Chapter 5 - Faces of Your Father

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Gerald
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One of my eyelids has a cut on it that's going to be a bitch to heal. The other's getting nice and swollen. I can barely see out of that eye. I'm missing some teeth, but good luck finding them in the porcelain shards, which I am still picking out of my cheek, by the way. There's some stuck in my hair. Speaking of hair, I've got a bleeding scalp, plus a bleeding shoulder, bleeding-- you know what? There's just plain a lot of blood. I can imagine why Bronwyn would get squeamish around me right now. I look like Hell ran me over in a stagecoach caravan. I have bruises on my bruises, which is saying a lot considering bruises haven't had a chance to appear yet. I can feel 'em coming on, though. That's what I really need for my homecoming, isn't it? To turn. Freaking. Purple.

It would figure that's what I'd get from meeting up with Katherine, though. I just can't ever predict her or what her moods will turn to or whether she'll have a long-lost daddy that I helped arrest. Isn't life a bitch? She sure can be, but damn. Back in the good old days...

...It was a real sweet relationship, alright? The five or seven or whatever times we restarted it. Things never seemed to fall into place, though. Something always messed up at the wrong time, like I'd get arrested right before a date, or she'd be on the run from killing some corrupt foreign official, or...well...

...Or she'd go and have a kid with Dad. You know. That sort of thing. You'd think I'd be able to work past that, or that she'd move on. You might think I'd be kind of strange for thinking that, but he's had plenty of kids, and I don't see their mothers hangin' around here. They move on, you know? Mine did too. So why can't I get a piece of the action now? That's all I'm saying. Jenny's old enough to be out training on the trail with Camden, saving my ass and Lyric's.

Geez. She is giving me the fiercest glare right now, from one of the chairs in front of Father's desk. She meets my eyes, scowls at me, then scoots her chair farther to the side, legs and arms crossed. She's almost her own ball of rage. Well, no, go ahead and scratch that almost part.

Dad comes in with another chair, slides it between us without a word, and then walks around behind his desk. He passes Katherine on the way, giving her a very gentle pat on the shoulder. She looks up at him with an expression that's slightly less murderous. There's something about his posture, then, that makes me take note of him not as my Father, but as the Jhe h'Akribastes.

He sits. His eyes immediately go to the paperwork stacked neatly on his desk. Katherine lifts an eyebrow. Father replies with a sigh, picking up the sheet on top of the stack.

"I was trying to contain the incident until I could tell you properly myself. My apologies that this was not the case." His eyes run back and forth over the sheet a few times, and then he looks up. "Jhe Briarseal has already sent in one of his missives on the news in your Father's Palace."

Katherine sits up straighter upon hearing that, and actually makes a half-smirk that could be the ghost of a smile. "Camden? That would certainly explain why that stack's so high."

He nods. "You may look over it while we wait for the tea, if you wish." She almost reaches for it, then hesitates.

"...I want my tea. And I want an explanation, not a hundred-page travel guide with footnotes."

Father nods again. He looks over to me and raises an eyebrow. "I'm doing alright," I reply to the unspoken question. His eyebrow lifts higher.

"We'll have someone look to it after our discussion." He looks up before I can say anything. Bronwyn's stepping in, laden with a tray loaded up with a tea set and...aww, those are biscuits and jelly. She shouldn't have. "Jhe Averseen. Right there would be fine. ...If you'd close the door? Thank you." He gestures forward as she stands right in front of the double doors, nervous and timid, like a tiny mouse staring down a hawk. "Please sit." She gives a tiny nod, and then sits in between Katherine and I.

I manage to catch my Father's eye on that move. He narrows his eyes just a little at me, and I get the impression that I should shut my fool mouth if I want to keep it on my face.

There's no reason for Bronwyn to be in here. He brought her into the office so someone would be between Kathe and I. So we'd have to talk around her [whichever of us actually end up getting to talk]. It's a stopgap measure to prevent things from getting bloody. Kathe likes Bronwyn, after all. Bronwyn's her assistant, they work together quite a lot. Bronwyn's also so nice that it's just plain adorable sometimes...and sometimes it's just plain creepy. Well, maybe creepy's the wrong word. It's just, you don't really know what to do when you find a girl who finds something cute and actually cries from it. That's...kind of hard to even believe.

She's pretty special, but most Poets are, I guess. Hell, I'm one of the special ones. So is Kathe, for that matter. But we've got honed edges, which we call our Arms. Bronwyn's not Armed, and considering her reaction to the sight of blood, I don't think she's going to sign up for the forces any time soon.

Katherine shifts her legs while Bronwyn tries her absolute best to sit up straight. I sigh. I didn't mean to show any impatience but I'm getting a little dizzy. A little dizzier. Figures, Katherine gave me a better beating than Cade did.

"The mission in Audiva Rocale concluded much differently than anyone expected. I went there to go and get my son back. Not Gerald - Lyric was sighted there by Jhe o'Radia. So I went to go fetch him back to Radia. Unfortunately, while I was there it, far more turned up to be hiding in Audiva Rocale than a runaway boy." He pauses to settle himself with a heavy sigh. I hazard a glance over at Katherine. She's watching his face like a hawk, and she looks...all Armed right now. If there's anything personal going on in her mind right now, it's not showing on her face.

Maybe that's what it takes for her to deal with this kind of news.

"Cade was found in the Palace, captured by Jhe Gerald Akribastes and Jhe Gerude Akribastes after Jhe Gerald managed an escape from the Jhe o'Audiva Rocale's possession. An attempt was made on behalf of the Jhe o'Audiva Rocale to abduct both Jhe Jennelcia Akribastes and Jhe Rachella Hawksgard. The Jhe o'Audiva Rocale was also forcing Jhe Lyric Akribastes, through coercion and...other forms of control, to train an animism illegally detained in the King's...menagerie, which also contained a number of other illegal specimens as well as human slaves. The Jhe o'Audiva Rocale has admitted to some form of servitude to the Jherent Nul. Any other details...likely can be found in Peacekeeper Briarseal's missives. Jhe Lyric is with Jhe o'Radia for debriefing to see what other details he may have regarding this. The Jhe o'Audiva Rocale is currently being held in Radia for trial, which is...imminent. To quell uprisings in Audiva Rocale and keep the state from breaking down into chaos, Peacekeeper Briarseal is manning a temporary team there. While all of this is developing, and while we are still discovering just what in the world was going on in that Kingdom, all of this information should be treated as confidential. Moreover, extreme caution should be taken by anyone connected to the incidents," he nails me with one of his glares, "and anyone close to those people," his eyes go to Katherine now in a look that's less a glare and more...concern. "Jhe Averseen, as Jhe Cruxradia is included on that list, I felt it best that you be privy to this knowledge. The security will affect you as well."

She snaps to attention and then gives a very vigorous nod. I'm not sure if she was paying attention to all that. She looks a little sheepish.

Kathe...is very pale, but still keeping that Armed face on. I think I might want to leave before she kills me. Damn, the Peacock King's her Father, huh? How's that even work? I thought the Jhe o'Radia was her dad. Everything's coming apart on me. First her parents are all ambiguous, then the walls are wobbling from side to side, and now this chair's sinking.... And then Daddy's pinning me with one of those concerned looks again, and things blur a little and go to black. I'm being carried back to my room, though I'm not even sure by who. Then I'm in bed. Then I'm out.

I'm pretty sure I should have just stayed in bed.

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'Sy
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She's sitting up straight in her chair, like she's at attention for me. If that's the way she wants to focus, fine. I'm thankful for any coping response she can make. And really, am I surprised? I've seen this before, when it's been too much for her. She'll lock onto me, rivet her eyes to me. Like when that thing happened to Gerald. Sometimes it's all she has.

Sometimes I'm all she has, and sometimes it's been mutual.

I stand, and she rises with me. Jhe Averseen looks a little lost, and that in itself is understandable. I've burdened her enough today. "Jhe Averseen? If you could cover Jhe Katherine's duties for the rest of the evening, I would be grateful. I have need of her accompaniment." She nods, stands, makes her swift little bow, and then ducks away to Katherine's office to see just what there is to see to.

Katherine remains seated. "Gerald seemed more ill than I thought."

"He'll sleep it off." I look out the door, wondering if Jhe Averseen can hear, or cares to listen, if she can. "He had a heavy burden to bear on his mission. Yours are not the only wounds he took." I see her avert her eyes. "We can see him now, if you wish."

Her shoulders straighten. She still doesn't look up. "...Father?" she says in a low voice. I nod. She doesn't need to see it to know I did so. "When is his trial?"

I pause. It's a strange feeling, not wanting to tell her something this much. Most other times I've felt it, I could also avoid telling her whatever it was. "Tomorrow. You know how I expedite them. ...Waiting only makes it worse." She nods, jaw clenched, eyes pinned straight to the front, focused so rigidly on nothing in particular. I lay my palm on top of her head and stroke through her hair.

There's a little shudder that goes through her, and then she leans against me. Her eyes flick up to my face. Memorizing, saving. A picture for her memory's pocket. It makes it easier for her.

"...Let's go, Tesynnodai. I don't want to wait." She closes her eyes, her brows drawing together. "Don't tell Benny. Just...don't tell her who he really is to me. It'll just make it worse in the upcoming days."

"...Alright. If you wish." I expected nothing else. And of course, it's partially why I brought Jhe Averseen in for this at all. Something that would force the discussion to be blunted. Sometimes I have to play games with my pieces, is all.

With that, we step out of my office, chins high, official as anyone could ever want, towards Katherine's Father's cell. To where I've managed to incarcerate the Emperor of Audiva Rocale, for better, or more likely, for worse.

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It's rare that anyone comes this far into the Armed Hall besides myself. Even Katherine doesn't usually bother following me this far, unless I require her presence. It makes her uncomfortable.

I would say it makes me uncomfortable, but that would be a flagrant lie. I live on this sort of thing, just as I live on the rapport that gunpowder makes when ignited, or the sliding sensation of steel sawing over and through bone, or the pounding thump of blood up against the skull when the pulse races before the axe falls.

I am all of that, and I am this, too. That is, in fact, why we can hold them deep in here. It's not the geography, the restraints, the strength of the bars or the security. It's the fact that the deeper you move within the Hall, the more tangible is the Law, that force that I embody and act as. I can feel Ebrellin-i, down here in the most secure of cells. I can feel him fight and rail against me. I can feel him thrash in ways that make me wonder whether it's really him.

But no, there's no confusion of identity. It's not possible, here. That is Ebrellin-i.

Katherine's hand closes around the bar. Not cold iron, not by far. It looks like gold. Its energy is that of Radia's Palace, however. Ebrellin-i is doubly bound within these bars. I see that read across her face, see her grasp just what that means. The Jhe o'Audiva Rocale bound by the Law, her partner, and by the focused warding of the entire Radian empire and its monarch, her other Father.

I sincerely wish that it didn't have to be like this, if only for her sake.

Ebrellin-i's accomodations are sparse for a King, but at this stage we can't allow him much. He's clever, all too clever, and far too skilled at crafting and mechanics to be allowed much within this prison. The rug is very fine, and he's been given a couch that is suitable for sleeping. There is a desk with a chair and writing implements. What he might write is harshly screened by the wards on the cell.

There are chains, unfortunately, but I had to, or else it would have been even more complicated. Chains make it easier to string wards along him. I have to be brutal. If I were merciful, he might manage to escape, and I can't let that happen. It would, in many ways, be unkind to him to do that.

No one should have to live through servitude to Nul. In a way, it's how I know he can't be in his right mind. If he were sane at all right now, he would be thanking me.

Instead, he spits at me as soon as he catches sight of me standing on the other side of the bars. Katherine jerks as his eyes catch hers. I can't read his expression in that moment. Wide-eyed, possibly in shock, possibly in disbelief. Still hanging on that intense denial, perhaps, even with her staring him in the face.

He stands up straight, then, with that royal posture that not even the members of the Xaillyndesse family can cop unless they happen to also be monarchs. His face tilts downwards, however. He's unable to meet her gaze.

His nose. I hear Katherine's thoughts next to mine, like an extra heartbeat, delicate as a swallow's wingbeat.

He didn't want to come willingly. He was attacking Lyric, and then myself.

She is silent for a moment. ...I'm sorry.

I lay my hand between her shoulders, on her back. I want to tell her not to apologize, that it's not her fault, but the words wouldn't reach her. Not like this. We all are.

He still won't look at her. His hands move in front of him, hanging down, one clasping over the other. It won't hide the manacles on his wrists, and certainly not the length of golden chain hanging between them. Katherine's breath hitches, and she jerks back under my hand, when she sees what he is hiding. His hair hangs down on either side of his face, but even with his head hanging low, it's not enough to hide the collar.

She can recognize where that came from as well. She'd know without recognizing, though. She doesn't like using those, but she's done it before, just like all Armed are trained to do.

"...My daughter. Katherine." Ebrellin-i's voice rasps just a touch. Perhaps he's speaking softly to disguise that. He's certainly screamed enough to wear his throat out quite a bit. "It is good to see you. I was going to request arrangements for you to visit me."

"Ebrellin-i." My voice accumulates frost. "This is not the place."

He steps closer, head still down. "I just recently spoke with your Father, in the garden. You know, the one with the trees arranged so you can't see the fence. We had a lovely time. He even had his coffee. He told me you were learning the violin."

Katherine is almost trembling under my hand, but she looks so still. So perfectly under control.

"Perhaps you can come back to this place soon and play it for your Daddy, while he's here."

I have to keep my hand from clenching over Katherine's shoulder. I will her the strength, even though I already feel her reply coming.

"I am here to inform you that your Trial is tomorrow."

He freezes. His eyes finally skirt up to look at her in disbelief.

"That is my function here. Any pleas you have to make will be heard and recorded at the proper time in the sight of the Judge and his Poet."

His hands clench.

"You are given an allowance to write your pleas before the date in lieu of speaking them, if it suits you."

"...Katherine." His voice sounds far away, like it's not even in my cell at all. Like there is no collar, no chains. As if he were still in Audiva Rocale. "That's not a proper thing for a young girl to say. What if your other Father heard? I do worry about your upbringing at times, and whether you're held to proper decorum."

I decide to preempt her and speak the next line, but she goes ahead before I can. "Your reply is an acknowledgment of your understanding in this matter. Thank you."

He's silent again, his jaw stiff, his lip in that odd pinched position. The Jhe o'Audiva Rocale is not often put in a position to have to endure being stuck at a loss for words. Then, he blinks one more time, gives the slowest of nods, and turns just as slowly. He begins to walk back towards the couch without any further acknowledgment of the two of us.

Then, he just has to go and say something.

"If that's how you prefer it, Katherine, I'll be waiting for you here when you want to act like a reasonable lady." He settles onto his couch without another look at either of us.

I narrow my eyes. Katherine is looking up at me, now. I wonder if it's because she needs to, by this point.

"Is there anything further you would like to say to my Poet, Ebrellin-i? I will leave you in peace until the morning's Trial if there is nothing more."

He stiffens a little, and I feel Katherine's heart quicken. He's silent for quite a long moment.

"I imagine there's nothing left, no, if that's all you've to say to me." His voice is snippy. Dismissive. "Katherine may come back later, if she wishes to play her violin, but I've no need for the likes of you."

I can't keep back a snort. "Why thank you, your grace. It's a pleasure being given your allowance, but I'm afraid I don't need such a thing here, and neither does Jhe Katherine."

"Oh? Does she not." He plucks at a seam on one of the cushions. "Is that so..."

Katherine's jaw is angled to the side. She's grinding her teeth again. "It is as the Law says, Jhe o'Audiva Rocale. A good day and pleasant night to you, and may you find due rest before our appointment tomorrow."

"...And you, too." His voice is soft now, finally bearing a tinge of regret. "I love you, Katherine."

"I love you too, Daddy." She turns away. I start to escort her out before he makes his reply.

"Thank you. Good night."