[ota] my crown is on my head, not in my heart

[ishineon]

Well. She can't say she wasn't half-expecting this, but she certainly wasn't expecting how it would go. She'd sought out Silas with some questions- small, important, needing only the approval of the King or Queen. Instead he'd set a small stack of paperwork in her hands and left without a word.

The first sheet is titled: Ascension to Position of

Comments

[lowtohigh]

It's expected. It's unexpected. It's something that's understandable and inherently impossible to comprehend. It's the stable instability.

And it's not going to be long after the news reaches Clubs that Eileen will--a touch uncomfortable, a touch childish--send a messenger to request an audience with the new Queen of Diamonds when time is available, so please her Highness.

[ishineon]

An answer comes very soon- a teatime meeting. It will be nice and normal. Quite like before, with any other Queen.

Or they can pretend to, at least.

Säde won't begin with anything Deck-related. Once the usual greetings are out of the way, the first thing she says is, "Leigh says she misses you."

[lowtohigh]

The relief is unexpected, but entirely instant. It's coupled, of course, with the knee-jerk worry for Leigh that's been given less attention than it should amid the concerns immediate on-Deck. They can start there.

"Is she-- is she all right, still? I mean, as much as things can be all right?"

With the trip. With the surely painful assistance she was giving her friends. With knowing there was a tumult at home.

[ishineon]

"So she assures me. Our butler's health remains a question of fate, however. I don't expect her return to be a happy one, but at least she can help ease Mrs Apollonides-Zajaczkowski's grief."

It had been so hard to explain all that had happened to Leigh.

[diemwnt]

Tally is green, still. Silas is leaving, to grieve the multiple griefs settling over their Suit in general and his brow in particular. Rachel is gone, possibly forever. And now there is no Ace, because Säde is Queen.

And the Tens will be soldiering on, as always.

Which is why this particular Ten will be seeking his new Queen not to congratulate her, but because Lord help him, he has no idea who he's meant to ask to sign off on some bimonthly paperwork that used to be dropped on the Ace's desk in the morning and picked up again in the afternoon. Not that he won't congratulate her, just.

You know. Paperwork keeps happening. Like life keeps happening.

[ishineon]

Ah, yes. Administration. Something that's just the same from the point of Queenhood as it is from Acehood.

Well, almost. "For the moment, keep bringing it to me. Anything that you used to bring to me, continue until Silas and I have chosen a new Ace." It sticks in her mouth, a little. She knows she'll have to get used to it.

[diemwnt]

His expression doesn't so much change as condense briefly into something more compact. Institutional shifts like this upset the order that kept a person able to be tightly locked down, after all.

Still. Odd to hear Säde talking about a new Ace.

The nod of his head is sharp as ever.

Is there anything else you need?

[ishineon]

"I think..." she has to clear her throat for a moment, to get the words out. "What reports of the outposts now? Since the Magician was defeated? Did they experience the same, or...?"

[sineoccasu]

It's not really a time for gifts or making much to do over things. That time will come, in a sedate way, but later. That doesn't mean it's a day that shouldn't be marked with something. Maybe just words. Maybe just the best smile that can be mustered.

Frederick so rarely has a plan. It's easier to just go with what feels right. With many things, this works just fine. He's hoping that this is one of those things as he taps on the door frame.

"Dia?"

[ishineon]

She looks up from what she's sorting through- what little she wasn't privy to as an Ace- and sets the file back into the stack. Good time to take a breather, anyway.

"Come on in, Rieti. I'm about done twiddling my thumbs for the day."

[sineoccasu]

"Good. I'm done making a horrible mess of myself." Less true today. He'd been sketching, not painting, since everything went sideways. Rumpled, mismatched, but fairly clean of pain. "That sounds like it must be time for dinner."

Because she'd eaten lunch and breakfast. Lie and tell him yes.

[ishineon]

Not saying no is the same as saying yes, right? Right.

"If I must. I keep forgetting to go down without Isaac dithering me out of my office." Maybe she ought to just have it sent up and save herself the trouble of remembering.

[uncutclarity]

It's perhaps expected that Avery's soon at Säde's door. Her new door, she thinks, but it's good that they're making these changes swiftly, not lingering and waiting. It's like ripping off a band-aid.

She expected this decision, anyway. Silas could have picked Tally, of course. Could have picked Avery or one of the other female Tens. But Säde has been Ace as long as Rachel was Queen. She's the natural choice.

"Your Majesty." She inclines her head. "I wanted to know if there was any way I could assist."

[ishineon]

She's going to have to get used to hearing that, just as she's going to have to get used to being on the other side of Rachel's desk. Her desk, now.

"I think we can begin by assuring everyone that there will be no major changes in the Suit, for now. I don't wish to pile anything more to worry about on them."

[uncutclarity]

Avery nods with a very slight smile. It's what Rachel would want; it's what Silas will need while Isaac is off-Deck...off-Deck dying, she makes herself think.

"The hallway by the library was cleared yesterday," she says, "and I've had Renee in touch with some of her contacts in Town - restorers and contractors. It should be back in shape soon." The library would be more complicated, of course.

[ishineon]

"Good, good. That's uncomplicated, at least. The library has enough people to sort through the rubble for what can be saved? Or will they need to borrow from the Twos first?" There's so much that is already lost, what can be retrieved would be a blessing for the future.

[cipherspeak]

Elisha's message to the new Queen of Diamonds is not quite as prompt as Eileen's. But it arrives shortly after the message from Diamond Castle does, and says nearly the same thing. An audience with the Queen. Silas has made a wise choice, though he didn't doubt that he would. They hadn't spoken of it at brunch Sunday, but he'd known that it was weighing heavily on the Diamond King's mind.

Like many other things just now.

[ishineon]

This audience will be a little more formal than Eileen's. Elisha was better prepared to take his throne, she thinks, but then, Elisha had wanted the throne. Had planned for it.

Well, neither of them were the first to ascend in their ways.

"Good day to you, King Elisha."

[cipherspeak]

His way had been better for the Suit. The Clubs wouldn't have been able to take the loss of another King well, even less than fatally and even with as unpopular as Alexander had been.

And he'd been doing much of the work of a Royal for some time, certainly.

"Good day, Queen Säde. I'm sorry your new title has come to you under these circumstances."

[ishineon]

"There have been worse ways to become Queen. We are all thankful Rachel remains among us, both spiritually here and physically Outside." It worries at her, whether Rachel will heal, but the Suit comes first, always.