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synergetic2023-10-09 02:49 am
senselessness) wrote in synergetic2023-10-09 02:49 am
Entry tags:
Prince of Fire Emblem: Gray Waves
A princess with a poker face, Yukimura thought, as Yanagi took away the tea cups and retreated to where the rest of his entourage waited near the doorway.
He had open across the small negotiating table a letter from Princess Azura's stepfather, promising him that he would make her marriage as valuable to him as if she were his own flesh and blood. King Garon had a reputation that his own children shrank from, even as they bowed to his every whim. Azura didn't have the same fawning, wincing air as Garon's own children, from what Yukimura remembered of the spy reports. She looked placidly into his eyes.
"You pushed for this?" he asked, bluntly.
"No, milord," said the princess calmly. "Having just returned to Nohr after a long stay in Hoshido, I was as surprised as you."
Was she lying to him? She'd appeared at the gates of his castle alongside a delivery of flowers and wine for the ball celebrating Marui and Lissa's engagement, accompanied by her stepfather's offer of her hand and a ne'er-do-well with an axe as large as his body.
"He's this eager to get rid of you?"
"Or to gain your goodwill," she answered delicately.
Was she lying to him? The timing angered him immensely.
"By sending you here? Customarily, the pleasure of the bride's company is withheld until the marriage has been satisfactorily arranged."
"Your refusal is noted," she said, not without a certain heaviness.
His eyes narrowed. An outright refusal, in front of the man with the axe... his head burned. Could he afford to refuse Garon's offer without at least the pretense of consideration? Was she simply manipulating him into making a mistake?
"I said no such thing," he answered tightly. She inclined her head apologetically. "But my concern is with the engagement of my own princess, which you're interfering with."
She didn't contest his choice of verb, and his blood boiled.
"Like your princess, I am at the mercy of kings," she said. "I mean no disrespect to Lady Lissa."
But do you mean her harm? he wondered. Did Azura mean to displace her? The king's wife was necessarily given more authority than the king's sister. Yukimura didn't want that. He didn't want a wife for his own sake, there was nothing left within him that could love or cherish the princess before him nor any other, and he certainly didn't want a queen, who'd expect to see her own child on his throne in due time.
A queen would displace Lissa in the hierarchy of the court, and an heir would do the same in the line of succession. A perfect sabotage of his failsafe. A waste of Marui's and Lissa's sacrifices both-- not to mention the hints he'd tried to give them during their dance practice for tonight.
He had to play this intelligently-- even if he was starting late. He swallowed back the venom and vitriol he felt for this interloper and, hating himself for the debasement, stood, only to bow to her gallantly.
"Enjoy with us the festivities already planned," he said, more instructing than inviting. "We can talk more when I've discharged the business already in front of me."
"Yes, milord," she said, opaque as an iron wall.
Felicia -- delighted to be visited by a princess of her native land -- quickly escorted Azura and Hans, the axe man, to their lodgings, and Yukimura turned to his friends, pale and glowing with displeasure.
"I want to know why Nohr chose now to do this," he said, "but I will settle for what I should do to them in retaliation."
He had open across the small negotiating table a letter from Princess Azura's stepfather, promising him that he would make her marriage as valuable to him as if she were his own flesh and blood. King Garon had a reputation that his own children shrank from, even as they bowed to his every whim. Azura didn't have the same fawning, wincing air as Garon's own children, from what Yukimura remembered of the spy reports. She looked placidly into his eyes.
"You pushed for this?" he asked, bluntly.
"No, milord," said the princess calmly. "Having just returned to Nohr after a long stay in Hoshido, I was as surprised as you."
Was she lying to him? She'd appeared at the gates of his castle alongside a delivery of flowers and wine for the ball celebrating Marui and Lissa's engagement, accompanied by her stepfather's offer of her hand and a ne'er-do-well with an axe as large as his body.
"He's this eager to get rid of you?"
"Or to gain your goodwill," she answered delicately.
Was she lying to him? The timing angered him immensely.
"By sending you here? Customarily, the pleasure of the bride's company is withheld until the marriage has been satisfactorily arranged."
"Your refusal is noted," she said, not without a certain heaviness.
His eyes narrowed. An outright refusal, in front of the man with the axe... his head burned. Could he afford to refuse Garon's offer without at least the pretense of consideration? Was she simply manipulating him into making a mistake?
"I said no such thing," he answered tightly. She inclined her head apologetically. "But my concern is with the engagement of my own princess, which you're interfering with."
She didn't contest his choice of verb, and his blood boiled.
"Like your princess, I am at the mercy of kings," she said. "I mean no disrespect to Lady Lissa."
But do you mean her harm? he wondered. Did Azura mean to displace her? The king's wife was necessarily given more authority than the king's sister. Yukimura didn't want that. He didn't want a wife for his own sake, there was nothing left within him that could love or cherish the princess before him nor any other, and he certainly didn't want a queen, who'd expect to see her own child on his throne in due time.
A queen would displace Lissa in the hierarchy of the court, and an heir would do the same in the line of succession. A perfect sabotage of his failsafe. A waste of Marui's and Lissa's sacrifices both-- not to mention the hints he'd tried to give them during their dance practice for tonight.
He had to play this intelligently-- even if he was starting late. He swallowed back the venom and vitriol he felt for this interloper and, hating himself for the debasement, stood, only to bow to her gallantly.
"Enjoy with us the festivities already planned," he said, more instructing than inviting. "We can talk more when I've discharged the business already in front of me."
"Yes, milord," she said, opaque as an iron wall.
Felicia -- delighted to be visited by a princess of her native land -- quickly escorted Azura and Hans, the axe man, to their lodgings, and Yukimura turned to his friends, pale and glowing with displeasure.
"I want to know why Nohr chose now to do this," he said, "but I will settle for what I should do to them in retaliation."
no subject
But then, part of effective leadership was finding ways past such hurdles.
"Looks like it's going to take more than being loud, huh..."
no subject
But she tilted her head at Marui, as if seeing him for the very first time.
"How do you get attention without being loud? I mean, you're not loud the way Akaya-kun is."
no subject
He touches his finger to her throat.
"Yelling comes from here."
He drops it and lightly pokes her upper abdomen, just below the lungs.
"Public speaking comes from there. Also... be the voice they need to hear."
no subject
Okay, deep breath, and she sighed. The voice they needed was Seiichi, and he was... whatever he was.
Wait, maybe he was being figurative? She decided to check.
"...Literal voice? Or like, say the things they need to hear?"
no subject
"Read the room," he clarifies. "It's not just what you're saying. Think about the feeling you want to spread. That's what you have to be yourself."
no subject
She looked at Marui and tried to figure out how to make people calm. She probably had to seem calm, too. Ugh, but that was almost like lying right now. Instinctively, she reached for a staff, and, to her surprise, she had Silque's Physic staff, designed to heal people across wide distances.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lissa could see one of her people running into a doorway, trying to get away from the chaos, and she raised the Physic staff on reflex. She was surprised she was strong enough to activate its magic. The man's bruises quickly faded.
"Everybody, freeze!" she yelled, not really calm, but she followed it up quickly. "Help me find who among you needs healing!"
no subject
"Okay, everyone," he projects with a couple of slow claps of his hands. "Please direct your attention to Princess Lissa to receive further instruction. Remain calm and direct your attention up here, please..."
Working together, the message begins making its way through the crowd. It's also helped that a good number of the guests have simply continued on out. As the crowd has dwindled, their influence has gained reach. Of course, that doesn't change that the damage of the mob has rippled through. The forms of collapsed bodies begin to gain visibility across the floor.
It's a grim sight. But they're going to help. It's going to be okay.