audio | unseelie locked | february 7th, post-destruction of caer scima.

[boutant]

[ She would use the video function but there's blood everywhere -- on her hands, her mouth, her chin. There will be more, if she has her way. Her voice is tight with barely concealed emotion -- rage, worry. Next to her comes the low sounds of a wolf who seems to be in pain; poor Brennan had felt it when Caer Scima was attacked, his howl having split across the battlefield like a clap of thunder. ]

If you can be spared or have the capacity, go put out the fires in La Llorona. Caer Scima's destroyed, if you haven't already heard the news. Any refugees can head for the third spire, if they need a place to go. I'd offer my manor as well, but you'll have to get through the burning forest to get there. Still, if you can, it's open to you.

[ A hissed breath. ]

Let me know if you're out of there. And- if anyone knows if a vampire named Aindrea got out of Caer Scima, please tell me.

Oh, and if you still think this war doesn't involve you, is something you can avoid? You're an idiot.

Comments

[uneulogized]

Yeah, they're obviously armed to the teeth in knives to stab into our backs. [Though Jason is of the opinion that they should have been. Now that it's happened, he wonders why they were ill-prepared. But he knows better than to say that. He knows his own hindsight is only worthwhile because it's just that: hindsight.]

I met someone who had dreams of protecting everyone on the battlefield from one another. [He thought it was naive.] I just hope that kind of crap is cut out now.

[boutant]

We knew they were coming. But not...

[ Not like that. Not what happened. ]

We'll get more shardbearers and they won't understand that there are people who are absolutely willing to kill them for the court that claimed them.

[uneulogized]

No, not everyone walks that line in their life. [He's not that surprised, really. Jason's already met enough people who aren't prepared for the war.]

But at least we have stories we can tell them. We can show them Caer Scima. Will it be easy to deny it then? It might scare them, but at least they won't be foolish. [They won't think they can stop it all. Such noble feats don't belong here.]

[boutant]

We've had stories. I've had stories. It hasn't been enough.

[ She takes a deep breath, tries not to let it sound like a sob. ]

[uneulogized]

[Shit. He can hear that, and he doesn't know what to say. Except that the sound itself feels like a knife digging in.]

Then we'll keep telling them. We'll ... [He trails off, uncertain. They knew this already? It wasn't just coming from a place of paranoia?]

[boutant]

It's not that Unseelie forces haven't moved against Caer Glaem. But...

[ A pause. A breath. ]

I was thrown in their dungeons for an accident that hurt a lot of people. They refused to speak to me, refused to hear anything. They didn't care. They didn't tell anyone I was there.

[uneulogized]

What did you do?

[He figures it's a good idea to start there.]

[boutant]

I was turned into a shadow monster. Tried to destroy everything I could see. I didn't have any control over what was happening, didn't recognize anything or anyone, didn't know my own name.

[uneulogized]

No control. [He makes a frustrated sound.]

And they locked you away anyway? The hell is wrong with those bastards?

[boutant]

They see the shard, the court -- it's all they care about.

[ She sighs. ]

I know Seelie shardbearers who would have tried to get me out, but- they didn't know. No one knew, no one except the people who put me in there and, somehow, High-Queen Morla. She's the only reason I'm not still there, or dead.

[uneulogized]

Who did that to you?

[It's asked like he's still piecing it out. He doesn't think there's all bad people on either side. He counts himself as bad. Not "worthy of death." No damn way, but bad, in the general sense? Sure. But he's met people who don't qualify for that at all.

It figures it'd work that way for the Seelie, but enough were on the battlefield to make him not want to have even a little faith in them.]

[boutant]

Which part?

[ There's a slight snort. ]

Nico di Angelo is the one who stopped me, but he left me alone. A man named Faolan -- formerly Unseelie, essentially a traitor and now shardless, I think -- tried to use me to gain trust with the Seelie; I found out about that later. Native Seelie guards are the ones who put me in the cell and threw away the key.

[uneulogized]

[He processes that information carefully.]

Don't blame the Nico guy for that, but Faolan, that one ... [Jason shakes his head.] Well, he'd better be shardless.

And did it work? Did they eat up his offering, to show that he'd screw over his own so he could run with them? Did they care that he screwed you over?

[boutant]

No. Not that time, anyway.

[ Or so he'd said at Samhain. ]

He's fighting under their banners now, though.

[uneulogized]

Well, at least they have that going for them. [He sighs after a moment.]

Have you taken your revenge?

[boutant]

Mostly I shouted at him a lot.

[uneulogized]

If that's satisfying.

[It doesn't sound satisfying, but he's biased.]

[boutant]

Not really. But that was- before this.

[uneulogized]

Right. [It's said in an understanding tone, but it's a little clipped.]

Well, you offered me advice at the feast, so—after all of this? If you need some help, let me know. [And if it's to take revenge, he'll be her wing man. But he doesn't offer that, exactly.

He doesn't really know her, even if he's definitely both sympathetic and respectful after their talk.]

[boutant]

[ There's a pause, then a slight smile that's evident in her tone. ]

Thanks.

[uneulogized]

[He makes a sound of acknowledgement.]

No problem.