Rainblade-Ryalors Private Barracks/Imperial Condos Such Devoted Sisters

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk accepted the bandana, looking at it in momentary horror before gingerly using it to dab at her eyes. "Thank you," she managed, returning it gingerly, some of her fussiness reasserting itself as she regained her composure. "It... It means a lot to hear you say that." She sighed before admitting, "I wish I'd done more for my other four; there were times I simply couldn't stand being cooped up in Talinn's castle, and I had to leave, at least for a while. Go off and be my own person for a bit. Of course, if I'd taken any of the kits, he'd have hunted me to the ends of the earth, so..." She paused, then shook her head. "No," she admitted quietly, "that was only partly it. I wanted to experience what it was like to just be me again. That... that was selfish of me. There were so many times I should have been there for my kits, but I wasn't. Those are wounds I'll be spending the rest of my life trying to bandage."

She sighed before straightening up, fixating her attention on Tanya. "Details from the Keys have been scarce," she admitted. "There's been a series of woodlander uprisings there across the past three decades that have left the Imperial presence marginal at best. There have been scattered reports of Red Fleet activity between there and Valles Mensa, but it would be extremely bold for the Fleet to attack an Imperial settlement. The navy may no longer be what it once was, but to provoke the wrath of the Imperium would still be extremely unwise." She mused on this before adding, "Still, with the Hide up north, they might have been feeling particularly impetuous. And," she added with a sigh, "my source within Alkamar has indicated that there may be movement of some Alkamarian weapons into the paws of proxies. We may be facing a proxy war on our doorstep soon."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

She should probably have kept the focus to the family, but instincts ran deep and Tox’ fascination was at once caught by these growing political tensions. Handling deep emotions for any length of time had never been her strongest suit: to steer away from it to practical matters suited her well.

Stroking her whiskers contemplatively, her ragged ear flicked. “That’s alarmin’,” she murmured. Honestly it was: in her time as Minister of War relations with Alkamar had been distant to frosty, but held. To think her kits were joining right when they could be recruited for warfare brought the sick feeling back to the pit of her stomach. Don’t be a premonition.

“S’ppose it’s been an inevitability for a while,” she sighed. “If they ever did manage to sink their claws in the Keys, I wonder if their eyes’d be on the likes of Resolution or Pricklee Point as a…” The vixen shook her head violently. “I’m gettin’ all ahead of myself: all of that’s work for the Navy an’ Ministries to handle,” she grinned, “lucky you. Still, if I do happen t’ notice anything on my visit to the Keys you’ll hear about it.”

A puzzled, curious expression settled on her features then. “You mentioned weapons. What kind we talkin’ about, shiftin’ arms and armaments or something more substantial?”

 

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk nodded in gratitude at Tox's offer, shifting seamlessly to her next question. She hesitated, then admitted, "This is more Talinn's provenance as Minister of Innovation, but, based on what we're hearing, they've been developing cannon technology to match our own - albeit primarily land-based for their coastal fortresses. We hear whispers that they're close to perfecting a kind of handheld cannon - much smaller, much less force and far smaller projectiles, but still dangerous. I'm hoping that the intelligence I'm receiving is overblown, but knowing the beast who is feeding it to me, I don't have much hope in that. If, by chance," she added, "you manage to acquire one, I would be very interested in examining it closely to better understand what we're up against."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Her ear flicked in dismissal of Talinn – not in anger (though that was perhaps to be reflected on later) – but simply to acknowledge that she was content to muddle through their shared ignorance in his absence. After all, MinoInn or no MinoInn, how confusing could some weaponry be?

Handheld cannon. Oh. The surprise and excitement must have registered on her face, and at once she worked to smooth it out. She was by no means any mechanical genius, leaning more towards horology as a personal passion, but new developments in technology had become especially intriguing of late.

“Mmmh, I’ll see what I can do,” she replied, “though I’m assumin’ if they’re valuable they won’t be likely left around and it might end up a future thievin’ job. Still, I wouldn’t mind taking a peek at one myself so if I get my paws on one I’ll bring it to you.”

The old cheeky smirk began to play across her muzzle. “Tell you what: if it turns out to be something worth the Imperium keeping, how about for being such a helpful sister you’d do me the favour of letting me at any early projects you or Talinn come up with, eh?”

 

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk raised an eyebrow at Tox's request. "I never knew you had this creative side to you, Tanya," she remarked, then put up a paw to add, "That wasn't meant to insult. It's just a part of you I never saw before, and it surprised me." She mulled over the request before admitting, "I can't speak for Talinn and his ministry, but considering he's been involving you behind my back, I can't imagine him refusing your request now. As for Misanthropy, most of our research is focused in a more... esoteric direction. I'm not certain how much of it you would find interesting or intelligible for that matter. We do, though," she added, "have a division that is quite handily employed in either miniaturizing or creating disguised versions of various useful items - for example, a quite intriguing product to create a spring-loaded poison dart disguised as a pen. Once we stop losing engineers to mistaken attempts to write with it, I'm sure it will bear fruit."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

For her part Tanya bit back any commentary with Dusk pre-empted the snark; robbed of her chance to retort, she resolved to shrug. It made sense: in her life in the Imperium there really had been neither time, opportunity nor interest to pursue creative habits. Her days had been spent flitting between Ministry work and Admiralty and either one on their own would have proven busy enough. The seasons on Kutoroka had provided Tanya with a slower pace which, whilst initially maddening, had offered opportunities for other pursuits.

Oh, Talinn’s not going to be refusin’ anything when I’m through with him the vixen mused, her expression shifting quickly, however, as Dusk explained what her Ministry had been exploring. The impulse, of course, was to scoff and make some remark on her adopting Innovation in alongside Talinn, but with emotions being as high as they were she opted to, tonight, hold her tongue. She laughed at the concept of the dart pen. “Now there’s somethin’ I could have done with when I was workin’ in War: would’ve given me more peace of mind’n some old crossbow under the desk.” There was a beat where she seemed to be considering asking something, hesitating for only a beat before continuing. “This your choice of work or it something this Empress has you on? Been a long old time since I was beholden to power: what’s she like?”

 

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk tried and failed to wrestle into submission the expression of distaste that crossed her face at the mention of her employer. "The Empress," she stated, attempting neutrality, "is a very formidable vixen. She knows exactly what she wants and she takes it, regardless of what anyone else has to say on the matter. After all, that's how she got on the throne - by taking exactly what she wanted." Something like fire burned in her eyes as she recalled exactly what the Empress had taken from her. "I will give her this, though - she is a masterful politician and manipulator. She understands on an intuitive level exactly how to turn beasts against each other, keep them at each other's throats and dancing to the tune that she plays. Even I find myself at a disadvantage with her from time to time. I sincerely hope, Tanya," she commented, looking her sister in the eye, "that you never rise to her notice. I think you would find her to be far more possessive a regent than Mar'kan ever was." There was a haunted quality to her voice, and the makeup around her eyes somehow seemed darker in that moment.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Though the answer proved warning enough, that it was coming from Dusk of all beasts was some cause for alarm. Tox knew that her sister’s talents as a manipulator were considerable, the vixen well-versed in such arts: if she was speaking so highly, so bitterly, of the Empress it was clear that this was no beast to be trifled with. Her experiences working with superiors in the past, then, would prove only fractionally useful.

That look in Dusk’s eyes, however, was more concerning than the political implications. She had to wonder just what had been going on behind the scenes all these seasons; it made her hackles rise to think that this entire mess with Mina could be due to this constant uncertainty and danger.

Forcing a reckless smile she did not quite feel, Tanya winked. “Aaah, now don’t you go worrying about me: if ‘er Majesty’s heard of even half of what Mar’kan or Ullyanov had me do, she’d know well enough that you don’t make an enemy of a poisoner – let alone one capable of coming back from the dead. Still though, you raise a point: I’ll need a job eventually.” The vixen pouted, then made another attempt at levity. “Mebbe I’ll go in for the Smelt this time, or think that’d attract too much attention if I start spreading rumours her royal prissiness imports ‘er kippers in from Alkamar?”

 

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk's expression turned to alarm, and she leaned in to hiss at Tanya. "I'm serious, don't go making those kinds of jokes, at least not in these walls! I think I know the loyalties of my senior staff, but even I don't know all the hidden passages in this place, and it would be just like some beasts in this place to try to rise up by saying they heard you make a threat against the Empress and that I didn't act on it." She leaned back, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths to try to calm her racing heart. "You don't know how many nightmares I've had about that vixen smiling as I'm dragged up to the Killotine, that awful smirk on her face as she gestures for them to drop the blade." She shuddered, her pawfingers spasming reflexively as she imagined the dreadful hiss of the blade. "There's days where I've suspected that Talinn's the only thing that's held her back. I'm sure she'd love to have me out of the way; she only gave me this position so that Talinn would..."

She shut her mouth, paws bunching tightly into fists. She managed a few quick breaths through her nose before she calmed herself down enough to hear past the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. "Perhaps," she allowed, "we should consider a less public-facing position for you. Ironic as it might be, the Ministry of Niceties, I've heard, is attempting to reform the Unsmudgables. Perhaps they could use a skilled assassin to teach them a few of the skills that they've eschewed for so long."