King Xander of Nohr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
advancements) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sranks2019-09-23 03:02 am
advancements) wrote in sranks2019-09-23 03:02 am
advancements) wrote in sranks2019-09-23 03:02 am
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If they're attempting to frame him specifically and not his father, then there are two options. The first is that someone is aware of Lady Edelgard's plans and intends to try to disrupt them. Pitting Camilla against him certainly isn't the easiest way to go about it, but it's a possibility he can't deny. Still, such a plan is reliant on so many variables... and this is the only hint that anyone has caught onto Lady Edelgard's plans. No, it doesn't seem likely that this is to target him specifically.
That leaves the second option - this is House Krakenburg's attempt to stab House Vestra in the back. While Hubert isn't the only child of House Vestra, he is the only one suited to serving as the future Empress' shadow. If he's taken out of the picture, it severely weakens House Vestra and their ties to House Hresvelg. In such a scenario, House Krakenburg would directly benefit - they are the ones hoarding powerful technology and magic, and they could easily usurp House Vestra's position and take the title of Minister of the Imperial Household for themselves. They don't have an official title, after all.
Curious. So even his father can make mistakes. It's likely his father is completely unaware of this - if what Professor Hanneman has said holds any weight at all (not that he wants to think about that, much less believe it), then his father priorities House Vestra over the Emperor. If so, he wouldn't be willing to have his son killed. Only House Krakenburg will benefit from Hubert's death.
Though once again, it circles back to this being an extremely unreliable way to kill him. If they want him dead, there have been plenty of opportunities. So there must be more to it...
But now isn't the time to puzzle that out. He owes Camilla an answer to her question.]
I'm a bit surprised you feel the need to ask, in all honesty. Were I truly responsible for such a thing, do you think I'd let you know?
[The words aren't harsh or pointed or haughty. They're a genuine question, designed to get her to further consider just how strange this situation is.]
I have no involvement with House Krakenburg. It is true that House Vestra has ties to them, but I have never been given any information on those ties or the projects they've worked on together.
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No, but I do wager that such a thing is exactly what they would want. [Calm. She needs to calm down, even if his words definitely set her off to such an extent. If anything, that likely proves exactly how such a plan could have worked--they were training her to kill him for such a minor misstep, weren't they?] ...Rather, my...reaction is what they would want. I had only heard such things while I was...
[Camilla shakes her head, electing not to elaborate. She definitely means while she was getting tortured, and staying on that for too long is liable to make her frayed mental state worse but--]
...So you, personally, have no involvement then. [Camilla...actually eases a bit, though not by much.] I did not consider such things at the time, but the more I thought about what those people said, the more...strange it seemed. To be so brazen about such involvement, even within earshot of someone who could do nothing to harm them...that seems incredibly ill-advised.
[...]
It all seemed incredibly unlike what I know of you, the more pieces I put together. Nothing about the situation sounded right, from what they were trying to paint it, and I... [Camilla actually bows her head low, in response; enough to expose the back of her neck.] ...I owe you an apology; if not for confronting you on such an asinine thing, then at the very least for snapping harshly at you, Lord Hubert.
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[At least, that's what it looks like initially. It's possible that they foresaw this and that there's something he isn't seeing just yet. He'll go over it once he's returned to his room; he'll determine what they could have wanted from all of this.
Camilla then bows, exposing the back of her neck. She knows as well as he does that it's the ultimate sign of trust - one that a retainer doesn't offer easily. He supposes he could try to kill her, if he really wanted to.
He shifts a bit and moves a hand to his chin, away from that hidden dagger in his sleeve.]
Don't bother with the title. My relationship with my father is... strained and I'd prefer not to be reminded of it.
[A piece of information and an attempt to allow them to stand on equal footing. He's being too generous tonight, but he finds he doesn't particularly care about that right now.]
You have every right to be angry about House Vestra's involvement in your confinement. I did know of our ties to House Krakenburg before you were captured, but I had no idea such a thing was planned.
[Even if he had known, he might not have stopped it. If he deemed it too dangerous to get involved, he would have left Camilla to her fate in House Krakenburg, even knowing that it could end exactly like this.
The thought disgusts him, but it isn't the first time this has happened. He will always do what will best suit Lady Edelgard, regardless of his own feelings on the matter.]
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It dawns on her, then.]
Ha...it wouldn't surprise me if they've been making all too good use of whatever Xander has written to Father. He's always been a boot-licking little--
[Camilla rises up as she speaks, stopping herself short of letting her rage flow freely out. Trying to calm as she speaks, and then she's back to studying him. He's taken a more contemplative pose, and while her own doesn't change, she does...ease, at least a touch more.
His words do earn a bit of a pause, but...]
Hubert it is, then. I apologize for such reminders.
[Because she certainly knows plenty about strained relationships with one's father, at any rate.]
Oh, I am angry at House Vestra. Make no mistake of that; I'm furious that they've decided to work with scum like my Father, who care for nothing more than what he can do to his numerous children next. [That's not all it is, but...well, Camilla has never been in the know about her father's business.] ...I appreciate your honesty, truly. I had no desire for us to come to blows, but...I would have done so, regrettably, if you had been the reason behind all of this as they said. I would go beyond reproach for my lord, but...I am pleased that I have no reason to.
[She could say it's because she would have felt betrayed by him, really. Sure, they're not friends and they never will be--they're not even allies, in all honesty. But Camilla does trust him, if nothing else, to be himself.]
...It's been no secret that relations between our houses have been strained, because of such a situation. I'm certain you have noticed that much, haven't you?
[It's another question, certainly, but...well, she's wondering if he'll share some information about what the hell has gone on while she's been absent. But at this point, if this strain is what House Krakenburg is trying to accomplish...
Well. Camilla's hoping that Hubert's just as here to dismantle all of that hard work as she is.]
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There's no sense in keeping her in the dark about the situation, but he does need to be careful about what he says.]
I have. The Golden Deer have been particularly antsy since your disappearance. It seems as though they are always everywhere around the monastery, occasionally poking their noses into business that is not theirs. They were particularly frustrated and upset when Xander returned with seemingly no repercussions.
From what I understand, the Archbishop permitted Xander to return, though her decision might have been swayed by a sizable donation from House Krakenburg... to sweep it all under the rug and for the church to ignore it.
[He's very careful with those words, keeping them as neutral as possible. Let Camilla come to her own conclusions about it. He's given her all the information she needs to blame the church. With any luck, it may push her closer to Lady Edelgard's side. Not that they particularly need Camilla, of course. But it wouldn't hurt to have another ally.]
The Black Eagles house remains in a difficult position. Openly turning against one of our own is ill-advised; as such, our house is the target of the Golden Deer's frustration, because we are not openly arguing Xander's presence here.
Lady Edelgard prefers to keep our house business private. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you.
[That's all she needs to know, at least. She doesn't need to know that Lady Edelgard needs to play nice for now, despite her fury with House Krakenburg. If they can last for just a little longer, the last pieces of the puzzle will slide into place and they can finally put her plans into action. It's just a matter of time.]
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It gets a tight smile from Camilla. Oh, she's angry as hell--even the church bends the knee to those dastards, it seems. Camilla has the decency, after a few moments, to bring her hand up to hide her expression some.
...Though she regrets it after a few moments because she doesn't. Exactly wear gloves, and she doesn't need him seeing the scars on her hands--]
No, I understand. Truly, I do. I would not want you to put Her Highness, nor yourself, into a terrible position with such a thing.
I do admit...this is all quite enlightening. To know that the church itself bends it's knee to Father and whatever he wishes...well, I can't say it's a good look for them. It's shameful, really.
[...]
At any rate, I do admit, I have found this apparent stalemate between our houses deeply unfavorable. [Camilla's hands fold back in front of her, her expression at least a little unreadable; neutral because she doesn't quite know what to do with it.] But I hardly think it fair to place the frustration upon the Black Eagles for something that they have no control over. I haven't the faintest idea if my lord will express irritation for going over his head with such a thing, but...
I shall attempt to speak to the Golden Deer about this, and see if we cannot put our frustrations aside and focus our ire on the true culprits. I cannot promise that we will not continue snooping around, but...I shall endeavor to see if we can avoid putting the Black Eagles into a dangerous spot.
[She quite likes a few of them, after all.]
...Ideally, I would not mind working together to free you lot of the burden of his presence. But I would rather Father not get further ideas, hm?
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He didn't really need the confirmation, but he has it now. Something deep within him burns, a fire that was stoked years ago and hasn't gone out since. It's only more fuel for that fire.]
Certainly. I have already considered eliminating Xander myself, but regrettably, it is entirely too dangerous to Lady Edelgard to go through with such plans.
[WELL DAMN, HUBERT]
I do appreciate it, however. If you are able to ease the tension between our two houses, that will only make things easier on Lady Edelgard.
[And perhaps more importantly, her plans.]
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[CAMILLA NO, STOP BEING AN ECHO CHAMBER YOU FUCKS
At any rate, this is the closest to...well, anything resembling humor anyone's gotten out of Camilla in weeks, so congrats, Hubert.]
I imagine it will, yes. I would ideally like to make things easier on us all, if mostly out of spite for whatever Father is trying to do.
[Camilla eases her expression back a bit to something a little more normal and neutral, though. She could leave now, but...]
I do believe I owe you an apology for stalking you all day for such...inane reasons. Tell me, might there be a way I could make up for such a mistake? Perhaps any questions you might have for me; I'll certainly answer what I can, that does not put my lord in harm's way.
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That's interesting. He hadn't expected her to open herself up for questions. There are plenty of things he could ask, but quite frankly, he doesn't need to know about the experiments that were performed on her. He has a good enough idea judging from her hair and eye color, after all. It's likely that she suspects as much about Lady Edelgard now that she's experienced it first hand, but he can't be the one to confirm that. So for now, it's best not to ask anything close to that - for both her sake and for Lady Edelgard's.
So he'll skip over those questions. She might expect them, but even he isn't callous enough to do something like that.]
I'm curious about the people who were speaking of my involvement. Were you able to get a good look at them? Were they from House Krakenburg?
[That's the logical assumption, but he can't rule out the possibility that they were from House Vestra. If Duke Garon plans to turn against House Vestra, he might have already won over some of their men. As irritating as it is, it's a possibility he can't ignore.]
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So she's genuinely thankful when he focuses on asking about what she remembers of House Krakenburg, and Camilla does what she can to recall it.]
I'm afraid not. Father's basement only has scant light near where they keep their test subjects, so I was not able to make out any physical details for most of them; House Krakenburg's personal guard were the ones who dealt with us directly, and at best, I imagine they were simply planted there for the sake of whatever plan there was. They spoke as if they took direct orders from you, but I could truly only make our their voices...
[...Camilla's look does briefly spark a bit, though--as she thinks hard, and recalls something specific.]
Well, for all except one. The only one who I saw was a rather...odd looking old man. His skin was almost deathly pale, and his hair was as well; he had all manner of wrinkles in his head, and his eyes...I could have sworn that they were almost entirely black. But the outfit he wore was quite odd; he looked like a dark mage, but he had some sort of strange...pendant on him, or something of the sort, and had a cane. I heard his voice speaking among them, as if he were a part of them, but...
I'm afraid I cannot recall much else about him, other than that he stole away one of my brothers who had been successfully experimented on.
[...rip Leo, basically]
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There's only one person that could be - Solon. It isn't surprising to know that Those Who Slither in the Dark are involved in these experiments and involved with House Krakenburg, but knowing that Solon was among them... This is bad. Lady Edelgard will need to know this right away. If they've managed to miss this, then what else have they missed?
If Solon was involved with them, then it's likely that he pinpointed Hubert for a reason. Those Who Slither have seemed a bit antsy with Lady Edelgard lately, but he hadn't thought they'd turn against them - Lady Edelgard's plans align with their own vision, don't they? What is the point of this, then? If Solon was responsible for pinning the blame on Hubert, then it's likely he figured Camilla wouldn't kill him, since that would only be detrimental to their plans—
No, he can puzzle all this out later. Now isn't the time. He doesn't have the time or resources he needs to work this out in front of Camilla.
He gets his expression back under control.]
I see. I believe I may know who you are talking about... but I can't be certain. Did you witness anyone else of interest while you were there?
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No, I'm afraid. Truly, I'm surprised Father would allow an outsider so far in...he's always been a very private man.
[...Wait, actually--]
But...hm. This may not be relevant to you at all, but that old man spoke of someone called...'Kronya'. That she would be prepared very soon, for what they had in store.
[...That's likely not promising at all.]
But other than that...I'm afraid I did not find anyone, or anything else of interests. The basements were new to me, but the castle hasn't changed in the slightest other than some of the new wives.
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It feels like they're trying to keep grains of sand from slipping through their fingers. It's only a matter of time before Those Who Slither have no more use for Lady Edelgard.]
I see. Thank you for the information.
Is there anything else, or shall I take my leave?
[He's clearly distracted now, though he hasn't dismissed Camilla outright. He's still looking at her, but it's obvious his thoughts are very far away from their conversation.]
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No, that is all I have, I'm afraid.
[...]
Please, for the sake of Her Highness and yourself, stay safe.
[...Camilla's going to stay the docks for a little while longer and get some fresh air, and so she doesn't have to go to sleep, so he's free to leave. Camilla will even move out of the way for him.]
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[It isn't something he can guarantee, of course, but the response is nearly automatic. He nods at Camilla - both as thanks and as farewell - and takes his leave. There's much to discuss and consider; plans to be made and scrapped, and plenty more work to do.]