Camp of the True Queen, Outside of Yllestad, Tuesday Morning (Fandom Time)

[glacial_queen]

It had taken the army longer than expected to set out to Yllestad; Karla had been surprised (and touched) to hear that the camp had wanted to spend an extra day properly mourning the dead. Not just their own dead, but the landens that had fought and died, their will stripped away and replaced by something much darker. And once the impromptu service was over, every single individual there had lined up to repeat their vows of fealty to her.

No matter what else they had seen in their lives, this incident had been so much worse. It united them together, shored up any faltering hearts, and made them truly understand the kind of ruler Hobart was. Warren had watched the display with a thoughtful expression on his face, but had not shared his thoughts with her.

The march towards Yllestad was somber, but not grim. The losses lay heavy over them and the horrors that they'd seen lurked close, but there was a lightness, too. As if the ceremony to say goodbye had lifted their spirits some. Or, maybe it was the extra rations of good red wine that they were given at every stop on the way.

Upon seeing Yllestad, Karla and her First Circle agreed that it was better to make camp outside the walls than quarter her army within them. They'd all be able to fit, but they'd be spread out over the city in various hotels, lodges, and boardinghouses. Better to keep them all together--and made for better discipline--than imposing on the civilians.

Her tent was set up first, as it always was (she'd stopped arguing about that once the weather turned cold) and she was happy to slide off her horse and enter her tent, the brazier already glowing and a light snack set out. Rather than partake, Karla decided to take some time off from being 'the Queen' and enjoy being 'Karla' for a little bit.

Pulling out her phone, she sent a mass text to her contact list, borrowing from Momoko's weird texts from the night before.



Apparently, this is what my subjects get up to in their spare time. Why did I think this Queening thing was a good idea again?

[NFB. Open! If you think you'd get it (or even want to assume it's a wrong number!) you did! Posted early for other timezones, will pick up pings when I wake up.]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Why does it have wheels?

Important question was important!

[glacial_queen]

Why does it exist?!

Karla thought her question was even more important.

[bitten_notshy]

Are you denying the deer its right to wear a frilly wedding dress if it wants to?

Yes, Jack knew it was an ex-deer. He just didn't have any better retorts.

How are you, anyhow?

[glacial_queen]

That dress was an affront to all that was decent BEFORE the deer was shoved into it. Ask Emma. She'll tell you.

If Karla had picked up on the dress being in bad taste, you knew it was serious.

Winter now. Set up camp outside a large town that holds wool festivals. Still smells like sheep.

That was almost an answer. You know. If you squinted.

[bitten_notshy]

My eyes work. Dress is terrible, but maybe not to deer. Also: Asked how you were, not how town is?

Jack would brook no squinty answers!

[glacial_queen]

And this is why deer are easy prey. They're stupid.

And also tasty, but mostly stupid.

Her next text came a few minutes later, after Karla had wrestled with her reply for a bit. Are you sure? I could probably wax poetic about architecture or something? A lively discussion of the tithing process?

[bitten_notshy]

Jack read this, scratched along his jawline, and sighed. Should I call you? Sounds like this might take a while, and my thumbs cramp easily.

[glacial_queen]

Karla decided to call him instead. If she was going to be difficult (and this was Karla, so odds were good), the least she could do was make sure this went on her bill not him.

"Kiss kiss," she said when he picked up.

[bitten_notshy]

"Kiss kiss," Jack returned, wary amusement in his tone. "So what's this about waxing philosophical on the state of architecture, hmm?"

[glacial_queen]

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather hear my economic treatise on tithing?" Karla asked. "It's really very thrilling."

Suuuure it was. Not that she even had one, but suuuure.

"Hi darling. How's the island?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It's the island," Jack said. "Saturday we were all deaf and these winged vampires were attacking. There was a rain of sharks recently. And for some reasons they have the students camping in bouncy castles."

A pause. "I think it's bored and playing pranks."

[glacial_queen]

"That is something I'm glad to have missed," Karla said. "Well, I mean all three of them are, but bouncy castles? You are talking about the bright jumpy things we played on as kids that one year--right?"

Fandom...Fandom why?

"I guess that does put some of my stuff into perspective."

Glacia was difficult, but at least it wasn't imaginative.

[bitten_notshy]

"Those," Jack agreed. "I have no idea why they aren't rioting about it, but maybe they're young enough that it seems like an adventure."

Jack might have only been technically 21, but he'd passed the days of sleeping rough several years back.

"Does your stuff look better or worse in comparison?"

[glacial_queen]

"These new students," Karla sniffed. "Clearly not up to snuff like we were."

In that whole summer since Karla had been a student and all.

"My stuff? It looks more normal by comparison, but that's not much of a surprise. I'm glad that I'm only fighting off Hobart's males and not waging a two-front war against him and the Territory itself. I guess I'm also pretty glad that any of the island's craziness hasn't manifested over here yet. I don't know what would happen if I turned into a toddler or something. Probably try to lead my army to invade the nearest candy store."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

There had been some wrestling over the phone. Well. More like "hot potato" between Dinah and Momoko, low-key but grim. Then Ulrich had volunteered. Samantha finally stepped in and grabbed it away from both of them.

Fortunately the first random button she pushed was the one for Karla's Speed-Dial. (Since it was at #1 at the moment.)

It chirped suddenly at that, and Samantha tossed it in the air, wanting to get rid of it.

Dinah caught it, and sighed. This was ... going to be hard.

[glacial_queen]

"Dinah." No overjoyed excitement at hearing from her friend--Karla was feeling better, not joyous--but there was at least the sound of a smile on her face. "Calling to tell me that you've come up with a better name finally?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"No," Dinah tried to return the smile she heard in Karla's voice, but couldn't quite manage it. She gave up, and said, "This is an official report to the Queen of Glacia from two of the Lady's emissaries to the southern provinces."

[glacial_queen]

"I see."

Oh. Oh shit. If Dinah was pulling Protocol, this was important.

She found herself sitting up straighter, throwing her shoulders back as the mantle of the Queen fell over again. An irrational bout of nerves made her want to giggle and respond with something silly like, 'Go for Queen.' Something to make Dinah's voice stop sounding so ominous.

"Should we switch to video, Canary?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I think that would be best, Queen Karla." Dinah flipped the phone over to that, and held it so all of the Commandos could be seen, Momoko nearest after Dinah. "We've just completed assisting a local posse in tracking down four young women who were abducted over the last two days, at the request of their families."

[heromaniac]

"Lady." Momoko gave a slight nod and picked up the narrative, her voice very disconnected and formal. "Initial investigations allowed us to determine that the abductions were not involved in the northern massacre, but were instead were being conducted by local Blood males. The males, ten in total, were members of a club that have been abducting females in the area for a number of months.

She took a shaky breath, then continued. "The women were of varying ages, both Blood and Landen. From what we have uncovered, after the men finished their 'games' with them, the women were killed and placed in various locations. Usually in places that disrespected the person."

"After further investigation, we narrowed the search area and contacted Raven for back-up and assistance. We found and rescued four young women... One of whom was already dead when we arrived on the scene."

[glacial_queen]

There was a moment when the scene of their video had changed, showing them the roof of her tent. Just hearing about the abductions had been enough to make Karla drop her phone in shock. By the time she picked it up again, her face was pale, save for two bright red spots in her cheeks.

"Was it possible to liaise with local authorities?" she asked. "Or were they...compromised?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Their families were unsure," Dinah said, her voice flat. "Because no previous action had been noticed, when the parties in question were verbally abusive, and given to harassment in public." She took a breath, looking around their group, and reaching for Samantha's hand to squeeze. Sam was pale and still as marble. "So. After a house-to-house search, Denys, Mark, and Kirt, found the perpetrators in one of the manor houses on the north side of town. Denys contacted us immediately." She swallowed. "Then proceeded to the second story of the building to attempt to rescue them without back-up."

"In the course of apprehending the kidnappers..." Dinah grit her teeth. "Denys was hit by friendly-fire from one of the victims, and killed." Her hand tightened on the phone. "He became demon-dead for slightly under half an hour. Enough time to see..." Her voice cracked.

It didn't help that Kirt had his head in his hands, shoulders shaking with tears now.

"...that the surviving girls were safe."

[glacial_queen]

Karla closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Several times. "I am sorry for his loss," she said softly. "And I will require information about his family so we can...contact them and let them know of his passing."

She inhaled a long shaky breath, and then dropped her Queenly reserve for a minute. "Tell me you got those gutter sons of bitches," she hissed. "You got those girls safe, now tell me those bastards are somewhere where they can't hurt anyone else!"

[heromaniac]

It was just her training and the formality the situation required that kept Momoko from breaking down.

"Of the ten club members, nine survived the fight to rescue the girls. All fought against our removal of the girls, with craft, and those subdued and handed over to the district queen this morning along with a full report."

And now Momoko looked a little chagrined. "Of note. The village queen wasn't very happy that we didn't make a court appearance to announce our presence before acting in her domain, Lady; she seems a little pre-occupied with Protocol and status, which may explain the lack of previous official investigations into the abductions. Our information seems to indicate that the 'club' started with Landen girls."

"She has made a protest to the district queen."

[glacial_queen]

"Let her fucking protest," Karla snarled. "Let them even try to hide behind Protocol. If the District Queen has any balls at all, that bitch will end up with more than just her Court broken--" She cut herself off, seeing some of the wide eyes on the other end of the phone. Now was not the time to lose her temper.

"You all did right." She told them, stressing it as hard as she could. "Do you hear me? You did the right thing. You defended and protected and if the palsy bitch--" Twitch. "--if the reigning Queen can't understand that, then that's her problem, not yours. I am so very, very proud of all of you and so sorry that you had to see this, to deal with this." Tears welled up and she blinked them back. "There isn't a group I would have trusted more. I know Momoko and Dinah had been training you as well as they're able and they wouldn't have taken you along if they didn't believe you were worth it. And you--you've lived up to their expectations and I'm just so proud."