

( Most of them probably invectives. At least from Lucivar. )

[Preplayed with the wonderful not_a_parakeet. TBC in comments. Apologies, was supposed to be up yesterday (and completed), but I sort of failed at availability this week.]

The construction of the first of the refugee villages was continuing apace when the portal from Fandom arrived. In the time since school had begun again, the hired workers had managed to clear the land granted to them by Lasfaeran and also dig and fortify the foundations of the buildings. Arcerian cats prowled the site; they were not interested in helping, for the most part, but were getting used to having such a large and noisy number of humans nearby. The humans were also getting used to having such a large and silent number of Arcerians nearby, though they were perhaps adjusting with a little less grace than the kindred.

It was hard not to notice when you were outweighed and outmatched--and, in a number of cases, outranked as well.

Even with the impressive amount of progress that had been made in her absence, Karla could see there was still a lot to do. There was land cleared for crops, but it hadn't been readied for actual planting yet. Some few of the buildings had been framed, but nothing more than that. There were holes dug for posts, but none of the livestock pens had been put up yet. Wells had been dug, as well as sewage lines and irrigation ditches, but they still needed reinforcement and care.

Pushing up her sleeves, Karla grabbed a hammer and got to work. This was going to be a home for her people and, dammit, she wasn't going to stand around supervising all day. For the most part, she had no idea what she was doing, but she could follow instructions.

Eventually, the foreman got over the fact that he was hollering at a Queen and began ordering her about with the same caustic language as everyone else.

[Open to anyone Karla would have called, texted, emailed, or whatever to invite for a few days worth of Habitat for Humanity type work in Kaeleer. If you think you got a call, you did! NFB for off-island.]

It had taken the awhile, but they were finally back in Kaeleer--just in the nick of time, too; Karla had her diplomatic meeting with the Queen of Arceria the following morning. Technically, Karla should have been preparing for that, going over supply lists, touching base with Morton and Julian about the situation in Glacia, and otherwise making herself useful.

She'd get to all that in a little while. Really. Almost as soon as she got to the house. But for right now, she was standing at the end of the Hall's great driveway waiting for Tara's portal to arrive. Good luck (or perhaps a hefty bribe fee) had gotten a portal from Fandom arriving no more than ten minutes before Tara's portal was scheduled. She'd gotten permission from Uncle Saetan to have Tara stay for a few days. She hadn't even had to go into the circumstances around Tara's request; Saetan was still very appreciative of the help Tara had given when they'd been searching for Karla last year. A psychic thread to Beale in the Hall affirmed that their rooms were all ready for them and that Holt was bringing one of the carriages down the half-mile from the house to the end of the driveway; one big enough to fit four students and whatever luggage they'd brought back with them.

Now all they had to do was wait.

"Is it time yet?"

Karla sucked at patience.

[For one Wiccan witch, and those that are there in Kaeleer with them, should they like!]

The meeting took place after dark. For all that the Hall was filled with dark power that had seeped into its very stones, it was still easier for the demon-dead to arrive after the sun had set. Several bottles of yarbarah were already warming--this might be a war council, but Mrs. Beale would never allow Mephis, Prothvar, and Andulvar to go without refreshment.

( All war councils need tea and cookies )

[Establishy, unless them that are there wish to talk to people! NFB.]

This was...well, this was weird.

When Karla had received a letter from Uncle Saetan summoning her home, she'd assumed that she'd been summoned home to talk to him. Which, considering her currently mixed up feelings in regards to Jaenelle, had caused no little trepidation on its own. Arriving at the Hall to find out that it wasn't the Hall Lord that had required her presence but someone else entirely had been, well, weird.

She'd heard of Jaenelle's Black Widow friend who lived in a snug cottage in the village of course. Jaenelle had wandered into the Twisted Kingdom to help lead Tersa out, as far as the broken Black Widow was willing to come, at least. Wise, by what Jaenelle had said, and trustworthy, but that still didn't answer the question as why she'd want to talk to Karla.

But with both Saetan and Jaenelle adamant she go talk to Tersa--though Jaenelle's insistence had kind of raised Karla's hackles a bit and she might have gotten just the tiiiiiiniest bit snippy--she was pushing aside her confusion and knocking on the cottage door.

[NFB, please]