675-08-11 - How to Thicken a Plot
| How to Thicken a Plot | |||||||
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| Summary: Lady Adara approaches some of the Fourth to discuss some religious concerns and is offered a solution to other problems. | |||||||
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Adara waits in the Council Chambers, quietly pacing the floor as she is obviously thinking about something. She left her guard and handmaiden outside the entry as she awaits the Fourth, having requested as many of them to meet her here as possible.
Eleora Machuri comes inside first. She looks a bit irritated, quite grumpy and looks as if she has zero wish to be in the Queen's chambers. She is wearing the proper clothes of a priestess, in the colors of red and gold. She keeps her hair hidden under wimple and her dress has quite high neckline. The pale beauty is following another woman. However, differently than her companion, she is barely wearing anything again, not more than a transparent pale cloth in order to show her pure innocence for everyone as always. She smiles warmly at Adara, before taking a seat, "I am so sorry, Mistress of Whispers, but two other members of the Fourth were busy..." Eleora mumbles something quietly just for herself,before taking a seat and stabbing her gaze at Nimoria.
Adara nods respectfully to each woman and says, "I am sorry to disturb you both, but I feel this is an important matter and I am unsure what path to take. I'll admit that I am faithful enough to the Patrons, I am far from devout enough to understand how accurate my beliefs may be, that is why I have requested this meeting. None in the kingdom save perhaps the queen herself, knows the Patrons then the Fourth." After taking a breath she says, "I get the feeling there could be a threat to the faith that is developing." as she walks over to where the two other women sit and places a message down on the table by Eleoria, then grows quiet to allow the two women to read it over before she continues.
Eleora grins a bit, when she is the first one to get the letter. She peeks at Nimoria, raising her chin up proudly. The woman takes the offered message and reads it in a whsiper, but loud enough for Nimoria to hear, who is sitting on the opposite side:
"Even these, who we consider friends are wearing masks. Sometimes the people, who look innocent has the darkest secrets... Lady Adara, be careful. One of your subjects has a shadow over her head... Be careful about the child of Mistress Edris... Her shadow might become yours...."
When the Royal Mother finsihes reading, a short silence stands, interrupted just by the tapping of Nimoria's fingers. It takes a few more moments, before Nimoria say, "Oh, that is the trouble you already mentioned me awhile ago?" The pale beauty glances at Eleora haughtily, because she was the first to learn about this, after all. Eleora gives no attention to Nimoria's words. She turns to Adara, "Who is that woman and why ehr childis a treat?"
Adara nods to Nimoria and then to Eleora she says, "That has been what I have been investigating for some time now, I knew of it during the Council meeting as well but did not speak until I was more certain of matters. To keep things a bit shorter I came to suspect Prince Nathan the father of the child in question. I went to the queen about the matter to get permission to place the prince under house arrest if there was a need." Taking a breath she continues, "To my surprise she seemed to care little about the possibility of a bastard, instead the unborn child is what interested her. The queen seems to believe that the fact the mother is as far along in her pregnancy as the bastard's mother is, is not chance but instead destiny. She wishes to keep the mother in the castle in order to claim the baby dead at birth and claim the child as her own to keep up appearances and maintain the validity of the faith, mostly to help avoid rumors of the curse."
Adara lets that sink in for a moment then says, "I initially didn't give much thought to the message beyond the political risks, though as I've investigated and with recent events I am starting to be concerned this baby's mother conceiving around the same time as the queen isn't chance, though unlike the queen I am starting to wonder if the baby might instead be an instrument of the Banished Patrons. Could this child have been conceived using the blood of Onimoria in order to bring about an end to the kingdom and the Patrons? SUch theories are beyond my scope of understanding of the faith which is why I ask you." in a serious, genuinely concerned tone.
Nimoria leans her head to the side, giving a smile to Adara, "There is no need to discuss anything. They broke the law. Bastards were always a treat, so the mother has to get into the accident, where she will lose her child and will die herself. It will be better than beheading. After all, she already seduced the young prince. Who knows, what plans she has. She is a danger." The pale beauty sounds very strict. She was already raising from her seat as if the matter was settled, when Eleora Machuri gestures for Nimoria to stay. "Stop stop stop," she says, "You both are moving too fast. The matter requires thorough analysis... First of all, lady Adara, there is no reason to be afraid. Margueritte is the Patron of the Fate, Death and Life. She has a power to control life and death. She is the one, who decides, who can be born and whose time has come. Banished Patrons has no such power. Yes, they can curse or bewitch already born child, but they can't give life to anyone. So, at some point, there is nothing more important than keeping that child close to us, making sure, that she or he would be our friend and wouldn't become used by the Banished Patrons." Nimoria chuckles and shakes her head, "Of course, there is no treat from the Banished Patrons. There is a bigger treat - the greed of some kind of a whore. Why to bother about the bastard?" The pale beuaty becomes slightly irritated, facing opposition. "You see," Royal Mother Eleora continues, looking more into lady Adara, "we could get rid of the child, but then we would break the laws and we would question Margueritte's decision. The Book of Law says, that no romatic or sexual relationships are allowed for royals or nobles without marriage. If rumors about such things will be heard - a person will be disowned. However, the Queen never disowned prince Zephan. She will never disown prince Nathan. She has kind heart even if she tries not to show it. She gave back titles for young princess. However, as I understand, prince Nathan broke another law - The Royal can't be seen in brothels as a customer. He can be seen there just if business requires. Sadly, the book of laws does not indicate, what we should do, if such visits ends up with a child. If the Royal memeber would be seen in brothels for his pleasure, a marriage would be arrnaged quickly, but nobody speaks about killing the innocent soul chosen by Margueritte." Nimoria rolls her eyes, "But the Book of Lotingus was written long time ago and given for us to improve it. That is why we have Mistress of the Laws. We need to make improvements here..."
Adara listens to the two debate and finally says, "The Prince didn't break the laws concerning brothels, though I am aware he visited he was attired as a commoner and found out from Whispers. The true crime is that Edris, one or my own Chief Whispers I am sad to say, was smuggled into his quarters. The crime is that she used her subordinates to distract the castle guards to allow her to sneak in and out, using the excuse of training and practice. One of these 'distractions' I have already dealt with under my authority as the Mistress of Whispers, the other I have held captive for now until I have the time to decide her punishment."
Taking a breath she adds, "The bigger concern i believe is the prince, I have recently spoken with him to see if the child was truly his, he didn't deny it, and what's more he threatened to use his personal guards against me if I tried to harm the child. The queen on the other hand has demanded Edris be brought into the castle and that we ensure the child is healthy and is born, so it may be declared the child the queen lost. I do not argue the reasoning behind the idea as it could maintain the strength of the faith in the commoners, I cannot shake the feeling there is something off about this child, also regardless of my feeling the queen has ordered me to bring Edris to the castle or lose my head as a conspirator. I believe she has lost her senses concerning this one matter due to her loss. As a mother I can understand wanting a child to replace the one lost in circumstances such as this. Especially one so close to the same age."
Letting that sink in she adds, "The queen has told me Nathan is to marry or go on his expedition, I believe it to be her intent that he marry over this matter or go into a form of exile for a few years as punishment. I do believe the idea was the prince's not Edris'. He fears that when Madalyn takes the throne she will be deposed and believes even a bastard would be more respected. I tried to explain the folly in this to no avail, I am starting to agree that he should go on his expedition given the circumstances so he cannot take action in regards to Edris or the child, it would also remove his personal guard from the kingdom as well. He can be dealt with later if there is a need. I cannot go against the queen's orders, so I must talk Edris into coming to the castle and remaining here which I believe I can do, after all whether I am right or wrong in my beliefs I cannot help the kingdom nor the queen if my head is taken from my shoulders.”
"The crime is that they got together at all," Nimoria sniffs, "The crime is, that a bastard will be born to them," she glances at Eleora, "However, lady Adara is right, we do not have a word on this. It's a word of the Queen. I already told my opinion and it would be best for them both to disappear..." Eleora shakes her head and rises her voice, "NO! We /can't/ question Margueritte's decision. If we would vote, other Royal Mothers would agree with me. However, taking the child as if it would be the Queen's... That is a wrong decision. The Prince and the child's mother already showed, how they can trick us all, they will understand, that the child is their..." Nimoria stands up, "You can discuss the matter as much as you wish, the last word will be said by the Queen. Now, if you will excuse me, there are more urgent matters to deal with than question the Queen's mind." Nimoria stands up and leaves.
Eleora glances at lady Adara now, "Believe me, the child is not a treat for us. Margueritte is sending him for us for a reason. Nimoria was right, that the child may be influenced by a greedy mother or ambitious father, but we can save the child from the Banished Patrons influence, if it will be with us. Killing the unborn life is a sin and Margueritte will never forgive us for it." The woman sighs and leans in her seat, whirling a note Adara gave to her between fingers, "You need to find a commoner, who is carring a child of the same age. Just a simple commoner, who, maybe, doesn't want a child or does not have enough money to grow a child. The Queen is in such a state of mind, where she will be happy with any child. Plus, yes, we can't allow the people's faith in Patrons to stagger. But for that child..." Eleora nods slowly, "Bring mistress Edris to the Castle. She shouldn't be allowed to leave. We will sign guards to her. She will stay there and get anything she needs until birth of her child. Let her know, that she has no other options, but to serve for the Kingdom faithfully and listen for our orders.Otherwise, she will be understood as traitor and she will be killed, as her born child. I believe, she will chose to serve..." Eleora chuckles, "Don't worry bout Prince Nathan. We will sent him into the Unknown World. He should take over an island or a few, where he will be allowed to create his own dutchy or something similar. Later we will find him a wife. However, Mistress Edris won't be allowed to interract with her child. After the birth of her child, she will be signed as handmaiden to Samuela Zorich. The girl, who will have to marry a man from Golden Lion. Edris will be a spy there, she will help lady Samuela at the same time and won't be a threat for us any longer. Believe me, if you will offer another child to the Queen, she will allow us to do this to Edris and her grandchild. We will give the boy or a girl some kind of a position in the castle. He will never learn, who his parents are." Eleora glances at Adara again, "Mistress of Whispers, I see how strict you are in this matter... However, I still hope that you understand, that the Patrons are highest authority, followed by the Queen and the Fourth. I hope you won't forget, who is in power..."
As Nimoria says her peace Adara says, "I'm not sure about killing the unborn child, that might be a bit much, though I agree they should be punished." As she leaves Adara looks to Eleora and nods saying, "There are complications. I have a time limit to bring Edris to the castle, I don't think duty will be needed, though i will keep it in mind just in case. The problem is the queen wishes to make the bastard ruler of the lands settled by Nathan. I will admit though that by that time the queen might have changed her mind by then, but I must bring Edris the queen knows her name and how she looks. My hands are tied there, I will seek out other options, but without some freedom to act from the queen that is all I can do without risking my own neck. As to your words concerning Edris, the child, and the prince I mostly agree. I would however argue allowing any man to be given a position of rule over any settlement. An outpost or military base perhaps, though by the time a settlement could be built another could be sent to rule properly, ungoverned by the weaknesses of men." Taking a breath she says, "You have explained the lack of the threat the child could pose as I was concerned about and will submit to your understanding on that matter. I still have orders from the queen however and I must see to both Edris and announcements I have been ordered to write up. If there is nothing more I shall take my leave.”
Eleora chuckles quietly, "You misunderstood me. Edris must be brought to the castle and to the Queen as soon as possible, before she run away or something. We will sign guards and as I said, she will live in the castle until birth of her child. Then she will be signed to lady Samuela Zorich as handmaiden. She wanta it or not, and she will be sent to the Kingdom of Golden Lion. Prince Nathan won't have his own land. All lands belong to our Queen, our Kingdom, but he will be allowed to administrate whatever he will find in unknown world. Just to keep him away. And I am sure, that with the help of your whispers, you can find another pregnant woman to present to the Queen. Then she will look into the situation of bastard more clearly, she should agree for our plan..." Eleora stands up, "So, you won't lose your head, if you will follow the plan I offered..." The woman smiles and gestures towards the door, "And yes... We all have a lot of things to do…"
Adara's Office - Castle of the White Dove
Passing from the Passage leading to the Queen's Council one discovers this room is a small-medium sized office. In the center of the room is a medium sized, sturdy wood desk. The top of the desk has neat stacks of parchment and scrolls, organized for quick and easy access, along with an inkwell and quill. The drawers contain black parchment and quills for writing.
A single chair can be found behind the desk which faces the entrance with a pair of chairs are in front of the desk. There are various works of art decorating the room to create a feeling that the office is being used, also to creating attractive surroundings for guests. To one side is also a sofa with a small table on each end. All the furniture looks to be quite comfortable and bears the colors of House Onimus.
A single door can be found against the back wall which leads into a small personal chamber which has a large wardrobe, a small bed, chamberpot and water basin. —————————————————————————————————
Adara had returned to her office as she said, it had been a few hours before she asked Nimoria to meet her in Adara's own office to discuss something. While she waited she worked on an early draft of the announcement she was ordered to write.
Nimoria, likely announced by the guards, enters the office, "Wanted to msef me again? Twice in a day, lady Adara?"She asks, curiously raising her eyebrows. "If you want to talk about the child again, I told you my opinion already."
Adara nods and gestures to the seat across from her desk as she puts her quill away. Once Nimoria has seated Adara stands and says, "I have had some time to think about what you have said. Eleora provided a solution which allows me to follow the orders the queen gave me, and will also result in punishment for both Edris and Nathan so I must go with that plan to keep my head. The child does still concern me, even if only from a political standpoint." Taking a breath she adds, "I do not like the idea of killing an unborn child, but as Edris will be brought to the castle to ensure a healthy birth my hands are tied. I trust in the wisdom of the Fourth in this matter, as one of them I am sure you will be among those who will be tending to both the queen and Edris, so I leave it to you. As the pregnancy develops, you may use your own judgement as to what to do about the child, whether to harm an innocent or not, and I will not have my Whispers investigate you either way." in a calm, solemn voice as though this isn't a matter she has taken lightly, nor is overly keen on the possible outcomes. As though she considers both outcomes to be a failure, and just wishes to wash her hands of the matter.
Nimoria frowns slightly, whike Adara is speaking. She does not take a seat. When another woman finishes, Nimoria can't hold her laugh, "Lady Adara, are you offering me to get rid of the unborn child, whose life was decided by Margueritte? She shakes her head, grinning, "Mistress of Whispers, you are playing a dangeeous game, I fear... It might not hell for your head..."
Adara says, "I am saying this is a matter beyond my wisdom to decide. I trust the Fourth to do what is best. Even if you were to consider taking the action you might change your mind later, or make the attempt and be stopped by the Patrons. I cannot say. I am just saying I leave the issue to you and the rest of the Fourth, if it happens it happens, if not then it doesn't. The Whispers will not be involved either way. For all we know Edris could have a miscarriage this very moment.”
"From what I understood in the Council Chambers, you should be praying for the Patrons this very moment, that Edris wouldn't have a miscarriage this very moment..." Nimoria states coldly, "But yes, better follow the plan and leave everything to the will of Patrons. Do you invited me just to inform ms, that you do not want to have any responsibilities on this matter?"
Adara nods and says, "Also that I understand your views and agree harsh punishment is called for. I also am a woman and a mother myself, I can imagine the suffering taking an unborn away might be, this is why I wanted to be clear that is why I did not support you in the Council Chamber, though I also admit after thinking it over I am unqualified to make an unbiased judgement, so I am leaving it to the Fourth who have better judgement in such matters of faith and law to decide on my behalf as a simple mortal woman that is in over her head.”
"The Fourth always votes. Royal Mother Eleora had convincing arguments and she has two others on her side. That makes me alone. So, as I told, the Fourth supports ideas of Eleora. Now, it is up to yoi, sadly, how you will handle it. After all, Edris is your subject and the Queen gave orders to you. We were able just to offer you some ideas..."
Adara nods and says, "Then I pray you are correct that child poses no threat to us now or in the future, I have said my peace on that matter, and if my fears prove true it is on your heads, that is what I mean if the child does live. If the child does die as punishment for the crime then again that is a decision of the Fourth. If a formal vote must be held that is an internal thing among the Fourth, and you can work that out on your own in your wisdom." She then sighs heavily as though letting go of the burden and says, "If there is nothing further you wish to add, I need to get back to drafting this announcement the queen ordered me to write. I am not comfortable signing a name that isn't my own on an 'official' announcement, but once again my head is literally at stake. I hope it does not cause any complications in the future, I am only following orders." As she waits a moment to see if nimoria has more to say before returning to her writing, unless of course she is interrupted.
"The Queen gave you orders, but you are trying to run away from responsibility. If we are wrong, you will suffer as much as we will. Because you had a chance to stop us, but you didn't..." Nimoria's last words echoes in the room, before she leaves, not waiting for Adara's answers even if she wants to give one.
Adara corrects, "I don't have the power to stop you, as your authority is higher then mine. Unless you'd rather I go to the queen and tell her you spoke of wanting to kill an unborn child of her blood." in a calm, casual tone as Nimoria moves to leave, then returns to her work on the message.
