TO: EVERYONE AT AROUND 12:15 AM

[magicalarchaeologist]

There is a military coup happening in Thorne. Admiral Sidwell has made a play for the crown that seems to be succeeding. The Summoned are currently being evacuated into safe rooms along with natives.

I thought this information best to be shared with all Summoned.

[He doesn't plan on bringing up how the doors are warded shut. That's for other people to say. This is all about information sharing, Istredd has other things to worry about.]

Comments

Private forever

[magicalarchaeologist]

I did.

Are you alright? Did all of you get to safety?

[wiedzminka]

Working on it. Cadens is hardly a village.

How many hours has Yennefer got ahead of current events?

[magicalarchaeologist]

Not as many as I'd like, she was resistant to leaving, but she has a few hours early. They definitely would have made it past the city walls before this happened. The pathway to Nott on horseback takes about a week I believe. Sidwell and his people will be focused on here.

[wiedzminka]

I'm not interested in the politics of Thorne except as they might affect my family.

You think this Sidwell would go after the former queen's associates even if they're out of the castle?

[magicalarchaeologist]

I don't know. The queen and king have been tolerant of Nott's independence, or at least hasn't attempted to control them, but Sidwell is a brand new point of view. I think as long as they don't seem a direct threat, he'll leave them be.

[wiedzminka]

Then it seems the government of Nott would shelter the Summoned who've fled.

They've done so before, after all.



Istredd, why did you decide to stay?

[magicalarchaeologist]

Yes, Lyle will without question shelter them. He's always been a friend to the Summoned. I trust him.

[ Istredd is confident of that without question. Lyle is a man of honor. ]

I'm responsible for the Summoned here. They need me. And Yennefer wouldn't have left if she didn't trust that I would look out for all of our interests. She was in more danger than I am.

[ That includes Geralt and Ciri's interests, although he doesn't say so. He knows why Yennefer stayed in Thorne before, partly for Ciri's safety. He used that as a reason to reassure her she could leave. ]

I also couldn't leave Lucifer.

[wiedzminka]

[ Well, that's at least reassuring to hear. She's gotten the same impression of Lyle and Nott from others as well, and hasn't forgotten about the time Julie and Nadine spent there (when they helped Geralt, too).

Ciri won't argue with him about his choice; it's more important to her that Yennefer got out of there, considering her ties to the queen.

She just has one small question. ]

What's Lucifer got to do with it?

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ It occurs to him he's never talked this long in a nice way with Ciri so they've never gotten around to talking about personal lives. ]

He's my partner, like Yennefer is.

[wiedzminka]

[ Don't compare her mom to Lucifer?? Now's not really the time to poke fun at him over it though. Istredd gets out lucky, this time. ]

Whatever you say.

If you've insisted on taking up the mantle of Protector of the Summoned in Thorne, that's your choice.

[ She doesn't say whether she thinks it's a noble one or not, but she does think of River. And Wilhelm. She can understand why Istredd felt that way. ]

Try not to get killed.

[magicalarchaeologist]

They're my people, more so than the Brotherhood ever was.

It sounds like you care if I die or not. That's a nice change.

[ He's teasing! Carefully! ]

[wiedzminka]

[ That is a sentiment she can understand, and... approves of. It's not something she expected him to actually say. But after their shared dreams together, the time they spent that didn't really happen, Ciri knows they found more common ground than not. Eventually. How much of that is based on real feelings, even if it didn't actually occur in truth, is still up for interpretation. Despite that, the 'memories' remain, jumbled as they are, and a certain understanding of one another that feels unearned yet at the same time, not wrong.

And Yennefer does trust him. That doesn't count for nothing in Ciri's estimation. ]

I'd rather avoid the annoyances it would cause.

[ That's all. And now's not the time to really discuss it further, anyway. He can take that small concession for what it is. ]