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edenfallingAnd we bring "The Sum of Things" up to the end of my currently completed scenes. Still a rough draft, I'm afraid. :-)
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Chapter Two: The Widening Gyre, Part III
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Cole was the last to arrive for the after-supper gathering -- he seemed surprised when he found himself the only lord in Ranna's meeting room. Ranna smiled and waved him to take a seat.
"Lord Cole, this is a planning session," she said. "We're thinking of ways to... influence the Inner Council. As such, you'll understand why the only people here are those I can trust absolutely. Pazun Mariss, my steward; Mabriel Farthing, my cousin and lady-in-waiting; and Karsket and Moloshet, my guards."
The mentioned people nodded or bowed to Cole as they were introduced.
"As you can see," Ranna added, "your political knowledge will be most appreciated."
Cole smiled, relaxing under the compliment, and took the seat on Ranna's right hand. "Pleased to meet you all," he said, looking around the table and confidently meeting everyone's eyes. "Do they know about what we discussed last Council meeting?" he asked Ranna quietly.
"Yes, we know about Olek and Eburek," Ranna said, speaking loudly enough for the others to hear; she couldn't afford to let Cole create any hint of a special role for himself. He had the most political knowledge, but that limited his ideas as much as it informed them.
"The queen has people looking for proof here and in Therivar," Karsket said, and then belatedly added, "my lord."
"Ah." Cole frowned, and then nodded to himself. "I take it this will be less about politics and more about personal influence?"
Ranna smiled. "Exactly. I want to approach five -- Eburek, Marror, Bethurika, Langard, and Shae. Eburek is being... dealt with." Cole nodded grimly. "Marror will have to wait until we have better information from the Watches," Ranna continued, "but the other three can be approached now. I'll be talking to Shae; she wants something, and I need to know what that is. As for the other two, any advice you have will be welcome."
"Moloshet and I think we can talk to Langard... Lord Langard, that is," Karsket said. "Moloshet is from Evushek, so she's technically still his vassal. That gives us a point of approach."
"True," Cole said, "but after you reminisce about Damiland, what will you offer him to leave Olek's faction?"
"That depends on what he wants," Ranna said. "I'll tell you what I've told the others: I won't compromise on taxes, I won't let him be the sole lawgiver in his lands, and I won't let anyone raise private armies. Guards are more than acceptable, as well as a small force to track bandits, wolves, and other troubles, but their numbers must be limited."
She shrugged apologetically. "I realize that sounds harsh to you, knowing Auvern's conditions, but there's no excuse for large armies that aren't on the borders. And Langard's lands don't border anything important."
Moloshet shook her head. "Evushek is in northern Idama Kal, along the Kiddidama border."
"Yes," Karsket agreed, "but that doesn't matter, not like a border with Halo. We don't bother our cousins and they don't bother us. Only the lords worry about Kiddidama."
"I was talking about the honor raids," Moloshet said, frowning at her fellow guard. "We don't mind, and they don't mind when we raid them, but the lords don't see it that way."
Ranna rapped her knuckles on the table, breaking into the discussion. "Ahem. Are you talking about the bandit raids the northern lords always bring up in Assembly?"
Karsket and Moloshet exchanged glances, and then Karsket flicked her fingers at the other woman. "They aren't bandit raids," Moloshet said. "It's a tradition that when we come of age, those who've chosen to defend the villages prove their honor by raiding another settlement. It saves bother if we raid across the border -- that way it doesn't look like civil unrest.
"Our cousins in Kiddidama do the same, and since we raid them, it's a point of honor to raid us in return. Generally this means we take back whatever we lose, and lose whatever we take, but it's hard to explain that to lords who aren't Manakardit. They don't understand why the raids are important, so they call our cousins bandits and our raids revenge -- which," she added, "is absolutely not true."
"Hmm." Ranna tapped her fingers rapidly, thinking. "Langard married last year, and he has a new daughter. I remember there was a scandal about his wife -- is she Manakardit?"
Moloshet shaped her hands in agreement. "Yes! We were all very surprised. Anulet is the daughter of a village headman, and a warrior; we couldn't understand why she gave that up to marry one of the lords."
Cole raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat put out. "Marrying a noble is a loss of status?"
Moloshet seemed to realize how that sounded, and held up her hands in apology. "No, no. We and our lords live in different worlds, that's all, and Anulet left ours when she married Langard... Lord Langard, that is."
"Hmm," Ranna said again. "If Lady Anulet is Manakardit, she should understand your world. And she should be able to explain it to Langard -- he obviously thinks highly of her, or he would have made a more politically advantageous marriage instead. Perhaps you'll have more to talk about with him than you think." She smiled suddenly, a sly twist of her lips. "And if he's attaching his family more closely to Evushek, that means he'll be depending less on his other holdings. Which means he may not be quite as opposed to centralization as I'd been thinking."
She nodded to herself. "Ya. Moloshet, you talk to Langard. From what I've seen, he's worried that I'll take his lands away or not let him organize them to his benefit. I see no problem in letting him direct trade between his holdings, and he ought to see that if I can organize the provinces, he'll have fewer problems with bandits and other unrest to deal with. Also, if your villages are as well-defended as you say, then he truly shouldn't need a private army.
"Can you do this?"
"Yes," said Moloshet, looking worried. "But it will take time -- I won't be able to guard you as well if I'm off with Langard... Lord Langard, that is."
Karsket flicked her fingers at Moloshet again. "Don't you trust me to guard our queen? I can manage those Brotherhood swordsmen as well as you can."
"I trust Karsket," Ranna said, "and right now, I think it's more important to persuade Langard than to watch me all hours of the day. I can find others to guard me. I can't find anyone else to approach Langard, not someone I trust."
Moloshet smiled thinly. "I thank you for your trust. But if you die because I'm not near you, I will hunt your ghost through all the frozen hells."
"Fair enough." Ranna turned to Mabriel and Pazun, who'd been silent through the discussion about Langard. "Do you two have any ideas about Bethurika? I know very little about her, but I'm sure you've been hearing all the palace gossip."
Mabriel grinned. "Ya, and how! Let me see... All the servants like her best of the Council ladies -- she doesn't yell or throw things if you're not serving her perfectly, and she won't be getting you sacked either. She doesn't like the wet, especially not the storms along the Mandaking coast -- that's why she's usually in Arre-Lus even during Assembly recess. Her husband manages Cantrifang for her, along with her children. She has two daughters and a son, and five grandchildren. I think she's a distant relation of Marror, but they're not setting much store by the connection, so that's not worth much."
Mabriel paused, thinking. "She's sweet. That's what everyone says about Lady Bethurika, that she's sweet. But she's also touchy. If you put her back up, she'll be swallowing nails before she goes along with you, even if she'd normally agree to whatever you're asking. She worries about keeping her family safe, and she worries about her borders with Caermarin and Dorin Rhae. But she doesn't want to be paying taxes. She's proud of her lands, proud that they do well, and she doesn't want to be supporting anyone who doesn't work so hard.
"Oh! And her husband is Lady Vanulie's nephew, Lord Vanick. But I'm thinking they don't get along very well."
Cole snorted. "Most of Vanulie's family doesn't get along with her; they're just too terrified to disobey. Congratulations to Vanick for escaping her grasp."
"Congratulations indeed. But I don't see how that helps us approach Bethurika," Ranna said.
"If I may?" interrupted Pazun. Ranna nodded, and he continued. "Lady Bethurika is loyal to Kanos; she has no desire to further destabilize the country. However, her focus is on her own lands and people. I've noticed, while serving her, that if she's happy with her service, she believes everyone else in the palace must also be happy with our service. And if she's unhappy, she believes service must be inadequate everywhere.
"Therefore, I suspect she thinks that if her lands are doing well, the country as a whole must also be safe and prosperous. It will be difficult to convince her otherwise unless her own lands are threatened."
Ranna raised her eyebrows at Mabriel in a silent question.
"Ya, that sounds about right," Mabriel said. "She's always talking about her family, her lands, her this and her that, or so I hear -- always focusing on what's close to her."
Ranna tapped her fingers, playing out an unconscious cadence. "Hmm. I don't want Dorin Rhae or Caermarin to attack just to convince Bethurika to support me. That would be like starving to spite the cook."
Cole leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. "True. However, given that information -- which does help explain some of her grievances in Council -- it might be possible to convince her that any weakening of the other borders, or of the royal army, would make her lands appear more isolated and a tempting target for our southern neighbors. It would take time, but I think I could paint that as a realistic threat."
"Hmm." Ranna's fingers sped up as she considered. "Ya. Cole, do that, my thanks. I have no time, and she wouldn't listen to any of the others here -- no offense, Mabriel, Pazun."
Pazun shrugged gracefully, and Mabriel returned Ranna's apologetic smile.
"I'll approach Bethurika tomorrow, my queen," Cole said. "Will there be anything else?"
"No. I'm dealing with Shae myself, and there's nothing we can do about Marror and Eburek at the moment. Assembly's in recess as of tomorrow, so there's no Council business, and unless you get more reports from the Watches, there isn't much we can do about the borders." Ranna pushed her chair away from the table and stood; the others stood along with her.
"A thousand thanks for your help. May the night be gentle," she said.
"Yours too," Mabriel returned as everyone filed out of the meeting room. Cole and Pazun left for his own quarters, followed by a yawning Karsket. Moloshet took up her position in the corridor and closed the door behind her, leaving Ranna and Mabriel alone.
"What will you be asking Shae?"
Ranna shrugged, letting Mabriel undo the court robes. "I haven't the slightest idea, Mae. I'll worry about that tomorrow."
Mabriel shook her head. "You never change, Ranna. You be watching your back, then; Shae's hard to read and not even her maids know much about her."
"That's about what I expected," Ranna said. "Go on, get some sleep."
"Night be gentle, Ranna," Mabriel said, folding the robes into a basket for washing.
"Sleep be sound. Shoo."
Mabriel stuck out her tongue at her cousin and slipped out of the room.
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Am going to my parents' on Thursday, and returning to Ithaca next Monday. Am planning, once again, to make shameless use of their washer and dryer, since it saves me $8-$10. (I save up my laundry and usually do three or four loads in one go, which eats most of my afternoon and a ridiculous number of quarters. My next apartment will have laundry facilities in house. Or else.)
Still no job nibbles. My current evil plan is to apply as an after-school counselor at the local YMCA, which is seriously not what I want to be doing long-term but could easily pull me through the next few months. *crosses fingers*
The first chapter of "The Way of the Apartment Manager," my new Naruto story, is finished, and the thing as a whole is thoroughly plotted and outlined. I'm somewhat baffled by its sudden appearance and development, but I guess I shouldn't look gift stories in the mouth.
"Harvest," my half-finished Ekanu story is poking along, as are my HP fics. I think with some luck I may have "Paint the Town" finished in another week -- that is, if I can keep "Apartment Manager" from eating my brain the way "Heritage" did this summer.
And speaking of "Heritage"... there is no Gormenghast section at ff.net, but they do have a Miscellaneous Books option. I will try posting it there and we'll see what happens. I don't expect much by way of readers -- it's an obscure series, and I'm writing a pre-book story (the origins of Steerpike, my favorite character) -- but it will be nice to at least have it publicly available.
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So I hear Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming out next July. Cool, I guess.
Oddly, while I still do the majority of my fanfiction writing for HP, I seem to be less and less emotionally involved in that fandom. I'm also reading less HP fic than ever. And I find it hard to get wildly enthusiastic about this news. I mean, the new book's coming out. Fine. Great. But it's over SIX MONTHS AWAY. People, get a grip, take a deep breath, and relax.
I'll get excited in the summer.
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Chapter Two: The Widening Gyre, Part III
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Cole was the last to arrive for the after-supper gathering -- he seemed surprised when he found himself the only lord in Ranna's meeting room. Ranna smiled and waved him to take a seat.
"Lord Cole, this is a planning session," she said. "We're thinking of ways to... influence the Inner Council. As such, you'll understand why the only people here are those I can trust absolutely. Pazun Mariss, my steward; Mabriel Farthing, my cousin and lady-in-waiting; and Karsket and Moloshet, my guards."
The mentioned people nodded or bowed to Cole as they were introduced.
"As you can see," Ranna added, "your political knowledge will be most appreciated."
Cole smiled, relaxing under the compliment, and took the seat on Ranna's right hand. "Pleased to meet you all," he said, looking around the table and confidently meeting everyone's eyes. "Do they know about what we discussed last Council meeting?" he asked Ranna quietly.
"Yes, we know about Olek and Eburek," Ranna said, speaking loudly enough for the others to hear; she couldn't afford to let Cole create any hint of a special role for himself. He had the most political knowledge, but that limited his ideas as much as it informed them.
"The queen has people looking for proof here and in Therivar," Karsket said, and then belatedly added, "my lord."
"Ah." Cole frowned, and then nodded to himself. "I take it this will be less about politics and more about personal influence?"
Ranna smiled. "Exactly. I want to approach five -- Eburek, Marror, Bethurika, Langard, and Shae. Eburek is being... dealt with." Cole nodded grimly. "Marror will have to wait until we have better information from the Watches," Ranna continued, "but the other three can be approached now. I'll be talking to Shae; she wants something, and I need to know what that is. As for the other two, any advice you have will be welcome."
"Moloshet and I think we can talk to Langard... Lord Langard, that is," Karsket said. "Moloshet is from Evushek, so she's technically still his vassal. That gives us a point of approach."
"True," Cole said, "but after you reminisce about Damiland, what will you offer him to leave Olek's faction?"
"That depends on what he wants," Ranna said. "I'll tell you what I've told the others: I won't compromise on taxes, I won't let him be the sole lawgiver in his lands, and I won't let anyone raise private armies. Guards are more than acceptable, as well as a small force to track bandits, wolves, and other troubles, but their numbers must be limited."
She shrugged apologetically. "I realize that sounds harsh to you, knowing Auvern's conditions, but there's no excuse for large armies that aren't on the borders. And Langard's lands don't border anything important."
Moloshet shook her head. "Evushek is in northern Idama Kal, along the Kiddidama border."
"Yes," Karsket agreed, "but that doesn't matter, not like a border with Halo. We don't bother our cousins and they don't bother us. Only the lords worry about Kiddidama."
"I was talking about the honor raids," Moloshet said, frowning at her fellow guard. "We don't mind, and they don't mind when we raid them, but the lords don't see it that way."
Ranna rapped her knuckles on the table, breaking into the discussion. "Ahem. Are you talking about the bandit raids the northern lords always bring up in Assembly?"
Karsket and Moloshet exchanged glances, and then Karsket flicked her fingers at the other woman. "They aren't bandit raids," Moloshet said. "It's a tradition that when we come of age, those who've chosen to defend the villages prove their honor by raiding another settlement. It saves bother if we raid across the border -- that way it doesn't look like civil unrest.
"Our cousins in Kiddidama do the same, and since we raid them, it's a point of honor to raid us in return. Generally this means we take back whatever we lose, and lose whatever we take, but it's hard to explain that to lords who aren't Manakardit. They don't understand why the raids are important, so they call our cousins bandits and our raids revenge -- which," she added, "is absolutely not true."
"Hmm." Ranna tapped her fingers rapidly, thinking. "Langard married last year, and he has a new daughter. I remember there was a scandal about his wife -- is she Manakardit?"
Moloshet shaped her hands in agreement. "Yes! We were all very surprised. Anulet is the daughter of a village headman, and a warrior; we couldn't understand why she gave that up to marry one of the lords."
Cole raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat put out. "Marrying a noble is a loss of status?"
Moloshet seemed to realize how that sounded, and held up her hands in apology. "No, no. We and our lords live in different worlds, that's all, and Anulet left ours when she married Langard... Lord Langard, that is."
"Hmm," Ranna said again. "If Lady Anulet is Manakardit, she should understand your world. And she should be able to explain it to Langard -- he obviously thinks highly of her, or he would have made a more politically advantageous marriage instead. Perhaps you'll have more to talk about with him than you think." She smiled suddenly, a sly twist of her lips. "And if he's attaching his family more closely to Evushek, that means he'll be depending less on his other holdings. Which means he may not be quite as opposed to centralization as I'd been thinking."
She nodded to herself. "Ya. Moloshet, you talk to Langard. From what I've seen, he's worried that I'll take his lands away or not let him organize them to his benefit. I see no problem in letting him direct trade between his holdings, and he ought to see that if I can organize the provinces, he'll have fewer problems with bandits and other unrest to deal with. Also, if your villages are as well-defended as you say, then he truly shouldn't need a private army.
"Can you do this?"
"Yes," said Moloshet, looking worried. "But it will take time -- I won't be able to guard you as well if I'm off with Langard... Lord Langard, that is."
Karsket flicked her fingers at Moloshet again. "Don't you trust me to guard our queen? I can manage those Brotherhood swordsmen as well as you can."
"I trust Karsket," Ranna said, "and right now, I think it's more important to persuade Langard than to watch me all hours of the day. I can find others to guard me. I can't find anyone else to approach Langard, not someone I trust."
Moloshet smiled thinly. "I thank you for your trust. But if you die because I'm not near you, I will hunt your ghost through all the frozen hells."
"Fair enough." Ranna turned to Mabriel and Pazun, who'd been silent through the discussion about Langard. "Do you two have any ideas about Bethurika? I know very little about her, but I'm sure you've been hearing all the palace gossip."
Mabriel grinned. "Ya, and how! Let me see... All the servants like her best of the Council ladies -- she doesn't yell or throw things if you're not serving her perfectly, and she won't be getting you sacked either. She doesn't like the wet, especially not the storms along the Mandaking coast -- that's why she's usually in Arre-Lus even during Assembly recess. Her husband manages Cantrifang for her, along with her children. She has two daughters and a son, and five grandchildren. I think she's a distant relation of Marror, but they're not setting much store by the connection, so that's not worth much."
Mabriel paused, thinking. "She's sweet. That's what everyone says about Lady Bethurika, that she's sweet. But she's also touchy. If you put her back up, she'll be swallowing nails before she goes along with you, even if she'd normally agree to whatever you're asking. She worries about keeping her family safe, and she worries about her borders with Caermarin and Dorin Rhae. But she doesn't want to be paying taxes. She's proud of her lands, proud that they do well, and she doesn't want to be supporting anyone who doesn't work so hard.
"Oh! And her husband is Lady Vanulie's nephew, Lord Vanick. But I'm thinking they don't get along very well."
Cole snorted. "Most of Vanulie's family doesn't get along with her; they're just too terrified to disobey. Congratulations to Vanick for escaping her grasp."
"Congratulations indeed. But I don't see how that helps us approach Bethurika," Ranna said.
"If I may?" interrupted Pazun. Ranna nodded, and he continued. "Lady Bethurika is loyal to Kanos; she has no desire to further destabilize the country. However, her focus is on her own lands and people. I've noticed, while serving her, that if she's happy with her service, she believes everyone else in the palace must also be happy with our service. And if she's unhappy, she believes service must be inadequate everywhere.
"Therefore, I suspect she thinks that if her lands are doing well, the country as a whole must also be safe and prosperous. It will be difficult to convince her otherwise unless her own lands are threatened."
Ranna raised her eyebrows at Mabriel in a silent question.
"Ya, that sounds about right," Mabriel said. "She's always talking about her family, her lands, her this and her that, or so I hear -- always focusing on what's close to her."
Ranna tapped her fingers, playing out an unconscious cadence. "Hmm. I don't want Dorin Rhae or Caermarin to attack just to convince Bethurika to support me. That would be like starving to spite the cook."
Cole leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. "True. However, given that information -- which does help explain some of her grievances in Council -- it might be possible to convince her that any weakening of the other borders, or of the royal army, would make her lands appear more isolated and a tempting target for our southern neighbors. It would take time, but I think I could paint that as a realistic threat."
"Hmm." Ranna's fingers sped up as she considered. "Ya. Cole, do that, my thanks. I have no time, and she wouldn't listen to any of the others here -- no offense, Mabriel, Pazun."
Pazun shrugged gracefully, and Mabriel returned Ranna's apologetic smile.
"I'll approach Bethurika tomorrow, my queen," Cole said. "Will there be anything else?"
"No. I'm dealing with Shae myself, and there's nothing we can do about Marror and Eburek at the moment. Assembly's in recess as of tomorrow, so there's no Council business, and unless you get more reports from the Watches, there isn't much we can do about the borders." Ranna pushed her chair away from the table and stood; the others stood along with her.
"A thousand thanks for your help. May the night be gentle," she said.
"Yours too," Mabriel returned as everyone filed out of the meeting room. Cole and Pazun left for his own quarters, followed by a yawning Karsket. Moloshet took up her position in the corridor and closed the door behind her, leaving Ranna and Mabriel alone.
"What will you be asking Shae?"
Ranna shrugged, letting Mabriel undo the court robes. "I haven't the slightest idea, Mae. I'll worry about that tomorrow."
Mabriel shook her head. "You never change, Ranna. You be watching your back, then; Shae's hard to read and not even her maids know much about her."
"That's about what I expected," Ranna said. "Go on, get some sleep."
"Night be gentle, Ranna," Mabriel said, folding the robes into a basket for washing.
"Sleep be sound. Shoo."
Mabriel stuck out her tongue at her cousin and slipped out of the room.
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Am going to my parents' on Thursday, and returning to Ithaca next Monday. Am planning, once again, to make shameless use of their washer and dryer, since it saves me $8-$10. (I save up my laundry and usually do three or four loads in one go, which eats most of my afternoon and a ridiculous number of quarters. My next apartment will have laundry facilities in house. Or else.)
Still no job nibbles. My current evil plan is to apply as an after-school counselor at the local YMCA, which is seriously not what I want to be doing long-term but could easily pull me through the next few months. *crosses fingers*
The first chapter of "The Way of the Apartment Manager," my new Naruto story, is finished, and the thing as a whole is thoroughly plotted and outlined. I'm somewhat baffled by its sudden appearance and development, but I guess I shouldn't look gift stories in the mouth.
"Harvest," my half-finished Ekanu story is poking along, as are my HP fics. I think with some luck I may have "Paint the Town" finished in another week -- that is, if I can keep "Apartment Manager" from eating my brain the way "Heritage" did this summer.
And speaking of "Heritage"... there is no Gormenghast section at ff.net, but they do have a Miscellaneous Books option. I will try posting it there and we'll see what happens. I don't expect much by way of readers -- it's an obscure series, and I'm writing a pre-book story (the origins of Steerpike, my favorite character) -- but it will be nice to at least have it publicly available.
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So I hear Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming out next July. Cool, I guess.
Oddly, while I still do the majority of my fanfiction writing for HP, I seem to be less and less emotionally involved in that fandom. I'm also reading less HP fic than ever. And I find it hard to get wildly enthusiastic about this news. I mean, the new book's coming out. Fine. Great. But it's over SIX MONTHS AWAY. People, get a grip, take a deep breath, and relax.
I'll get excited in the summer.
