Rainblade-Ryalors Private Zann's Alley/Backyard Completed Sic Semper Impeccabilis

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk drew all the heavy curtains in her manor one by one, despite the summer heat. Normally she kept the sheer curtains drawn to obscure any sightlines that assassins might use for a shot, only drawing the heavies in winter, but today called for extra secrecy. She didn't bother to light the candles in most of her rooms, in part because she rarely used them, and in part because there was only one where she would be hosting company today, that being the eastern drawing room. Dusk rarely used it, mostly because she couldn't enter it without imagining Julia Freedom sitting in the same chair where she'd once hosted Dusk, back when she'd been living under the name Dawn Mistrunner. It was a shame that the guilt rendered it so untenable, because it was actually quite nicely decorated, a pale green wallpaper atop white-painted wood panels running the first three feet up the wall, and pale-cushioned sofa, couch, and chair set gathered around a fine maple coffee table, each either embroidered or painted with golden ferns. It was, sadly, the only room in the house that was in fit condition for hosting guests, largely because Dusk could never bear to throw out anything from it. As if preserving one room could make up for how you betrayed her.

Dusk prepared a full tea set in the kitchen and fetched a bottle of wine up from the cellar, picking one of her finer bottles, a '37 from a vineyard in Eastisle where a newlywed Talinn and Dusk had taken their honeymoon in the villa overlooking the endless row of vines. She'd kept two whole boxes of wine, which she'd sparingly touched over the years, largely reserving it for special occasions like major anniversaries and when her children had each reached the age of majority. This occasion, which would begin the ascent of her once rival and now dear friend to a position of power to rival Dusk's own, surely qualified for such. Carefully Dusk poured the bottle into a crystal decanter, letting it aerate as she waited for her guests to arrive. This would be the first time she'd ever had guests in her home, and, aside from her nerves, she was eager to welcome them both in.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Orina walked the tree-lined streets of Zann's Backyard on the usual route she took after a long day at the Ministry to clear her head. The familiar, faint click click of her prosthetic leg sounded with each articulation of the ankle joint as her slightly-limping gait brought her to a junction where she typically turned left. This afternoon, however, the black squirrel made a right.

She knew were Dusk lived, but never met with the vixen in her home. Neither had Dusk been to her home, the two keeping their relationship to public spaces and offices. It was not unheard of for beasts from Misanthropy and Niceties to develop professional relationships--indeed, the Ministries had been working together more closely than ever before since the end of the Civil War--but the type of friendship between Orina and Dusk was an unlikely one to be sure. The possibilities afforded by an alliance between beasts of their wills, aspirations, and resources were such that they could change the trajectory of Imperial politics, and therefore culture and history, should they simply decide to do so.

The Vice Minister of Niceties ascended the front steps of Freedom Manor. She raised her paw to the door and knocked, a soft smile settling upon her lips. Though a phantom pain lanced through the space where her leg no longer was, her smile did not falter. It was the loss of that limb that had brought her here, a journey begun in the throes of what had seemed like defeat but was only a setback that launched her into a trajectory far grander and more meaningful than she had previously dared to imagine. And here she was, nearly at the precipice of years of work and planning, waiting on the doorstep of the friend who would help make possible the final step in her patiently implemented scheme.

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

It was a matter of seconds before there was the rasp of a bolt being drawn, then another, another, another... it was a full minute of locks being disengaged before finally the door swung open. "I'm so sorry about the delay, Ori," Dusk apologized as she held the door open. "I didn't consider how my security measures might be an impediment. You look well! Is that a new shirt?" she inquired, stepping back to let her friend into the parlor. Her smile was the genuine, relaxed one she reserved only for those she trusted, an expression which had never been seen in public before. She'd certainly mastered the art of plastering on a polite crescent smile, one she could hold with a form of social rigor mortis, but it was only in private that she allowed her face to fully relax, the rightmost corner of her mouth pulled slightly up into a hint of amusement. As soon as the door was closed, she stepped in to give her friend a welcoming hug. "Oh, it's good to see you again," she sighed. "Please, come on in! We'll be in the drawing room today. Please excuse the mess, I'm not the best when it comes to dusting."

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Orina returned the hug with genuine affection. "It's good to see you, too. Thank you for hosting our meeting." She waved away Dusk's worry over the state of the dusting. "I could care less if you dusted, Dusk. You're a busy vixen, cleaning house is barely a concern when you're managing a portion of the Imperium."

As she followed the fox further into the house, Orina took in the decor and layout of the manor, committing it to memory as was her habit in new locations. "It was lovely seeing you at the concert last week. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you afterwards, the orchestra insisted on dragging me out for drinks to celebrate the performance."

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk smiled as she noticed Orina engaged in the same habit as she always did, mapping the exits, entrances, and potential threat lines as she went. It was one of those habits they'd both acquired from the lives they led, even though they'd spent their careers largely on the opposite sides of Imperial law. Coming in from the rain, so to speak, had been a jarring transition for both of them, Orina more than Dusk due to the lack of choice in the matter.

"It's fine," she excused her friend's apology, waving her paw dismissively. "Your performance was excellent as always. I honestly should have sent flowers, but I was in a strange mindset after seeing my sister and thought you'd throw them out, believing they were poisoned. It's the sort of thing Tanya would believe of me - probably because I got rid of a few husbands that way," she added with a playful smile.

"Speaking of," she commented as she led the way into the drawing room, dimly lit with a few candles burning on wall mounts and on the cough-ee table, "we'll really need to do something about your bachelorette status one of these days. You know, one of my assets in Alkamar was telling me about a... well, I'm not quite sure of the title, but he's basically an assistant to one of their dons on the military oversight committee, and he might be defecting if it looks like le bureau de contre-espionnage catches onto him. Assuming we can get him out of the country alive, I could always introduce you two."

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Orina flicked her tail in amusement. "Who says I'm looking for a husband? Or a wife, for that matter. Spouses are nothing but trouble and heartache, are they not?" She smirked. "Unless your defector is into a more open arrangement, then I could be tempted."

She found herself a seat in one of the chairs beside the low table and took in the room with an appreciative nod. "You know, you really ought to entertain more. This place has a lot of potential. I know a rat who puts on some very interesting parties, and she's often looking for venues. The castles in the IRA are interesting, but at some point you've seen one dungeon, you've seen them all. A manor like this could certainly work for those with more, ah, intimate tastes."

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk let out a small chuckle at the mention of the potential use of the manor. "As delightful as it would be to see if such activities could summon the scowling ghost of Anithias from the depths of Hell itself, I think I might need to pass. After letting that many people into this space, I don't think I could ever sleep securely again. As it is, you and Tanya are the first guests I'll have ever hosted here. Feel free to take that as the compliment it is." She reached for the teapot on the set laid out on the table, busying herself with preparing tea for them both. "Milk or sugar?"

 

[Orina Emberkin]

"Well, I'm honored." Orina leaned down and lifted her left pant leg several inches to adjust a bolt near the ankle joint of the prosthetic. "Sugar please."

There was a small click and the ankle flexed further. "Ah, there it is. It just started getting stuck this morning at certain angles. Going to have to take a file to that bolt later." She watched as Dusk prepared the tea. "So, your sister, Tanya. I did some searching through Niceties records. She has quite the resume in the Imperium, even served as an Unsmudgable, I saw. And like so many in this interesting city, seems to have the propensity for coming back from the dead, given she's gracing our shores once again. Is there anything I should be aware of in our interaction, any subjects to avoid or details of note?"

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

"Hmm." Dusk had to ponder that. "Well, avoid mentioning the Freemonts, in case it comes up. From what I gather, they're still a bit of a sore subject for her. Oh," she added, her tone turning urgent. "You might hear us talking about our niece, Mina Rose. It's very important that whatever we say not leave this house. Is that acceptable?" She trusted Orina greatly, but the matter of Mina Rose was still fraught enough that, for now at least, Dusk wanted to keep that affair strictly within the family. If anyone realized the leverage that the girl presented on the Minister of Misanthropy, it would swiftly become a nightmare. She kept her face a mask of passivity as she offered the freshly prepared tea.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Taking the tea, Orina blew on the surface. "Completely acceptable. I am no stranger to discretion." She took a sip, nodding appreciatively before continuing. "The Freemonts, though. Her, ah, involvement with the death of the husband was some time ago, wasn't it? Before I even came to the Imperium, at least."

She set the tea cup on its plate, one brow slightly raised. "Strange coincidence you should mention them. I found out not two weeks ago from a connection in War that their son is back. Seems to be keeping his head down, though. What a small world we live in that Tanya and the last survivor of that family come back to the Imperium at the same time."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

The scent of salt still clung to Tanya’s fur (though rarely did it leave) as she made her way through the city streets on a meandering path of nostalgia to Freedom Manor. The Sparrowsong had proven a fine enough craft, all told, and she’d indulged in a few extra hours seeing the ship’s maintenance be carried out to a satisfactory degree when the summons came. The time and place, at least, had afforded her the opportunity to reflect on what her presence might be requiring.

It was an automatic route the once-Minister took, one she had taken many times in her youth after the Hide had made berth and all paperwork been accounted for, keen to visit the Freedoms and catch up on what was happening on land or at sea. Zann’s was not a place the vixen had ever felt her rough edges fit well within and subconsciously she picked up her pace to a trot.

The sight of the manor’s frontage caused her to pause as unbidden memories threatened. It looked almost frozen in time, the signs of age and change lost on the overwhelming familiarity of the building at large. Poor Julia. That Dusk had chosen this as their meeting venue, her supposed residence…it left a myriad of emotions roiling in her stomach, and none were worth contemplating in the moment. There was work to be done, and she could hardly resent these echoes in a city of ghosts when she had lived as one herself all these years.

Raking claws through her headfur to drag it into some semblance of style, the vixen drew a slow breath and banged on the door, a little more forcefully than intended. Perhaps it was a subconscious attempt to reassure: it would have been possible with a little effort to find a way inside and make a more dramatic entrance. This way, at least, she was announcing her presence.

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk pursed her lips, about to inquire as to the particulars of this specific heir to a political dynasty, but the opportunity was sent fleeing by the pounding on the door. The corner of Dusk's mouth twitched. "That would be Tanya," she quipped. "She has a certain brash style to her entrances, not unlike a cannonball or a rampaging badger. One moment, Orina."

She got up and went back out to the parlor, using a small mirror to check through the peephole she'd drilled in the door. She'd long been paranoid about some sort of dart of poison being forced through the hole, and proceeded with a suitable overabundance of caution. On recognizing Tanya, she relaxed - mostly, at least. The news of Mina Rose being found alive had been a welcome development, though there had been sparse details beyond that. Not that it would do for her to rush off and meet her estranged daughter. She was, after all, supposed to be playing the role of aunt for the girl's own safety. Dusk finished throwing off the few bolts she'd put back in place and opened the door, stepping back to admit her sister with a smile and an arm offering a hug. "Tanya dear," she greeted her family member, beckoning her inside. "Please, please, come in! I'm so glad you made it back safely - you and your passenger both." There was true gratitude underlying the remark, small tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. She would truly never be able to repay Tanya for delivering her daughter from whatever danger had beset her.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

The squirrel laughed heartily at Dusk's description of her sister. As the vixen left, Orina took another sip of her tea and sat back in the chair. She looked around the room, ears pricking to listen to the words spoken from the entryway. While she had done a great deal of research on Tanya for this meeting, as there was quite a bit of history and records to sift through regarding the vixen, it was always a different experience meeting a beast in the flesh. And she wanted this meeting to go well. A great deal of her work over the past several years hinged on the next few hours and whether or not she and Dusk could convince Tanya to participate in their scheme to change the Niceties regime.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

For Tanya’s part it was a far easier role to play considering her own relationship to the vixen in question needed no alterations. Bizarre as it still felt to share this newfound familial care with Dusk, Tanya was all too happy to accept the embrace, ensuring the door was closed behind them. “Ahh you know me,” she chuckled, “sea’s where I’m best kept. More risk of me trippin’ on the cobbles than getting lost at sea.”

Pulling away to regard her sibling with momentary softness in her eyes, she gave Dusk’s shoulders an encouraging squeeze. “My passenger’s settling in as we speak, thought they’d best have some time to themselves to get acquainted with their living space. I’m sure we can have a proper catch-up later on.”

Almost at once the softness was gone, masked by well-crafted pleasantry and a glimmer of humour. It was a talent she knew her sister had perfected far better than she, a necessity of sigh levels of power. This was not the time or place to be speaking of Mina Rose, not her impressions of the young vixen.

“Enough of old news! I got your summons and can’t say I’m not curious about what you want my ratty ol’ carcass here for. Just been doing a scrape-down of some deck timbers so I’m not exactly best-dressed for anythin’ too fancy.”

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk smiled at her sister's self-effacing wit as she led the prodigal vixen into the parlor. "Oh, trust me, Tanya," she assured her, "your clothes are just fine for now. This is a small, intimate gathering." As they entered the room, she gestured to the piebald squirrel. "Tanya, this is my good friend Orina Emberkin, currently of the Ministry of Niceties," she introduced. "Orina and I go far back; we spent several decades on the opposite sides of various conflicts before I was brought back into the fold of Misanthropy. Orina was, and still is, one of the best agents I know. Orina," she gestured in turn to her sister, "this is my famous sister, the legendary Last Quartermaster, Captain, and Minister of War, Tanya 'Toxic' Rainblade - apologies," she added, glancing to Tanya, "but would that be Rainclaw now? It took me a while to track your kits through the immigration office." The corner of her mouth twitched as she added, "You'll be happy to hear that they're proving to be just as troublesome as we were at their age."

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Orina stood to greet the vixen. "Your reputation precedes you, Tanya. I was surprised to see you served as a Rangeblade near the beginning of your career in the Imperium. That was the position I held in the Smudgies. Your sister and I had quite the rivalry going in our time, so I expect I will be equally as impressed with you, given the chance."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Following her sister through to the drawing room Tanya was hard-pressed to ignore the constant prickle of familiarity which tugged at her heart; mercifully, Orina's presence - and introduction as a friend of Dusk's - proved more than engaging. She took in the squirrel at a glance, appraising the piebald beast in silence. It was still unusual to the vixen to see woodlanders not only integrated with the city but having held positions of power for some time, though any reflections did not show on her face. Her intrigue for the most part lay with Orina's leg. First introductions were not the place to bring such matters to the fore, but she logged away her intrigue on a practical level: after seasons maintaining Jeshal's gauntlet, she was curious if there was an advancement worth adding to his own arm.

She adopted the at-ease stance of one raised in the Navy and reflected if at some point she might get some of her old medals out again to cause a stir. It having been decades since such an introduction Tanya's ragged ears flicked with subtle discomfort to hear such praise (much less the foreign feeling of it coming from Dusk) but did not allow herself to feel any flattery just yet. Clearly something was expected of her today: it coming so hot on the heels of Mina Rose's rescue, however, was distinctly curious.

"'Tis Keltoi now," she explained to Dusk with a smirk, "though you'd be forgiven the confusion the number of times I change it. Thought it was best keepin' a distance even in name from that troublesome two so's they live their own lives. Sounds like they're gettin' their paws well under the table, though." A softer smile crossed her muzzle before her gaze returned to the squirrel.

"Another Rangeblade, eh?" Pleasant surprise coloured her features: there were few these days she suspected could share such a background. "Aye, didn't serve all too long in the end, though it was a good position. Worked under Terri Doxtrod-Lancaster, rest 'er soul, then IceRain brought me into War. Not too sure I'll be impressin' anybeast just yet considering I'm as good as retired," she winked, "but we'll see if I can still stir up a little trouble to keep you both on your paws. Pleasure t' meet you."

Extending a paw to Orina, she gave her and Dusk a grin. "So dare I even ask how years of rivalry, 'specially between Niceties and Misanthropy, becomes such good friendship? Wager that didn't just happen out of thin air."

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk took a seat caddy-corner to the couch, resuming the delicate ritual of preparing tea. She chuckled as she admitted, "Well, our rivalry predated my time in Misanthropy - or, I suppose, could rather be said to have occurred during an interregnum. During the interregnum, in fact. There was a period of time in which I was alternating between my role as the Duchess of Eastisle and more... independent work. After all," she commented, pouring a fresh cup, "I wanted my children to see both of their parents as active and ambitious, not just their father. So, I spent a good chunk of my time abroad, pursuing various aims - most of them for the betterment of my husband's government, and a few for my own amusement, I'll admit.

"It turned out that Niceties had expanded their reach internationally at the same time," she recalled, "and it happened that on several matters, Orina and I wound up working at cross purposes to each other. She was so competent in the field that I quickly developed a certain professional respect for her - after all, anyone as skilled in spycraft as her deserves to be recognized for it. Eventually, though, both of us found ourselves leaving the field, for different reasons. I became the Minister of Misanthropy after my husband... surrendered to the Empress." There was something beyond the distasteful, closer to the bitter, in her voice as she recalled that moment. "Orina left the field due to a betrayal of her own, as you can see." She looked to Orina as she offered tea to Tanya, waiting to see if the squirrel would care to share any of her own story.

 

[Orina Emberkin]

Orina took Tanya's paw in greeting, slotting away the information gleaned from the vixen as she spoke. When Dusk began the story of their interactions over the years, the squirrel found her seat once more and sipped at her tea. She kept a faint smile on her face through the telling, though frowned appropriately at mention of Talinn's surrender. That was a subject also of particular interest to Niceties, one which had prompted a great deal of investigation--given that the Ministry was none-to-happy with the power grab by the General--before such investigation had been quashed by the new Minister of Niceties that was appointed soon after Amélie became Empress. Orina in particular had suspicions bordering on insights regarding the arrangement of the Duke's with the Empress, given her conversations with Dusk over the years combined with various details Niceties had uncovered. And, in her opinion, a beast would have to be blind not to notice. However, she had found many just didn't bother to look in the first place. So, she kept her files on it, pending an appropriate time to act on the information, always with the consideration of how Dusk had been affected and could be further hurt, even humiliated, by the past actions of her husband.

When the story was passed to her, Orina set her tea down. She knocked lightly on the prosthetic leg with a dark smile. "Hard to keep up with the best of the best without half my leg. But that was the whole point, it turns out. I had been highly successful for some time, but the administrators in Niceties had taken issue with me nearly from the start of my time in the Smudgies. As you know, there is supposed to be some separation from the Faction and the Ministry, letting the Smudgies do what they're good at and letting the paper-pushers do what they're good at. Perhaps it's because I'm a woodlander, or perhaps it's because they saw my 'moral standards' as flawed, but throughout my career I was frequently being summoned for some hearing or another about actions of me and my unit. Nothing ever stuck, as the other Unsmudgeables knew that the work we were doing was not so black and white, especially given the difficult times the Imperium was going through and what was necessary for our survival as a country, not to mention the survival of Niceties as a Ministry.

"When Minister Kilaris took power under the Empress, there were those in the Ministry who saw an opportunity to make changes to how the Unsmudgeables were run, weakening the Faction's capabilities in the field and increasing direct Niceties oversight. You see, Kilaris is a weak leader, listening to the loudest voices rather than the wisest and most sensible. I don't disagree with some of the work that has been continuing--I am of course biased towards Niceties' efforts in Imperial culture to increase awareness and acceptance of woodlanders as part of the population. But I was outspoken against the overtaking of Unsmudgeable command by those who would wish to weaken the Faction and its independent capabilities." She sat back in her chair, steepling her fingers.

"So, they sent me on a mission with bad intelligence, which ended with half my unit dead and my own injuries resulting in the loss of my leg. I believe I was supposed to have been killed as well, but my Skillblade sacrificed herself, saving my life."

Orina nodded towards the Ministress of Misanthropy. "Dusk came to visit me in the hospital during my recovery, which took some time, as the infection that took my leg nearly took my life and left me very weak for months. Our joke is that at first she visited to gloat at my misfortune, but over time and a great deal of reminiscing, we developed a friendship." She picked up her tea cup and smirked over the top of it at the older vixen. "It also helped that Misanthropy uncovered the Niceties plot to off me, and very quickly we began a plot of our own to play out over the course of years, which is what brings us to this present moment and present company."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

After such a lengthy absence from her shores it was invaluable to have so much context to put to current events within the Imperium. Tanya soaked up the information eagerly, taking a seat of her own as she sat in rapt silence to ponder every sliver of information. If there was any similar disapproval regarding Talinn or the Empress she didn’t show it: the vixen’s face remained immobile. That was a discussion for another time, and a visit she needed to make.

However, mention of her own Ministry’s willingness to see Orina and her beasts dead raised eyebrows. Clearly Niceties had eschewed some of its original intentions in light of this new Minister and bureaucratic overreach had always been stifling in her own tenure in the city. Her interest was well and truly piqued. Regardless, there was something endearing about knowing that Dusk had fostered genuine connections built on mutual understanding and not advantage. Now she understood why Dusk had introduced her so.

“Ah, I see now. I’m assuming, then, that you may have need of those talents of mine to put some of this interference back in its place. What fortunate timing, eh?” Settling back in her chair, she regarded the fox and squirrel quietly for a moment before speaking again. “Before anything else, I suppose I’d better ask more details: what exactly is the plan, and what are your end goals from it? I’m presuming after all of this time you have a scheme ready but merely need the opportunity.”