RADIA
* * *
Luciprochoros
* * *
Ruling half of the free world is a busy and time-consuming job, with a lot of distractions. In the founding days of our Kingdom, I had to create a coffee company just to have enough coffee on hand to be able to perform all of my duties. That's right, I have my own supply-chain, bean-sorting, and roasting hierarchy. That is a LOT of coffee. Celestial Coffee Company is a highly successful business as well, more than paying for its own overhead and expenses. It is also a lot to manage in its own right, and it really can't all get done properly unless it's done directly, by myself, no matter what my accountants tell me about fair business practices.
So I'm busy today, alright? 'Sy handed me a bunch of papers to read. I figured Jaxhelshon would be back home in a few hours, so I could skip reading his well-meaning but much-embellished accounting of his deeds in Audiva Rocale until I had a free moment. I don't have free moments. So by the time Jax knocks on the door to my study, I still haven't read any of it.
I wave him in and just let him give me the news directly. I don't expect him to have company. I certainly don't expect him to have Ebrellin-i's other daughter on his arm, her green eyes pinning mine in an eerie imitation of one of his own imperious glares. Jax, bless him, is just grinning his damn face off.
"Hey, Dad, you got a minute? I want you to meet someone special."
I'm afraid to say that I don't really have an answer for him. I'm a bit stuck here at my desk, my face frozen in an expression that is, hopefully, shock. There's a possibility that it could be disgust, and I'd hate to be rude to his first girlfriend.
I ignore the churning in my stomach that the last sentence produced.
I somehow force my jaw to move, and encourage my throat to produce some comprehensible sound to go with the movement of my lips. "Jaxhelshon...would you please do the honor of introductions?" Stalling for time, really. I've got to manage to stand up on my own without hurling.
He makes the most polite of smiles, then bows. "Jhe o'Radia Luciprochoros, may I make known to your accquaintance Jhe Rocsui-ehellenae a'Audiva Rocale Xaillyndesse'ten?" The girl's eyes widen as the whole name is announced in proper Court fashion, with no small amount of Poet flair. She also stumbles a little, which Jaxhelshon misinterprets as nerves. While he pats the back of her hand and soothes her, I pay close attention to the strange reaction my wards had to her name, and what her very presence is doing to them, at that.
To put it briefly, my wards either want to kick her out or knock her out. It's lucky for all of us that she's not considered enough of a threat that they're set to automatically kill her - an honor that has sometimes been reserved for Ebrellin-i during the rockier phases of our relationship. Of course, at some points that was due to 'Sy's insistence. But that's neither here nor there, is it? I step in and catch her before the girl collapses. I get an elbow in the ribs for it, but isn't that always the way when you're being a gentleman?
"Father!" Jaxhelshon is radiating concern, which I suppose is good, but he's radiating it far too close to me right now, and I need some room.
"I'll get her to the couch. Jaxhelshon, you really should announce your guests before you take them into my quarters. Especially foreign guests. I've lectured you on that before. Now...why don't you go and make us all some coffee? I'm sure a stimulant is all she needs. The wards will take a few moments to adjust for her, in any case."
My son's brows draw together, and I swear he's about to confront me on just why my wards are clubbing his new special interest over the head, but he drops it before he can outright ask. Perhaps his experience in the field has garnered him new wisdom, then, because that's a first for him.
* * *
Rocsui
* * *
Being forced to stay mute and demure is a state that I am used to living in. Being clubbed in the head by the astral walls of a room just because my name was spoken aloud is a new experience for me. I'm not really sure how I feel about it just yet, because I am simply too dazed to--
I'm sorry, I lost a few moments right there. When clarity comes back to me, I'm lying on a very comfortable couch while Jaxie's Father stares at me from an armchair. A coffee table sits between us like some sort of barrier. This is not how I imagined my meeting with the Jhe o'Radia would go, but I imagined worse scenarios.
"My apologies for raising the ire of your wards," I say, my eyebrow raised in a subtle way that turns the apology into accusation.
He demurs with a handwave. "Think nothing of it. My couch has gotten lonely. It's been over an hour since anyone's fainted onto it." He shrugs away my confused expression. "We've been introduced, Jhe Rahellene, but I believe you might prefer being addressed by your true name."
My eyes widen and my mouth goes starch-dry. I've not heard my name spoken by anyone in so many years that I'd forgotten what it sounded like. I manage to croak out a response. "How did you know?"
The smile he replies with is oddly sweet for an authoritative figure that I've just met. "I have a long memory for important things. Now, I do appreciate your coming here, and am glad to give you sanctuary, but I must get something out of the way immediately--"
"Oh, don't bother with this part, please. I wasn't going to express any further interest in your son, Jhe o'Radia."
He looks at me in surprise. "Oh?"
"He's a nice boy, but I've already grown bored of him."
Jhe Luciprochoros attempts to disguise a laugh by coughing into his hand, but it's a poor play at discretion. "...My apologies. It's rare that foreign dignitaries address me so directly." He suppresses another snicker.
I try to sit up instead of lying back on the couch, but I simply can't summon the strength to. "I am happy to be recognized as a dignitary, then, and not an attachment." I flick my gaze up to his startlingly bright eyes. "Really, how is it that you knew my name? It was a highly kept secret by my Father."
He nods with the barest tilt of his head. "Yes, and I have long ears."
I bite my lip. The evasion frustrates me, and whenever I try to focus enough to pry at what he's hiding, the wards try and clobber me once more. Fine, then. I'll leave it for now. Best not to play up my disadvantages at the outset. "I have important things to discuss regarding the present state of my country, and your own forces occupying it."
He replies only with an odd sort of grin. I'm not sure if he's taking me seriously.
"I do hope you realize that Audiva Rocale cannot go long without a ruler. Whether or not the one your Judge has seen fit to detain has committed a crime, someone must come forth to bring order to the Kingdom. If things remain as they are at my Palace, the people will riot and order will fall apart in my Kingdom."
He doesn't look as mocking anymore. In fact, I'm not sure if I can describe his expression at all. It almost looks like dawning horror, but it could be sadness as well. Emotion is something I'm still trying to familiarize myself with. I don't feel it like a normal person does, and my Father certainly never showed it.
Of course, before I can get any clarity from just what his face might mean, Jax walks in carrying a tray with coffee on it. I'm not sure if Jhe o'Radia looks relieved or annoyed, but once he has his coffee he certainly appears more in his element. I take my mug but don't drink from it. I more stare at it a bit perplexed, as I've never drunk coffee before, and it does not smell particularly pleasant.
Jax kneels in front of me, looking on me in concern. "Are you alright, Rocsui?"
"Call her Rahellene," his Father speaks over a mug of steaming coffee, eyes closed.
Jax tilts his head at me, now wondering about more than my health.
"Do as Jhe o'Radia says, Jaxhelshon. And I am fine. I simply need to take my repose while the Emperor and I discuss matters of diplomacy."
Jax turns back to his Father to say something, and then pauses with his mouth open. The sternness of Jhe o'Radia's expression is surprising, but Jax must have seen it sometime before, because he scampers out of the room without another word. After the door closes behind the boy, Jhe o'Radia's expression relaxes. Ah, that must have been a 'daddy' expression. It was very efficient, but I'm afraid it just wouldn't have the same effect if I learned it and used it myself.
He turns to me, then, and his face reverts to that odd sadness again. I cock my head, and he composes himself.
"Ahh, Audiva Rocale. Long has your peace been intertwined with Radia's. And long have I grappled with its rulers over said peace." Jhe Luciprochoros smiles at me for a moment. "It would be lovely if I could have peaceable talks concerning the future of both of our countries to you. It is a shame that's not meant to be." He goes on before I can voice a protest. "I know you mean well, Jhe Rahellene. I know just how much you want this, believe me. But I also know how succession will pass along Ebrellin-i's line." He looks away, pain reflecting in his eyes.
I don't understand.
He sighs, then sets his coffee mug down and begins to refill it. "Jhe o'Audiva Rocale Ebrellin-i Xaillyndesse did not pass on heirship to our daughter Katherine. I prevented that, in fact, by passing my heirship to her before he could do so. To protect her. Later, he came to the same conclusion that I had - that the Xaillyndesse heirship was something to be protected from and was not itself any form of protection. To that end, he passed the heirship down to his younger brother, who has not seen fit to pass it on to any of his progeny. As he did this before, or more precisely, during your birth, you are not eligible to inherit his throne."
I can't feel my face. I don't know what expression I'm making. Jhe o'Radia's is one of pity.
He goes on. "As Elethe-Travente Xaillyndesse is in no condition to rule Audiva Rocale, there is no suitable heir to the throne, and thus it would likely be taken over by a steward of the same line. Perhaps she shall declare herself Queen, if she makes it to the throne to do so."
I swallow, but my throat is still dry. "Jhe Thelea Xaillyndesse."
Jhe o'Radia leans over the coffee table towards me. "Now do you see why it is so critical that the Armed take control of the Palace before someone else does?"
I barely manage a nod.
"I'm sorry. I truly am. But I can't twist and turn bloodlines. Your grandmother attempted that herself, and look what we have to show for it! As it is, you need to remain under protection. It is very noble that you have tried to bring your Kingdom to order, Jhe Rahellene. Unfortunately, you aren't the one to do it. In fact, I'm not sure who will be. With all hope, your Father will survive his Judging."
I narrow my eyes as I stare down at my clasped hands. "I have no wish for my Father to live." Oddly, the wards press against me a little less after I say that.
Jhe o'Radia's expression is deeply sad. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I cannot say that I don't understand the sentiment. As it is, his tampering with you is making it difficult for you to live outside your garden, isn't it?"
I look up sharply at him. "Just how do you know where I lived, Jhe o'Radia?"
"Certain places were declared off-limits. I smell Fae on you, and it isn't the blood your grandmother passed down, either. It's like a dusting of pollen on those feathers that dot your skin. I know where you've stayed. Moreover, I know where Jhe o'Audiva Rocale keeps his most precious things."
My eyes narrow. "You're lying."
Jhe o'Radia smiles back at me. "I'm a politician, honey. Lying is one of my hobbies." He sighs, crushing his palm against his forehead. "It's been a tiring day already. You're very stressed. It would be better if you rested now, and got an explanation later."
"I--" I choke my words off. The wards got me before I could even make a demand. No, not the wards. Something else. Something Camden and Jax never saw, even though it was right in front of their eyes.
"In fact, you need more than a rest. You need care. You've been bound for years. Ebrellin-i put more than feathers on you when he changed your true Name."
I shudder. Hearing the truth hurts me. Or, more likely, it makes the binds hurt me. Jhe o'Radia's hand falls on my shoulder, propping me up. He's right. I am tired.
"I have a few spare bedrooms in this suite. I've children away from home, after all. You can sleep in one. The wards are overbearing in here, I know, but it's the safest place for you."
"I didn't know I was in danger." I let him lift me up. There's nothing I can do to fight him off, and sleep sounds divine.
"You'll find, sadly, that there are many things you've never known, Rahellene." He carries me off then. I catch a glimpse of the twin bed before I'm unconscious. I feel the tiniest wrinkle of scorn when I see it - it's his daughter's bed. Katherine - my sister who never had to live in Ebrellin-i's cage of a shadow.
* * *
Characters:
