Room 218, Thursday Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

There was a letter for Karla in the mail today. It bore the SaDiablo seal and was from Dhemlan, but just holding it filled Karla with foreboding. Even the feel of the fine linen paper under her fingers gave her a chill, like a cold, dead wind was blowing through her.

She shivered as she opened it, wishing with all her might that it was a bill for the kitchen or a written tirade from Mrs. Beale and Helene both.

Inside the envelope was a single sheet of the Hall's stationary, folded over a small scrap of onionskin.

Karla,

This arrived at the Hall overnight. Geoffrey reports that a similar note appeared at the keep. Jaenelle is certain they're authentic. Stay safe. Portalocity will contact you when we've ascertained the best time to bring you home.

DO NOT COME HOME UNTIL YOU ARE CALLED.

Saetan

The cold only got sharper as she picked up the scrap of paper. Almost from a distance, she realized that her hands with shaking. From nerves or from cold, she couldn't tell.

He is claiming she is dead. Arranging meeting with warlords. Come soon.

All the breath whooshed out of her lungs and the note fluttered to the floor. Mini-Morton scurried over to pick it up with a series of concerned beeps, but Karla barely noticed.

Anger and planning would come later. Right now, there was only shock and a kind of fuzzy blankness.

[Door and post open. Morton's note written by the fantastic glacial_warlord]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Why has Little Terreille been mostly closed off?" Ben asked.

[glacial_queen]

"They're still active on the Dark Council and whatnot," Karla said. "But they're displaced Terreillians who have made a home for themselves in Kaeleer. But that's where...that's where Jaenelle goes on her mandatory visits."

Karla went stony-faced. "That's where her nightmares surface."

[momslilassassin]

Ben's face turned equally grim. "Think there might be a connection between the two things?"

[glacial_queen]

"But how?" Karla asked. "Hobart took power when I was nine. Jaenelle was still living in Terreille then. I mean, she came to visit but no one really paid attention to the strange little female who came and played with the equally-strange daughter of their Queen."

[momslilassassin]

The conclusions Ben's instincts were jumping to were ones he didn't like at all. "The ones who used Briarwood," Ben wouldn't call them "men", "weren't interested in having strong Queens, either, and that was in Terreille, right?"

[glacial_queen]

Oh great. Nightmare-fuel. "No," Karla admitted in a tiny voice. "Jaenelle mentioned something about a male council that ruled with her grandmother once."

Hell's fire, Mother Night, and may the Darkness be merciful. Things Karla had not put together before.

"They were all 'uncles,'" she whispered, swallowing convulsively. "And Hobart--he set up a Ruling Council to advise the young Queen that was my mother's replacement." The young Queen he had chosen. "The Ruling Council is made up of all males."

[momslilassassin]

"Are you going to be sick?" Ben asked quietly, reaching out for her shoulders.

He wouldn't blame her if she was, but he'd want to send Mini-Morton for some water.

[glacial_queen]

Karla didn't want to shake her head because that might mean she was going to lose the battle currently being warred with her gorge. Though water would be an excellent idea.

She sat down abruptly on the floor, putting her head between her knees until the queasiness subsided. "How?" she asked. "How is this possible?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben issued a quiet command to the droid before crouching down and rubbing Karla's back.

"I might be wrong," he said softly.

[glacial_queen]

Mini-Morton raced out the door and down the hall. Getting a glass of water? He was so on that.

"You have to be," Karla said, but the way she was clutching her hands suggested she was a little doubtful about that. "Kaeleer and Terreille haven't been in contact for millennia. Even most of the long-lived races don't remember when the Gates were open."

[momslilassassin]

Ben kept his hand on her back. "It could just be a coincidence," Ben said, though he didn't think it was. "Your uncle is hardly the only slumbitch ever to exist and want to be in charge of something that doesn't belong to him."

[glacial_queen]

"It's not so hard to imagine, I guess," Karla said dubiously. "One male wants power but knows that he can't change hundreds of thousands of years of Blood history. So he sets up some kind of fancy council to act as 'advisors' to the Queen."

Those other similarities, like breaking young witches and turning the sexes against one another and using fear tactics and the Ring of Obedience were just more coincidences, really!

[momslilassassin]

He sprawled next to her on the floor and held out the water glass Mini-Morton brought back. "But you don't really think so."

[glacial_queen]

Karla took a long sip before replying. "No," she admitted quietly. "My Black Widow senses are telling me that they're connected, even if I can't imagine how or why."

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe you should write Morton with it?" he suggested. "Since you won't be home for a while."

[glacial_queen]

"I have a feeling I'll be heading home sooner than that," Karla murmured, looking at the scrap of paper again. "This meeting of his--he's going to have to have it fast, otherwise, everyone will think I'm an imposter or something."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm coming," Ben repeated. "Morton will just have to deal."

[glacial_queen]

Karla raised her hands into the air. "I'm not even arguing," she said. "I'll feel better if you're there. If things go poorly, you're our secret weapon."

Between his lack of Jewel, his lightsaber, and his blaster, anyone who made a move would literally have no idea what hit them.

[momslilassassin]

"You're not arguing," Ben repeated. "This is going to be bad, huh."

[glacial_queen]

"I am not that contrary," Karla argued. Contrarily.

"...But I think so, yeah."

[momslilassassin]

"Do you want to take anyone else?" he asked.

[glacial_queen]

Karla shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "Too many more people and it'll be hard to get in or out unseen. Maybe Lucivar or Aaron once we get to Dhemlan, depending on what Morton's planning."

[momslilassassin]

He nodded. "I'll leave messages for Tahiri and Ender so they don't worry," he said. "And Granddad and Jaina."

He paused. "Too many people worry about me."

[glacial_queen]

"That's not true," Karla said, leaning backward to lace one of her hands with his. "It's good to have people worry about you. It means you have people who love you."

[momslilassassin]

He, predictably, blushed. "I never thought of it that way."