Iobel is barely related to the Countess. The Countess is her great-aunt, and there are several layers of not-very-close family in there: the Countess never much liked her sister, said sister engendered little fondness in her only daughter, and said daughter - well, Iobel liked her just fine, which only served to cement the distance between her and the Countess. Iobel supposes she is technically in line for the title, but only if a rather intimidating number of cousins from that more prolific branch of the family all succumb to mortality first.
So Iobel lives in a little flat above a little store and under the old landlord and his wife, and she cohabits with her cat, and she sells hexes and custom spellcharts and consults on other people's spells in progress. It's a decent living even though she buys nice, quality things to lay the hexes on, and it's fun, and she has lots of spare time for personal research and reading since she taught the cat to operate the cash drawer and speak the few Marlese words necessary to tell customers "thank you" and "my spellbinder will be back in an hour" and convinced him to actually use those words instead of his choicer acquisitions.
But she is still noticeably related to the Countess, and when the Countess holds a big shindig, when she wants to fill up that manor house and all the gardens with eight hundred people, then Iobel gets an invitation.
So she goes, because why not, it's a holiday party and the shop's getting no business on the Equinox Revel anyway. She brings Cricket the cat along and takes the ferry up the canal to the estate and is offered a little guest room in the back wing and subtly insulted into borrowing one of her great-aunt's old dresses for the duration of the party. And then she loiters, cat at her heels making rude private-language comments about everyone they see, and she eats the hors d'oeuvres and lets some cousin teach her a simple dance because she finally managed a spell to cure her clumsiness the other month and this is as good an opportunity as any.
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Post last updated:
shindig
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
At such a large party, with so many possible spellbinders, a large menagerie of creatures are going to loiter around with their people. Some are not on their person's shoulder or on their heels, though - one such raven lands in front of Iobel and considers her, looks at Cricket, and then flies off. Apparently this is to retrieve his person, because shortly after a good looking man in his forties shows up, raven perched on his shoulder.
"Hello," says the man with a smile. "I don't believe we've met, and I try to know every spellbinder of nobility. I'm Natariem Oteliar."
"Hello," says the man with a smile. "I don't believe we've met, and I try to know every spellbinder of nobility. I'm Natariem Oteliar."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Iobel Swan, but I'm only loosely nobility, the countess is my mother's aunt," says Iobel. "And this is Cricket. Cricket doesn't know a lot of Marlese but he prefers to be introduced anyway." Cricket rubs against her calf and purrs.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." He inclines his head to both cat and woman. His raven does not appear to want to be introduced, instead taking off to look at something else in the party. "My familiar does not have much concept of manners," adds Natariem wryly.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Mine doesn't either or I might have taught him more of the vernacular." (Cricket sniffs disdainfully.)
He smiles. "He seems perfectly polite to me, but perhaps I am wrong. Is this your first time at one of these parties?"
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I was at one when I was - twelve, if I recall right, but I'm not a regular attendee by any means."
"Aha. So you've barely seen what parties were like before the late queen."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Parties are not," agrees Iobel, "my index of the anything much."
"That's entirely all right. Most of them are filled with boring people, anyway. Chatting about the latest gossip and such." He lowers his voice, and changes it to sound slightly mocking. "'What sort of hairstyle does the crown prince favor? Maybe he'll marry me, I'm pretty enough.'"
It's pretty obvious he's got little to no respect for those types of people.
(They're useful, sometimes, but not on their own merits. Easy to manipulate, but without any skills to bring to the table and therefore replaceable and expendable.)
It's pretty obvious he's got little to no respect for those types of people.
(They're useful, sometimes, but not on their own merits. Easy to manipulate, but without any skills to bring to the table and therefore replaceable and expendable.)
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Does Prince Zevros have much of an opinion on hairstyles?" laughs Iobel.
"Not particularly, no. But I doubt he'd marry any of them, anyway, he's still young and experimenting - Edarial's a better bet."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I wouldn't know, never having met either," says Iobel neutrally.
"They're at least both likely to be better rulers than their mother, that's for sure," he snorts. "Though that's really not difficult."
If she were alive, even he wouldn't dare say this out loud in any tongue but his familiar's. But she's not, so he can use her ineptness as a rallying point.
If she were alive, even he wouldn't dare say this out loud in any tongue but his familiar's. But she's not, so he can use her ineptness as a rallying point.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I would not have been inclined to describe that as a tremendous bar to clear, no, so that says comparatively little about the princes except that they're neither of them her spitting image."
Cricket mutters something in his own individual language. Iobel snorts at him.
Cricket mutters something in his own individual language. Iobel snorts at him.
"I've met them both - I don't know if you'd care for me to give an overview or not?"
And hear her opinions on the subject.
And hear her opinions on the subject.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
She shrugs. "Sure, why not. I'd like to know something about whoever's going to wind up on the throne, I live here."
"Zevros is a talented young swordsman who is remarkably straightforward and to the point," says Natariem. "But he has a wicked temper, no respect for authority, and little foresight. If he ever does take the throne I'd want to wait a decade, so he's had some time to grow up."
Natariem considers the firstborn prince something of a failure. He's got admirable qualities, surely, but it's unlikely that Zevros will do much to leave a lasting effect. Not the sort of thing Natariem's hoping for.
"Most of the smart ones are hoping Zevros abdicates in favor of his brother, though. Rather standoffish and cold, but he's no fool and has a sense of honor and fairness about things. I suspect there are a few changes to the country that are his doing, but I couldn't give specifics as to what."
It's a lie. He could explain what he's up to, exactly, so easily. He keeps a close watch on Edarial - he has high hopes for the boy. He's very much his father's son, patient and thoughtful and clever. The boy still needs to have some of his more starchy morals driven out of him, but as an heir to the throne, he's a good choice.
Natariem considers the firstborn prince something of a failure. He's got admirable qualities, surely, but it's unlikely that Zevros will do much to leave a lasting effect. Not the sort of thing Natariem's hoping for.
"Most of the smart ones are hoping Zevros abdicates in favor of his brother, though. Rather standoffish and cold, but he's no fool and has a sense of honor and fairness about things. I suspect there are a few changes to the country that are his doing, but I couldn't give specifics as to what."
It's a lie. He could explain what he's up to, exactly, so easily. He keeps a close watch on Edarial - he has high hopes for the boy. He's very much his father's son, patient and thoughtful and clever. The boy still needs to have some of his more starchy morals driven out of him, but as an heir to the throne, he's a good choice.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Does Zevros seem likely to do that?"
"Anyone's guess. I think he might just to avoid getting married, but I could be wrong. He's volatile and somewhat unpredictable."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"He can't find anyone he wants to marry, I suppose?"
"... There are rumors of a few of his habits," says Natariem delicately. "They do not include women."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Oh, I see. It would be more convenient for everyone if adopting heirs was an accepted practice, wouldn't it?"
"It would, quite a lot. Just pick someone that would be a reasonable king or queen and put them in charge."
Natariem would like very much to be in charge, but it's not happening. He's got no personal claim to the throne.
Natariem would like very much to be in charge, but it's not happening. He's got no personal claim to the throne.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"There could be trial periods, essay tests..."
"Small-scale problems for them to handle to see if they can handle crises when the stakes are low - I wish for it too. But, alas."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Alas. Hereditary monarchy. You think Edarial will do okay if he gets ahold of the big chair?"
"I think so, but he could always use suggestions for what things need doing."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Are you some sort of advisor, is that why you know them well enough to speculate?"
"Sort of. Not officially, but I like to keep my eyes and ears open for things that involve the future of this country, and ways to help it along."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"You realize that makes you sound like you're a spy."
He snorts. "Definitely not. I just try to pay attention."
By employing spies. He's not, technically, one himself.
By employing spies. He's not, technically, one himself.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"What brings you to this party, anyway, are you a friend of my great-aunt or what?"
"Count of the Northern Isles. Also an acquaintance of your great-aunt, though I wouldn't call us friends."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
Iobel nods.
"Why," teases the man, "were you worried that I was beneath your station?"
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"No, I just wanted to know what brought you into the princes' orbit, since you are apparently not a spy."
"Counthood has its benefits. I'm trying to see if they will be a good fit for Marlatia, or cause the country to - worsen."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"If they do worse than the late queen I might pack up and move to Lathalind."
"Indeed. That's what I'd very much like to prevent."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"What, me in particular moving to Lathalind?"
"Well, not you in particular, but them doing worse than the late queen, certainly."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I wish you luck in forestalling the eventuality."
"Thank you. If you'd like to help, I'm trying to find possible queen candidates."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I haven't met either prince," she points out.
"To be entirely fair," says Natariem wryly, "I am not necessarily saying you. Unless you'd think you'd make a good queen?"
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Nobody else is springing to mind. I like to think I'd make a good queen, all else being equal, but it isn't, is it, there's a wedding involved."
"Yes, annoyingly messy business, that. What would you do with it, if someone just handed you queenhood?"
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I'd need more details than I have from my vantage point as the proprietor of a magic shop -"
Cricket says something.
"- who is usually not personally staffing the till, yes, thank you, Cricket - about what needs doing, first. But the canals are disgustingly full of trash and there are plenty of unemployed people capable of manual labor; those seem like problems that could benefit from encountering each other. The state of general education is a disaster; if my mother weren't a schoolteacher I would have had a hard time even getting into a proper library to self-teach once I got past the age where her job qualified me for a slot at the school itself. I did okay, but plenty of people don't. The legal status of familiars is too vague, it's based entirely around trusting spellbinders not to want to do anything bad to their familiars once we've bound them, but even if that works ninety percent of the time there's always the possibility of the relationship deteriorating or never having been very good to begin with; there's plenty of ways to mistreat a dependent animal that don't risk killing it and unmaking the spellbinder. And as near as I can tell, tropical fruit is expensive because the queen once upon a time took a dislike to the ambassador from Ethayr, not for any sound economical reason, so I'd want to look into the underlying tariffs. I'd go ahead and make heir adoption legal, too, as previously mentioned. That sort of thing."
Cricket says something.
"- who is usually not personally staffing the till, yes, thank you, Cricket - about what needs doing, first. But the canals are disgustingly full of trash and there are plenty of unemployed people capable of manual labor; those seem like problems that could benefit from encountering each other. The state of general education is a disaster; if my mother weren't a schoolteacher I would have had a hard time even getting into a proper library to self-teach once I got past the age where her job qualified me for a slot at the school itself. I did okay, but plenty of people don't. The legal status of familiars is too vague, it's based entirely around trusting spellbinders not to want to do anything bad to their familiars once we've bound them, but even if that works ninety percent of the time there's always the possibility of the relationship deteriorating or never having been very good to begin with; there's plenty of ways to mistreat a dependent animal that don't risk killing it and unmaking the spellbinder. And as near as I can tell, tropical fruit is expensive because the queen once upon a time took a dislike to the ambassador from Ethayr, not for any sound economical reason, so I'd want to look into the underlying tariffs. I'd go ahead and make heir adoption legal, too, as previously mentioned. That sort of thing."
He tilts his head.
"Hm. Okay, you would probably make a good queen. I recommend making a trip to the palace and seeing if you can meet them, and if they suit you..." He shrugs. "We get a decent queen."
"Hm. Okay, you would probably make a good queen. I recommend making a trip to the palace and seeing if you can meet them, and if they suit you..." He shrugs. "We get a decent queen."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Just show up uninvited, you mean," says Iobel skeptically.
"Make an excuse that you need to visit the fountain for your familiar, then mention you are nobility and would like to meet them. Or I could send an announcement for you, if that's too troublesome."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I'm not, really, nobility," says Iobel. "And Cricket's generally very healthy and looks it. And it's a slim chance I'd suit either - I don't want to marry the overwhelming majority of people - or that if I did I could find out on the short meeting that kind of excuse might yield."
"It's worth an effort, at least."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"It's a very slim chance. And they'd have to like me too, wouldn't they?"
"Political marriages are a thing that do occur," points out Natariem.
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"I'd rather not have one, though. I can accomplish a lot of things that are worth accomplishing without marrying a prince who might or might not like me via elaborate subterfuge."
"I suppose it's not for everyone." He does file her candidacy for queenhood away for later, though. No drive to do it herself, would make good queen, might need to be shoved into political marriagehood.
His raven returns, says something to him in its language, and then he says, "I'm afraid I must go. Someone needs me, over there - it was a pleasure to meet you, my dear."
His raven returns, says something to him in its language, and then he says, "I'm afraid I must go. Someone needs me, over there - it was a pleasure to meet you, my dear."
Iobel Maryah Swan
come_midnight
"Likewise, I'm sure."
And that is the end of that, is it not?
And that is the end of that, is it not?
Apparently so!