Rainblade-Ryalors Private Old Foxes in a New Era

[Talinn Ryalor]

Thundering booms erupted over Bully Harbor as the moonless night sky was illuminated momentarily by flashes of lightning between the pounding sheets of rain that lashed at the Harbor and its residents. Those in the Slups would be desperately, futilely trying to floodproof their houses at the last moment, the workers of the Docks would be hurriedly tying down ships and preparing the necessary materials to repair them from any damage, and those in the Insanely Rich Area would peer down and enjoy the occasion from beneath their reinforced and guarded castles and mansions, suitably warmed by burning fires, and, in a few of the more experimental residences, steam powered by coal.

At the Ryalor estate, now more often being referred to as Fort Ryalor due to it hosting one side of the harbor chain, new fortifications, and cannon, a lone, old, tired fox looked up from the stacks of papers he was dutifully drafting and sealing, even at the hour of the wolf. A shaking in his paw occurred at that thought, so much so that he had to put down his quill and grasp it with his other paw to control it. A fitting name for the hour that was rumored to take more beasts to death than any other, having faced that monster called Ulog. It took him a good five minutes to quell his nerves at the memory of the battle, of the afterlife, and of the grim measures it took to “save” him. He glanced down at his wheelchair and the braces on both of his legs and pelvis, with the intent for them to heal properly. If not, they would have to slice him open yet again, then break them once more and hope for another result.

Even if they are successful, though, I will be so weakened, perhaps permanently, that I wonder if I will ever become as strong a personal fighter as I once was. Of course, some of the techniques can still be used, but…

He shook his head. It was a sad state of affairs, but that was the cost of using Corda Aurea, arguably his greatest achievement to bring him back when all was lost, and it was a relatively favorable outcome of its use, all things considered. He rapped his paws on the desk thinking of the “miracle” drug, the consequences of using it to change what fate would otherwise surely ordain, and the terrible price paid to produce a vial. After all, one did not get the ability to make such a powerful medicine without sacrifices that both he and the production team on Magh paid for every day. Kitsune forgive them all…

Yet without it, good beasts like Tultow would surely be dead, and it will save the lives of many just like him. If I had been able to make it thirty years ago, perhaps Vaelora might…

Talinn shook his head, wiping away the tears that were forming. No, he had to focus, the best he could do to honor her was to relay her messages when the time was right, and make sure her kits were safe, happy, and would never be threatened by the enemies of the House again. And for that to happen, he would have to work to the end of his days to ensure the long game played out in their favor...while trying to save his own soul...hoping that the two of those were compatible in the end.

Wine, I need more wine. It keeps those thoughts at bay, along with the medication...I know I am not supposed to mix the two, but sometimes…

He pulled down the lever that had been installed to ring a chime outside of his door, waiting for his personal servant, Arta, to enter. He was sure that the vixen was spying for Dusk, more so to make sure he was not taking another vixen as his than for any other reason, but he did not mind. He had nothing to hide from her, and was resolute to fixing their relationship now that he had returned. They would soon go to Amarone together to work on that among other things.

Yet, strangely, the dutiful vixen did not come in moments as she usually did, or her temporary replacement when she was sick or had to use the restroom. Once again, he pulled the lever on the chime, and, once again, nothing happened. He frowned. That was unusual, and he did not like that at all. Rolling himself back from his desk in his wheelchair, his paw went to the wakizashi at his side, his only means of realistic defense given that he could not wield Duty’s Burden, and he drew the beautiful Auldarnian Steel blade, the rippling patterns reflecting off the candlelight as he rolled toward the door.

I did not hear the sounds of battle, clashing steel, screaming, and the guards and Arta are loyal...to me or Dusk...and for once I do not think she has it out for me. Not after what happened. I could stay here, lock the door, open the window, and scream for help, but the storm would muffle anything I say and I have nothing else to make myself noticed except if perhaps I threw my desk out the window...and I no longer have the strength for that. Besides, this door would not stop someone that skilled for long. The only chance I have if this is what I fear is to go on the offensive...and hope it is just one beast. I can manage that. Maybe, if they are slow or wounded.

Bracing himself, he ripped open the door with one paw and prepared to spring with the wakizashi with the other as he rolled forward in what would be considered an “unorthodox” offensive, but, to his surprise, there was no would-be assassin. No, as he turned his wheelchair around, only the limp body of Arta. Concerned, yet seeing no obvious wounds or blood, he rolled his wheelchair next to her, then barely managed to reach her neck with his paws, then felt for a pulse. It was there, and still strong. He put a paw over her muzzle, briefly, and felt warm, regular breaths. She was alive, just sleeping, and apparently out cold as his attempts to shove her awake did nothing.

What in ‘Gates…? Did she drink something?

Deciding to continue forward down the main hallway of his interior apartment, he hoped perhaps he was wrong, that it was just her having some kind of condition or some other cause, but it was as silent as a crypt, even as he called out a few times. He soon discovered why-the entire squad of guards, nearly a score, his clerks, and even Lieutenant Matas were out cold similarly, bodies arrayed in chairs or slumped along the walls. To his credit, the young arctic fox seemed to have been the last to go down, and had even managed to draw his sword, though there was no blood open it. No deaths on his side or the other, however many there may be, or, perhaps one beast, but he could count on one paw the number of those skilled enough to pull this off alone.

This is either a message job, a way to kill me and only me, or perhaps both.

Talinn glanced down the stairs into the first floor of the apartment, toward the door that led down the many steps to the main barracks. It was bolted shut from the inside and locked in addition, and Matas had not had the keychain on him. He was stuck in here, and even if he were not, he suspected the guards outside were dealt with and even if he could get through the door the only way down was a massive flight of winding, narrow stairs designed to be easy to defend in a siege that even when he was able to walk was an exercise-suicidal in a wheelchair.

He sighed, gripping the hilt of his dagger, and headed toward the bedroom. He had a feeling that is where whoever this was would be, and, increasingly, an idea of who it would be as well. He was tired, both because of the hour, and because of the effort to propel himself, but either he saw it through or that beast would, and if they had to, he suspected it would not be nearly as pleasant for him.

Opening the bedroom door slowly to a room illuminated only by the occasional burst of lightning, he quickly checked both sides of it as his decades of training prepared him, knife at the ready, but saw no one. It was not until he looked up and another blue flash from the storm that he saw the figure casually sitting on the windowsill. Recognizing who it was at last, he sheathed his blade with mixed emotions-part care for her as his sister-in-law, part overwhelming guilt in regards to his failures towards her, and part realizing that if she really meant him harm there was no way he could take her in his current condition.

“Tanya...it has been some time…” He probed carefully.

@Tanya Keltoi

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Perched on the windowsill like a ragged bird of ill omen, Tanya stared quietly back at the todd as she took stock of the state of him. The work had been no grand challenge for the vixen – at least not getting the house to sleep. The physicality of working her way inside, around and through a building of this size, however, had proven more taxing on her older body than she’d like to admit. Casual a demeanour though her stance indicated, she was inwardly glad for the rest.

Green eyes flicked up and down, taking in the chair, the bandages, the scarred face of her brother-in-law. There was a hint of judgement to her gaze but what that judgement indicated remained a mystery. For now a thin smile curled on her muzzle and she gestured to the other fox eloquently; in her paw one of the Dark Judge Brushes, last seen in Talinn’s wife’s possession now returned to their original owner. “Been too long, hasn’t it?” she replied with all the cheerful lightness of middle-class pleasantries at a dinner party. “We really should stop meeting like this, but now that I’ve got your attention I’d beg your indulgence to keep it for a while yet.”

The blade disappeared and with an inclination of the head she nodded to the wheelchair, a hint of mischief about her face. “Where are my manners. I’d ask how you’re doin’, but I think that’d be a question too obvious even for me. See you’re trying on the newest fashion from Urk; how’s that been holding up for you?” The humour dissolved in the pause that followed. She had not read the reports, she did not have access, but that had done little to keep her blind to the rumours that swirled upon the docks nor the lists of the dead circulating the harbour.

“You know, way back when, before you was even in the Harbour, there was Martial Law called. I got fuzzy memories of that time because I took one ‘Gates of a wallop to the head and missed all the action.” It was mostly true: she did not remember the day at all. The break from reality; the guards on the dock she did not recognise; Kiptooth's desperate attempts fighting to calm her down before she could be arrested. “Ended up in bed several weeks before Kip let me get back to duties. Was the most excruciatingly borin’ time of my life, as I recall. For all the being smacked in the head it didn’ really stop me thinking.”

She leaned forward a little, light and shadow playing across the planes of her narrow face. “I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about everything, cooped up in that cabin. All I’d done, all I wanted to do. Couldn’t outrun or outwork it that time, had to face it.” The pleasantness returned to her countenance. “So tell me, how’s it been for you usin’ a lump like that to get around your big ol’ place, eh?”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn watched Tanya carefully as she spoke, noting that although she stretched out and relaxed, she still held one of the Dark Judge Brushes in her paw, and oh-so-subtlety pointed one of them at him as she spoke. So, she had met Dusk, likely sometime while he was away, and gotten her side of the story of events. He loved his wife, and since returning, they were working towards making up, but he also knew she could be cunning and manipulative. Whatever she had told her sister was likely the reason for this visit, and she had likely selectively left out parts of the story that made her look bad. That would mean he would have to tread...carefully...to say the least, until he found out more. The fact that Tox had not moved against him yet, though, meant she did not fully trust her sister, even if they had seemingly reconciled to a degree, and was likely looking for information. He remembered the words of his brother in the afterlife-Tanya was, beneath all the prickly, torn, and misshapen layers, a kind beast if you treated her properly. So, he would give her what she wanted, and, after all he had been through, would accept her judgment, whatever it may be.

He inclined his head in a measure of respect towards Tanya, and kept it that way as he spoke, a Fyadoran way to signal to either deference to a superior, an apologetic manner, or both. It was fitting, given his actions, and the fact that, technically speaking, Tanya was the rightful Empress of Fyador and should be the Duchess of Westisle, not him, given his brother’s death. He and Alexei had, more or less, usurped the titles to keep the House together when she and the proper heirs disappeared. Now things were much more...complicated...in that department.

“Years…” Talinn nodded, still keeping his eyes towards the ground and away from the vixen’s piercing green. “...I believe the sea trials of the Hide was the last time I saw you. She has turned out excellently, no doubt due to your suggested modifications, and we have two new engineering apprentices who have interesting ideas about how to further improve the engine.”

He paused, thinking of her other words, smiling softly at her humor for a moment, before it faded as he thought of that damned isle, and the lives lost there.

“Urk...it was…” he gestured to his body “costly, to me personally and the crew of the Hide. The intelligence we had suggested a few small, isolated, disorganized villages too busy warring with each other to mount an effective resistance, only some relatively weak priest cast guarding the idol, and even the possibility of diplomacy. All of that was...wrong.”


Talinn visibly shivered, remembering Ulog taking down an entire squad of marines in seconds, almost killing Stowett, and rendering him a cripple, then reading the list of the dead. Almost all of the marine complement wiped out, along with more than a few members of the crew itself, despite their superior technology and the Hide’s backup.

“...I had thought, once diplomacy failed due to their treachery, a quick bombardment, encampment, and a raid by a handpicked marine squad led by me and the younger Stowett while the rest of the crew held against perhaps a few dozen shrew stragglers. What happened…”

He shook his head.

“They were far, far more organized than anyone could have expected. At least a thousand, with a strong chain of command and elite, gargantuan berserkers. The idol we were looking for was guarded by a direwolf…and I was ‘lucky’ enough to live. Barely.”

He paused to take a breath, and met her gaze for the first time as he spoke.

“Their lives were not spent in vain, regardless. The idol is already being shipped to Magh for further testing. If, if it works out, it would greatly reduce the amount of charcoal needed for our steam industry, should we find more of the substance it is made of. But...it is dangerous...the prisoner who volunteered to carry it…” Talinn winced, a rarity for the normally stoic fox “...is not doing so well. Not very well at all.”

Returning his gaze to the floor once he had assured her of the necessity of the mission, he nodded.

“I have had...much time to think...both on the Hide, here, and...in another place. Much time. As for rolling around in this...contraption...it is suitable...until I make my recovery.”

If you make your recovery, more like. If.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Whether Talinn had intentionally elected not to respond to the implicit in her story or simply did not care for it Tanya could not tell. Her lips pursed, expression remaining inscrutable as she listened to the report from the Minister of Innovation about the Urk situation. During her tenure as Admiral and Minister she had not given the place much thought, save for the odd shipment of ice: a frozen tundra was of little value. Even now as she listened she could feel her hackles begin to prickle. Later on, she would reflect that it would be nice to meet these engineering apprentices.

She shook her head. "See, that's where we disagree," the vixen replied, tapping the tip of her blade lightly against her own nosetip as she spoke. It was a practiced gesture of old, an attempt to appear unmoved by her emotions beneath the surface. "If this idol thing of yours works - if, mind, so it might yet all be for nothing - we can make things faster or cheaper or easier with less coal. A pretty idea, and all it cost were the lives of beasts under your command and the lives of their sons an' daughters an' brothers an' mothers all ruined by the loss. If that was your son lost on Urk, would saving some coal feel worth it?"

With a gesture she flipped the blade and sheathed it. A sigh rattled from her chest, betraying the emotions simmering beneath. "Listen, I'm not unsympathetic to the fact beasts die under command - that's always been the case - and I respect you got the rest of them back, but 'Gates is this how we're still doing things in the Imperium, Talinn? Justifying and excusing every mistake because it might further a cause greater than life? It was a waste of young lives on a gamble you still can't guarantee has a benefit."

It was tempting to leave it there, press the unfortunate todd on moral matters and see what she could drag out of him, but making him squirm over Urk wasn't her intention. She had faced defeats in her own time: she knew well the guilt was going to be there with or without her prompting. "Urk isn't what I came to talk about, though. Suppose you know that, so why don't we start with the obvious: why'd you not tell me my 'Mina's dead?" The first crack to her voice came, then, though the steel in her eyes did not falter. "Why did you never tell me, or that should I come back I'd find the city hates that part of her like she's shameful and only cares about Vaelora? Why didn't you say?"

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn could defend himself to Tanya on the Urk mission, even if it lost many lives, and was even preparing his response, which he felt was appropriate. A comparatively few lives lost so that no beast would ever die of cold in the Imperium ever again, that shipments of critical medicine, food, and other essentials would never be late, not to mention the military applications if they mastered it-their ships would always outrun those of pirates, and the special project underway that would revolutionize transport...all of those would save countless more lives than were lost. Not to mention they could freeze their expansion of the Imperium where it was, if they found a deposit of the material-no more endless conflicts over lumber on the Sathern Continent, with even more lives saved. Yet, all of that fell out the window when Tox mentioned Mina and her voice cracked.

“I…” he started to say, but the normally stoic todd began to lose control of his body, visibly shaking, and then panting, as the overwhelming anxiety and guilt took over his body. The wakizashi he had in its sheath feel to the floor with a clatter, as Talinn tried to control the shaking in his body, wrapping his arms around himself, yet to little to no avail. He bit tried to bite back the vomit from the immense guilt that he felt, but found himself unable to as he looked at the pained face of his sister-in-law-instead, he turned to his side, and heaved. Bile came forth from his mouth, scattering partway over the carpet, partway over his armoire, and, as he recovered, a bit falling onto his clothes. Wiping that portion away with his right paw and putting it on the blanket he had on him before wrapping it up a bit, it took a few more minutes before he could even bring himself to speak. When he did, his voice was low, barely a whisper, and looking into Tanya’s green eyes with his own pained blue ones was perhaps the hardest thing he ever did in his life, when all his instincts told him to look away, but she was owed it.

“I...I could not…” he began, voice beginning to crack as well “...I could not...I did not have the strength...to tell you...that your precious girl...was gone. I had...meant to tell you...but every time I saw you...so content...I knew it would destroy you…”. Tears started to fall from his eyes, rolling down his face “...and it was my failure…I was so ashamed...so caught up in hatred...with what Anithias did to my wife Weylin...he...tortured her...and...badly…then shipped her to me...burned almost beyond recognition…wrapped up...like some kind of sick gift with a note...I…”

He shook even more, this time causing his blanket to fall off, and he could barely cling to his wheelchair. “I...became...unmoored...I was...obsessed...with revenge...blinded...I struck back at him without thinking...without...securing her safety first...and...by the time I had...collected myself...it was...he...I did not expect a kit to be used as a weapon...did not expect him to stoop so low...a blindspot...and before I could...she was gone….”

He visibly winced having to say those last three words. He took a little bit of time to collect himself, before he spoke once more.

“Armina...when...we found her...she was already...almost dead...I do not know...the full details of her past...but she was wanted….a serial killer. She had become...feral…” He paused, afraid for a moment that Tanya would strike him, but when that did not come, he continued “...the damage to her reputation...not even we could fix...but...what we could do...was try to heal her mind...suppress whatever caused the madness…try to sever it...and then...convince the public she was another beast….and...Tanya...I do not know exactly...but...she was. She was another beast. The madness that had...taken over...it was gone, or, so deep down, it would not come back. So...we gave her a new name...because...she was not the same...."

Talinn started to cry once more as he recalled his beloved cousin.

“You know...I was the one put in charge…? She...was a bit of a handful sometimes, running off to see Vorsky...but...she took to her heritage...found...redemption...and...when there were orphaned kits...she took to them like...no beast I have ever seen. She loved them...was a great mother...and...took to her duties seriously. I...did not know her as Armina…not...for long...but...I knew her as Vaelora...and...she was a good beast, Tanya. A genuinely good beast. I am not ashamed of her, I am proud of her. I loved her. Out of all of us...Alexei...Dusk...and...myself...she was the best. By far.”

By now the shaking was beginning to calm down, but his voice dropped to a whisper.

“I saw her...you know...on the other side...Tanya...I saw her…”

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

At first Tanya seemed baffled, if not entirely mortified, by Talinn’s display of contrition. Having carried a lifetime of her own regrets she knew well enough the feelings they produced, but never in her days had she felt herself able to access such vulnerability as to let those she had hurt see it: the concept was horrifying and her tail curled in discomfort.

Part of her instinctively railed against it, the assassin in her who had seen so much contrition at the end of a blade seeing it as manipulation to feel sorry for him rather than those he had wronged. Age and experience nagged at her to see the truth in his feelings, that he was trying to make amends. If Dusk of all beasts had come to feel care and love for him, she must have possessed a level of trust for the Duke. At some point he must have earned it from her.

Ragged ears flicked at the mention of Anithias, what he had done to the todd’s previous wife, and though little else was evident on her face there was a flicker of understanding. She did not have to like it, but there had been plenty of instances of revenge driving beasts to great lengths over the seasons. Pain was pain; understanding did not make it an excuse but there was more context at least than mere recklessness or political manoeuvres gone awry.

Though it did not show on her face, it turned Tanya’s stomach how Talinn spoke of Armina, not least because she knew that same feral reputation ran in her own veins. She had become, as the fox has said, unmoored many times throughout her life: whatever she experienced must have been intensified, if not become a more permanent state, in Armina. Had that been on her for leaving? She did not think it prudent, much though it hurt, to mention it. Beneath it all she was now afraid what making such an admission could do. She knew, though, from her loved ones how being on the other side had looked and felt. The damage to Armina’s reputation might have been unsalvageable and perhaps it had been another case of doing the best with the resources at paw. Didn’t mean she liked the thought. She dearly wished Kip had stayed behind, now, for his insights. That she was the best of them was at least something she could agree on entirely.

Whatever store of good will Tanya might have been trying to foster for her brother-in-law was shattered in an instant by his final statement. A coldness entered her gaze as sharp as her voice was flat. “Oh, did she now.” Whatever Tanya believed of an afterlife (and the certainty that were it even true she already knew where she was going), it was impossible for her to take it in good faith. It was terribly convenient to the diminutive fox that Talinn should have such an experience and only mention it now. “Let me guess, and she said it’s all forgiven, did she? Well she’s dead and gone, Talinn,” another catch halted her voice for a moment, “and you’ve still got to contend with the living.”

“You keep saying you aren’t ashamed, you’re proud, but you’re still talkin’ of Vaelora.” The clipped accent began to return more strongly as she spoke, anger serving as a protective cloak over the deep well of grief. “You’re still tellin’ me how good she was as this healed version of ‘erself. I’d have loved Vaelora if I’d met her I’m certain, been proud of all she did and her findin’ peace and happiness, but what I know is I loved Armina Rogue. I don’t care what she’s done, ‘ow these books show her. To me she didn’t need redemption. She needed compassion and freedom from the office I forced ‘er into.” She inhaled sharply through her nose. “I knew her back then as Rogue. She was just another fox tryin’ to find some happiness, some freedom. Hah. Nith didn’t want that for her even then. Had to wrestle guardianship of ‘er just so’s she could stay on the Hide. She was always tryin’ her best to do what was wanted and it was never ever enough. In the end being Armina Rogue wasn’t enough for this damned city: she had to be Vaelora to get what she deserved. ‘Gates if I don’t hate that, nice though it is to know she was finally happy and stable for a while.”

She flexed her jaw, biting back something else she wanted to say, and set her claws on the windowsill so as to have something to grip. Tanya tried to claw back some emotional control by changing tack. “You didn’t tell me my niece was dead because you’re a coward, Talinn. Now how in ‘Gates do you suppose I’m to believe a single word out of you now? What else are you not telling me?

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn listened, eyes downcast and submissive, to most of Tanya’s rant, but at the mention of him being a coward after everything he had done, and accusing him of directly lying to her of all people, something snapped in him. Perhaps it was the fact that Alexei had said the same thing to him, perhaps it was own guilt in some twisted way, but the todd raised his pale blue eyes in pain, frustration, and anger to meet her judgmental green ones. Summoning up his willpower, he reached over and locked the wheelchair, then put two paws on them. Using what remained of his strength, despite the pain lancing from every area of his body, he managed to stand, at least long enough to stumble over to the armoire next to him and throw his back against it to maintain his posture through the agony, so that he could face Tanya while standing.

“That is right, Tanya, you knew Armina at her best.” He began, his voice low, pained, and hurt, emphasizing the last two words in particular. “But guess who was the one there for her when Armina was at her worst? Guess who was the one who rescued her out of a storm drain, bleeding and broken from over a dozen stab wounds, at the risk of him and his entire family being strung up and hanged if a single whiff of that got out? Guess who risked his life every single day nursing her back to health, being almost killed more than once, because of the darkness that had infested her mind? Guess who was the one who spent countless hundreds, nay, maybe even thousands of hours searching through every Kitsune-damned book that he could pull from Westisle and even Fyador to find something to combat what had taken over her until he found something that worked to keep it at bay? Guess who risked the entire family and even war with the Imperium to give her a chance to finally enjoy her life free of her sickness? Guess who gave her a new name because the guilt that was destroying her and almost caused her to slit her own throat over the countless beasts she had murdered in cold blood threatened to cause her to take her own life?”

His voice began to rise he continued.

“Guess who was the one who gave her kits to look after, so that she could find redemption in her heart for the murders of innocent beasts that she had committed? Guess who shielded her time and time again from Anithias, whom you may have known once as an honorable beast, but who had slipped into a madness of his own that could not be cured? Guess who protected her when not one, two, but three foreign powers attacked the Imperium, killing everyone and anyone they could get their paws on? Guess who protected her from even her own grandfather, who wanted her to do so much more at the risk of her own well-being, who stood up to him and took on those burdens, at the risk to himself and his wife? Guess whose wife was beaten, tortured, burned, and then mailed to him for protecting her?”

His voice cracked at the memory of Weylin’s corpse being shipped to him, the note stating now he felt the pain of the families of one of Armina’s many victims. They had not always gotten along, but he had loved her.

“Guess whose people’s blood was further spilled when after that he still refused to give up Armina? Who had to face all their grieving families and say sorry, your loved ones are dead because at the end of the day mine are just more important? Guess who had to cradle her corpse when he in his twenties with little guidance and support from his family slipped up once and did not move fast enough to end Anithias because she wanted the cycle of violence to end? Guess who had to bury her essentially alone when none of her other relatives could be found? Guess who took care of her kits and made sure that they were raised as best as he could for over thirty years because he knew that is what she valued most in the world? Guess who TANYA?” He shouted, the rage he felt giving him strength over the pain setting every nerve in his body aflame.

He was furious now and his voice slipped from his normally aristocratic speech as he did so. “Aye, that is right, this ‘coward’ did all of that! Frig you, Tox, I loved her, Armina, Vaelora, whatever you want to call her, just as much as you, damn you to ‘Gates if you do not believe it. The reason I could not tell you is because I knew how much it would break you because it broke me as well. You think that honestly would have helped you in any way when you had four young kits to focus on protecting and raising, Kitsune knows where? In this damned world where if you make one single mistake you can lose what is most precious to you and nothing you can do can bring them back?”

Hot tears were rolling down his eyes now, and he was barely able to stand, holding on to the armoire with both of his arms.

“I never lied to you Tanya. Not once. I may not have said anything, but that was because I tried to shield you from the harder truths as long as I could, until your kits were raised. Was it the best decision? Maybe not, but I had no one to guide me. Alexei was...he was not the best at such things. Weylin was dead. Dusk was dealing with it in her own way. Falun was gone. You were gone. I was alone. Alone! Trying to keep my family alive, our family since I married your sister, through Ullyanov, the Brudenells, the chaos of multiple civil wars, plagues, famine, the ambitions of an old todd with a grudge to settle, setting an accord with the new Empress. And I burned everything I loved in the name of that. My honor. My marriage for over a decade. My love for my kits. My happiness.”

Finally unable to withstand the pain, the old todd lost his grip, and slid down to the floor, shivering in a sad sitting position. His voice dropped, hoarse and tired.

“Anything but perhaps the slightest chance of me not being damned to ‘Gates. No, everything was not forgiven in the afterlife, Tanya. It does not work like that. There...everything is taken to account.”

Having calmed down a bit more, returning his gaze to the floor and bringing his knees up to his chest in a defensive position, almost like that of a kit.

“You want information, ask. You want to hate me after getting that and never talk to me again, never let me see my niece and nephew? You want to kill me, go ahead and do so. I gave up everything that gave me happiness to protect this family. I tried my best given a bad hand of cards in a game I was never supposed to be the one playing, alone, I made mistakes, if you want to damn me for that, go ahead.”

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

At once whatever anguish suffused Tanya’s expression disappeared; the same distant, blank countenance she had perfected to protect herself settled back and she held her tongue as Talinn rebutted. Whatever she felt in response to his clarifications, his explanations and excuses did not show on her face, though it was evident despite the hollowness that she was digesting it.

Almost casually Tanya turned her attention to the wheelchair and gripped the back of the contraption firmly. The vixen half her age would have highly considered throwing it against the wall or down the stairs merely to inconvenience the todd; to take delight in his agony and ask him if that’s what her niece had felt in her final moments. To ask if that was a fraction of the pain in his wife’s heart. To ask why in ‘Gates he thought he alone thought he had to take on every responsibility.

Such unchecked venom burned beneath the surface, a well of vitriol she could always draw from and had since her youth. It was, she recognised now, something in the family capitalised upon by the powers who had taken notice of her. She was no longer what the city had made her. Not entirely, at least. Tanya exhaled sharply through her nose. I’ll prove it to them.

Pushing the wheelchair closer to Talinn, she set it beside his curled form and extended a paw towards him. “Get up, old soldier,” she replied stiffly, though quietly. “What I want is for you to stop telling me what I want. You can’t always control it all, Talinn – ‘Gates knows I lost fair’n square myself. It was leave or leave behind my kits. I gave up everything to protect the twins: left behind my entire life here, the only one I’d known, the titles, the money, the friends and family. I had to leave ‘Mina because it wasn’t a choice I’d drag her into because of my mistakes when she had her own life here. Goin’ to take that t’my grave, now, and that’s mine to bear.”

Silence reigned for another beat, broken only by the weather outside. Vaelora was too raw a topic, it seemed, for either fox to discuss head-on without it becoming messy. With great effort, Tanya suppressed the urge and pressed on.

“You say you’re playin’ this dangerous game alone, Talinn, but as long as you go about keepin’ secrets from your family you always will. Trust in some of us to carry the burden of choice, that’s what family’s for, for ‘Gates sake. Tell yourself silence isn’t a lie but you know it is: if you were in my place. I ‘ppreciate you did it ‘cause you care, but can’t you see leaving us in the dark robs us of our choice? Only I get t' decide what would hurt me most: you don’t get to choose to keep it from me because you think you know better. I saw Falun cut down, I can hold it. It don’t protect me none to just defer my grief.” She nodded to the doorway, the downstairs with its sleeping inhabitants, expression wry. “Makes me act out all dramatic.”

Tailbrush curling slowly, the vixen sought his eyes. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she spoke at length, genuine for a beat. “Sorry about Weylin. I didn’ know her but I know how it feels to be robbed of those you love. For what it’s worth on top of that, however, you made quite the choice in who you fell for after. I’m sure you well know ‘cause of the brushes I’ve already been to see Dusk. She’s filled me in on a fair bit of news.” Understatement of the century. “I’d like your opinion on a few matters, startin’ with this Empress seeing as I'm out of the political loop. Word is you know her better’n most. She all that the beasts say she is?”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn was expecting many things from the vixen who had married his brother, and was prepared to accept all of those, but what he was not expecting was a helpful paw up. He stared at it disbelievingly for a moment, before glancing up at Tanya’s eyes. He could see the pain and the frustration behind them, but, perhaps, a glimmer of kindness and a chance for reconciliation. It seems, as always, his brother was right. Tox was many, many things, but deep down there somewhere beneath all the many layers, twists, and his brother’s comment about her being a fundamentally good beast still seemed to hold true. At least as good as any member of either side of the family was capable of being.

This is the chance, and I am going to take it.

He took the paw offered to him, and, painfully, managed to stand and stumble his way back into his wheelchair. Sitting down, he mostly listened as Tanya talked, deep in thought over the points she made, most of which were hard truths. The death of Armina was still there between them, but, that could perhaps wait for another time, when both were not so raw, they could visit her grave together and pay their respects, and maybe find some measure of closure for the both of the them. It was in the estate’s grounds, after all. He made sure it was well taken care of, but he could not bear to visit it often, indeed, even her portrait was difficult to see on his yearly penitential walk during the Festival of Sorrows.

She confirmed what he already knew, that she had spoken to Dusk, and he was sure his wife had put her own spin on things, but Tanya was wise enough it seemed to know that her sister often put herself in an exceedingly charitable light and, much like him, often kept things secret. He loved his wife, but he also knew her flaws, and she knew his, which is why they both had more than a few spies in each other’s employ. Trust, but verify. In a way, it was even fun and a way to keep each other sharp.

Taking in all the words, he took a deep breath, then looked up at her, a more kind and grateful expression on his face and his pale blue eyes took on an unusually soft light as he looked into her emerald ones. All his life, beasts from his family and without had been kicking him down, and it was rare for him to ever get a helping paw up, literally or otherwise.

“Thank you, Tanya, it means more than you could know. I...when Falun was murdered on the orders of that bastard Ullyanov...and I was thrust into his place...I was never meant to take on that role. Aside from Alexei, and from the time I had with Armina and Weylin before…” he took a moment to collect him “...they were murdered too, I had to try to account for everything alone. The environment was so...dangerous…you were right to leave when you did, I think. Every mistake was punished so harshly. A single misstep here in the Imperium in the 1730s and you were dead. Sken, Senderjay, Malikus, they made one and in an instant they were gone. I made one miscalculation and lost the two beasts closest to me and almost my life as well...” he paused once again-self reflection was hard. “...you are correct, I did and do try to control everything. Because I did not want, do not want to lose anyone anymore. Relinquishing control was... is...difficult…for me. But if I do not...I may lose beasts that way, too.”

He breathed in heavily, glancing to the side for a moment in thought, before inclini his head as far as he could in the Fyadoran manner of apologizing before looking up again to meet her eyes once more.

“I am sorry for robbing you of your choice, you are right, of course, and are right that I need to rely on others more. I may need the help of you and Dusk there, there is a path where we can finally all be safe and relax but it is so narrow, winding, and dangerous and I am afraid of slipping off it or being pushed off it by any of my countless enemies at any moment. Perhaps letting others walk that with me will help me from treading off it...and for my staff to stop having involuntary naps.”

He shook his head for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

“Matas, at least, was able to draw his sword before he was knocked out, I assume he did not drink what you had prepared, did he do a respectable enough showing for his young age at least?”

He actually smiled in response to Tanya’s comments about her sister.

“Dusk...I know you two have had your differences, and, I know her various...qualities...and history...well, but, she was the one I chose, and, the one she chose in return. She has stood by me all these years, even when subjected to…” his smile faded a bit “...indignities necessitated by circumstance…but...we are working on resolving that, and, since I returned from Urk, our marriage.”

At her question about the Empress, he remained quiet for some time, his brow furrowing in thought, with one paw reaching up to his chin. Finally, he gave her a nod.

“She is, and she is not. It is true that she is very formidable, and also true that she came out of relatively nowhere. Her father was a merely average captain of artillery in the Army under the tenure of both you, Sken, and the Brudenell administration that followed. You probably only saw him once, if ever, and the family she comes from, while being of old Imperial nobility, was long since impoverished and irrelevant, barely scraping enough money for their eldest son to get an officer’s commission where he only ever achieved a middling rank. She is and was much more skilled in so many more areas, and is effectively a self-made vixen, rising up through the ranks of the artillerists during the Civil War and being in large part responsible for the invention of and most certainly the deployment and use of cannon in warfare. She effectively shattered the stalemate that had settled in and then broke the backs of both the Monarchists and the Republicans while rising to the rank of General before she and I...negotiated...and made a proposal to Willard, the ‘Lord-Protector’ of the Imperium at the time, that he simply could not refuse.”

He paused, taking a breath, before continuing.

“She is very bright, perhaps of a mind that only occurs once upon every thousand beasts, and took to every lesson I gave her on administration, governance, warfare, and strategy in a way only matched by my youngest like a natural, and in many other matters that others taught her such as economics. She equals, or, as much as it pains me to say, exceeds what I would have been capable of if I myself had taken the throne for myself. She has a strong will as well, and is excellent at getting what she wants, even if achieving that is...complicated…”

He shook his head for a moment, then started again.

“She is not a tyrant though, not in the way you might think, or how Dusk might have painted her for her own...reasons…which...she does have a right to be bitter about.” He glanced to the side for a moment, coughing before speaking again “But as regards the Empress, she does not enjoy taking lives, either in war or due to the necessities of the state, nor strives to be cruel for cruelty’s sake, though she will do what has to be done. She prefers more of a velvet glove most of the time, though beneath that is, of course, a fist of iron as is necessary to rule this land. She pays far more attention to the affairs of state than Markan did, or Vlad was able to once he was put under house arrest, and chooses her ministers carefully.”

He inclined his head towards the window overlooking Bully Harbor, looking out at the lightning-illuminated city being pummeled by the rain as he spoke.

“She is progressive minded, as they say, not afraid to try or authorize new things, such as, I am sure you have noticed, the full integration of woodlanders as citizens, and, of course, projects underway at my own ministry and others. I heard that was one of the reasons she broke from Brudenell, that he was not reforming the Imperium fast enough to deal with the future, and, biased as I may be, I tend to agree. You either adapt in this world, or you die. She has a very strong grip on the nobility and the gentry, and also cracks down on those espousing more...radical...ideas. It is said she often stands with one footpaw on the neck of those who wish to return to the old ways and one footpaw on the neck of those wanting a more democratic style of governance."

He returned his gaze to Tanya’s as he spoke.

“As regards our own family...the price was very high in so many ways, but you, I, Dusk, Jeshal and all of our kits, have nothing to fear from her in the deal I struck. We are protected so long as she reigns, and perhaps far longer if we...align...ourselves properly, and make it through the storms to come.”

@Tanya Keltoi

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

“I worked for Ullyanov for years after Falun’s death, so you can imagine ‘ow tough that was to swallow,” Tanya snorted softly, “after all ‘e wanted me to stay on and you don’t say no to the Emperor, do you? The tightrope was hard enough to walk before the thirties. Don’t much fancy how I’d have managed those times meself.” For a vixen of such impulsive behaviour as hers, it was striking now how often she had been robbed of – or robbed herself of – closure or vengeance. Perhaps that was part of why she found Talinn seeking how own out so difficult to grasp.

It was not something she wanted to think on. At the very least he seemed open to communicating with those around him and working towards something together; whether it materialised remained to be seen, and the cynic in her was not even certain that their visions for a future were as yet aligned, but change was good. The door was open, and that in itself was progress. Mention of Matas was met with an amused grunt and nod, for tonight was not the time for her to begin any assessment of Talinn’s staff. After all, she hadn’t needed to critique guards for over two decades now. Not from within, at least: she’d still been keeping herself busy slipping past enough of them in other lands.

Tanya listened to her brother in law provide his impression of the Empress in silence, expression revealing nothing of her internal assessments and reflections. Even as Talinn nodded to the Harbour her eyes did not follow, continuing to study his face and mannerisms with every sentence. It was a brief but informative history, useful itself to hear from the todd’s perspective, but it was his assurance to clarify her personality, to anticipate what Dusk had spoken of her, which captured her attention. Bias indeed. The assurance of protection sat in stark contrast to Dusk’s hope that Tanya never catch the attention of the Empress. Possessive had been the term used, and with what she was inferring from the implicit in these deals being struck it only served to solidify the vixen’s own impression of her newest ruler.

“Mmm, well, we’ll see,” she murmured softly, gaze at last returning to the world outside. “It don’t much matter what me and Jesh think, all considered. Back from the dead we might be, but we’re only citizens as it stands. Can’t see as how we’re any interest to any parties save by connection to you and Dusk.”

A pensive silence followed before she returned her gaze to Talinn once more and her expression turned blank again. “We weren’t always, though. I know you ain’t goin’ to like this, but I need you to answer me true, now. They called you traitor for what you did. Far as I’ve heard there’s many a Minister who swung as a result of the power shift. Were that me and my husband in their place, back in the day, what would you have done?”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn, although still more subdued, was becoming a little more comfortable with his sister-in-law, as she recounted her own tough experiences walking the thin line one did as a Minister under the False Emperor Ullyanov. So, she did understand, in a fashion, how he felt, and that made him a little more at ease. As he spoke, he did try to covertly study her, looking for any signs of how she might react, but ultimately he could not tell much from her expression or mannerisms, besides the fact that she seemed to be thinking deeply. Well, that was fair enough.

In response to her hard gaze, Talinn looked at her, seemingly perplexed at first, before settling into a more thoughtful expression.

“Were you in the position of the other Ministers, or in the position of our esteemed former ‘Lord-Protector’, more like ‘Lord-Bookkeeper’, Willard Brudenell? If you were in the former, I would have made it a condition of my aid to him for you to come with me and out of his clutches, as they seemed to be mostly hostages, either physically or mentally, and then we could have perhaps struck the same or a similar deal with the now Empress in Amarone, depending on how the two of you felt, or, I suppose, I would have simply allowed you to leave? They were evenly matched, both of them, at the end, and my forces were the ones who could tip the scales, but on my own…? Maybe I could have defeated them both in detail after they were exhausted fighting each other, then we could have figured out who would have sat on the throne. Most likely you, if you were inclined, if not, I do not know...maybe I could have, but the cost would have been extremely high, and both Westisle and the Imperium would be far less stable than they are today. I was never much beloved by the public to begin with."

He paused once more to take his breath, then nodded.

“If you were in the position of our ‘Lord-Protector’, I would have stayed on your side and captured her, and then we could have decided what to do with her, either exile, some form of peace accord, or...more distasteful options.” He shook his head. “I would never betray or harm my family, but that stoat was...he pretended to be kind, to be forward thinking, but he killed more than you, I, Jeshal, or most other Ministers combined by an order of magnitude, by the stroke of his pen and then pretended as if he were not the one signing the death warrants. And what what happened with Alexei was…”

His voice caught as he remembered that fateful night, one like this, and he shivered as he remembered what happened with his uncle, the one time he had shed his family's blood.

“He...refused to listen…and struck first...I was grievously wounded, and if I had not struck back…Dusk, my kits...the risk was too high.”

He shook his head as he muttered another sentence.

“Stubborn old bastard...if he could have just subdued his pride…”

@Tanya Keltoi

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Once again Tanya’s immobile features seemed to register little more than rapt interest in the conversation. Though the finer art of politics had evaded her interest work had required a poker-face like no other, and after the indignity of her earlier emotional outbursts she was rather determined not to let it slip again.

Eyebrows did raise, however, at the implication that Talinn might have backed a bid for her seizing power and putting her of all beasts, on the throne. It had long been a joke back in the day, whispered amongst beasts but ever in her awareness, that as Last Quartermaster and Minister of War there were few better placed for a coup. It was fortunate, then, that either the vixen was so passive to the chain of command, blithely loyal to any beast on a throne, or subdued by blackmail that she never took the opportunity. It had always been to her benefit to let them believe their own mysteries and rumours, for one of the greatest assets in her toolkit was to be underestimated.

Still. Empress Keltoi. What a world that would have been.

For the time being Tanya elected to make no comment on the number of deaths anybeast had caused. True enough her Ministerial tenure had been a quiet one for the Imperium, and by and large the numbers she had sent to their deaths over the years were likely an insignificant comparison. The personal kills, however…

This Brudenell seemed to have been an intriguing beast, going by how Talinn spoke of him, and she resolved to do some deeper digging than the information she had already scrounged aboard Sparrowsong. The Imperium had suffered a string of upheavals over the decades it seemed: that political schism had developed should really have come as no surprise. Fortuitous timing for the Empress. More fortuitous, yet, that Talinn should be a todd.

That her question had been answered did not need to be acknowledged for there came a shift in subject. Alexei. The tip of Tanya’s brush flicked. The fox had lived aboard the Hide whilst herself and Falun were courting; she had never much cared for the way she spoke to her then-husband, so little love was lost to know of his death though she could see it pained Talinn.

“Pride seems t’be a Ryalor staple,” she observed, “and that’s dangerous when it comes with the House ambition. You’re a daft fox, Talinn, but you ain’t stupid: you’ve got a good life ahead if you slow yourself down and reach out more. If there's anythin' that conversation with her told me, it's that your wife loves you, you know. Don’t let that slip through your paws.”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

Talinn gave his sister-in-law a knowing nod as he replied quietly, and truthfully, to her.

“I know. And I know I wronged her, even if...even if I could not figure out a better way to protect us, and for so long. It is my deepest shame. We are working towards reconciling now, and figuring out how to...renegotiate...certain aspects of the deal that I struck. That will be…”

He reached up and tugged the collar of his shirt as he looked away for a moment “...difficult, I think, given the nature of both her and the Empress. Although Dusk may loathe the comparison, they are alike in many, many ways, perhaps more so than they are different. But perhaps that may offer a route that is acceptable to both.”

He sighed, leaning back into his wheelchair and closing his eyes for a moment. That was going to be a most uncomfortable dinner for him. In many aspects, he would rather return to Urk and fight Ulog again, than to have to deal with the social battle to come. Opening his eyes and looking back towards Tanya again, he spoke once more.

“Do you have any further questions for me? Might as well get them out of the way, now.”

@Tanya Keltoi

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

It felt…precarious, this meeting. Letters had been exchanged of course, but time face-to-face? This was the first opportunity for the foxes to truly size one another up. Talinn was making his own assessments as she was of him; as yet she could not determine if his responses were genuine, crafted from a noble upbringing of carefully considered words and intelligent speech, or merely a screen to obscure emotions beneath. Time would tell, but she knew that to weigh any opinions she needed to get to know him. On that thought…It would not be something to embark on as an act of rashness, but this matter between her in-law and sister felt bigger than their family. Much as Dusk had warned her to the contrary it was in her awareness that she would need to meet the Empress eventually. History and experience had long taught that reputations could be lofty, dissembling things.

“Oh I’ve hundreds’a questions,” Tanya laughed, blinking slowly, “but nothing says they all must come out tonight. I think I’ve quite some catching up to do, even if half of it might be things I won’t want to hear. ‘Least my temper’s better’n it used to be, if you can believe that.” She felt it prudent this once not to joke on the comparison Talinn was making between Dusk and the Empress and what it said of his tastes: it was likely a sore spot, and she had poked enough already.

“Still, don’t let it be said I’m stingy. If you’ve any questions for me, feel free t’ask them.”

 

[Talinn Ryalor]

“Oh, I have heard the stories, although Dusk, as we both know, is not exactly the most reliable narrator. She likes to embellish a lot, it is her nature.” Talinn replied, smiling softly as the tension between the two of them eased, thinking of the conversations he and Dusk had about her over the years, and of what his brother had told him in the afterlife. It had been touch and go there, but his brother had been right. Tanya was, at her core, beneath everything, not the bad sort. You just had to be willing to be open and honest with her.

And, to a degree, Dusk is too, though she would never admit it. What the Mad Emperor and Alexei did to our family, he did, in a different degree, to them. On our outsides, we are...damaged...but...at the core...I hope…

He remained quiet for a bit in thought, but then nodded. He did have some questions for her. Speaking a bit hesitantly, but with a bit of eagerness beneath it, he made an inquiry.

“My niece and nephew...your kits...Valdrisk and Aille...how...how are they?”

The question, simple on the surface, was multilayered. On the surface, it was checking in on their health, and their lives, or perhaps checking that the true heirs of House Ryalor were safe. But, underneath both of those, lied a much more deep question. Were they good beasts? Had they, unlike his own kits and unlike both sides of the family, managed to avoid the damage that plagued their families for multiple generations?

@Tanya Keltoi

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Of all the varied titles and roles assigned to her over a long and storied career, mother had been and would remain her greatest achievement. Without even knowing it there came a flicker of caution in her eyes, a protective guardedness. It was an innocuous question, she had to remind herself: her family was safe.

“They’re doing well, at least as their lest letters say,” she replied, looking briefly to the windows once more with a chuckle. “Dare say they don’t tell me a whisker’ve what really goes on ‘less I get of a mind to track them down and tan their tails.” Letting go of the twins after such a risky childhood had been one of the most difficult days of her life; to trust in their readiness to be out there in the unknown wilds, and herself to sit with that lack of control, had been a wrench. Having Kinza and Lorcan still around had proved some small balm, though she was certain it had felt more like an overbearing force on her youngest. “Both smart an’ capable as anything like their father, but daft enough to get called by the ocean and listen like me. They’re explorers born, those two. Kutoroka did ‘em good after everything, gave them the chance to try and have a normal childhood. Well, normal as they ever could have, after everything. Couldn’t be more proud.”

A sniff and Tanya seemed to consider something else for a beat before electing to continue. “I’ve another two now, you know. Both‘ve decided to make Bully their home for a spell with designs on making names for themselves on the Hide. They’re still young by my eyes, but time makes us all the wiser to how little we knew at their age. How this city pulled us into an adult’s work as youngsters.” She wrinkled her nose, suppressing more on the matter for the sake of avoiding a rant: were she left to her thoughts on it she might not stop. “They’re still learning but have enthusiasm. Just hope it counts for enough to see ‘em safe out there.”