"It is not as though you did anything I instructed you not to do, or tried to prevent you from doing." Sigh. "We are going to bed now. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight."

Leareth shuts his and Carissa's door, and sits down on the bed and puts his arm around her. :Well. That - could have gone better: 

:Gods. It feels like we're either - grossly overreacting or grossly underreacting...:

He squeezes her. :- I am not sure either of those quite fits? They - imply a mismatch between effort applied and the appropriate gravity of a situation, and...I feel as though I have a better sense of how serious this is than of - I am not sure - than of what direction any possible effort would be useful in?: 

:In general I think of myself as - pretty able to weather reasonable consequences of my actions. But she looked  - very fragile -

Maybe I will ask Iomedae for advice in the morning.:

:- That seems like a good idea. Maybe both of us can pray to her together: 

He stretches out, wraps his arms around her. 

:I wonder if we will ever meet an alternate universe version in a way that doesn't at all involve anyone getting kidnapped or trying to kill each other.:

:That would be nice: Leareth closes his eyes. :That would be really very nice: 

Mhalir hangs back, drifting. Unsure of everything, right now. 

Eventually she sleeps.

Carissa who is not the Queen of Cheliax spends a while huddled under her covers having a hard time breathing for no reason and then crying. Everything about this is pathetic and she hates it very much. 

She lies there for several hours, going in circles in her head.

Eventually she sticks her head in her Bag of Holding, carefully props it open so she won't suffocate, and scribes a Symbol of Sleep, which when she finishes it puts her out instantly.

The bag does not fall shut while she's sleeping, and she wakes up the next morning with nothing having changed. 

Leareth is pacing back and forth across the sitting-room, his face entirely impassive and unreadable. 

:Are you getting anywhere or just making yourself stressed?:

:- I am not sure if I am getting anywhere but I do not think I am making myself more stressed than I was before: 

Leareth turns toward her with relief, crosses the room and wraps his arms around her and leans his forehead against hers. 

Hug. :I didn't think of anything. Maybe we can ask Iomedae. She knew somehow - with me - that She shouldn't just tell me -:

:Maybe it makes sense to do that first: 

It feels like there are so many things to do and the prioritization of what order to do them in is overwhelming in itself. There are half a dozen more thoughts piled up behind that one but none of them are quite finished yet. 

She squeezes his hand and then kneels to pray.

Leareth kneels beside her. Reaches for the sense of stark shining clarity - of knowing that he will never give up never walk away never ever ever - 

Mhalir hangs back in Carissa's head. He isn't sure if it makes it less or more terrifying, that this is a different Iomedae who he hasn't actually met before...

And they're standing somewhere unfamiliar, high in the mountains, the stars clear up above. 

Iomedae looks at them for a little while, taking them in. 

"- We have important news for you," Leareth manages eventually, somewhat pointlessly. "And - a request for advice...?" 

It feels like too much to explain and so he tries to just hold himself open, to implicitly convey his permission for Iomedae to read it from every corner of him; he's not sure whether or not she's already doing that. 

"Yes." She looks solemn. "I don't know how well I can advise you; I see my Carissa more clearly than the other, by the deliberate choices of both of them."