[ open ]

[vixening]

Who: yennefer + others
When: september
Where: castle thorne + the horizon
What: after the events of the nocwich, and the retaliation from all sides, yennefer keeps busy. ota unless specified otherwise.
Warnings: yennefer's bad moods, etc.

Comments

[vixening]

[ yennefer's mind is in the same place as thancred's where it concerns the source - an inside job, yes. something, or someone, who has tampered with what should have been a relatively simple protection spell. if thancred looks into it, he might also find a similar situation led to grigory's untimely demise as well - a lack of foundation, of an inside influence causing the effects of this.

she doesn't smile, but there is a kind of sardonic look that crosses her face at his comment, if only because a good part of her is becoming more and more convinced that it was deliberate failing, rather than anything else. she still is not comfortable with the concept that her fate had been in the hands of her fellow summoned, less comfortable with how it played out. she won't let herself feel betrayed, exactly, but it does feel...well, almost fated. a reminder of what she had started to let slip. jaskier would have been safe if he had not put himself in harm's way to save his guard, and himeka herself was unharmed. only she had been in such danger, and only she had suffered to this degree.

well. her and grigory, who had not survived. thancred carefully crafts his words as he delivers the information, and while yennefer does try to hold back the smile, he probably can see the twitch of her lips. ] He didn't survive? That's...awful. Is the Queen alright? [ which is yennefer's way of - if anyone is indeed listening - expressing her awareness of the castle's worst kept secret. but it is the next bit that fully has any semblance of humor dropping from her face. ]

From the device? Have you had chance to see it? [ she is able to fill in the blanks, and it roils angrily in her gut. that she had been used as a chess piece for the queen to use to finally let loose her attack on the cities. she would be much more panicked if she hadn't already made certain of jaskier and ciri's safety, but still, the realization of what it means sits heavy in the air.

yennefer exhales, and all of a sudden looks much more exhausted than she had moments before. ] Our Queen is quick to act. [ another layered comment - an observation that she had already been ready to strike, even before they had gone to nocwich. something both she and thancred would be aware of. ]

[funbreaker]

[ That small twitch of Yennefer's lips passes so quickly that most would miss it. Thancred's staring her right in the face as they speak, however, and he's used to looking for such tells. He doesn't think anything will come of it, especially as Yennefer does a decent job of acting concerned. She doesn't have to overdo it, as no one would expect any dramatic reactions given the physical state she's in right now, her whole body wracked with exhaustion. ]

I believe Stephen was going to see if he could examine it, but I'm uncertain what came of that. [ If their suspicions are correct and there might be evidence of foul play, then chances are that none of the Summoned will be allowed to take a close look. It's possible the device has already been disposed of, even.

They're going to be left with far more questions than answers, he suspects. And he understands how frustrating that must be for someone like Yennefer, who had suffered the consequences of any plotting going on behind the scenes. ]

She is. [ They've been on the brink of war for weeks now, so in some ways this isn't a shock. That the Queen would resort to such a blatant attack on her enemies is what he hadn't been prepared to see. ] The question now is how the Free Cities will respond. I can't imagine they have no retaliations planned, but I suppose the castle is well warded for such things.

[ Meaning that there's a good chance some other part of Thorne will be targeted. One of the cities the two of them visited some months back, perhaps. ]

also this is so so old i am happy to handwave the rest of the thread etc! whatever you wanna do!

[vixening]

[ knowing that stephen is the one looking into it does make her feel a bit better, if only because if anyone would be allowed beyond the restrictions of the castle, it would be him. though, truthfully, she's not sure anything at all will come of it - not because she has any concerns about stephen's capabilities, but rather she doubts whoever planned this far would leave any trace of information behind.

there is more to be taken from the series of actions themselves, but at the same time she's not so sure. but that is hardly a conversation they can have, so instead thancred turns to what they can. yennefer finds her head shaking. ]

The castle is protected from all manner of attacked, but I can't see the Cities being caught off-guard either, no. But even then, how do you protect an entire kingdom?

[ well, yennefer has some ideas, but she is playing the part of a shocked supporter of the crown, of a normal member of the court. it makes her head ache, even now, and the next time she exhales it is a bit heavier.

it feels a bit impossible to think that this is it, but then again, war is never really that simple, is it? ]