At World's End -- Part 15d
anonymous
March 19 2011, 02:37:20 UTC
"When Estonia was first taken over and during most of its time under His Majesty's father's rule I suppose...yes we did wish to be free but...that was many decades ago and we have grown used to being part of the Northern Kingdom. It would be hard to go back now and as my father tells it life was not so very idyllic when we were making our own way in the world. We were a rather poor nation and very rocky and dry for the majority of the land and rest lies beyond the snow boundary so not much of note can grow there even with the help of magic so most of what little money we had went to trading with our neighbors who were not always fair and just when it came to pricing because they knew how much we were in need of their goods. But now we are one of the most important seats of power within His Majesty's court for our magic has always run very deep and very strong and has proven to be a great asset to him and we are well rewarded for it and have grown quite prosperous and the people having more time to tend to have gotten quite astute and inventing and creating things that help the Kingdom also become prosperous when they are traded with neighboring kingdoms."
"But how much of that do you actually get to see?" Alfred pressed with a frown. "If you could gain your independence..."
"We see roughly 45% of our earnings put back directly into Estonia's pocket which is more then fair and we can get the items that we cannot produce for ourselves freely from the rest of the Kingdom so that money is more directly put to work for our own needs. We could not be any better off it we were independent in fact things would more then likely be much worse off."
"So...you have some measure of freedoms?" Alfred asked curiously.
"Oh yes," Eduard said with a nod. "The same as anyone in any other kingdom might have. We are allowed to travel inside and outside of the Kingdom as we wish or move away for work or marriage so long as we have proper documentation and all our wages come to our own pockets minus a reasonable yearly taxation. We might not have the same amount of freedoms as the people of Copenhagen do but we are not being held prisoner against our wishes or treated poorly or hurt."
"Oh..." Alfred said in a very small voice. "We were taught those things in our lessons but..."
"You have heard other stories about the way that we are being treated?" Eduard finished for him with a slight smile.
"Yeah..." Alfred admitted ducking his head. "There are so many stories out there about life in the Northern Kingdom."
"I suppose there probably are," Eduard said a little grimly. "I know the Kingdom has a bad reputation out there amongst the other Kingdoms."
"Maybe...just a little..." Alfred admitted tentatively.
"That does not surprise me nor is it probably unjustified," Eduard said thoughtfully. "Under His Majesty's father's reign things were very bad. But the King has been making great strides to clean up things inside the Kingdom and to change the rest of the world's perception of us."
"I supposed the alliance he created with Britannia by marrying me will help with that a lot..." the words were out of Alfred's mouth before he even realized he'd thought them. "I mean..." he attempted to try and pull them back and then realized how true they actually were. He frowned and tried to ignore the way his heart squeezed strangely in his chest.
"It will help," Eduard agreed simply but he offered an easy smile. "But you should not think that that is the only reason he chose to marry you, Alfred."
"But he did not..." Alfred said tightly. "Choose to marry me, that was my father's choice not Ivan's..." he slammed his mouth shut with a squeak as he realized what he was saying how much he was revealing to a total stranger that he probably shouldn't. He gulped and looked glanced away to look out the windows not wanting to see the look on Eduard's face.
At World's End -- Part 15e
anonymous
March 19 2011, 02:38:53 UTC
Alfred jerked his head to signify that he did not wish to talk about it. Eduard fell into silence and Alfred was for once pleased that as Royal Consort his wishes would be abided by no matter what they might be so long as they did not contradict Ivan's. Heavy silence descended over the coach. Alfred reveled in it for a few moments before he began to feel rude and foolish. He cleared his throat softly and looked back over at Eduard who glanced up from his book with an unreadable expression. Alfred shifted his body so he was once again facing the other man and searched around for what he hoped would be a much safer topic of conversation.
"So...you're Ivan's Second-in-Command?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes," Eduard answered with a nod. "Well truthfully I share the responsibilities with his eldest sister. She manages stuff in St. Petersburg and oversees the King's household there. I do the same in Moscow and of course I also do whatever His Majesty wishes of me. And when he is off traveling, which he does a fair amount of since the Northern Kingdom is so large, I usually stay behind and keep an eye on his ministers and other staff. I keep in touch with him of course but basically I run the Kingdom Seat in his absence."
"So if you are here then who is doing that now?" Alfred asked curiously.
"Well the third in the chain of command, loosely speaking, is the head of the military. He's...well you'll meet him before we get to Moscow as he'll be meeting us when we cross over the border. He's very good at his job but not so very great at running the entire Kingdom so mostly His Majesty and I are still doing most of it while we travel back using various communication spells."
"But what if something happens while you're both gone? What if someone attacks or tries to take over or...something..." Alfred asked worriedly.
"There is nothing to worry about Alfred," Eduard reassured him. "There are many checks in place to assure that neither of those things would happen while we are away. And if something should happen Feliks will be able to take care of it long enough for us to get back."
"But you said..." Alfred said with a frown.
"I said he was very good at his job," Eduard said. "And he is the King would not trust him to keep an eye on things while we were gone. He just...prefers not to have that much responsibility unless he absolutely cannot avoid it."
"Do you normally travel with Ivan when he leaves the Kingdom?" Alfred asked.
"His Majesty does not often have cause to leave the Kingdom," Eduard said. "But no under normal circumstances unless there was some important need for me to be there I would stay behind to do my duties as his Second-in-Command. His marriage, a very long time in coming, is one such occasion where my presence was both expected and desired by the King."
"Will your duties change any now that he is married?" Alfred asked.
"I should not expect them too," Eduard said with a shake of his head. "Technically you would now be considered his Second but you...well you do not have..."
"I have no magic so I am no use to him in that regard?" Alfred finished unflinchingly.
"Well, yes," Eduard said his voice hesitating slightly. "In a case like this things are a bit different then they might normally be."
"If thinks were not different, if I did not lack magic," Alfred said curiously. "How would your role differ?"
"I suppose that would be up to you," Eduard mused softly. "If you wished to you could take all of my responsibilities and then put me where you chose to."
"Going by the chain of command logic would dictate that you would be shifted back to being in charge of the military," Alfred pointed out.
At World's End -- Part 15f
anonymous
March 19 2011, 02:41:25 UTC
"If one was going to follow to the letter the way things are expected to go yes that would be the most logical way but...you would not necessarily need to follow it. You could choose to do anything you wish so long as His Majesty agreed. You could send me into the wilds of the Snow Desert should you so wish or even out of the Kingdom altogether. Though I would prefer, if I was not to serve the King any longer that I be given leave to join my family back in Estonia."
"I'm not going to send you off," Alfred reassured him hurriedly. "I...I would not choose to make any sort of big changes even if I did have the magic to back such decisions up...at least not right away."
"What would you do?" Eduard asked his voice curious.
"Well to be honest I don't really know much about the way your Kingdom works and every Kingdom has different needs so I would have to observe the way things are done and that would take some time. Ultimately I guess I would strive to have the same sort o of set up my parents have..." he trailed off thoughtfully and realized that Eduard was looking at him with a deeply interested expression. He gave a slight frown this was the sort of information that Ivan was probably most interested in getting and his views might keep Ivan from taking him seriously but not that he was started he couldn't bring himself to stop. "They each have different skills that they're good at so they do different things for Britannia and it's not always strictly down the lines of King and Consort just what works best for each of them. So that's sort of what I'd like and given the size of the Northern Kingdom it's probably much more necessary to...delegate outside of just the Royal Family. Besides...I don't think I'd be much good at running a Kingdom so...it's probably better that it's not even a real option."
"Why would you just assume that you would not be good at it?" Eduard asked.
"Well...I'm...I can be a bit of a..." Alfred let out a sharp chuckle and shook his head. "I can be a bit of a mess sometimes...you may have noticed that fact."
"I have seen that you are in the midst of adjusting to a new situation that you were not expecting," Eduard said easily. "And doing far better then I would have expected anyone to do. Also I have heard of the things you accomplished while you were off on your own."
"You heard about that?" Alfred asked in shock. He was confused as to how Eduard had heard about it but then he realized that his father had probably told Ivan the things his spies spread out through the other Kingdoms had informed him of and Eduard had probably been present for the conversation. He shrugged his shoulders and frowned. "Most of that was just simple problem solving and finding the solution that was most logical given the situation. The rest of it was just dumb luck..."
Eduard stared at him for a long moment and then started to crack up. Alfred's brows shot up to his forehead. His confusion seemed to sober Eduard up for a moment but the other man couldn't seem to contain himself for long before he started laughing again. Alfred huffed, not liking to be the butt of a joke that he was not in on, and tried to pin Eduard with his most irritated and officious glare, one he had practiced often in a mirror growing up trying to copy his father. He'd thought he'd had it down pretty good until he'd seen Ivan's version of the glare and realized he had a long, long way to go if he expected anyone to take him seriously with it. Still it seemed to be enough to calm Eduard down.
"Sorry, sorry, Your Highness," Eduard said clearing his voice as he straightened himself up and seemed to be trying to pull himself back into a more serious and professional demeanor. "It's just your explanation of how you've accomplished so much it makes me look forward to your meeting Feliks. I believe you two shall get along quite nicely he has the same...way...about him."
At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 02:42:48 UTC
"Oh..." Alfred said his brow creasing thoughtfully as he wondered about this man he'd yet to meet.
"Also, Highness, if you give me leave to say so," Eduard said. "Your intimidating glare could use some work..."
Alfred stared at him in wide eyed shock. For a split second he thought that Eduard was seriously openly criticizing him about it but then he saw the way that Eduard's lips were tugging slightly upwards and the teasing glint in his eye. Alfred felt some release inside him, a tension that had been with him since he'd first started on this journey surrounded by strangers. He let out a puff of air and only after Eduard started to seem worry that he might have overstepped his place did he allow himself to let loose the laughter that had built up inside of him. Eduard hesitated for a moment before joining in.
And for the first time Alfred allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't be as bad as he'd thought they would be.
* * * TBC
Author's Note: So, so, so, so very sorry about how long this has taken. It was like pulling teeth to get the muses to cooperate and that was on top of a bad all around February and being sick for the last couple of weeks. So yeah...thank you to everyone who is still around reading and enjoying this after all this time. Your continued support of my crazy, meandering vision really means the world to me. I promise things will start to get more fun/interesting in the next chapter. Also I know quite a few of you wanted them to talk about Ivan's sisters but I decided that's a conversation better left for a later date with Ivan. I hope the glimpse of a character that will joining us soon made up for that a little bit... ;-) I'm scared to death of writing him but...it wouldn't be the same without him so appear he shall...hopefully I can manage to keep him from running away with the plot like he very much wants too lol.
Re: At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 03:23:02 UTC
*A* I have no words to descrive how much I love that fic. It makes me so happy whenever I see a new chapter !! <3<3<3 I even go back to read some previous chapters sometimes.
Continue your good work ! I cannot wait to see more ! :D
Thank you so much, I'm glad to know there are still people willing to stick with me and the story even though I am so sporadic sometimes when it comes to updates. (I try I really try but my muses are annoying sometimes)
Glad you're enjoying the fic and that it's rereadable!
Re: At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 05:01:34 UTC
UPDAAAAAAAAAAATE OMG SO HAPPY ♥♥♥
I wish I could leave a really well thought out comment, but all I can muster right now is my excitement and happiness over this update. So...I will shower you with love! because I love this fic ♥ Take all the time you need anon! :D
Re: At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 14:44:56 UTC
Oh~ I missed you so much anon! Did I mention I love your take on magic? Because I'm fucking crazy about it!!!!
I love the conversation! Alfred's motor-mouth is one of the best things ever!
I'm now more curious of the Norther Kingdom internal politics and management, and anxious to know exactly what does everyone do!
I wonder what kind of works Natalya does and what's going to be her relationship with Alfred. But, just like Eduard, I'm suspecting a very good relation with Toris!
I'm glad you're enjoying the magic in this it has been fun to create the world and the magic in it. I've been pulling from various sources and adding in a few twists of my own here and there trying to make it feel organic to the universe and the characters.
I have some thoughts on Natalya though nothing is set in stone since things tend to change as I'm writing it. I ah...hope you mean Feliks there though Toris will appear eventually as well.
Thanks again for the lovely comment and I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy this fic!
Re: At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 22:28:56 UTC
This fill is the reason I started checking the Kink Meme. To see it updated instantly made my day amazing. owo
I have a question though, since people with magic age at a slower pace than those who don't. Does this mean Matthew looks younger than Alfred? And does it take children longer to mature or something..? owo
I agree with the other Anon on your take of magic, I'm not usually one for such things... But this.. I just love it. And fascinated by it.
*flushes* Thank you so much I'm glad you're enjoying it!
To answer your question the magic slowing aging down doesn't kick in until children reach maturity at age 18 before that they age normally because even if they can do a little they don't really come into their full strength magically until their 18th year. So Matthew probably might look slightly younger then Alfred but at this point it's not really all that obvious.
Thank you I'm glad you're giving the fic a chance and enjoying it so much!
Re: At World's End -- Part 15g
anonymous
March 19 2011, 23:24:24 UTC
I'm always so happy to see this on the fill list. Take your time, it's worth it to make it good! (Not that I'm not totally impatient for more, either, especially a fun chapter, but I'll manage!) I love how rich you've made the world, how the side characters have backstories and lives of their own... Good stuff.
"But how much of that do you actually get to see?" Alfred pressed with a frown. "If you could gain your independence..."
"We see roughly 45% of our earnings put back directly into Estonia's pocket which is more then fair and we can get the items that we cannot produce for ourselves freely from the rest of the Kingdom so that money is more directly put to work for our own needs. We could not be any better off it we were independent in fact things would more then likely be much worse off."
"So...you have some measure of freedoms?" Alfred asked curiously.
"Oh yes," Eduard said with a nod. "The same as anyone in any other kingdom might have. We are allowed to travel inside and outside of the Kingdom as we wish or move away for work or marriage so long as we have proper documentation and all our wages come to our own pockets minus a reasonable yearly taxation. We might not have the same amount of freedoms as the people of Copenhagen do but we are not being held prisoner against our wishes or treated poorly or hurt."
"Oh..." Alfred said in a very small voice. "We were taught those things in our lessons but..."
"You have heard other stories about the way that we are being treated?" Eduard finished for him with a slight smile.
"Yeah..." Alfred admitted ducking his head. "There are so many stories out there about life in the Northern Kingdom."
"I suppose there probably are," Eduard said a little grimly. "I know the Kingdom has a bad reputation out there amongst the other Kingdoms."
"Maybe...just a little..." Alfred admitted tentatively.
"That does not surprise me nor is it probably unjustified," Eduard said thoughtfully. "Under His Majesty's father's reign things were very bad. But the King has been making great strides to clean up things inside the Kingdom and to change the rest of the world's perception of us."
"I supposed the alliance he created with Britannia by marrying me will help with that a lot..." the words were out of Alfred's mouth before he even realized he'd thought them. "I mean..." he attempted to try and pull them back and then realized how true they actually were. He frowned and tried to ignore the way his heart squeezed strangely in his chest.
"It will help," Eduard agreed simply but he offered an easy smile. "But you should not think that that is the only reason he chose to marry you, Alfred."
"But he did not..." Alfred said tightly. "Choose to marry me, that was my father's choice not Ivan's..." he slammed his mouth shut with a squeak as he realized what he was saying how much he was revealing to a total stranger that he probably shouldn't. He gulped and looked glanced away to look out the windows not wanting to see the look on Eduard's face.
"Alfred..." Eduard said in a hushed tone.
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"So...you're Ivan's Second-in-Command?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes," Eduard answered with a nod. "Well truthfully I share the responsibilities with his eldest sister. She manages stuff in St. Petersburg and oversees the King's household there. I do the same in Moscow and of course I also do whatever His Majesty wishes of me. And when he is off traveling, which he does a fair amount of since the Northern Kingdom is so large, I usually stay behind and keep an eye on his ministers and other staff. I keep in touch with him of course but basically I run the Kingdom Seat in his absence."
"So if you are here then who is doing that now?" Alfred asked curiously.
"Well the third in the chain of command, loosely speaking, is the head of the military. He's...well you'll meet him before we get to Moscow as he'll be meeting us when we cross over the border. He's very good at his job but not so very great at running the entire Kingdom so mostly His Majesty and I are still doing most of it while we travel back using various communication spells."
"But what if something happens while you're both gone? What if someone attacks or tries to take over or...something..." Alfred asked worriedly.
"There is nothing to worry about Alfred," Eduard reassured him. "There are many checks in place to assure that neither of those things would happen while we are away. And if something should happen Feliks will be able to take care of it long enough for us to get back."
"But you said..." Alfred said with a frown.
"I said he was very good at his job," Eduard said. "And he is the King would not trust him to keep an eye on things while we were gone. He just...prefers not to have that much responsibility unless he absolutely cannot avoid it."
"Do you normally travel with Ivan when he leaves the Kingdom?" Alfred asked.
"His Majesty does not often have cause to leave the Kingdom," Eduard said. "But no under normal circumstances unless there was some important need for me to be there I would stay behind to do my duties as his Second-in-Command. His marriage, a very long time in coming, is one such occasion where my presence was both expected and desired by the King."
"Will your duties change any now that he is married?" Alfred asked.
"I should not expect them too," Eduard said with a shake of his head. "Technically you would now be considered his Second but you...well you do not have..."
"I have no magic so I am no use to him in that regard?" Alfred finished unflinchingly.
"Well, yes," Eduard said his voice hesitating slightly. "In a case like this things are a bit different then they might normally be."
"If thinks were not different, if I did not lack magic," Alfred said curiously. "How would your role differ?"
"I suppose that would be up to you," Eduard mused softly. "If you wished to you could take all of my responsibilities and then put me where you chose to."
"Going by the chain of command logic would dictate that you would be shifted back to being in charge of the military," Alfred pointed out.
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"I'm not going to send you off," Alfred reassured him hurriedly. "I...I would not choose to make any sort of big changes even if I did have the magic to back such decisions up...at least not right away."
"What would you do?" Eduard asked his voice curious.
"Well to be honest I don't really know much about the way your Kingdom works and every Kingdom has different needs so I would have to observe the way things are done and that would take some time. Ultimately I guess I would strive to have the same sort o of set up my parents have..." he trailed off thoughtfully and realized that Eduard was looking at him with a deeply interested expression. He gave a slight frown this was the sort of information that Ivan was probably most interested in getting and his views might keep Ivan from taking him seriously but not that he was started he couldn't bring himself to stop. "They each have different skills that they're good at so they do different things for Britannia and it's not always strictly down the lines of King and Consort just what works best for each of them. So that's sort of what I'd like and given the size of the Northern Kingdom it's probably much more necessary to...delegate outside of just the Royal Family. Besides...I don't think I'd be much good at running a Kingdom so...it's probably better that it's not even a real option."
"Why would you just assume that you would not be good at it?" Eduard asked.
"Well...I'm...I can be a bit of a..." Alfred let out a sharp chuckle and shook his head. "I can be a bit of a mess sometimes...you may have noticed that fact."
"I have seen that you are in the midst of adjusting to a new situation that you were not expecting," Eduard said easily. "And doing far better then I would have expected anyone to do. Also I have heard of the things you accomplished while you were off on your own."
"You heard about that?" Alfred asked in shock. He was confused as to how Eduard had heard about it but then he realized that his father had probably told Ivan the things his spies spread out through the other Kingdoms had informed him of and Eduard had probably been present for the conversation. He shrugged his shoulders and frowned. "Most of that was just simple problem solving and finding the solution that was most logical given the situation. The rest of it was just dumb luck..."
Eduard stared at him for a long moment and then started to crack up. Alfred's brows shot up to his forehead. His confusion seemed to sober Eduard up for a moment but the other man couldn't seem to contain himself for long before he started laughing again. Alfred huffed, not liking to be the butt of a joke that he was not in on, and tried to pin Eduard with his most irritated and officious glare, one he had practiced often in a mirror growing up trying to copy his father. He'd thought he'd had it down pretty good until he'd seen Ivan's version of the glare and realized he had a long, long way to go if he expected anyone to take him seriously with it. Still it seemed to be enough to calm Eduard down.
"Sorry, sorry, Your Highness," Eduard said clearing his voice as he straightened himself up and seemed to be trying to pull himself back into a more serious and professional demeanor. "It's just your explanation of how you've accomplished so much it makes me look forward to your meeting Feliks. I believe you two shall get along quite nicely he has the same...way...about him."
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"Also, Highness, if you give me leave to say so," Eduard said. "Your intimidating glare could use some work..."
Alfred stared at him in wide eyed shock. For a split second he thought that Eduard was seriously openly criticizing him about it but then he saw the way that Eduard's lips were tugging slightly upwards and the teasing glint in his eye. Alfred felt some release inside him, a tension that had been with him since he'd first started on this journey surrounded by strangers. He let out a puff of air and only after Eduard started to seem worry that he might have overstepped his place did he allow himself to let loose the laughter that had built up inside of him. Eduard hesitated for a moment before joining in.
And for the first time Alfred allowed himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't be as bad as he'd thought they would be.
* * *
TBC
Author's Note: So, so, so, so very sorry about how long this has taken. It was like pulling teeth to get the muses to cooperate and that was on top of a bad all around February and being sick for the last couple of weeks. So yeah...thank you to everyone who is still around reading and enjoying this after all this time. Your continued support of my crazy, meandering vision really means the world to me. I promise things will start to get more fun/interesting in the next chapter. Also I know quite a few of you wanted them to talk about Ivan's sisters but I decided that's a conversation better left for a later date with Ivan. I hope the glimpse of a character that will joining us soon made up for that a little bit... ;-) I'm scared to death of writing him but...it wouldn't be the same without him so appear he shall...hopefully I can manage to keep him from running away with the plot like he very much wants too lol.
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Continue your good work ! I cannot wait to see more ! :D
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Glad you're enjoying the fic and that it's rereadable!
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I wish I could leave a really well thought out comment, but all I can muster right now is my excitement and happiness over this update. So...I will shower you with love! because I love this fic ♥ Take all the time you need anon! :D
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Glad you're enjoying this so much, thank you for the comment! <3
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I love the conversation! Alfred's motor-mouth is one of the best things ever!
I'm now more curious of the Norther Kingdom internal politics and management, and anxious to know exactly what does everyone do!
I wonder what kind of works Natalya does and what's going to be her relationship with Alfred. But, just like Eduard, I'm suspecting a very good relation with Toris!
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I'm glad you're enjoying the magic in this it has been fun to create the world and the magic in it. I've been pulling from various sources and adding in a few twists of my own here and there trying to make it feel organic to the universe and the characters.
I have some thoughts on Natalya though nothing is set in stone since things tend to change as I'm writing it. I ah...hope you mean Feliks there though Toris will appear eventually as well.
Thanks again for the lovely comment and I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy this fic!
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I have a question though, since people with magic age at a slower pace than those who don't. Does this mean Matthew looks younger than Alfred? And does it take children longer to mature or something..? owo
I agree with the other Anon on your take of magic, I'm not usually one for such things... But this.. I just love it. And fascinated by it.
It's nice to see you back~~ ^^
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To answer your question the magic slowing aging down doesn't kick in until children reach maturity at age 18 before that they age normally because even if they can do a little they don't really come into their full strength magically until their 18th year. So Matthew probably might look slightly younger then Alfred but at this point it's not really all that obvious.
Thank you I'm glad you're giving the fic a chance and enjoying it so much!
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