shit's going down in thorne (what else is new)

[funbreaker]

[ It's early evening when Thancred's message arrives, sent specifically to Istredd, Kyle, Stephen, and Yennefer. These are the people he's identified as the most at risk based on the note he received. To narrow it down to a number that could safely travel without attracting attention in the night had been its own monumental task, and he can only hope he's gotten it right.

Assuming all of them even agree to Jolene's offer. ]

Meet me in the secure wing of Istredd's domain in half an hour.
It's urgent.

[ Did he ask Istredd about this? No. Yet it's where they've had private meetings in the past, such as the one with their allies in the Free Cities, and so it seems the best option. Istredd will understand that if Thancred is invoking this, it's because it's serious. ]

Comments

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ Istredd thinks of any people in Castle Thorne, this is the group who is able to make quick choices and understand the full implication of everything they are told. The dangers of going, the dangers of staying. ]

We don't know Sidwell well enough to guess, but if there's a possibility he plans on killing his own niece, he is not going to hesitate to kill anyone he perceives as close to her.

[ They don't know that is the plan, but Istredd from a world with thorough coups. His own people were annihilated, wiped from the board except for a rare survivor. They don't do it in halves, you kill the whole family or one of them could come back later in a revolution. He may not be a leader himself, but he understands the mindset, and more importantly, so does Yennefer. ]

You were trained for court, you know this.

[ Although he doubts it will sit well for her, the concept of him staying behind when it could be his head on the chopping block instead of hers. That is also a risk they are taking, but Istredd is no friend to the queen. His one connection is to Ambrose and he doubts his loyalty would seem anything other than academic. He and Kyle are in more immediate danger by staying, but it's not something they'll change their mind about.

Istredd sends Yennefer a telepathic message only between the two of them. ]

There is something to be said for us having contacts on the outside of the castle when this goes down. You may be able to assist us in that way.

[ This to Stephen, since he's indicated going might be the option for him. ]

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil doesn't want to pile on even if he agrees with the others. After a moment he makes eye contact with Yennefer. ]

You should do what you think is best.

[ She has survived here longer than the rest of them. He won't try to argue with her one way or another, he doesn't expect his opinion matters too much in this instance.

He's also getting itchy about them all being unconscious at the same time to be here, and prefers they hurry this along. ]

[vixening]

[ yennefer has never been one to accept the only option. when forced in any way, she views it as her own choices being stripped, as the narrative weaving in a way that shows her there is no choice at all.

the issue yennefer sees before her now, though, is as though she is watching an avalanche tumble down a mountainside. Kyle and Istredd make their intentions known - they plan on staying, for reasons yennefer could assume if she wanted to pick apart, but she chooses not to at the moment - and Stephen and Thancred... it isn't fair, she knows, but she feels as though any semblance of a life she has built is slipping right through her fingers, pulled in each different direction, and with that feeling of loss is suddenly the feeling that she doesn't have a choice. no. no, she won't play into these hands. ]

Don't start speaking in tongues, Stephen. We leave this place and we are no better than bandits on the road. We're all aware of that. And if we leave with this mule, we'd be lucky to ever set foot back in this castle. Not to say those who stay will have any better, but they will have that.

[ it would not be the first time yennefer has survived torture, has felt the hands of others in her mind, trying to pick apart information. she has seen the queen do it, and knows that sidwell might have access to other means, but they are nothing more than what she could expect.

and of course that is when thancred turns his eyes to her, when he brings up the previous executions, the queens attempts. yennefer- gods, she doesn't mean to make light of everyone's concern. not truly. but thancred mentions making an example and he speaks to yennefer directly, and she feels her eyes roll before she can stop them. of course he would make an example of her- but that would hardly be the first time she's lived through such dramatics. hardly the first time she would face that sort of attention, and escaped, with much less power and chaos at her beck and call than she does now.

then again - only istredd would know that. ]

For all we've seen, the locals see us as part of the Singularity. If Sidwell is even partially aware of his place on this continent, he wouldn't destroy his only chance at accessing that source of power. He's not that thick.

[ you know this istredd says, and yennefer glares at him - a glare that only darkens at his message. there is a moment or so where that remains - where she simply stares at him, anger and fury and outright stubborn refusal emanating off her in waves. it doesn't ease, either, when she finally turns back to the table, to the group at large.

she meets kyle's eyes, nods - maybe in thanks, maybe in awareness - at his comment, at his near-support. at least he believes she can make the decision, something that spikes a further sort of anger in her stomach as she turns to everyone else. ]

If everyone's made their decision, then I believe this meeting to be done, don't you? [ she gives a pointed look to thancred, to stephen, and then finally to istredd - her stare to him lasting quite a bit longer than the others before she looks back. ] Unless the note had more to say?

[sorser]

Yen... come on.

[He says, a sort of anxiousness bubbling up in him, too. The kind that's derived more from friendship than pure, rational logic — and while the latter is what they should base the heft of their decisions on, it is the former that makes him want to argue the point further.]

Those who leave might be hoofing it for a while. [Sorry for his modern colloquialism there, but it gets the point across.] But we'd have our autonomy. That's more than what anyone who chooses to stay will have.

[Not to disparage the choice of anyone who does, ultimately, decide to stay. But this is a reality that is surely quite obvious.]

[funbreaker]

[ They could go back and forth on this for the five hours still afforded them, Thancred suspects, but he also has gathered that Yennefer will only dig her heels in further if they continue to stand against her as a united force in insisting that she leave. A different tack might be necessary, and he's willing to track her down to discuss this in private in hopes it might be more effective.

Even then, he's not certain it will be enough, and none of them can force her. But he can't shake the anxious weight in the pit of his stomach at the thought of her staying here. Perhaps she could endure what is done to her in that situation, but could the rest of them? ]

It's true that those of us who leave may end up with more freedom, whereas those who stay could be locked up, or banished, or worse. I think we've established the stakes.

[ Thancred heaves out a sigh, his gaze traveling around the group, and he can't quite stop himself from letting it settle on Yennefer. ]

To be clear, I've also decided to leave. As Istredd said, it may be of use to have people stationed on both sides of this equation, and this would not be the first time I've found myself in such a situation. [ Here, he looks back to Istredd and then Kyle, nodding firmly. ] If it is to be only Stephen and I, we will reach out discreetly as soon as it is safe, and likely only with limited information — enough to let you know that we survived the journey.

[ And of course, to confirm that those who remained survived the coup that now sits right under their feet, but he believes that goes without saying. ]

There are still a few more hours to mull it all over, but I think that we're now all on the same page.

[ He will find Yennefer after this to see what he can do to change her mind, though he knows that it might be a lost cause. Still he must try. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ Istredd's gaze never moves away from Yennefer, not because he's trying to stare her down, but because the two of them are in the middle of a conversation no one else can be a part of. He does snap away when both Stephen and Thancred speak; he doesn't need to hold her gaze to talk to her, he was just distracted. ]

You two should prepare yourselves. I suspect you know what to do. Please be careful.

[ Travel light, don't be suspicious, be as safe as possible. They're both intelligent and skilled men, he suspects they'll be safer than he and Kyle are about to be. Although who knows what road they're going down, and if it won't have dangerous steps too. The point is that they have to take the risk on both ends. They'd been thinking for quite some time this could be a possibility. None of them are new to adapting in the face of danger. ]

Thank you for alerting us, Thancred.

[ Otherwise none of them would have been prepared. He knows that pushing Yennefer again in front of all of them is a bad idea so he steps up to her instead. ]

May I have a word with you?

[ As if there is a choice for her, as if he doesn't intend to find her if she leaves the library and have it out in person. Whatever it takes. The others probably are ready to move with what knowledge they have.]

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil likes everyone here well enough, but he's been on the outskirts of this conversation from the start. It doesn't bother him, it only makes him quick to take a dismissal when it's given. Having already addressed Yennefer, and knowing Istredd is staying behind, he addresses Thancred and Stephen quickly, making some sort of reflexive gesture or sign with both hands at his middle. ]

Be safe.

[ As usual, he doesn't bother with the pretense of leaving the imagined room, he simply vanishes.

He's off to stalk a king. ]

[vixening]

Don't. [ she doesn't snap, but the word comes out as a hiss to Stephen's yen, come on. the can feel the general anxiety creeping into the room, and between the way that Stephen and thancred are both looking at her, and istredd's voice in her head, yennefer's had just enough of all of this. ] You'd be shocked at how little autonomy you have on the run. Some of us don't need to go through it again.

[ it doesn't matter that remaining in the castle is all but confirmed to have higher stakes, and yennefer knows that much, but running? again? even the thought of it turns her stomach, let alone the idea of everything she'd be leaving behind.

still, as thancred and Stephen both confirm that they're going to leave, she feels a tightness around her ribs. her expression only tightens, marginally, but gives nothing else away. but what if this is a trap? what if they're walking directly into the hands of... who? hayle? the cities? another faction of whatever cult had kidnapped everyone however many months ago? it doesn't matter that of everyone she knows, thancred and stephen would be some of the few who would be most capable of protecting themselves through all of that, but even so-

she nods, agreeing with istredd's words. acknowledging that there are still a few hours left before they move, so perhaps there is time to...what? change their minds? yennefer hates this, hates that she doesn't have a clear picture of what this all means, what the implications could be, how much it'll change everything. she hates that she doesn't even know if it's a real threat.

she turns to leave, needing to get out of the horizon, needing to find a better place to think.

which is of course when istredd steps up to her, of course when istredd says may I have a word and yennefer stops, turning her eyes - now reflective more of the tone of their mental conversation than the one they just had in person. ]

You know my thoughts. [ and yes, unfortunately, he is going to have to find her in the castle. or, rather, in her office where she had been meditating, because with those words she pushes by him and disappears, her connection broken. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ Istredd already expected this so he waits until she's gone and turns to Thancred and Stephen, the only two still there. ]

I'll convince her. [ He has a secret weapon. ] Please be safe and good luck.

[ And then he disappears as well, although they can stay as long as they want in the library, it's permanently open. ]