She nods.  "I'll do what I can.

"...When you came in here, why did you ask if everything was alright?"

"Something felt badly wrong. Not right when you went into the tent, but soon after. Like - indigestion but also when you can't make out the words of a discussion but pick up on the tone growing hostile."

"...Well.  That...answers a question that prior discussion had raised."  She looks at Verse, and asks a wordless question: "Do you want to tell him what that was?"

"You notice anything similar when we were on the same battlefield?"

"...Yes. It's you? Why?"

"Dear old Dad, and whatever Exarch nonsense I'm apparently doing."

"Eugh."

"Yeah, I'm not happy about it either."

If only their history wasn't so...fraught.

Alas, she can't have everything she wants.

Though there are some things she wants that she both can and should acquire.

Like as much legal cover as she can gather should fighting Nerat become politically inevitable before Tunon speaks a judgement.

"I suppose it is currently convenient. Do you have an equal sense?"

"As long as we're both on escort duty. And yeah, possibly some more detail. Don't die, or you might start crowding my head like my real sisters."

"What an excellent reason," he says dryly, "I will endeavor to avoid it. Fatebinder, do we have a next objective?"

"At present, I've nothing that's - a group objective - except 'figure out if there are less obvious ways to make kicking Nerat's ass easier' and, I suppose, 'be prepared for the upcoming parley'.  Right now - I need to send a letter to Tunon."

Archon Tunon,

The Voices of Nerat have in my opinion and to the best of my knowledge not only nigh-certainly broken Kyros's Peace by their own hand, but furthermore done so in a way they will be caught at it, if the parley I have called tomorrow goes remotely according to any of my plans and expectations.  Graven Ashe's personal testimony as to what he perceived happening to his son Brennix, and the prisoner records of the Vendrien Guard, will leave no room to conceal a secret that Nerat wishes to keep - to wit, that (if Ashe's testimony is to be believed, and especially if the Vendrien Guard corroborates that) Nerat and the Scarlet Chorus have been consuming the Disfavored's soldiery.

I have much more hope than I thought I would, when I was assigned this posting, that I can enforce the Archonal sanction, should it come to blows (even should I be bereft of Bleden Mark's assistance) - I cannot rule that out as a possible necessity during even tomorrow's parley, should the situation trend towards its worse possible outcomes - but what I would appreciate from you is guidance upon the circumstances in which I may declare and enforce it, short of imminent threat or other intervention.

I will dispatch a bird after the parley to apprise you of the situation further, if I am not dead.

As ever, your loyal servant,

--Fatebinder Ophelia Vaudelle

"I doubt we'll get an answer tomorrow. If I can take a few minutes with the bird, and Tunon drafts a reply quickly, we might get one tomorrow evening - there's a small ritual using Vigor specifically developed for message birds, though it won't work as well with ones not bred to tolerate it like my old dovecote."

"I - am not expecting a swift answer myself, though I will try all possible channels - but I must make all possible effort, regardless.  My duty demands no less of me than to give my utmost in its service, no matter how insufficient I may be to the task.  That's - why I spent so much effort trying to stop Cairn, instead of - both sending for and reading the Edict of Stone much earlier, and calling it done.  It would have been done - but it would not have been done well.

"Is there aught I could do to help with that ritual, perchance?  I thought it prudent to learn some farmers' blessings from the Midwife's Sigil, beyond the usual course of healing of people - they're useful for endearing the smallfolk - and I do practice Vigor myself."

"Not without at least a few hours of training, though I'd be happy to teach you sometime. I suspect Tunon's Court could get a lot of use from it with properly-bred birds, coordinating justice across such a long range."

"Quite.  I've the time, after conferring with Graven Ashe.  ...Another reason to be annoyed with Rhogalus, will wonders never cease.  Though I suppose if he coöpted the School, we'd not have met."

"I doubt we'd have cooperated if he tried. If I learned anything in the interminable political debates in the School of Ink and Quill, it's that Preservation might as well apply to opinions as much as to books, if stubbornness is any judge."

"Alas.  ...I'd best go meet with the General; Barik, you should come with me.  Lantry, take Verse with you to the dovecot, just in case, then rejoin us."

She snuffs the candle she just wrote a bit more down by, and closes the writing-desk over it.

Bleden Mark,

I've nothing in particular but hope that this will reach you sooner than my bird to Tunon, but I must try all due efforts.

I expect that soon enough we (by which I mostly mean either my retinue or agents of the Court) will either need to kill Nerat, or somehow subvert the Voices of Secrets.

...She's not entirely sure why she phrased it that way, but it feels right.

You see, he committed the cardinal sin of shadow play - he's about to get caught.  (Specifically, for killing one of Graven Ashe's kids, but that's neither here nor there; I've so many pretexts to end his sorry existence and only lack the permit to do it in the light without risking my neck - and believe me, I want that fucker dead.  Anyone who disgusts a mini-you, needs killing.)

Anyway.  I figured you'd appreciate a chance to get in on the action.

--Vaudelle

And then...She looks for Graven Ashe once again.

"Fatebinder. Barik," he says with a nod, "Is there something new to discuss?"

"Yes, actually.  I've dispatched a preliminary report to Tunon with the information you gave, I should report, but that's not what I sought you out to speak of.

"There's a matter of Archons that ought to come to your attention.

"Specifically, Stone Shield Barikonen - has the potential to become an Archon, if it is properly cultivated.

"He - most definitely will not - do this without your permission.  I separately - do not wish to force him, and it seems to me that you would know his heart better than I.  He is your loyal soldier, and I would not dare to take him from you as I may have 'stolen' Verse from Nerat.

"I do not know how likely it is that having the weight of an additional Exarch upon the field, should we fight the Archon of Secrets, will help, in the war of - story upon story.  I do not know what more material power can be built from the tools we have, though I'll note that there's a groove in the world for an Archon of Stone that I imagine might well fit neatly the man who refuses to be promoted from a Stone Shield, out of his own sense of - duty and honor.

"Regardless...I would, if and only if you think it wise, request your permission to seed the fields of possibility - and...  If so, I would...ask of you the favor of sparing your loyal soldier a few words of advice, I think, upon - bearing the burdens of exceptional service, and exceptional loss."

"Dangerously insightful indeed."

"Barik, I have no doubts of your loyalty and no fear of you gaining strength by your deeds. If you pursue the strength which comes from other's regard, I have no doubt that you will achieve it in time, and yet remain part of the legion, as Cairn never was. I will not give you false promises - this kind of power will isolate you. It will bring burdens, and they cannot be put down once raised. It may change you, in body or in mind. But to remain yourself at the core, all that must be done is to portray yourself honestly, showing the same face to the world as before, merely larger. That may be a slower road, but it is not, I think, a longer one."

"You are a man who takes on the most difficult tasks to aid and protect your shield-brothers and your allies. Who does not flinch from duty, or crack under pressure. And whose honor is never shaken. One I was very proud of before the storm was called, remained proud of as he fought his way out from its aftermath and trained for his new state, and would be proud of yet again to see what he became as an Archon. Never doubt that."

"Still. The cost must be paid even before the benefits are awarded. I will not order it, nor tell you it is your duty; I leave it to you. If you find the decision difficult, I would advise you speak with Maric, but unfortunately he is in the Ashen Lands, so that will not be possible until the Edict is resolved."

Ophelia cannot help but give a solemn, slow nod, as Ashe speaks his piece.  Afterwards...

She lets her presence fade from the stage, metaphorically speaking, and then, once again (from a small distance that leaves him, metaphorically speaking - or perhaps metonymically speaking - much closer to the support of his father figure), she lets Barik think.

She's there, if he wants her advice, but until then - the world is his to stand in the eye of.