A Simple Shepherd's Cottage, Glacia, Late Saturday Afternoon (Fandom Time)

[glacial_witch]

The further south their great procession had traveled, the more things had changed. Some of that was purely geographical, of course. They'd left the mountains and the great pine forests long behind them, trading them in for fields and rivers made mighty by the runoff from the mountains that only stopped when the weather turned water to ice. They

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[glacial_witch]

Fetya had stopped mumbling to herself while Karla was busy. Perhaps realizing that there were other people here had brought her back to some semblance of herself. Perhaps the longer Marva stayed out of her head, the more of herself there was to claim.

"She really...?" Fetya looked at the unconscious body of her sister on the table and shook her head. "I don't want to believe it."

[glacial_warlord]

"Forgive me, Lady," Morton said politely, "but the facts don't change whether you wish to believe them or not. She's been abetting your enemies, working to undermine you, and poisoning your mind."

He wasn't going to suggest that they kill her, but he wouldn't argue against it, either.

[glacial_witch]

Fetya closed her eyes, willing herself to have strength. "You are certain?"

Karla nodded gravely. "Her missing finger speaks for itself," she said. "And she condemned herself through her own words and deeds. She is the traitor in your Court, Lady."

Fetya looked broken, but her voice was strong when she gave the order to have the shield removed and her sister bound.

[not_a_parakeet]

Warren stepped back, then, watching Fetya's men - because not a single one of Marva's dared to move in that moment - move in to carry out their Queen's orders. He watched for a short while, and then threw his stolen sword on the floor, moving to go collect his sticks.

The sword was a good weapon when there wasn't anything else at hand. His sticks, on the other hand, were practically an extension of himself. He could kill, with a sword. That was fine enough. It was all he was really required to do. But if a sword was efficient, his sticks were art. Lucivar had trained him well.

*Feyta needs to know that there are still men in this room that mean to do her harm,* he thought in Karla and Morton's direction as he sheathed his blades at his hips.

[glacial_warlord]

*I'll speak to her males,* Morton promised.

[glacial_witch]

Karla rolled her eyes. *And I'll tell her,* she sent. *Right now, she needs to know as much as she can about everything. She's going to be doubting herself for a long time.*

As it was, she was watching her people tie up her sister with tears glimmering in her eyes. Even so, she did glance over at the men who were not moving and her eyes lingered over each of their faces in turn.

[not_a_parakeet]

Singling out the rats that still swarmed in her nest. Warren watched as she began to draw those same conclusions for herself, and he nodded a little.

*I think she and her males can handle it, then,* he noted, and then looked at one of Fetya's, tentatively reaching his bloodied hand out to get his attention. The man tensed a little, looking up at Warren not with contempt, but with the memory of him cutting down his companions fresh in his mind. Warren only offered him a half-smile, raising his other hand as well, showing the man that he wasn't going to reach for his sticks. "I need you to tell me about the males that are coming after our army."

Or, rather, after the small fraction of their army that had come this far. But Warren wasn't about to say as much.

"At least fifty, all told," the man replied, even as the others looked at him to see what he was going to say. "All Blood, of course, properly trained for battle and with a mind to shut down an uprising of misguided landens before it even starts." He fell silent for a second, checking his words, and then he frowned, bowed, and added, "as they were told to expect. If your army fights anything like you do, we'll be lucky if any come back."

[glacial_witch]

"Oh, they'll fight," Karla warned. "And they're not just landens. There are Blood there, too. But we're not here to interfere with your Province. I'm here to ask for your Queen's support for my bid to take Sidra back from the Ruling Council."

[glacial_witch]

"And you have it," Fetya said. "I'm still concerned, but...there's no longer a small voice in the back of my head telling me that this will lead to the deaths of those still loyal to me."

[not_a_parakeet]

"We aren't expecting a smooth transition into power," Warren noted, looking toward Fetya with a near-apologetic expression and a small bow of gratitude for her support all the same. "For reasons that should be obvious. But Karla supports the Old Ways, and things like this can't be allowed to stand."

He paused, dwelling on that for a moment, before looking between Karla and Fetya.

"Though, if we want to avoid any more loss of life than necessary, we're going to want to get word out to both of our armies that they really don't want to be killing one another right now."