Private Vulpinsula & Surroundings Family in Exile

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

@Alwyn Ryalor
Nuori's eyes narrowed slightly as her age was brought up, but by the end of his speech Alwyn seemed to have somewhat won her over again.
"I'm not waiting until my nameday to leave, if that's what you're trying to tell me. My life..." she looked down a moment, searching for the words, and when she looked back up at the fox, there was a fire burning there.
"My life feels like it's waiting to start, just beyond the waters in Bully Harbor. I'm just a prisoner here, the 'gilded leash', like you said... I can't breathe here. I can't grow here. I'm not a little kit like Will whose satisfied with being kept in a pen and fed on crumbs and I haven't been in a long time. I need to leave, Alwyn, and I need to leave now. Now either you're going to help me do this safely or I'm going to give it my everything to disappear and you nor anybeast else will get any say."

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

@Willard Brudenell
Emilia slipped gently from her husband's arms and took Will by the paw, leading him back to the table where he happily leapt onto the seat next to her as she removed her other glove and took a fork and knife.
She cut a delicate piece from the delectable-looking cinnamon roll, even somewhat squished now as it was, ate it somewhat daintily, and gave a small smile as she offered the next piece to her son off of her fork. She spoke as she did, straight-backed and somewhat regal-looking even in her sundress and straw hat as her black-tipped tail swished behind her and her voice took on a sure tone. Willard could tell she was scheming.
She looked to Galway and whatever other guards were within earshot. "Your presence is greatly appreciated." She told them. "But I would like a moment alone with my kit and husband. Perhaps you could take your men on a stroll around the property, Lieutenant Galway."
Upon being seemingly afforded some brief privacy, Emilia beckoned Willard to her and told him in a cool and quiet tone, low enough only he could've heard it as Junior ate more of her pastry. She ran a paw through the kit's headfur. "Gather what contacts you have, have them rebuild us some connections in the Harbor. Not just for Aiken and Nuori's sake, either."
The stoatess looked up at him with her watchful brown eyes, full of quiet confidence. "I have connections of my own, as well. There is yet a private party there seeking our return, wise and faithful creatures, some with deep pockets, who wish an end to Bouillabaisse's depravity and decadence. Who long for the days their world made sense under the Brudenells. I hope this doesn't upset you, to know I've taken on this... project... during our forced retirement."
Her brow knit slightly as her tone took on a soothing quality, and she took one of the taller stoat's paws in her free one. "But I do this for us."
She held Will close. He looked up curiously. "And for them."

 

[Willard Brudenell]

Willard's eyes followed his wife as she rose, semblance of a grin returning to his genteel features as he saw her return to a form he hadn't seen so often lately - that of the stoatess who'd all but co-ruled the Imperium with him, fearless and more determined than he'd been at the height of all his conviction.

At her call, he came up to her, putting his paws on her shoulders as he gazed down at her, meeting her eyes with his own as he sought to see the shape of the dream forming in his love's heart. He massaged her slowly as she went on, trying to determine how he felt about her plans.

"You know," he said, letting her take his paw in her own, his own voice deliberately level, soft so nobeast else could hear, but somewhat casual, as though they were discussing what food to have for dinner, rather than plans of a treasonous nature.

"I have always trusted you make plans for the both of us. Since the day we met - when you first became my secretary - always."

The stoat closed his eyes, turning his face away from her to look on his youngest son. The little stoat was so carefree, so confident in his mother's care. He was too young to know what they were discussing, what it might mean for his future.

Willard sighed.

"What about our kits? Is it worth their safety that we take up the old cause once again? What about Aiken out in the harbor, and Nuori soon to follow? They're good, brave young beasts - but... I was lucky to have no one left to lose when I started the first time, you know."

He looked back to her, more uncertain than anything else.

"We don't have that luxury anymore, darling. You know I'd conquer the world for you - if it were you and me against it all, I would. But if anything should happen to our kits..."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Alwyn closed his eyes and rubbed them, partly because he was tired but mostly out of exasperation. There was that fire again, again like her mother. Her nameday was not even that far away, and once she turned eighteen it would be so much easier, her mother would no longer have any power over her, meaning she could simply leave without permission or having to do any cloak-and-dagger nonsense. She would, without him, not get far, of course, the Guard was there as much to keep the Brudenells, at least the minor ones, in as it was to protect them, but if she was brought back kicking and screaming like he was, that would cause all sorts of problems, both for him and for her family. Helping her would also give him more of an in with the Brudenells, which could be very useful later, if she could convince her parents to not do anything stupid, like violate the tacit understanding made at the end of the Civil War. He hated that thought, as it reminded him of his manipulative father, but he had grown to care for the stoat family, at least their children. The Empress was a kind beast, but now that she had kits to protect, she was ruthless in crushing decent, the velvet glove turning into an iron one faster than anyone might expect. If she smelled even a hint of a scheme to return to power…

They would not be so stupid, would they? They have kits. Good, well-meaning, proper kits from the time I have spent with them, although I don’t know Aiken. Risking them for what, a chance at power? Do they really want to be like my mother and father?

Removing his paws from his eyes, he tapped his paw on the table again, this time more aggressively, and was quiet in thought for quite some time. His tail even swooshed around the chair a few times before he replied.

“I would prefer if you got the blessing of at least one of your parents…” He said, drawing that out and emphasizing it “...but if you truly are that determined and get denied, alternate...arrangements can be made.”

He took a long, slow breath, then looked at her hard, eyes firm.

“Either way, if we do this, you do it my way, Nuori, do you understand? That means obeying what I say, when I say it, without question, without hesitation. I will let you have your freedom, but there are things you do not yet understand, and we must be very careful. If you agree, I will tell, and perhaps, to have you truly understand, show you why.”

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

@Willard Brudenell
Emilia's smile took on a sad quality as her husband brought up their only real risk, something very hard to argue against.
Of course, it was easy to feel like raising the kits here and living the rest of their lives with their heads down could be enough.
Just so long as the Brudenells played the role of good little captives, surely the Empress wouldn't ever one day be of the mind Emilia and her whole family would be more convenient in a dank pit or on an executioner's block.
The fear had always been there, and sometimes she felt mad arguing with Aiken or Nuori about leaving Tully Shore, trying to convince her blessed, brave and free-hearted children to remain locked in a cage for the rest of their lives and exist at the whim of tyrant foxes.
Lately, her kits' arguments were beginning to only make more sense.
"You need to understand something, Willard. Perhaps you already do, and you've just been denying it as I have, but... we aren't actually safe here, no matter how much we wish it so."
Emilia's tucked her youngest's head against her, caressing his head as he gave a little yawn.
Her elegant paws provided the additional use of muffling what Junior might overhear as he cuddled into her.
The stoatess turned to look over the manicured garden, the fine family estate, listen to the crashing waves and the keening seagulls, feel the warmth of the sun on her face. Her brown fur and wet nose tip shimmered gently in the sunlight.
"The Empress could turn these guards on us at any moment. Perhaps that Ryalor pup could be trusted not to immediately kill us, but the rest... they wouldn't hesitate. I don't know what that treacherous young artillery officer's intentions for us were when she first decided to let us live, but it certainly wasn't so we could have a safe and happy family." Emilia sighed, looked back to her strong and beloved husband. Her eyes glistened with moisture.
"I think the only way for our children to not be in danger, Willard, is if we take our lives in our own paws. I won't have them live at the whim of some mad vulpine wench anymore, or of that foul traitor. There are better places for us out there, hidden coves and secret houses dotted amongst rich friends you just haven't met yet. Our dreams of a better world, husband... they yet live. Perhaps we should be thinking of leaving, too."

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

@Alwyn Ryalor
Nuori stared at him for a long, drawn-out moment of silence, and then she shook her head with a slight smirk on her lips.
The young stoat leaned across her desk and took the bottle of wine. She uncorked it and took a swig before looking balefully over the bottle at the tall fox.
"You'll 'let me' have my freedom, will you? And only if I 'obey' you? I know you're not all that much older than I am, Alwyn, and boy have you got a chip on your shoulder for some prison guard whose father doesn't love him."
Her change in tone was known to cause some whiplash, and clearly, the guard had struck a nerve.
"I'm not going to just sit and rot here in an open-air prison forever. And I'm not making any deal involving me still not being free even after I'm in Bouilla- in Bully. So unless you're actually going to help me, feel free to bugger off and I'll figure it out myself. You're not the only captor of mine I'm friendly with."
Nuori took another draught from the bottle, poured the rest of the wine into a cup, and then chucked the empty wine bottle in Alwyn's direction. It bounced against the wall and landed on the ground with a crack, Alton Bay Vintage across it.

 

[Willard Brudenell]

Willard breathed out through his nose, processing what his wife had said. It was true, wasn't it? He'd tried not to think of it - not to think of the terrible leverage held over his family. Originally, he'd believed that he would be able to furnish his own guards and protection. Over the years that had faded away. He'd since grown used to the Stoatorian Guard's presence, something that didn't alarm him, given his time in the Ministry of War and as a sort of supreme commander during the civil war. He'd just assumed they would always be loyal to him, to his family.

Or, at least he'd not let himself think too long on any different possibilities. He'd wanted so badly to be able to raise his youngest son in peace, without the worry and hardship placed upon his older children.

The stoat frowned, pulling away from his wife for a moment as he pondered their predicament. He knew Emilia was right.

"What do we tell Nuori? Or Aiken, for that matter - if he can be reached without interception."

Willard was a worry short of pacing, one stout paw against his whiskers as he imagined all the scenarios in which their plans went wrong.

"I fear they'd be vulnerable on their own. Targets on their backs - the moment we regain Amélie's suspicions. We'd have to be very careful."

With another sigh, he looked back at his wife, a certain weariness in his voice.

"Nuori won't appreciate the danger of it all. I think she'll want to be on her own, like her brother - no matter what we say to her."

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

"Mind your pacing, darling, lest they're watching." Emilia said calmly, still stroking Junior's head. The little one had begun to doze, tucked comfortably against her.
"No, Nuori won't fully understand. She wants freedom right now, and what she's been through so young..."
The stoatess gave a sigh laden with heartache. "And then to grow up in this, pretending this is normal... no wonder. Sweet Fates, we tried... but now she needs some time to be her own woman, and even given these circumstances, I'm inclined to try and give her that, so long as she and Aiken both know they can always come back to us anytime. I imagine she's already fabricated a new name and identity for Bouillabaisse. 'Bully.'"
A fond little smirk slipped onto her lips.
"She's a creative, just like me. If she can find Aiken and be careful, I think they'll both be okay. We'll have them watched, of course. And if she leaves with Alwyn and he's not..." a tiny muscle in her cheek twitched, barely visible to most, but a warning sign of barely-concealed fury that Willard could catch. "In with his father or their whole wretched state... then hopefully he'll protect them too."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Alwyn sized up the snarky young stoatess, keeping his expression calm, largely through the years of draining drilled into him. Yes, definitely her mother’s child more than her father’s, for better or for worse, presently, worse. All the pride and intelligence of her mother, but sorely, dangerously lacking in experience. He knew he was not as smart as her; indeed, Anastasia once called him the “stupidest Ryalor”, but what he did have was training, and, more importantly, far more experience than the young stoatmaid. If she were go to the Harbor as she was know, she would certainly die, he was sure of it. A smart mouth was useful in verbal duels, but not so helpful in the many other types that often started.

“A prison, you say,” Alwyn mused slowly, getting up and picking up the bottle of Alton Bay Vintage, a single bottle of which might cost more than a Slup’s dweller might make in half of a year, feeling it over as he sat down, “designed to keep beasts in. It also keeps other beasts out. Tell me, Nuori, what do you know of your family history? Not just what your mother has told you, but what you have figured out?” He eyed her calmly, patiently, not averting his eyes as he had done many times before in deference.

@Emilia T. Brudenell @Willard Brudenell

 

[Perila Z. Mogul]

The stoatess crooked an eyebrow, straightened up slightly, clearly expecting a trap. "I know that I come from a proud and noble family." she said. "Innovators and rulers. And that we were wrongly ousted from power by the Empress, your Empress. I know it's dumb to say stuff like this..."
Her little pink nose twitched defiantly. "But I also know she's a tyrant and a traitor, not that I'm going to say that out loud in Bully Harbor. My parents took care the best they could, and I have plenty of books written without their input that say as much. I don't think the same can be said about who you serve."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

There it is, Alwyn thought, still feeling the bottle in his paw, she truly does not know, and that is why she would be in such danger. He ran his paws over the deep crack in the bottle she had caused, unknowingly reflecting the very state of the country under the parents she had served. Perhaps a little more questioning would help her to begin her to know the truth, or, at least more of it. He knew he did not know everything about those days, why his father had submitted to the Empress so meekly, why he had cut down his granduncle, but he had been taught enough and saw enough to see why the Brudenells had not been able to remain in power. After all, if they had been so great, the Empress would never have been able to move against them in the first place, her ambition would have been snuffed out in its infancy. And, clearly, they had not kept any books that were critical of their own administration in the home, or, at least not locked up inside their bedroom where their kits could not see. They had not learned the lesson his own family had, still, it seemed, likely because they had not almost been wiped out. His father and mother, although trying to paint their actions as correct, never once shied away from the reasons why beasts hated them, and why they needed to be careful.

He gave her a nod, hoping to lead her to the right answer without having to show her the physical proof of what he was saying, though he had mulled that over. “They are indeed, proud, noble, and innovators, and were rulers that tried to rule as they thought best. I am sure that there are many books written by beasts who thought so*, indeed, without even needing the input of either of your parents. Everything you said is true.”

He stopped examining the glass, then put it back neatly on the table, the large crack in the beautiful bottle facing towards her directly, an intentional choice.

“But why then, do you think, they are here, and not in the Harbor or in Amarone itself? You can be frank. I will never say anything to anyone else.”

*Although not quite so available these days, and dwindling every year, given that the official printing presses of the Harbor seemed to have stopped making any new editions soon after she had consolidate her power, and the academics who opined such theories mysteriously seemed to lose their funding, or went on very long research sabbaticals funded by the Ministry of Niceties.

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

Nuori's brow lowered to a disapproving glare, eyes staring coolly, as if unimpressed by the fox's attempts at convincing. The youth crossed her arms.
"Because the Imperium is full of wicked beasts who take advantage of good people, and my parents aren't a lot of nice things, but they are good people. My mom told me they once trusted the Empress... the now Empress... I guess they trusted her too much. Maybe like how they trust you too much, if you're tryna convince me we somehow deserve..." she raised her paws, gestured broadly about the room. "deserve this. Do you know I have no friends, Alwyn? I'm seventeen, and I have no friends, and I never even went to a school or got to have a crush on a boy or anything!"
The stoatess was shouting now. "My life here is miserable! There are days I wish the Empress had just killed us rather than let us sit here to rot like her own personal collectibles, like special teacups kept in a cupboard! I want the life she stole from me! Why can't you get that!?"
Tears welled in her eyes, her nose sniffling. "I thought you'd get it even a little bit, given you talk about the Empress keeping you like a pet when you were a kit, but I guess you don't."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

Ah, there you go again, proving Anastasia right. You made the little kit cry. Maybe you are the stupidest Ryalor, but you would be even more stupid to let her go and do whatever as she is now. Or, perhaps, that would be a good thing as my youngest sister is concerned, given her...unique...views on morality.

Alwyn remained calm, thinking back to the days he was mentored under the Empress. He had many such outbursts, at least initially, in Amarone himself. Yelling at her would do no good, nor would telling her to calm down or be quiet, or responding to the barbs she threw at him. For all that she resembled her mother, she was still, at the end of the day, a sheltered and hopeful kit. It pained him to see her suffer like this, but, for her own good, if she truly wanted real freedom, away from both the Imperium’s politics and those of her own parents, he would have to begin to teach her why he had demanded, and, perhaps from now on, would suggest as that seemed a better way of handling it with her, the path he wanted to do. It was necessary, because the path for her to get that was extremely thin, and it would be very easy to fall off of it forever.

He decided to let Nuori vent her emotions, letting the stoat kit sob for a while, before he reached into a pocket and took out a hankerchief when it seemed she had composed herself and let a lot of the anger and frustration run its course. He needed her with a more clear head to hear what he had to say.

“Here, Nuori, take this,” he kindly suggested, holding it out to her when she had seemed to calm down a bit more “and when you are ready, I can give you some of the answers to those questions, those that I know anyway, and, by that, hopefully you will understand why I was so…” He sighed “...demanding, before. The path to what you want, true freedom, is there, but it is...difficult...to achieve, and even harder to keep, so we must go about this carefully. I had a chance, once, long ago, but I stepped off that path, and no matter what I do now, I will never be able to get back onto it.”

He paused, looking quite genuinely at her.

“I do not want you to make the same mistakes I did.”

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

The stoat breathed heavily, sniffling and glaring at him, her big brown eyes raw and red-rimmed. She ignored the outstretched kerchief, letting it hang there not unlike Emilia did so earlier. There seemed to be a pattern here now, of Alwyn's relationships with female Brudenells. Unlike cool, cold and collected Emilia however, Nuori was a lot less restrained.
"What the Hell are you even talking about?" she said hoarsely. "You're acting like living in Bully is some huge secret that only you can share with me. Talking about 'paths' and 'mistakes' all vaguely without- sniff- giving me any bloody answers."
The teenager wiped her nose on her sleeve, looking down at the floor for a moment before returning her gaze to the guard. Her wet eyes had gone steely.
"I've just decided something." she said. "I don't need you, and even if I did, I don't think I'd want you. You'd probably just betray or hurt me anyway..." she let the words hang there so the next ones would sting all the worse as she sneered at him. "...just like your father. I'm gonna do this alone. Good luck trying to stop me like I know you will. As I said earlier... I know other guards besides you."
She nodded to the door, eying the big fox challengingly. "Now get out of my room, Alwyn, and close the door behind you, or I'm gonna scream."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

“No.” Alwyn replied, still calm, eyes meeting hers with more, matching those steely brown eyes, unflinching. She still thought of him as simply a guard to be commanded. If she still wanted the truth, genuinely, fine, he would be direct. “I do not think so, Nuori. Scream if you want, it’s your right, but at the end of the day, it will not make the difference you think, and you will never learn the truth. Nor are those guards as much your ‘friends’ as you believe. You think me vague, but I was trying to be kind, to let you figure it out on your own, since you are smart. If you want the direct, unvarnished answers, fine, then, I will give them to you.”

He paused, voice turning hard, then he drew his broadsword, the steel glinting in the sun. He placed it down on the table in front of her, so that she could examine it closely.

“This blade was in perfect condition when I arrived six months ago. It has never been drawn for practice, not once, we use wooden blades for that. Look closely at its point, and its edges. Do you see the chips there? How the point has become more dull? That only happens because of battle. I think you are smart enough to understand, but since I am apparently vague, I will spell it out to you. Beasts have tried to kill you and your entire family, beasts who know how, and not a small number of them either.”

He sighed, putting a paw on his head in frustration, before cooling down a little.

“I know, Nuori, I know you think I do not, but I know. I do not want to restrict you forever, have you replace one set of chains for another, but despite what you may think, I do care. I think you are good at heart, and this place has been stifling for you. You have had a lot of your kithood robbed from you and you never had a choice in the circumstances that led to that. But there are many dangers and many things you still have to learn. If you were to go out and do something, even if you thought it was right, and something happened to you, I…”

He trailed off, voice choking, looking at her with actual concern, and, for a brief moment, if the stoatmaid looked carefully, she might even see the slightest hint of wetness around his eyes.

 

[Emilia T. Brudenell]

The young stoat wiped her sleeve across her face and studied the fox critically, made curious by his reaction despite herself.
She leaned over the sword, placed two fingers to its cold steel and traced along the flat of the blade. "Yes, I know about the assassins." she said quietly. "Maybe if it wasn't so obvious we were out here, it wouldn't be so big a problem."
Nuori's gaze flicked up as Alwyn choked on his words, her brow creasing. "So you know I'm right about being imprisoned here. That it's not okay. Are you going to help me get out of here and get to Bully Harbor or not, Alwyn?"