A Landen Village in Southern Glacia, Kaeleer [Wednesday Afternoon, Fandom Time]

[glacial_queen]

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?]

Comments

[furnaceface]

"And I wouldn't want you to go into this without knowing," Jonothon replied, giving Julian a momentary glance, something almost surprised, really, that he was doing something close to taking his side on this.

But Jono could handle himself. He needed to, here.

"Not when it's a decision like this one. Not when it could very well mean your life. I'm stepping into this because where I come from, people like me have been pushed into corners, forced into hiding, exterminated like animals or worse. I'm stepping into this because I know all too well what it means to have that choice stripped away, I know exactly what it means to have my mind taken from me by the same people who would see my people being trod underfoot simply for not being the same as them. I've been in too many fights I never wanted a part in. Now that I can choose, I want to be in a fight that counts. I don't want Glacia to get to the same point my own home did, with last-class citizens trod on by the people with power, and no hope of ever making it better without making it far, far worse, first. Karla is an unknown to you and yours, relatively, but she'll be a far cry better than Hobart and his pet Queens have been. I know her well enough to be able to say that confidently."

[kaeleerans.livejournal.com]

"Then where has she been this whole time?" the landen snapped, a mix of rage and grief in his eyes. "If she's here to save us and usher in this new time of hope and salvation for us all, why is she only here now? Why not before, when I was still whole? When I had two sons and a wife, instead of three lonely plots of ground hundreds of miles from here? Why is it that you know her and not us?!"

[glacial-court.livejournal.com]

"Whoa, now, settle down!" Julian took a step back, trying to keep his own nature from coming to the fore in response to the landen's rage. "You don't know--"

[kaeleerans.livejournal.com]

"I know plenty!" the man howled, either unaware of the potential danger he was in from the Warlord Prince or uncaring of it. "I know grief and loss and pain! I know who and what I've lost over the years she's been gone and that list is plenty long! I know that she's wearing a damn darker Jewel than any other Blood I've ever seen, which means she's more than a match for whoever goes up against her! But what I don't know is why she abandoned us!"

[furnaceface]

"Because she was a child herself," Jonothon replied softly. "Because, strong Jewel or no, when your family is murdered and you fall into the custody of an Uncle who would like nothing more than to break you and take all that's yours for his own, what else are you to do? She couldn't save you then. No more than any other little girl possibly could."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"She would've died trying or worse. There's more to a Queen than the colour of the rock she wears. She needed to grow into that, first, and she couldn't do that here. She never would've had the chance. She wouldn't have lived long enough to try."

[kaeleerans.livejournal.com]

"Lots of little girls have died," he said softly. "And many more have been broken."

[furnaceface]

"She knows." Jono's words were quiet, but he kept his head up, looked the man in the eye. "She's seen a lot of the results of Hobart's reign herself with her own two eyes. She empathizes with them all. She bleeds for them, sometimes as literally as figuratively. And she doesn't want to see any more meet that fate. This isn't the Glacia she was born into. It should never have come this far, and I see it eat her away inside, thinking that she might've changed this sooner somehow, when she couldn't have possibly managed to. She doesn't want to take back Glacia for the sake of power. She wants to restore her home."

[kaeleerans.livejournal.com]

"And what happens if you're wrong about her?" he asked. "What will you do? Leave back for your home?"

[furnaceface]

"Home sweet home?" Jono snorted and gave his head a shake. "I've signed on to this, I'm in it for the long haul. I'm no stranger to handing myself over to a cause and seeing it through up to and beyond that moment that there's really no practical use left for me. I'll be here. And if I'm wrong about her, which I sincerely doubt, I won't take it laying down."

He gave his shoulders a little shrug.

"I consider her family," he said, "but that mostly just means that I'm comfortable giving her a good swat upside her head when I see her bollocksing something up. Protocol is for the Blood to worry about. I'm the bossy older brother."

[glacial-court.livejournal.com]

"That's one benefit of being a landen that I hadn't considered," Julian said, sounding surprised. "You can be more object--" he stopped abruptly, stiffening before swinging around to face the road.