♔ II ► VIDEO 【UNSEELIE LOCKETS + HERMIONENET COMPASS】

[skjalf]

( Today, she is beautifully dressed in a gown of dark green, and her hair is braided in a crown about her head, with some loose curls falling past her shoulders. Appearance is everything today, when she has such a request to make. It is not as humbling as she might have expected, to be in such a position as to need to ask for aid; perhaps it is because it is not for her, personally.

But rather an endeavour which may benefit all. Carefully, at first, she smiles, an expression which gains warmth after a few seconds. )

I greet all of you well. And pray that all of you are doing all right. Sadly, as we are all keenly aware, such a state will not long be enjoyed by many of our native brethren. The Void would consume Leathann, and I commend the great efforts being made by all to keep it at bay.

Yet the isle of Briste to the north is in similarly dire straits, and I would make a great effort there to see their people saved from death, if the Void is not stopped ere it might swallow the isle. I know not if raising it might be viable option; rather, I have struck up an overture, a dialogue with their Council of elders.

My hope is this: that we might relocate the people to a settlement on the coast of the mainland here. If I might secure their trust and blessing to do so, I will lead their people to the head of the North road. There, I propose a settlement be built, which may in time grow into something greater.

I would do this myself, but I lack the funds to. Thus I appeal to you all: please, aid me in this. I will either repay you in turn or owe you a favour later, for certain. I would not ask for donations unless it is within your wisdom to provide one. Either way, you would bear my eternal gratitude for this.

These people may be hesitant to trust us, but they deserve a better fate than that which awaits them if we do naught.

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unseelie.

[skjalf]

( Oh, of course it would be Katsa to make her laugh when she has been awe-stricken beyond her power of speech. She chuckles for a little while, and then shakes her head, finally as a grin comes to her face. )

Mind that you keep enough to feed your turtle! Each time I see him, he seems to have grown by leaps and bounds.

( The teasing (and this time not about motherhood!) dispensed with, she sobers into a pleasant gentleness of countenance. )

You are most beloved to me, Katsa. I think you know already that should you ever need or want for anything, you need but tell me of it. But perhaps it merits reiteration: whatever you desire, I will happily provide for you at any time. But for now, will my eternal thanks do?

( Okay, perhaps the teasing is not so dispensed with after all. )

[survivra]

[ shaking her head and trying and failing to suppress a smile. ]

I'm beginning to think you care more for the turtle than anyone. Your eternal thanks is more than enough, Princess: that's far too long for anyone to be thankful for anything, let alone something so minor as my offer. The people of Briste need the help that can be given, and that's what's simply right for me to do.

[skjalf]

More than I care about you?! Never! ( She laughs, holding a hand to her heart as if wounded. ) That would never be possible, for you hold too large a piece of my heart for your import to me to be eclipsed by a turtle.

Even if he is a darling little thing. ( Her expression shifts to something quieter, softer. ) Though you are, as well. The former, not the latter.

And yours is truly a good soul. I knew it for truth when we fought together in that siege. It seems we fight another now. May we be more victorious this time than the last.

[survivra]

[ Katsa's smile grows. ]

Among many other pieces that need a place in your heart, I'm sure. If mine is larger than that for a turtle, then I suppose I am content.

Though I question your standards for what may be "darling." [ What a phrase to use for a woman like her!

Katsa rubs a hand over the back of her head, through the short locks of her hair, and sobers. ]

Perhaps we remember the battle differently. { A good soul, Elizabeth says. Katsa remembers being furious and bloody and deadly, when she should have tried harder not to kill. ] But we'll fight together again. If you wish to train with me again...

[skjalf]

Yours is larger than most, have no fear. You are well and beloved in my heart, and ever have been. If that contents you, then I am glad of it.

Truly? I may enlighten you, if you wish it. ( She grins a little, shy for some reason.

And as Katsa sobers, so does her own smile fade into an expression of quiet neutrality. Her hands are caught in the folds of her skirts, twisting and tugging a little at the fabric. )

Nay, we do not. You saved my life more than once. For that, I will never see you as aught else. ( Her morals are so grey as to surprise even Katsa, are they? It surprises her, after all this time, how much they still have to learn of one-another. )

I do. Please, if you will allow it.

[survivra]

As you are in mine.

[ Quiet, but genuine. Katsa's tempted hide her eyes in the palm of a hand, but she thinks that would be ridiculous, so she forces herself to stay still. ]

Please, do enlighten me. I should like to hear however it is you're deciding these things. [ Now Katsa plucks at a loose thread on a cushion of the chair where she is sitting, focusing determinedly on that. ]

Of course I saved your life then. And I'd do it again without a moment's hesitation. You don't need my permission for anything.

[skjalf]

( Her breath catches, something stirring in her at the sound of Katsa's soft admission. )

Then I cannot be aught but content, dearest. In that perhaps I am far wealthier than any monarch in Christendom has ever been.

( Elizabeth feels her cheeks suffuse with warmth. ) You were good to me, then, as you ever have been since. Kind and honest and even gentle, when needed. I have alluded to it before, but rarely did I know any of those things at home once my father perished. Thus, it is those qualities I value the most.

And your ferocity in defense of me was beautiful to behold, in its way. I remember being much the same, of thinking even then that I would rather those soldiers slit my throat than yours. That so long as you were able to escape, I would be satisfied.

Yet here we both are. Do you know that I yet feel that way? Your life to me is beyond worth, it holds no price. For naught could ever replace you; nor no one have a prayer of doing so.

I love you more than this world, perhaps even more than my own. I care not what that makes me, for so long as you live, I am whole and happy.

[survivra]

[ In her embarrassment Katsa laughs, a breathless laugh that sounds light and awkward rather than malicious. These are compliments that she does not deserve, and she's not sure how to say aloud to Elizabeth that kind and gentle are not the right words for her. If only Elizabeth knew of her past and what she'd done, she would not be so quick to call her such things.

ferocity, though. at least that word seems right. ferocious and vicious; perhaps not a maddened beast, but something not wholly normal, not natural all the same. ]

How lucky for us both, then, that I seem particularly fortuitous in the areas helpful for keeping myself alive. But you've left out a few things. You forgot obstinate and troublesome and likely maddening as well.

[skjalf]

Well, I had thought those went without saying! ( Mischief lights her eyes, and a grin tugs the corners of her mouth upward, revealing her dimples. Clearly, the intent of that statement is no more malicious than Katsa's laughter. )

You are maddening, but in the most pleasant fashion possible. I have never met anyone quite like you, and I think I never will. You are special, beloved; meant to be cherished.

( Elizabeth rather likes the ferocity about her. Her passionate nature and hot temper mesh with her own, and are thus so familiar as to be breathing as one. That is how it feels, whenever they are in one-another's company. A thing she experiences with no other, not even Lauralae, to whom she is now connected on her end by blood.

She knows not what it means, only that she adores it. So it will never be questioned. )

[survivra]

Rarely do pleasant and maddening go together, Princess. I think you've been in the wine cellars.

[ She shakes her head, still failing to comprehend the source of Elizabeth's incredible praise for her. Her cheeks are red and hot, and so Katsa brushes it off even more insistently, even though her laughter is fond. ]

[skjalf]

I take great offense to that! I have not imbibed at all this day—yet, anyhow. You are simply a rare case where those things to coincide beautifully.

Quite literally, in fact.

( The praise stems from her love of her, simply put. And while some are less comfortable with it than others, she is pleased that Katsa accepts it readily enough, considering.

Her own cheeks are also a faint shade of pink. )

Traits which make my Champion most interesting.

[survivra]

[ That gets a laugh, and Katsa shakes her head and decides not to argue further. Elizabeth is clearly exaggerating for Katsa's benefit, but of course it's all just ridiculous. ]

Interesting, perhaps. Or puzzlingly difficult to conceptualize even when it's myself, apparently. If I am your champion, Elizabeth, it is because you're the one worth fighting beside.

[skjalf]

( Elizabeth grins and chuckles in response, but it comes as a shock to her that no, she actually is not exaggerating. What she says, she means with absolute faith and sincerity.

It is simply that she typically does not flirt with Katsa in the same manner as she does with others. Now, she simply flushes scarlet and continues because she has already begun anyhow: )

Interesting is puzzlingly difficult for me, dear heart. Whatever we are to become to one-another, you have always been of great import to me simply by virtue of being who you are. All your fire, brashness and conviction make you beloved.

I.. ( Look what you have done, Katsa! She is most certainly blushing. ) am always honoured, and glad to fight alongside you.