Karla's Office Hours, Office 14

[glacial_queen]

For the first time this semester, Karla had found her way to her office. Things were hectic back in Glacia as they prepared to head to Ebon Rih as part of her service to the Dark Court and Karla had exercised her royal prerogative to come to the island in order to prepare for her class next semester.

...By which she meant 'read a bunch of romance novels, pretend to take notes, and let her tea steep until it was undrinkable because she was caught up in the action.' She'd finally given in and started reading the Angelica Demesnes novels and was blowing through them at a ridiculous rate.

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[crimson_sister]

Lucille had wanted to speak to Karla, but the reason wasn't one related to class and one she couldn't actually talk about. In fact, she was reluctant to admit she wanted to talk about it at all. So she was here with an excuse made up, and not even a very good one.

She stopped outside the office, knocking light on the door.

[glacial_queen]

Karla glanced up from her book and smiled at Lucille, waving her in. It should be noted that any non-student would have gotten a raised finger to ask for a bit more time while she finished her current paragraph. Instead, Karla just called in a bookmark, placed it, and set the book aside.

"Come in," she invited. "Lucille, how nice to see you outside of class."

[crimson_sister]

"Good afternoon, Queen Karla," Lucille greeted. "I hope I am not interrupting something."

She hadn't seen what book it was.

[glacial_queen]

If Lucille grew nosy, she'd be able to just look on Karla's desk. She'd long outgrown any embarrassment over her reading materials.

"Just Karla, please," she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. "Otherwise you'll remind me of all the duties I'm avoiding now and I promised myself I wouldn't do that until I finished this book and it's prequel at the very least."

She read fast and it wasn't like the novels were particularly dense.

"What can I do for you today?"

[crimson_sister]

Lucille did in fact peek at the book, and blushed a little as she remembered having claimed in class that she never read such literature herself. Which had been a lie, and an obviously failed attempt at impressing her teacher.

She sat down, a little uneasy. "I know I have at times seemed very critical of the particular subjects of classes," she began, then hesitated.

[glacial_queen]

Karla waved that away. "Darling, you should have heard some of the things I said to my teachers in my day," she assured Lucille. "If I couldn't handle a little criticism, I'd be a dreadful Queen anyway. You have nothing on the ranting of my aristos, believe me."

She poured herself a cup of tea from the pot, then wrinkled her nose at the color. "Is there something I could be doing to make sure you enjoy class more? And would you care for a cup of oversteeped tea?"

[crimson_sister]

"I... yes, please. A cup of tea would be nice." She had hoped that Karla's response would be like that, or similar. It opened up for further questions.

"You know I come from a time where the modern interpretations would seem quite strange, if not shocking. I choose the class because I expected the subject would make the modern more familiar through the writing of the Bard. Instead I find it is often the opposite. I know your world is different from this. Would you like to tell me what these stories mean to you?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla called in another teacup, the fine bone china appearing out of thin air and settling down on the tray of its own accord. As she poured the tea into the cup, the sugar bowl, a plate of lemon wedges, and a small carafe of milk carefully nudged closer to Lucille, inviting her to make use of them if she wished.

"That is...a very long answer," Karla said carefully, handing over the cup. "I suggest you not be chary with either the milk or the sugar. It's quite bitter." This is what happened when she lost track of time, oops. "And it will also involve knowing some information about my world. So I'll be happy to discuss this with you, but I can't promise it will be a short conversation. Or that you won't be shocked by it."

But perhaps not as shocked as some other students. She'd seen Lucille's reaction at the wedding.

[crimson_sister]

Lucille placed the cup on the desk in front of her and followed Karla's advice. "I would prefer a long answer to a short. They are usually more satisfying. And I am not easily shocked."

[glacial_queen]

"I did notice that," Karla said, smiling into her teacup. "At least, by some of what I can do." She took a sip, grimaced, and reached for more sugar. "I assure you, I can usually make a better cup than this."

That was an important fact to share, okay? Karla was fine with Lucille judging her class, her choice in adaptations, even her culture, but she'd be damned if she let the girl think she couldn't make a good cup of tea.

"I suppose the three most important facts you need to know about my world are as follows. First, it is a matriarchy: the females rule, males serve and protect. Second, it is a world of magic. The Blood were created to be the caretakers of the world by the great dragons themselves. And third, there are no laws against murder."

[crimson_sister]

Lucille could forgive the tea. What she said next was far more interesting. Stirring her tea, she said: "That sounds like a world preferable to this."

Matriarchy, magic and murder? What more could you wish for? Well, Lucille wasn't that interested in magic, really, but the other two compensated.

[glacial_queen]

Lucille might think otherwise when she saw how unfun it was to be a landen in Kaeleer.

"Well, I certainly prefer it," Karla said. "As does my Consort, who left his world for mine." And in the same, conversational tone, she added, "Contemplate murder much, then, darling?"

[crimson_sister]

Lucille blushed. "No, that wasn't what I meant," she said. "I just... would prefer the other things, although I have no knowledge of magic. Your consort prefers it?"

[glacial_queen]

"Oh yes," Karla said. "It was not an easy adjustment, as most of our technology is roughly on par with yours, I think, though powered by Craft and spells and he is from the modern day. Also, he is a landen, Craftless, and some believe that makes him unfit to be a Consort to one of the most powerful Queens in all three Realms." She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with those beliefs, though they'd led to more than one assassination attempt. "But he is also a mutant, like Jono, though his mutation manifested in a pair of wings and a healing factor. As you may remember from the wedding, their world does not look kindly on mutantkind."

Which explained why Karla had taken such joy in eviscerating so many of them. "You might remember him? Blonde, handsome, fond of swooping down and snatching thugs up to the ceiling and hitting them repeatedly?"

[crimson_sister]

"I do remember him," Lucille said. A handsome man with wings was hard not to notice. "But your subjects disapprove?"

[glacial_queen]

And he was handsome, wasn't he?

"The landens love him," Karla said with a small smile. "Unsurprisingly. The merchants do as well. He was raised up as the heir to his father's pharmaceutical company and knows how to make money hand over fist."

It was rather ridiculous, actually.

"Even the northern aristos love him," she said, sipping at her bitter tea. "They supported my claim from the beginning. It's the southern aristos, the ones who were most influenced by my uncle's so-called 'improvements' that truly hate us."

[crimson_sister]

Lucille wasn't going to think too much about that a teacher's husband was handsome. What felt a little awkward. And although she tried, she found it hard to understand a lot of what Karla was saying.

"I have no experience of politics, but it sounds complicated."