Room 218, Sunday Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

Just a few months ago, Karla would have fired off a text to a bunch of people, saying something useful like Hobart's killing all the B Widows. Going to stop him. Hugs & kisses, K and run off into the wilds of Glacia with no plan but a burning desire to stop the bastard in his tracks. But that was a few months ago--she'd learned a few lessons since then.

And one of those lessons was 'you do not simply text you friends when running into danger.'

So rather than making Ender and Emma sigh defaulting back to old habits, Karla had returned to the island, placing a number of handwavey calls to people letting them know she was back and needed to talk to them before she left the island again. See? That was like a step in the responsible direction.

Besides, she had to pack up most of her clothes. She wasn't sure how long she'd be gone for, but she she doubted it would be measured in days--probably closer to weeks or even months.

What a sobering thought.

[Door and post open! Also, if you thought you got a call, you did! Note to squirrels: Karla and Tony's conversation about Peter is all NFB, please!]

Comments

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

It was the sort of thing dictators did to grapple for more power, and history classes had taught him about countless scenarios when similar things had happened. But that didn't make it any less disgusting, particularly given that near-slip she'd had. Her uncle was doing this?

"Good lord," Wesley murmured, horrified. "And you're, er, one of those witches, yes?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla held up her right hand, her snake-tooth sliding out from under her ring finger nail. "Of course," she said, amused. Gallows humor, to be sure, but still, amused. "However did you guess?"

"So, right now, all across my Territory, Black Widows are facing a choice: defy my uncle and risk death, or remove their ring fingers and swear loyalty." Her mouth twisted with bitterness. "Welcome to Glacian politics of the last decade."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"My god," he breathed, momentarily lost for words.

It seemed everywhere he looked at Fandom, there were people with horrible home worlds that they had come here to escape from. For Wesley, who'd been shuttled to Fandom as a punishment, it was doubly alarming. The Watchers' Academy had had its moments of cruelty, to be sure, but it was nothing like a world where children were killed for sport or witches mutilated to assuage a dictator's insecurities.

It was a few moments before he spoke again, and his voice was slightly choked with disgust for the world she was describing. "And -- to do that, to remove your finger, that would render you powerless?"

[glacial_queen]

"Oh no," Karla said, shaking her head. "Then we'd be useless."

There were other methods of rendering witches powerless, but that was a conversation for another, far more distant time.

"It does take away one of our most potent weapons, though. My snake-tooth is attached to a venom sac at the base of the nail. The poison is quite virulent. And painful. And only grows moreso as we age. So a scratch from a Black Widow my age probably wouldn't kill you, but it might feel like it would for awhile."

Bet you hadn't realized Karla was poisonous, had you, Wesley.

"It's more a symbolic gesture than not. De-fanging themselves for Hobart's pleasure."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"How repulsive," he breathed, shaking his head.

Not the, uh, poison part, Karla. He was actually pretty okay with having poisonous friends.

"So you're going back to fight his rule?" he clarified. "How do you suppose you'll make a go of it?"

Because he was nothing if not a strategist.

[glacial_queen]

"I wish," Karla muttered. "But I'm not ready yet. There are still a few things I need to do before I can challenge him and become the ruling Queen of Glacia. I have to make the Offering to the Darkness and descend to my true strength, for one. Find twelve trusted and loyal Blood males to make up my First Circle for another."

Right now? She was at two. Closer to one and a half.

"If I went to war with Hobart over this, it would mostly be with an army of Black Widows at my back. Which would be effective, don't misunderstand. But it would give credence to what he's been saying about them. He's managed to make the people fear an entire caste. If they struck out against him now..."

Wesley was a strategist. He could probably figure it out.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yes, of course." He closed his eyes for a moment, just picturing the devastation she was describing.

"What does the, ah, Offering entail?" he inquired. Reaching one's true strenth sounded good, but... descending, not so much. "And the First Circle, is that a battalion of sorts?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla tapped her Sapphire pendant. "This was the Jewel I received as a child at my Birthright Ceremony. Kind of like...training wheels on a bike, I suppose. A child's body generally can't handle the amount of power and strength it could as an adult. So, during the Offering, we go into ourselves and find the true scope of our powers and that usually involves getting a darker-ranked Jewel."

This was probably also confusing. Dammit. Karla dug into her jewelry box and came out with thirteen multicolored bangle bracelets. She arranged them in a column, the white bangle on top and the black on the bottom, leaving them to float in the air.

"There are thirteen Jewel ranks. The darker the Jewel, the more powerful," she explained. "It's expected that you will get a darker Jewel after you make the Offering and so it's called descending." She touched the ninth bangle, a glittery blue one the same color as her Jewel. "This is where I am now. If I descend to my full potential, I will come away wearing the Ebon-Gray." She rested her finger on the second-to-last Jewel in the stack. "But you only get one chance."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley pondered that, leaning in to examine the bangles more closely. So it was a ranking system, then, and the Offering was a coming-of-age ritual of sorts that determined the rank. Though from the looks of it, Karla was already quite powerful, to have a Jewel so close in power to the most powerful ones.

"I see," he said thoughtfully. "Is the Offering -- ah, that is to say, do people know precisely how it works? Or is it more a sort of experience that varies from person to person?"

[glacial_queen]

"It's hard to explain," Karla said because Anne Bishop doesn't believe in details. "Similar in the main, but varies in the details, I guess. Each person visits a Dark Altar and spends the hours between sunset and sunrise deep in contemplation, trying to reach their potential. How that happens? No one really says. It's a kind of...spiritual journey, I guess."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, that made sense. In studies of other dimensions, Wesley had come across more than a few of those, though they generally tended to be more of a demon thing in his universe and often led to village rampages. Still, putting it into Karla's context wasn't too difficult, and he managed a shaky mental picture of the sort of spiritual task she was talking about.

"Interesting," he said, tapping his chin in thought. "Does it always happen at this age, or are you accelerating the process for the, ah, political purposes?"

[glacial_queen]

"Seventeen is about the youngest," Karla said. "It's a little more usual around twenty or twenty-one. And I'm...I'm not sure yet, if I want to try now. Like I said, you only get one chance. The older and more settled into your powers you are, the higher the odds you'll be able to descend the full three ranks."

It was never a guarantee, of course. But it helped. This was one place where Karla's impatience could only hurt.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley nodded. "Right, right," he mused as he mulled that over. On one hand, it was risky to do the test now and possibly not advance as much as she wanted to. But on the other hand, doing it now could help the other Black Widows before it was too late.

"What, ah, what do you think about your chances as it stands now?"

[glacial_queen]

"Making the Offering?" Karla shrugged, helplessly. "It's one of those things you never know about until it's time, I think. But even if I did make my Offering now, it wouldn't be enough to make me Queen."

But it would be a big step.

"Again, we get right back to the other two problems. The lack of a Court and the lack of an army. Hobart's not going to give up without a fight and leading the Black Widows against him might be enough to give him allies he doesn't have now."

Karla sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "The options as I see them are run, fight, or submit. Not all the Black Widows will accept the last option, and I don't think the second is all that feasible. Which leaves the first."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, he was hardly going to contest her decision. "Well, ah," he said in an attempt to be diplomatic. "Running can be a very noble and valiant attempt to be, ah, effective without putting oneself in danger, and... ah..."

Maybe he sucked at this.

[glacial_queen]

Karla just gaped at Wesley for a second. And then laughed. "Oh, Darkness, Wesley," she said, still laughing. "Don't ever go into politics, all right?"

He was REALLY bad at that, yes.

Her laughter lasted for a few more seconds, though when she was done, tears glittered in her eyes. "You seriously want me to lead a few thousand females--among them, young girls, nursing mothers, and elderly witches--up against my uncle and the force he's spent the last ten years building? And while I am leading them victoriously into battle, I am also supposed to put together the Court that I will need to see me through this civil war and beyond? And once we are done, I will be able to turn to the populace and say, 'Rejoice, my friends! Set aside the fear of Black Widows that has been raised into you, first by my uncle's rumors and then by this war we just finished fighting.' and have them believe me?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

...Well. When she put it that way...

"I, ah, I suppose you have a point," he granted. "I didn't mean to imply that it's in any way, er, essential to fight. Or even that it's wise, because it often isn't!" Even if the Watchers' Council had held a different opinion. Then he saw those tears in her eyes and he wrung his hands together awkwardly, searching desperately for words. "I -- If there's anything I could do, with the, er, running, I'd love to help."

[glacial_queen]

Karla dashed them away with an impatient hand. "Not you're fault," she said. "I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping much. Not since news got to me."

Why sleep when you could drink gallons of coffee and argue and rehash old ground?!

"I don't even know if that will be the end plan yet. Maybe we'll decide on something else instead. But all I know is that there are a few thousand witches in Glacia who are suddenly being told that the caste they were born into is now an offense worthy of death. Little girls fostered into covens are now given the choice between cutting off their own fingers and dying. Grandmothers who help deliver babies and talk young lovers through heartbreak are now hated and feared and despised. Getting my people away from that--getting them safe--that's what's important right now. Not signing them up for a war they didn't choose."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Good lord. Wesley might be leagues and leagues away from a political career, but Karla really had the speech-making thing down. It was hardly a surprise that she was taking on this leadership role, given her clear ability to, well, lead.

"Of course," he said softly once she was done. "And -- if it means anything, you seem to be... quite good at the, ah, the keeping people safe part." He may have been thinking of a specific afternoon in particular. "I'm sure you'll do brilliantly."

Congratulations, Karla; you were now the third person ever to receive such high praise from him. Incidentally, the other two were also girls with names that started with K and a penchant for leadership.

[glacial_queen]

It was a good group to be in, especially considering who the other two were. Karla would have been pleased if she'd known.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a slightly-proud, slightly-shy smile. "I hope you're right. They're counting on me. I owe it to them to be as brilliant as I can be."

She already owed them so much.

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure you will be," he offered in an attempt to be encouraging. "Well. I wish you the best of luck, at any rate."

He hesitated, then asked, "You'll, ah, call, won't you?"

...Someone was going to miss his security blanket.

[glacial_queen]

Karla just had to smile at that. "Damn right I will," she promised. "Don't be surprised if I call you in the middle of the night to help me out with some kind of logistics question or another. You have a useful mind, Wesley."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley had to use a hand to hide his blush at that. "Thank you," he said, slightly muffled. "I, ah, I'll make sure to pick up and do my best to be of assistance." With a bit of a smile, he added, "I suppose I owe it to you."

[glacial_queen]

Karla waved that away. "Nonsense," she said. "We're friends. I helped you because I like you you, not because I thought you owed me anything."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

It was a fair point. One that had the Confessions meme been canon he really should've learned by now.

"Well, regardless," he said, smiling. "I would like to help you."

There. Better?