Meeting Alexander
Aug. 23rd, 2011 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ishineon[Säde waits in the Club castle foyer, hands held behind her as she examines her surroundings, matching them with what she remembers of her last visit. She has caught a nearby Four, sending him to summon his King. No hurry. She came unannounced, after all.]
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 03:53 pm (UTC)She enters the study, immediately zeroing in on the man she recognises as Alexander. She walks in front of him, not too close, and inclines her head in respect, but nothing more. She examines him subtly as she speaks:] Good day to you, King Alexander. I am Säde, the Ace of Diamonds.
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Date: 2011-08-23 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 04:03 pm (UTC)"Well met and welcome. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"
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Date: 2011-08-23 04:14 pm (UTC)[Alexander, she can tell, is as militaristic as she has been told. Weapons close at hand, and a body used to fighting often. It sends an unwelcome chill down her spine.]
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Date: 2011-08-23 04:32 pm (UTC)"I thank you for your consideration. You were missed at the coronation, but we all know that duty must come before ceremony. I am glad to speak with you now.
Can I offer you some refreshment? No doubt your travels have been tiring."
[He expects her answer to be telling. Traditionally, accepting refreshment makes one a guest and therefore safe from harm. On the other hand, most everyone had violated that custom at least once and some poisons are both slow and rather hard to trace. Would her suspicion of him be enough for her to reject a King's hospitality?]
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Date: 2011-08-24 08:26 am (UTC)It's rumoured of how different you are from Andrew... I daresay you might just live up to his name. [Or not. An insult, a compliment, or a prediction? Her tone is quite ambiguous.]
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Date: 2011-08-24 08:32 am (UTC)"A new direction is both most needed and most readily taken when the crown passes under such circumstances as these. It is my duty to make the best possible use of the authority entrusted to me."
[He looks grave at first, but a most predatory grin curves his lips as his last words]
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Date: 2011-08-24 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-24 07:47 pm (UTC)"Objects continue moving as they have been unless acted upon. Naturally there is always some resistance to change. However I find that with correct presentation and incentive, those who count can be brought to a certain understanding."
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Date: 2011-08-25 04:03 pm (UTC)I'm sure they'll eventually come round to your method of ruling, once you've settled into your kingship.
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Date: 2011-08-25 04:17 pm (UTC)"One does one's duty as it is possible. Tell me, how are things in your court?"
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Date: 2011-08-30 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 05:54 pm (UTC)"No news is often good news."
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Date: 2011-08-30 06:13 pm (UTC)Often. And just as often, it could mean stagnation, or a plot brewing borne of old rivalries. Or simply that everyone felt well enough to be civil to each other.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 06:15 pm (UTC)"Always possible. Do you know of any such plots? No one ever tells me anything."
(occ: I use brackets to describe character thoughts and actions and parentheses for comments. fyi)
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Date: 2011-08-30 06:51 pm (UTC)Isn't that the point of plotting, that secrets are kept from others? Perhaps the conspirators in your court seek to manipulate you rather than include you in their plans.
[A little kinder than she ought to have been. But her guard is lowered from her weariness, and he's new to the job, so he might well need the advice.]
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Date: 2011-08-30 08:58 pm (UTC)"Always possible. Hopefully I can catch on in time."
[He takes her comment as genuine discussion, not a snide remark. She must not know how the rest of the city seems to feel about him. How, he wonders, will she view him when she finds out?]
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Date: 2011-08-31 07:47 pm (UTC)[She only has the facts about him. Public opinion is another matter, and what he knows- or thinks he knows- about his Clubs' view of him will be useful.]
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Date: 2011-09-01 07:24 am (UTC)"Infamous perhaps. Certainly not obscure. Not to those who were here before your time at least."
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Date: 2011-09-01 06:04 pm (UTC)No? Your exploits must have made you many friends. [And enemies, but that goes without saying.]
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Date: 2011-09-01 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-01 07:09 pm (UTC)"Ah, but that presumes upon the judgement of those who give or withhold that respect."
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Date: 2011-09-01 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-02 01:17 pm (UTC)"Some see only honorable friends, others only intolerable foes. The wise man extends one hand with the other on the hilt. I have little interest in forgiveness; only in fair judgment and wise response.
Furthermore, one can expect only so much leniency in the hearts and minds of those who have just experienced the assassination of their beloved King."
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Date: 2011-09-02 05:00 pm (UTC)Of course, focusing too much on one area of governance has always been the downfall of any weak king. [Which one is she referring to?]
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Date: 2011-09-02 05:44 pm (UTC)He waives his hand dismissively and pretends to only see what she could have meant about Andrew]
"Of course. Civilians often forget that a strong arm bearing a sword is the final word when it wants to be."
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Date: 2011-09-03 05:20 pm (UTC)How this shows on her face is in the narrowing of her eyes, and the very slight tilting back of her head.]
Naturally, if one will not obey, one can be made to obey. It's a pity only we of the Deck understand this.
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Date: 2011-09-04 01:17 am (UTC)"Do we? And here I thought I was the only one - well, the only one save for an as-yet undiscovered hatchetman."
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Date: 2011-09-04 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 12:07 am (UTC)"Oh I don't know. I've often held to the axiom that if you're not hurting, you haven't been practicing hard enough - or rather your partner hasn't."
[He follows this deep thought with a deeper draught from his glass - he really does keep meaning to have some proper drinking horns stocked. It would take a great deal of the drink to affect him, but of course she wouldn't know that. He wonders if he's over-doing this little sham of his. He is, after all, an amateur at court intrigue. Oh well, practice most when the outcome isn't critical...]
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Date: 2011-09-06 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 01:37 am (UTC)[He counters, not taking the discussion seriously, but speaking his mind none the less]
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Date: 2011-09-06 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 03:01 am (UTC)"We agree on that matter. Do you see this as a problem?"
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Date: 2011-09-06 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-06 03:38 am (UTC)"I think you have not seen the same frontier I have - or perhaps you've only read about it in tabloids.
As to tolerance, it's all well and good until one runs out of cheeks to turn."
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Date: 2011-09-06 03:47 am (UTC)The only ones outside who know are the ones we leave to come here- or the ones who leave the Deck after growing up here. What could they possibly have against us?
[Silly question. Her dear brother despises the Deck, as she well knows.]
And there ought to be compromise. The Deck comprises four Suits, not one or two. We can't allow it to be decimated by petty things.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-07 02:17 am (UTC)