Announcement

[royal_obligation]

Edarial makes a list of necessities for a wife. He has Zevros check it over, who promptly rips it up and throws it at him. He is of the opinion that if Edarial doesn't actually want to marry a specific person, he shouldn't, and Zevros will have nothing to do with any of it. Edarial sighs, rewrites it, and keeps it and a copy of it away from his twin in the future.

He makes the announcement to various interested people that he will be looking for a bride. Just saying it makes him feel sick. Edarial manages to keep it together long enough to give a list of the qualities he's looking for before he flees. He says he's busy, no one will look twice at him being curt and disappearing to get work done. So no one comes after him when he hides in his room and locks the door.

Face buried in his pillow, he realizes that there's no way he can be personable to his - whatever they are. Potential brides, suitors - whatever, he doesn't care. He'll hire someone to vet them, so he doesn't have to torture himself dealing with women trying to persuade him to marry them.

Comments

[aestrix]

"I wouldn't use those terms," says the guard. "We're just trying to guarantee that this country has the best chance it can get."

[come_midnight]

Iobel fists her hands in her hair.

"Right. Hostage cat. Where am I supposed to go?"

[aestrix]

"At the main palace gate there's a man accepting guests. Tell him your name and title and you'll get a guest room."

[come_midnight]

"I don't have a title."

But she goes.

[aestrix]

She gets a guest room. It's nice - pleasantly furnished and with a lovely little single bathroom with running and heated water (made by magic).

[come_midnight]

Sure. Lovely place to wait out the hostage-taking.

She wants her cat.

[aestrix]

Eventually there's a knock at the door.

[come_midnight]

Iobel goes and opens the door.

[aestrix]

There is a short, portly old man with a clipboard. "Hello -" he checks the clipboard, "- Miss Iobel Swan. Edarial's feeling ill at the moment, do you mind if I have a word in his stead?"

[come_midnight]

"I just want my cat," she says plaintively. "I just want my cat back safe, is he - where is he?"

[aestrix]

"... Your cat? I beg your pardon? I wouldn't know where your pet is, ma'am..."

[come_midnight]

"My familiar. Someone took him."

[aestrix]

"Your -" The little portly man startles. "- Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness, do you know who took him?"

[come_midnight]

"I didn't get their names, the guards at the fountain, he was sick, they wouldn't let me take him to the fountain myself and then they took him - he got a good few chunks out of the one that was holding him but he didn't get away."

[aestrix]

"The guards at the fountain?" asks the little man. "What? No, no, you must be mistaken, the guards would never do that!"

[come_midnight]

"Then maybe they were fake guards, but they were at the fountain and they wouldn't let me in!"

[aestrix]

"Oh my goodness! I will have to file the right paperwork -"

Then he looks at his clipboard.

"... Um. Miss, I'm really sorry about this and you have my solemn word that I will get to the bottom of whatever this is, but I have a job and if I don't do it I can't feed my kids!"

[come_midnight]

Iobel leans heavily on the wall. "What is it your job to get me to do, then?"

[aestrix]

"Just an interview, it won't take very long!" assures the bureaucrat.

[come_midnight]

"Can you get my cat first and then give me the interview?"

[aestrix]

"Trying to find your cat might take a while, I don't know where to begin, there's so much paperwork to fill out! But the interview won't take very long, I promise."

[come_midnight]

"I don't want to be here at all, but they have Cricket and I think they'd kill him if I tried to leave," she murmurs.

But this bureaucrat is not very helpful and she doesn't think holding his survey results hostage will get anything more than wheedling, whereas sending him on his way might actually get him looking however ineffectually for her cat.

"What are the questions?"

[aestrix]

"I'm very sorry for the trouble, miss, I'm just trying to do my job."

There turns out to be a lot of questions. Mostly about how she would react to certain situations, what sort of solutions she'd have to certain problems, that sort of thing. It seems to boil down to be less about her personality and more about if she would be any good as a queen. Or, at least, in the opinion of whoever is getting the results. The portly little man writes down all of her answers, then thanks her for her time, tells her he will get to trying to find her familiar 'Right away' and then trundles off to go do that.

[come_midnight]

Iobel closes the door and cries and then goes and splashes water on her face until her eyes stop stinging.

[aestrix]

The portly little man tries his best to find her cat through normal means. He files various reports, fills out a metric ton of paperwork, and even makes and gives out little pamphlets to guards filled with information on what to do if they see guards they don't recognize. But he doesn't go to Edarial, or even Zevros - the thought doesn't occur to him that either would want to know this happened in the palace. So he goes through entirely official channels.

Someone else working through official channels notices. Nataliem is annoyed, but it's not like this is a difficult problem to fix. The bureaucrat is stonewalled by bribed and threatened officials.

Ultimately, he makes almost no progress at all.