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Post by Bee on Sept 24, 2009 22:33:02 GMT -5
 It wasn't that the halls were not familiar to her; it was just that she had never traversed them for any serious reason. Usually she was just following a vaguely defined trail of hearsay that supposedly led her to her mother's location (Mom was always curiously elusive; sometimes she thought she saw a flash of pink hair or leaves of a rare plant wafting in the wind, but Mom later assured her she was just nuts), or helping Tosiek escape (an adventure she took care to make more action-packed and dramatic than it ordinarily would be). Now, however, she had a real purpose. Purpose was new and tasted funny, but she thought she could get used to it. This was a good step. The Court came with a lot of power and a lot of opportunity. She could accomplish more as Thalia, Titled Royalty, than she could as Thalia, Rogue Queen Street Urchin. She supposed she might have to be more discreet about her experiments, but she could be discreet. Or Tosiek could help her be discreet. He was good with that sort of thing. She had too many limbs to be discreet. She approached the office and tried to make herself look mildly organized. Tentacles close to the body? Check. Not currently unwittingly stealing anything? Double check. Hair tamed and calm? As much as it could be. She knocked on the door. |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 25, 2009 22:00:48 GMT -5
Court life wasn't all that different from any sort of government work, Sadie had found fairly quickly. Granted, the issues she dealt with here were much more interesting than they'd ever been in the Gardens, and there was a certain glamor that surrounded her position. Oh, and the Quests. She'd very quickly found pleasure in giving those out, testing the motives and ideals of all new potentials to her court. She loved seeing hopeful faces, and there was a certain joy in turning down the people she knew wouldn't fit in. Perhaps it was sick, but Sadie preferred to see it as enjoying all aspects of her job. The meeting she had scheduled for today, however, was of much greater interest to her than most. She had, after all, seen this particular potential before, roaming the hallways in search of her mother. Who, as chance would have it, was Sadie's own King. Even more amusing, the girl, Thalia, was a Yarrow mix. That would mean that out of all 7 members of the court - assuming Thalia managed to impress Sadie - five would be women, and of those five, four would be either full Yarrows or Yarrow mixes. She'd never intended for such a strange thing to happen, after all, that had been the condition of the court when she'd come into power, but it delighted her all the same. The world could be a funny place at times. The knock woke her from her thoughts, and the woman glanced at the door, a small smile curling on her lips. " Come in,[/b]" she called out. Right on time. So far, Thalia was off to a damn good start. |
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Post by Bee on Sept 26, 2009 23:50:03 GMT -5
Thalia could already technically see what the Queen was doing--she tried not to see through doors, because honestly that was sometimes a traumatic and horrifying experience (Mom and Mama bumping uglies, it was always Mom and Mama bumping uglies), but she could never manage to shut the damn ability off--but somehow fumbling open the door and seeing her while actually being in the room was a different experience.
She felt much less like a creeper that way, for one.
She gave a little dip, and waggled a tentacle in greeting enthusiastically. Humans were so strange-looking. She never understood how Mama could bear to give up tentacles (sweet merciful Tesla, it was like magical amputation) for naked skin. She supposed it was easier when the limbs were a late magical addition in the first place. Maybe.
But humans did wear clothes better. A cunning coat was even better than a cunning hat. And Sadie did look like vaguely animalish, which was comforting. Short and compact.
But that was a thought train she needed to hop off. This was Business.
"Your Majesty."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 27, 2009 3:20:23 GMT -5
The girl that slipped into the room was every bit what Sadie had expected, though the Queen was rather enjoying the opportunity to actually look her over from a distance of less than several meters. The hybrid had been an interesting creature from far away, and that certainly held true now. The hair very much reminded her of her mother's, waving as if with a mind of its own. Possibly more interesting than that, however, were the girl's tentacles. They must have been quite the useful appendages, especially when one was limited to animal form. From the way they waved, they seemed to be quite dexterous.
Curious, curious. Her mix was pleasing to the eye, as well, with the colors of the Gardens slashing across her ebony fur as if they were Corvie markings.
"Thalia,[/b]" the woman replied in a fairly formal tone, only her eyes betraying her slight amusement. She was rather looking forward to this particular meeting. After all, this was Mnem's child, and that promised to be entertaining in itself. "Please, make yourself comfortable.[/b]"
She gestured towards a seat designed for those with only an animal form, more a low and flat stool than a proper seat, but it served its purpose well enough. Once the other woman was settled, Sadie would steeple her fingers, regarding the woman in front of her with a calculating gaze. This was the first part of things, in which the mantis would get a feel for the potential Queen. From there, she'd have to give Thalia a more specific Quest, something that would tell her exactly what this girl could do for the Diamond court as a whole. She had high hopes for this one.
"I understand you're here out of a desire to earn a title for yourself. As there is a position available, I'm more than happy to hear you out, but I'll need to know a few things about you, first.[/b]" The woman inclined her head to the side, eyes fixed on Thalia, her gaze almost predatory beneath the interest. "What promoted your interest in the Court?[/b]"
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Post by Bee on Sept 28, 2009 13:31:08 GMT -5
Thalia settled into the chair, looking at the woman curiously. Humans were usually a little harder for her to read, but she'd had practice with her moms, and she recognized the face; it was the expression Mom always wore when she was plotting something. What, and whether it was good or bad, was another matter entirely. She didn't dwell on it. She would find out soon enough.
"Logic dictated," she said, brightly. She didn't want to blurt out her entire life's story, which would be remarkably long and mostly just kind of weird, so she tried to pick out the most relevant bits.
"I've spent a lot of time kind of...organizing people, getting things done. Kind of like a mini-court in my neighborhood, I guess." A big, big neighborhood, over which the family apartment building stood tall and ominous. She had always liked that foggy feeling of doom. "It all feels kind of small now. I want to see what I can do if I really put my mind to it, and I think this is the right way to go. I'm sure I can make myself useful."
A bigger and better experiment, in a way. She'd heard lots of stories about various courts--Clubs from Mama, Hearts from her older siblings, and Diamonds from Mom--and while a lot of them were bizarre and disturbing drama, and some were horror stories about roughly eight thousand tons of paperwork (where did it all come from? Some kind of alternate dimension whose sole purpose was murdering trees and sending the product though some kind of rift in space to their courts?), they seemed interesting, and Sadie seemed, so far, to be keeping Diamonds better managed than most.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 29, 2009 14:47:45 GMT -5
Well, that certainly wasn't the response Sadie had been anticipating, a simple fact that widened the grin on her face. Usually when she asked that question she got, in return, some kind of weepy story about how the old Queen had done some favor to their family and they just couldn't believe that he was gone. They were pledging their services to her now because, gosh golly darn it all, they didn't want to miss their chance.
Those people were given sweet smiles and told that, really, the court was doing just fine, but that she'd send for them in the event that they ever found themselves in desperate need of assistance.
This story was honest, rang of the king of truthful curiosity that Sadie expected from a woman of her age. I did it once in my sandbox, I want to see if I can do it on a bigger scale. If what the Queen knew about Mnem held true, it was a big sandbox indeed. Sadie shifted in her seat, giving Thalia a small nod of - fleeting as it may have been - approval. "As long as you're well aware that it's sadly not all guts and glory, then I have no further questions about that topic.[/b]"
No, it was time for the more interesting subject. This would show her exactly how useful Thalia could be, assuming she did a good job of things. "I'm assuming you've heard the rumors of the serial killer currently skulking in the Capital.[/b]" It was Big News, the kind of thing worried parents used to convince their children to stay inside at night. How many people were dead? How many injured? He seemed to have quite an interesting technique that he used on his victims, so they could easily trace when he was somehow involved in a killing. "Recently, it came to my attention that the Clubs have become involved in this. I understand that your mother is involved in that court, correct?[/b]"
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Post by Bee on Sept 29, 2009 15:31:22 GMT -5
She'd heard rumors about the killer. Her little urchins were terrified, no matter how often they boasted of being able to take care of themselves. She had assured them she would mind-crush anyone who tried to harm them, but their worries persisted, and most of them had taken to carrying around a few extra knives.
Not that it would help them.
Thalia nodded, trying to focus on the matter at hand. She'd like to get the monster off the streets as much as anyone.
"She's a Jack, yes."
Her mama was one of the flakier members of the Court of Clubs, but her mad scientist reputation preceeded her wherever she went. She'd even procreated with the current Queen, ages and ages ago. Elyse hung around. Hadyn was off to parts unknown doing only mad rabbits knew what.
Perhaps Sadie wanted Mama to concoct something that would make the killer explode? Mama could probably do something like that, if she put her mind to it.
Of course, it would probably also take out the entire city block, so perhaps Sadie did not want Minh's help after all. If the Court of Clubs was already involved, Mama might already be employed on the explosion front.
She looked at the Queen curiously. "Would you like me to ask her more about what they're doing?"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 1, 2009 14:00:51 GMT -5
A brief nod was given in reply to Thalia's affirmative reply, and Sadie felt a rush of relief. It was always terribly annoying to have gained false intelligence about a person, especially in regards to family. In the Gardens, Sadie had often felt as if she played the role of mafia boss. That wasn't so much a problem. The problem came when her personal spy was rather a failure of a creature, mistaking casual acquaintances with lovers and family members with strangers.
They had been fired, post-haste. This new individual was doing a lovely job so far.
In truth, so was Thalia. She was quick to catch on to the topic at hand, quick to extend herself without even being asked. Sadie was very much getting the feeling from the interesting girl that she would show a similar eagerness in the Court. That was a trait she was happy to see. After all, often things didn't just get handed to the nobles on a silver platter. Changes had to be sought after.
"The Diamond Court has actually been involved in this case for some time.[/b]" Sadie replied calmly, reaching over and pouring a cup of tea for herself, then glancing at Thalia. "Tea? It's a blend I brought back from Yarrow. What I've heard is that they have a woman who survived an attack by this madman. She is very much eager to see him caught. I would like you to speak to your mother, and also offer our support to this woman.[/b]"
Sadie glanced down at the papers by her hand, pushing one aside. "Her name is Zuberi.[/b]"
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Post by Bee on Oct 1, 2009 16:13:04 GMT -5
Thalia accepted the tea happily--Mom usually didn't let her have any of her tea, and she quite liked the Yarrow stuff, though she had to resist the urge to add as much sugar as she wanted.
She would like to meet this Zuberi person, also. She must have been someone of exceptional power and resourcefulness, if she had lived through an attack of that man's deranged psychopathy--she wondered exactly what had happened, and how she managed to escape. She might find out. Then again...it probably wouldn't be a story she would like to tell, either.
Perhaps if some of the more powerful members of the Courts banded together, they could put that loonybird's head on a pike. Figuratively speaking, at least. Perhaps literally. A joint-Court effort sounded like a good way to go, anyway.
"I'll find her," she said, nodding. "I take it I should go right away?"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Oct 3, 2009 19:05:10 GMT -5
The readiness by which Thalia accepted the tea was, in truth, another point in the girl's favor. It seemed as if tea and the drinking of it was a rather big deal to most of the current members of the court. The last Queen had been fond of it, many of the servants had been all-too eager to tell her. Not of the Yarrow blends, because those were more popular with the other Queen, but still.
Sadie was beginning to loathe mention of Theofilus's name, not out of any dislike for the old man, but rather the feeling that her every move was being sized up against the way that he did things. People would have to learn very soon that they were entirely different people, and while Sadie was an equally good ruler, she did things differently. She leaned back in her seat, running a finger slowly across the rim of the teacup, enjoying the heat of the liquid as it warmed the cup on her hands. She took a small sip of it, glancing up at Thalia with a nod.
"Sooner would be preferable, yes. We don't know how long this Zuberi will be at the Court of Clubs, and it would be quite the shame to miss her.[/b]" She didn't know much about the woman beyond that she had survived an attack and was seeking the help of the Courts to bring the man to justice, and as such, she knew this could potentially be their best opportunity to track her down. "Beyond that, the sooner we bring this man to justice, the better.[/b]"
Her mouth set itself in a firm line, expression almost grim. "...As this is Court business, you will be compensated for the money you spend, provided you keep track of things. Travel, room and board, etcetera.[/b]"
Hah. There was always business to handle, even in the case of bringing a murderer to justice.
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