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Temples to the gods. That would help cement the loyalty of the people faster than mere words would. She breathed a little, surprised for a moment that she had been holding her breath in the first place.

Write out three thousand? "What would I use three-"

She turned her eyes to the paper in question and as she read, she lost her trail of thought. She read it once. Then even in reading it again, she started a third time. Had she read this correctly? What did it mean? Why now of all times? But then again...

She picked up the paper. It wasn't that she doubted her eyesight. She must have read what she thought she did. Perhaps it was simply because this little section of words, this poem, was not too closely attached to business. The words tumbled in her mind. She cleared her throat and tried to ask the question she didn't finish.

"What would I use the three thousand for?"



OoC:

Then there was his case. He was right, every bit of coin was needed to help Ethe, and she already could think of ways to put the coin to use. But this seemed secondary to what he shared with her and what he said. She listened to it through the lens of the poem in her hand.

Then, almost miraculously, she found something else to give her hope. Whether or not it was more than words was inconsequential. At least, in the moment this was the case. But these things she did know for certain. Dixon was fighting hard for his people. For Ethe.

Yes, that was an encouraging thought indeed. She folded the paper and tucked it away for safekeeping, to be referred back to if necessary. She took up her tea and spent a few moments in silent contemplation as she drank through its contents. As the day before, many things had happened. The word of the princess, the plans of the count, and this stranger... Lord Xerseis offering surprising support.

Who was this lord?

Dixon trusted him, yes.... She shook her head slowly and set down her empty teacup. She thanked the servants for bringing it and then excused herself from the room. She wanted to check once more on the queen before turning to bed for the night.

She approached the door and cautiously knocked on it. The queen might have been asleep. If this was the case, she would not bother the poor woman further. Sleep, true and deep sleep, was rare and hard to come by some days.

"Are you awake, lady Ophelia?"



OoC:

When the baroness returned to the palace, she directed the servants to prepare a space for the count and to call for a surgeon to tend to the wounds he had sustained. She instructed them simply with the knowledge that he had been injured while out with her. They had gone to see their goddess and rested for a spell in the petrified city of Ashon, and there, a fight ensued.

She could not bring herself to answer any further details. But as the servants moved about, as they began to talk as she knew they would, she also politely asked for as many paper and floating lanterns to be brought to bear. For as many years as the world was alive, for as many years as the heaven was aloft overhead, there was to be as many lanterns to be released that evening. She did not give a reason for why she wished this.

But some wondered if this ceremony meant to celebrate the lost wasn't because it was close to an anniversary. This would do as an explanation enough.

So, in the evening light, lanterns were made and cast into the sky, set to float along the river, and to hang from archways if they could do neither. The baroness set no limitations to the lanterns or how they should be set or colored. So, there were many colors that night... A celebration. Mourning. Memories. Hopes. Tears.

She first checked on the queen and ensured that the woman and her children were well... and then she excused herself to her room, where she waited out the rest of the night, setting a simple lantern that she painted wings onto just outside of her window, lit with a tiny candle.

Lady Chusi Chhatrapati
350EC
clothing: Blue

The golden Phoenix twirled in the air, making a fancy loop around as a single phoenix chased her. She was just above the royal abode. She looked injured, her golden feathered covered in blood as she was attacked by the other Phoenix, its claws sinking into one of her wings and throwing her, but she was able to right herself despite falling several feet and she flapped her large wings and pushed forward, grabbing the rival Phoenix's neck between her powerful beak and ripped back, pulling out several things from inside the rival phoenix's neck and watching it fall, its feathers slowly disintegrating as a guard clad in Solidonian armor would fall onto the ground with a ripped out throat.

The golden phoenix would then land and slowly the pretty feathers would vanish as well. Chusi would come out of her phoenix form running and she would fall to her knees before falling onto her back, gasping hard. "Holy s**t" she managed to get out as she took a moment to breath, those two words just ran though her head over and over again. She needed a moment to breath, she needed to breath, she couldn't breath. Chusi moved her good arm up to her chest to feel her heart. It was rushing, she hadn't felt like this in years, but it was also scary cause... she hadn't felt this way in years.

Chusi closed her good eye and breathed more and she pushed herself up with her good arm, feeling horrible as she brought her good hand to the front of her kimono and held the torn fabric together, She couldn't rest to long, what if she died from blood loss and didn't wake up. Her face stung from what must be dark bruises by now as she ran into the royal abode. A guard tried to stop her but she just shrugged him off despite the horrible pain that ran though her bones.

Doors could be heard slamming against walls as she shoved into room after room, looking for someone of importance. That's when she saw a servant leaving a room and she walked over, adjusting her hand on her cut clothing before she shoved her way into the room. She barely registered the Baroness and the Count before she leaned up against the door. Her bruised face and wild hair filled with blood from the Phoenix she had killed not more then a few minutes earlier, her own blood dried on her split lip, her one swelling cut eye...her face probably looked horrible to look at but she had no time to worry about that. Blood ran down her Kimono, almost the entire front of it was bloody either from her own blood or others, while her good arm held as much of her kimono together as she could her bad arm was limp at her side.

She looked between the Baroness and the Count, not knowing who she should speak to. Standing to long was making her dizzy and she grabbed the door handle with her bad arm, causing her to hiss and her sliced eye to sting from welling tears "Solidon is hostile" she managed to get out before falling to her knees as she was overcome with vertigo and she forced herself to hold back the bile in her throat.

((OOC: sorry for the long post, Chusi is here.... ))

She sat down, unsure of what they would talk about, and also newly anxious, but for the exact reason, she could only suppose.... there was a lot to talk about. The state of things, the unrest at the fire, the loss of the firekeepers, and the great mourning that fell among the people. There was fear.... This seemed remarkably pointed by the way the lady stumbled into the room where she and the count had been sitting.

She was quickly on her feet. She heard a servant gasp. A guarding soldier was about to apologize, but his tongue was halted. She quickly directed him to fetch the nurses and doctors, to advise them to arrive in all haste. The soldier was quickly away and at his back were other servants, those who knew the names of those they needed to talk to.

She knelt beside the lady, her cousin. Youkimi knew nothing of medicine, healing, or of the damage of war. She knew something of illness. She knew of the treatment of ashlung and of deep coughing. But blood meant damage. This extent of bleeding? She was inclined to believe that the noblewoman had been attacked.

"We need to get her to a room. Just down the hall and that way." She looked to Dixon. He was strong enough, Youkimi was fairly certain."She's teetering on consciousness."

Lady Chusi Chhatrapati
350EC
clothing: Blue

Chusi laid down, keeping her good eye open as best she could as she then looked at the ground and the blood that dripped from her body, some of it was harmless and must have been from the two guards she killed, some of the other blood began to slowly eat though the carpet. Her abdomen was going to be stitched first but as her blood seeped from her wound it would eat away at the string. Chusi sighed as she closed her good eye "Just cauterize it or find a healer" she whispered as one of them nodded slightly, bringing in a healer that did their best to heal up the wound across her abdomen. Her skin knitted back together just enough so that it would stop bleeding before it was once again stitched her up.

Her arm was then looked at, however it had stopped bleeding, so as the blood was wiped away and the cut was stitched up they then moved onto her eye which seemed to be the biggest problem. The healer managed to heal her eyelid back together so it wouldnt be cut into fourths anymore, and they washed out the blood, however the sight of the right eye since the healer couldn't heal organs. Once the healer was done and the stitching was finished they left, putting the bloody rags in a box as the servants washed their hands, however their skin had already started to turn red from her toxic blood.

Chusi looked up at the ceiling with her good eye, she felt so tired but she knew she couldn't sleep just yet. Chusi's dress was taken away and she was given a blanket to wrap herself up in since the abode didn't have anything in her size. Chusi would wait for a moment before she would say to Youkimi and Dixion "Argos seceded from Ethe and is planning to attack Antigone" she finally said after she was no longer wanting to vomit from dizziness "He's calling himself the Prince of Solidon State" she whispered.