eachdraidh | [video / both courts / backdated to january 7th]

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[video / both courts / backdated to january 7th]

[Well. Looks like Tzilan was right about the Seelie going on the offensive. It's one of those odd occasions where Saralegui wishes the vampire wasn't always right, but nothing to do about it now besides damage control. If that happens to be good for his image, then that's just bonus points.]

I'm sure everyone is aware of the upcoming fighting by now. And I'm sure there are those who, like myself, have no skill whatsoever in that area or just no interest in it.

[Just look at him. He's a twig, and that hair is absolutely not at all practical for fighting. The self-aware, slightly self-deprecating little smile he wears is only further evidence of that. And better, of course, to play up that helplessness. He prefers to be underestimated, and the knife the Brucolac had given him is very easy to keep hidden.]

So I'd like to offer up Redgate as a safe haven away from the fighting. Others have made this offer, I know, and I hate to be redundant. But I would hate myself more if I didn't make it at all, and I can at least offer a place well out of the line of fire. It's very defensible, and kinder to shardbearers than most places have been lately -- the result of having been founded by a shardbearer, I assume. The distance might seem great, but for shardbearers it isn't really that bad -- only a few days from the nearest fairy ring in Daonna.

Truthfully, I am Unseelie myself, but I make this offer to anyone who wants it, from whichever court. The politics of this world mean little to me. I only want to see those who can't defend themselves kept safe.

[Saber had asked him as the Unseelie General to take Unseelie-aligned individuals into Redgate's care, but she hadn't technically asked to only take those from their own court. If she has a problem with how he does things, then she can bring it up with him personally.]

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[Because Lord El-Melloi seemed unnerved about that Tarz guy, and Saralegui can't deny that it's wise to look into these matters ahead of time. Especially when he has a such a good source to draw from.

Thoughtfully, he at least tries to make his message as un-bothersome as possible, just a quick note in text.]

I hate to bother you like this, especially when you're as busy as you must be right now, but there was a matter I wanted your input on.

[ It's a while before there's a reply. ]

Please, only use these for emergencies, they aren't safe to send messages on. What's this matter?

[He expected no less with the current vampire vs elf shitstorm going on.]

I know, forgive me. This just seemed worth looking into more deeply. A knight from Caer Glaem calling himself Tarz asked for a meeting with me. I haven't heard of him before, but I have to wonder what it is that he can't say to me over the lockets, or why he wanted to choose the location himself.

No one says anything of note over lockets. Monarchs monitor them.

In person. Too important.

Edited 2015-01-17 05:22 (UTC)

["Too important" is definitely ominous. But at least he feels less silly for asking now.]

Then come meet me when you can. Or I can come to you.

Same as we met at Yule. Give me twenty minutes.

Alright.

[Just enough time to send word to reschedule the last appointment he has coming up today. Whatever this is, it sounds a bit more critical than a report on delayed trade caravans coming through Daonna.]

[ Tzilan arrived as usual, darkly smooth-skinned and bright-eyed body garbed still in official finery, heavily brocaded doublet and half-cloak emphasizing his whipcord-leanness. He hadn't even removed his chain of office, which blessedly matched the golden serpent necklace draped around his neck.

He strode swiftly to Tzilan, lips thinned, lightning in his eyes. ]

Sara. Tell me what happened, from the beginning.

[Even with the rather tense nature of that brief exchange of notes, and the dangerous look in Tzilan's eyes, the sight of that necklace still prompted the slightest quirk of Saralegui's lips. He looked up at the vampire's approach from his seat, deceptively calm by all appearances.]

Nice to see you, too.

[But he's not entirely suicidal, and he gets down to business immediately after that little remark.]

I made an announcement to offer Redgate as a safe haven from the approaching battle, and one of the people who responded was the man calling himself Tarz. He asked to meet with me within a fortnight, "to discuss my policies" as far as that offer went. Specifically, he asked that we meet in front of the gate itself, me with a full guard and he with three natives guards of his own.

[ This is where you smile.

This is where you reveal it's all a tease.

A jest. Ribbing me for reaction.

But no smile game. Just the lingering silence, as Tzilan stared, his stormy expression fading first, slowly, into horror. Horror drained into something like grief, like loss, and his fingers curled into his palms.

He took a slow breath. ]

... forgive my haste, Sara. But the war has begun in earnest, now. The battle has not yet been joined, but it is a storm on the horizon. We can hear the thunder. We can see the lightning. I have much to fear for. You help to give me much to fear for.

May I take up a seat? This... may be a long conversation.

[Airly, he gestured to a set opposite his desk, and leaned forward with his chin rested on propped up arms and interlaced fingers.]

I'm sorry to add to your worries, but I assume it was better that I did. Lord El-Melloi said he would try asking Alyosha for me, but I haven't heard anything back yet, and I was only able to reasonably put this Tarz off for a week.

[ He moved to sit at the indicated spot. Crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. Folded his hands, obviously weighing how he should proceed. ]

Sara... let's forego the business with Tarz, for just a short while.

Why do you imagine I only use my locket in emergencies?

[On some level, he knows that's meant to be a patient, gentle way of broaching the subject, but to Saralegui it sounds more like the patronizing way one might begin a lecture to a child. Scowling, he sits up a bit straighter.]

I'm not an idiot, Tzilan. I'm well aware that the monarchs can likely monitor what's being said over them. But there was no point in avoiding that here. I've made a point of keeping Redgate outside all the court politics long before now. I've offered it as a destination to members of both courts before with no backlash. A number of Redgate's champions are Seelie, and those were appointed before I ever arrived here. I interact with you fairly regularly, and Morla knows that.

[She did sort of literally give him Tzilan when requested, after all.]

There's nothing to be gained from suddenly playing loyal Unseelie over the lockets now. At this point, I aim for a consistent image with the justification that I can better do what I need to if in good standing with members of both courts. If the monarchs take issue with that, I tell them more or less exactly what I'm telling you, and reassure them that all I do is for their sake, in the end.

[ Tzilan nods. ]

What's important to remember is the difference of the scale of time. A few months might mean very much to new shardbearers; but it is the bat of a lash to the monarchs. They may seem not to care, but they mark it, and do.

The difference of what happened in Redgate before you were installed is that its leader was not a shardbearer. Alyosha, as far as the courts are concerned, is a native, and therefore of little consequence outside of the scope of her own influence.

I'd like to impress upon you that, while the current state may lend you to believe otherwise, the monarchs do care what we get up to. They care very much. I've seen them slay their own shardbearers for it. As far as Morla's concerned, I'm a non-entity. And I've no doubt that there will come a time when she will demand my shard of you.

Similarly, I have been called upon to explain my own actions and failures to the High King.

[There's the slightest twitch in his cool mask as soon as it comes to matters of demanding shards, something angry and absolutely repelled by the very idea. His expression comes back under control again fairly quickly, but a hint of it might leak into his tone.]

And if that time comes before I've somehow ruined her, then I'll come up with someone else to avoid it.

[There's a muted viciousness in the statement, but it vanishes as quickly as it came, and he moves on before any weight can settle there.]

But please, tell me how your interrogation went. Are the Seelie monarchs truly sweeter?

[ Tzilan's mouth hooked in a smile that looked unerringly wicked, pleased somehow, but he shook his head with a comfortable sigh. Leaned back a little, let his head loll onto the back of the chair. ]

Anyone who tells you the Seelie are better you can imagine to be a new shardbearer who hasn't learned differently. They're vicious. Again I left bloody and limping, but... a few well-placed lies spared me the worst of it. Part of the benefit of my numerous small titles and offices is that they give me plausible reason to be anyplace in the world.

[Saralegui's eyebrows knit together in concern, but he only mirrors that sigh with more exasperation and drops his chin back into his hand, replying with a tired sort of dryness.]

You have a bad habit of getting yourself badly hurt. I'm beginning to think you really are a masochist.

My body can take the damage. The work I've done cannot. I'd rather sacrifice the one for the other, where one must certainly suffer.

... and, no. Not a masochist by any means.

That's not what you were saying at Yule.

[And, just for a moment, a sly smirk crosses his face. But it's hardly the time to be teasing, and he shakes his head with a slight frown.]

But we're off track. Enough about the lockets and the monarchs, tell me about this Tarz and why you're so uneasy.

I can't tell if you're making an offer of some kind, Saralegui.

[ He lifted his brows. ]

Don't meet him. In fact, kill him. Quickly, and by any means necessary. He's...

... brutal. Brutal enough to mow through every other life in Redgate just to get to one Unseelie shard.

Sara. And later, perhaps. When you don't have a war with the elves to deal with.

[It's hard to tell what's dry humor and what's complete seriousness when he plows straight on through to the real meat of this discussion.]

Tell me more about this man, and I just might be able to do that. What are his abilities? Would just stopping his heart be enough to end him? Does he even have a functional heart?

[That isn't even an odd question in the Drabwurld.]

Sara. [ He amended. ] Very well.

[ Likewise, it was all so deadpanned; hard to tell. And he nodded. ]

He was a notable artificer of magical objects. Utterly devoted to his craft, paid little attention to the warring, instead making... impressive magical items for soldiers. His wife, however, was a notable petitioner for peace.

She and many other Seelie were slain in a revenge-massacre by Unseelie. All the heads were claimed, the bodies... mutilated.

The roster of his abilities is... breathtaking. If you've met them, he might be an even match for Berserker, or Saber. I couldn't say, about his heart. I'd need to be in close proximity to him.

[That's...clearly not what he wanted to hear, as far as Tarz is concerned. Another heavy sigh, and his gaze it cast downwards at the surface of his desk while he appears to mull over the possibilities.]

Hn... I suppose I could always just tell him to go off somewhere and kill himself, and entirely avoid the mess that would come of the Seelie blaming it on me. But then I'm sure Morla would take issue with the fact that I didn't seize the opportunity to take his shard.

[ Tzilan paused, hands very still. It's clear he's aiming for delicacy, watching Sara with care. ]

I'm not certain your power would... be effective.

[Impassive by all appearances, he glanced back up at Tzilan with arched brows. This, at least, he didn't appear to take as insult, but he doesn't exactly enjoy the feeling that Tzilan is walking on eggshells to handle him.]

Then what would you suggest?

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