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Presence
Striking Looks
GoodwillNightfall slips in behind Katrin and watches to see who all arrives, and enters. It's not that he's a political freak, but as the Fairest's eyes slide over those without a crown, he understands that they have earned a measure of their Sovereign's trust. Whatever title each of them may or may not hold, this was a good thing to know.
As he sits, he notes that Alice is alone... not surprising, but a bit sad, nonetheless.
She had also been alone at the trod.
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Under normal circumstances Rick might have had something to say about HAL dismissing Terri like that, particularly since it seemed like she had been lead to believe she'd be sitting in on the meeting. But he, understandably, had other things on his mind at the moment. And the representatives of the Freehold here had more important things to discuss.
So he walked into the room and took a set, his gaze traveling between the other Changelings in the room with him. "Does anybody know why Sam's done this?"
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Alice sat down in one of the chairs, winced, and shifted her weight because she had sat on her tail. Once it was situated properly she sat and looked at the others for sometime for everyone to be seated before speaking in a calm and cool manner.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. For those of you who do not already know there has been an incident. It happened at the Capital Park Trod. I was preparing to enter the hedge with a Summer escort to try and resolve an issue with Mr. Tickle to convince him to come back to the freehold and abandon his quest to cut the hedge off from our world. Nightfall here arrived and provided information that we were lacking and that The Ear is at work in the city and based on this information I decided that it was not safe for myself to enter the Hedge and draw attention with a large party entering the hedge. They would have needed too many too ensure my safety to risk it and would not have gone unnoticed."
"Sam was giving some advice and expressed concern for the safety of the other sovereigns in the city when it was revealed that the Gentry were behind the previous attack. He expressed concern for the Winter Queen in a manner that could have implied that Winter was not protecting her properly. Swilla took offense to this and confronted the Summer King. He thought that Swilla was challenging him and they were preparing to fight. He had been throwing his weight around a little and then Nightfall attacked Brianne of Summer, I assume in support of a fellow Courtier. I believe Sam took this as an attack on Summer by Winter and to prevent things from getting worse I drew my weapons and commanded everyone to cease hostility or I would shoot. Everyone did except for Sam who immediately attacked Nightfall, so I shot Sam for disobeying a direct order. He wasn't seriously injured so we all left the scene before the human authorities arrived."
"As we left I got the impression that Sam felt that my actions sided me with Winter and that both Spring and Winter were siding against him and Summer."
She paused for a long moment and took a deep breath and poured herself a glass of water from the water pitcher on the conference table then took a deep drink. "Since then Fu has contacted a number of people assuring them that Summer is not making a move against the Freehold as a whole. So he is either lying, or Summer is split over the actions that occurred today. I tried to contact Sam afterward, but he is either unable or unwilling to contact me in return."
Alice sat still and looked at all the individuals present to gauge their reactions to the situation and wait for either questions or statements.
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Katrin sits very still, almost like a statue, while listening to Alice speak. As the current ruler finishes, the leader of the Silent Arrow shakes her head. "I can assure you that Winter has no intention to murder the Summer Sovereign. As for Swilla, I have not heard from him regarding this incident. However, his heart is as cold as they come. He will be no doubt sulking somewhere."
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Presence
Striking Looks
GoodwillNightfall listened to the beautiful Queen of Hearts speak, sorting out her words --her perception-- of the events as they compared to his own. At the time, hours ago, things had been crystal clear. Hearing it now, from another, it seemed hazy and muddled.
He stood, and looked down at his water glass as he composed himself. A hand brushed at an unruly lock of hair. For some, it might be odd to see discomfort --no matter how slight-- in the Fairest. In truth, he was a performer... not a public speaker. He excelled at one-on-one interaction, and could wrap the other person in a sense of intimacy that was completely comfortable and natural. Large groups, though... performing in front of a faceless mass was altogether different than this.
"What the Queen has said is true, and maybe it looks like I attacked the Summers without provocation, during some sort of one on one duel," he began.
"This was not the intent. Barkley has verbally disparaged myself and Winter Court around the Freehold, and the general 'attitude' of Summer has been... aggressive. While I can respect the Queen's view, this wasn't a duel. It was about showing Barkley, and all of Summer, that they must respect the other Courts -- in the only language they seem to speak.
"Sam Barkley does not make the rules for me, or for Winter. Summer cannot treat our Court however they wish without consequence. So... yes, I will admit that it was an attack on Summer by Winter, but one made without the intent to kill anyone. It was also made... without permission or sanction from the Onyx Throne," Nightfall spoke, and a flush of embarrassment spread as he examined his water glass again.
There was more that could be said; that if he'd wanted to kill the Lord of Summer, he would have; that the Summers outnumbered the Winters; that a Sovereign speaks for their entire Court, and thus that entire Court is accountable...
...but he didn't.
After an awkward moment of silence, he sat back down.
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Rick leaned forward slightly, lacing his fingers together. Though in truth he wanted to do nothing so more than bang his head against the table in frustration at seeing that the Freehold might get torn apart because of something so foolish.
"So if I'm understanding this correctly, this entire fiasco began when you decided that Summer was talking too much...and decided to stab them because of that. Did you even try talking to them? In the past I've found that it works quite well." What he didn't bother to add was that for someone with a Mantle so strong for a Court that prided itself on subtlety what Nightfall had done seemed awfully stupid.
Granted, how this had begun was but a small part of the overall problem. But something like this would have to be examined in parts if he were to have a chance to understand it.
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Presence
Striking Looks
Goodwill"No, you don't understand it correctly," Nightfall replied. "It began when Summer decided that Winter wasn't deserving of respect."
To the last, he didn't answer. It was clear the Autumn was no warrior, and therefore did not think like one. If anyone thought the Summers...
Well, screw that.
Hadn't Hitler taught the world how far negotiating with tyrants who had superiority complexes got you?
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Alice heard her phone beep and read the message from Fu. Then she listened to the replies and exchange carefully before finally addressing the Onyx Queen. "I wasn't implying that Winter intended to kill King Barkley. Frankly with as skilled as the Archer is I'd imagine that if he wanted either individual dead they would be. You'd have to be blind not to see that."
Next she turned and looked at Nightfall with a slight frown. "While I don't condone Nightfall's actions in this he does have a point. Summer has been quite vocal lately and down right disrespectful and this incident with Mr. Barkley is just an end result of that behavior that was building. Certain elements in the court does have a desire to respect anyone who isn't Summer, which is especially telling since Barkley ignored a direct order from me to take matters into his own hands. That was partially my fault, I didn't realize deep the disrespect went." She sighed softly before continuing, "That was one reason I wanted to try what I did with the Spring Festival. If Summer was able to see that others in the hold are able to perform feats of fitness, strength, and skill as well then perhaps they could grow to respect what the rest of the hold has to offer and come to work with the rest of us as a team. But I fear I was being far to subtle for many of them and it went over their heads. I had also hoped that most of Summer would participate and try to blow off some of their aggression through healthy competition, but they just sat around feeding their bitterness."
Alice pulled out her phone and set it down on the table open. "Regardless, I feel we do Summer a disservice by not including them here. I will contact Mr. Fu since he seems to be the current spokesman for Summer. We need to find out where their Court stands as a whole."
Alice texted a reply to Fu before putting her phone away.
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HAL had remained silent throughout, hands pressed flat against the table, red eyes taking in every gesture and nuance of those around him. He listened, soaking in the words and variables, correlating them against other meanings and implications.
"I have heard the rumours spread from the lips-stroke-mouths of Summer. As plain as they have been, I do not feel threatened by them. Summer is naturally angry and needs to be kept on a tight leash. Sam Barkley, however, will take this as a personal grievance-stroke-insult and will fight until death if he has to. I propose we remove him."
HAL then returns to silence and waits to see where this ripple leads.
Draft this Post
