"Oh, I do love being right about murder." All right, he said the word. But it certainly would be terribly convenient if the people themselves did it. However, Geralt is right as well -- the loss of the queen gives the Free Cities even more reason to march against Thorne, as if the attack on Libertas was not enough. The counterattack may not have been equal in its destruction, but Jaskier can only imagine Marlo was using it as a test against those borders.
Jaskier turns his head this way and that as he listens to Thancred's explanation, if only because this point of murder has become very personal to him after working with the survivors of Libertas. He makes a little "hmph" at the insistence that the Free Cities did such a thing, because that sort of "finding" always feels a bit convenient. "If Jolene was leading the investigation, it's just as likely she's the culprit." He does a similar action to shrugging with his wings, rearranging them. Not that it really matters, in the end. Jolene is not the one who suffered the consequences.
He hops about, thinking, in a matter similar to pacing. "Well, the only truly clean way would be to dissemble both Thorne and the Free Cities' governments at the same time. That way there would be no time for retaliation." But that would be far too easy, wouldn't it? "Which is akin to a massive amount of murder, which I, personally, would like to avoid. On top of those matters, if we were to dismantle both chains of power, I guarantee you those in Nocwich -- and, possibly, the fey -- will be looking for their own chance. I have enough experience to know subjugated peoples will only stand it for so long, and with the vampires and werewolves already sharing space, I guarantee they are both starving for land."
It isn't a hard estimate to make, but his talks with Sten particularly have given him enough insight to the struggles of Nocwich enough to be confident enough to believe it. "Leaving things as they are now is going to inch us closer to war, I'm afraid. Ideally, if there were more powers to rise that could equal both Thorne and the Free Cities, there would be less chance of either, essentially, taking control of this continent. But we are speaking of... very hefty goals. Unless one of them began harnessing the powers of the gods, neither Solvunn, nor Nocwich, nor the fey simply don't have the numbers to compare."
no subject
Jaskier turns his head this way and that as he listens to Thancred's explanation, if only because this point of murder has become very personal to him after working with the survivors of Libertas. He makes a little "hmph" at the insistence that the Free Cities did such a thing, because that sort of "finding" always feels a bit convenient. "If Jolene was leading the investigation, it's just as likely she's the culprit." He does a similar action to shrugging with his wings, rearranging them. Not that it really matters, in the end. Jolene is not the one who suffered the consequences.
He hops about, thinking, in a matter similar to pacing. "Well, the only truly clean way would be to dissemble both Thorne and the Free Cities' governments at the same time. That way there would be no time for retaliation." But that would be far too easy, wouldn't it? "Which is akin to a massive amount of murder, which I, personally, would like to avoid. On top of those matters, if we were to dismantle both chains of power, I guarantee you those in Nocwich -- and, possibly, the fey -- will be looking for their own chance. I have enough experience to know subjugated peoples will only stand it for so long, and with the vampires and werewolves already sharing space, I guarantee they are both starving for land."
It isn't a hard estimate to make, but his talks with Sten particularly have given him enough insight to the struggles of Nocwich enough to be confident enough to believe it. "Leaving things as they are now is going to inch us closer to war, I'm afraid. Ideally, if there were more powers to rise that could equal both Thorne and the Free Cities, there would be less chance of either, essentially, taking control of this continent. But we are speaking of... very hefty goals. Unless one of them began harnessing the powers of the gods, neither Solvunn, nor Nocwich, nor the fey simply don't have the numbers to compare."