>>5711180>>5710978>>5711036>>5711018>>5710972>>5710841You had sized up the man upon the throne. He was large for a human but, in your current form, you could easily have towered over him and asserted your terms by force… if you had wanted only the temporary peace of threatened force. You didn’t, though, and don’t. You came to Blackpine because you wanted something that would last, enduring and protecting your people. But how do you extract such a thing from a human? Though your grandfather was one of them, though you are married to one and have lived among them for several months, you were forced to admit it then: you still don’t know their heart. Would the Baron of Blackpine respond better to a friendly challenge? To a moral appeal on behalf of your struggling subjects? Can a man even feel altruism or camaraderie for that which he regards as a ‘monster’?
“Eka.”
Your queen looked up at you, blinking in surprise. Your direct address had snapped her out of her curious and troubling malaise, which had seemed to grip her ever since she witnessed the crushed bodies pulled from beneath that toppled watchtower.
“I do not wish for any further blood to be shed,” you told her truthfully. “Help me make thisss right.”
Queen Ekaterine’s eyes widened a little. It was as if she was seeing you again, as you are beneath all the fire and boast, the swollen muscle of alchemically-enhanced <Dragonshape> and imposing force of your god-augmented <Fearsome Presence>. She saw the man she married, and your shared mission to make a better world. Seeing this, could not help but help.
“Baron Blackpine,” she ahd addressed him, stepping forward. “Brunus.”
“So it is you,” he’d replied, narrowing his eyes and leaning back, a judgemental scowl creasing his features. “Princess Ekaterine.”
“Yes,” she’d said quietly.
“A member of the royal household of Hawksong graces our lands for the first time in years, and it is on the arm of a monster,” he scoffed. “What happened, to bring this to pass?”
She had shaken her head slightly, and spoken in your defence: “Not a monster, Sir Baron. A man… A good man.”
“He has SLAIN good men, Your Majesty!” he had bellowed then, leaning forward on his throne so he was half-standing. “ Are you under his… his POWER, Princess? I can feel it… I imagine it’s why my bannermen stand around waggling their pikes about like this is some stageplay, where they are meant to look menacing, rather than defending their lord!”
