Chicken in the fox's house

Robert assured Daiyu he'd be by once she had a chance to settle in. He makes good on his promise with a punctuality that is borderline rude. Indeed, it is just after dinner on the day of their return to Eas that he announces his presence with a forceful 'wham wham wham' upon her door, that echoes and re-echoes down the stone corridor.

Hey. It's a castle. Subtle knocks don't work.

The voice that follows is no less forceful, again likely due to construction. "It's Robert," he bellows. "Are you decent?"

By 'settled in' Daiyu had expected to locked in a cell. Or at the very least dumped in the equivilent of low economy rooms... So she was a bit taken aback by Wake insistantly putting her in her own quarters, and not far from the Baroness' chambers.

But it did allow her space to be with herself, and try to sort through the various thoughts that she could, honestly, finally have freely. But now she wasn't entirely sure where to go, what to do, how to make up for some of the more harsh things she had do--

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

--Ears flick at the pounding, and the voice that follows. "Who's definition of decent?" she quips back. Gives it a moment to pass before adding, "But if you mean in appearances, yes, I am in appropriate states."

It's likely no surprise to find her in a chair, with one of the books she'd been provided from the library.

    Having pulled guard duty last night, Elly is short on sleep. Not that she was worried, after all, she could always sleep at home. You know, with the war moved away from her walls, the castle is deliciously quiet. Just the ever present song of the falls and the occasional whisper of the wind. And the pounding and shouting of... wait.. who is that?

    There is the sound of motion (no doubt to get a robe) and the door of the Baroness' chamber swings open. A few swift paces when she sees someone is bothering Daiyu, and she will simply settle in behind Robert.

    "Is this man bothering you, Lady Daiyu?" she asks curiously. It is rare to see the baroness looking dishevelled as she does in the moment, but her posture never fails. Exhausted or not, she strikes an imperious pose which is only somewhat ruined by a sleepy smirk.

"I fully intend to bother Lady Daiyu," Robert announces, marching in without giving any definition of the word 'decent'--probably because any real response might constitute a war crime at this point. The voice that sounds suddenly over his shoulders causes his head to swivel around. His eyes bug, there is a sharp 'gah!'. But oh, it's just Elly. So in he goes, taking up a position against the wall and linking his hands behind his back.

Fed? Good. Book? Good. Swanky quarters right under the Baroness's eyes? Perfect. "Though it need not follow, I hope, that the bothering is entirely unwelcome. I trust your quarters are suitably comfortable?"

Daiyu smirks faintly as the knocking has also stirred Wake to waking and she decides to check in. "Maybe, but it is expected," she goes along with it. Her demeanor is still composed, but it seems more... natural. Fluid. Not the rigid stoicness she'd presented across the battle lines. But if this is the 'real' Daiyu is still to be seen. It could just be a phase of adjustment. "You should sleep, you've troubled yourself over me much more than your share already."

A slip of paper is tucked between pages as she closes the book. No folding corners. No true bibilophile would do that to a book. "Suitable? This is more than I could have ever anticipated." The book is set aside. Tails remain curled about the legs of her chair. "Is this how you treat all of your captives?" she half-jokes. Wake doesn't see her as such, but she's not so certain about the others yet.

    Elly will close the door behind herself and lean back against it. She shakes her head, "I am quite well, Lady Daiyu. I cannot leave my honored guest with this rogue!" She's joking. Mostly.

    She smiles at the mention of a captive. "I'm generally not important enough to hold anyone captive. But I would say you and I are both captives to Tae's cooking. It's more difficult to escape than the bars of any prison."

    She gives Robert a curious glance. She's not entirely sure what his visit is about, of course. She will certainly be asking, unless it's very, very clear.

"The crowns have thrown off all norms of how one deals with prisoners of war," Robert acknowledges with a sigh, hands spreading in an almost helpless sort of gesture. "After battles there's no option; it's bulk incarceration then post-sorting. But when it comes to operations such as this one, there's considerably more leeway. And so, in your case."

He gestures about himself expansively.

"Here you are. Wake adores you, hence your status. While I similarly regard you highly, I'm afraid my visit is more practical. Specifically, I was hoping you might give some thought as to what you want the Palace Lands to look like."

"What is it they say? More flies with honey than vinegar," is Daiyu's response to the comment about being a prisoner of Tae's skills. "Full meals are few and far between on a military venture, so yes." To be fair it is probably more effective than bars and locks. Besides the fact that she's a skilled lockpick and escape artist.

Fingers are steepled together idly, but then she tilts her head a bit at Robert's remark. It's not nearly as expressive as the tails but even her hair seems to swish more freely without the restraint of headgear. "I am not certain I understand what you mean."

    "I certainly hold Lady Daiyu in the highest regard," replies Elly. "And you need not use that formal name. Elly is what I prefer among friends." She moves from the door to stand closer to Daiyu.

    She's curious what her guest is reading. The libary of course is at her disposal, so she can read as she pleases. But perhaps she can recommend something. Or more likely, someone who reads far more than her might have some.

    Robert's question gets the kind of response she'd expect. The priestess, baroness, stubborn, sleepy woman has little to add, though she will say, "It is a rather broad question, Robert. Perhaps you can put some structure to it."

SpritesHero's head cants to the side, inquisitive, eyes bright and oddly bird-like for the briefest of moments. He considers, eyes flicking upwards, then shrugs. An expressive little 'touche'.

"Fair," he decides. There is a reconsidering silence, and then he continues. "As you are probably aware, we have little choice other than to counter-invade the Palace Lands. I have no idea how well this venture is likely to go in practice, but I would make the case that the society of your homeland is...ill enough that a genuine war effort might be more difficult than one might otherwise think. Leading by outright compulsion is, at best, a path full of thorns, and yet your leadership seems wedded to the strategy. So. If not them, then what?"

Daiyu mouths a brief 'oh' as Robert explains in a bit more detail, after notibly frowning at the 'counter-invade'. Immeadiately shakes her head. "Invasion is not what you want. You would only be supporting their original concerns and fears of what Yamato's Adventurers would be like. And you see how it faired here. While we may of had the upper hand in power and numbers at first, yours quickly adapted. Innovated. Banded together because you knew it had to be so, not because you were forced into it."

She leans forward in her seat, gesturing a bit with her steepled fingers. "Why our leaders chose the path they have driven their lands into action upon even I am not privy to. But they are unlikely to budge from it in the face of direct confrontation... But as you have some of the crownless rebels amongst your numbers, I assume you are aware that not everyone in the Palace Lands are in the leadership's locksteps."

    Elly is a bit too relaxed to delve deep into strategy or political matters. She is just here for pleasant conversation. Plus she does fully intend on doing more than just protecting Daiyu. She wants to ensure she is comfortable.

    Robert's points are a matter of concern. Oddly, Elly has not even thought that far. But obviously the war will just go on. They never end so smoothly. There must be some resolution, though it is hard to imagine an ending that will go well.

    Something Daiyu says jars her memory a bit, and she notes, "I heard it was a prophecy of some kind that inspired Laira to start this awful business of crowning. I do not know if that is true or not, nor do I know any details of the prophecy. I do agree that there is no hope to conquer by power alone. I fear it would be a disaster for us, even moreso than it was for those who came here."

SpritesHero smiles. Grimaces really. There's a sharp inhalation. "I'm not sure that we have a choice, Daiyu," Robert acknowledges. "The thought of conducting operations in a hostile territory...to be frank does not appeal. At all. Nonetheless, I am not sure I see an alternative. Your leaders, to my knowledge, evacuated. No negotiation. No peace terms. They evacuated. We may have won the battles here but the war is not over. And even if I -could- convince people here--which I probably cannot--the fact of the matter is that it seems your leadership is perfectly happy to keep on fighting until whatever end they envision. Let's say we do stay here. How is that different from hiding in our burrows until they can come up with a weapon to deal with us? Your mass ritual magic was an unpleasant enough surprise, you know."

A tailtip flicks, and Daiyu shakes her head again. "You somewhat misunderstand what I am saying, Robert." It's followed by a pause as she unsteeples her fingers to use one hand and adjust her spectacles from the head motions. "I am not saying you should not try to intervene in what has gripped the Palace Lands. I am saying that simply invading the invaders is going to only just reaffirm whatever ideas they were fed and continue a cycle."

The foxwoman settles back into her chair, picks up a cup of tea from the table next to it that she had during her reading session. "I am saying not to simply charge in, for retribution and glory. Do not rush the beast only on what others have told you, as they had. Do what they did not. Learn of your enemy. Find those who are not under their thumbs... and fight with more than combat and magic."

A pause to sip her tea. Then, "If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat."

    Elly falls quiet, smiling at the advice of Daiyu. There is no need to say a thing, really. It is simply true. She does settle into a chair. And does not at all look to be getting so comfortable that she might fall asleep if she is not careful.

    She folds her hands in her lap, looking at Robert closely, waiting for his reaction to this suggestion. In this room, she trusts there are no dreams of conquest or glory. Those things are rarely worth pursuing and even more rarely lay long in the hands of those that grasp for them.

SpritesHero lifts his hand, as though to forestall Daiyu's advice on this front. "I understand your point, Daiyu. I even agree with it. You plot the path to victory. Even many paths to victory. My question is somewhat different. What is the end? Victory, obviously, but what other than that? I do not think we can afford to win, if we win, and then answer this question. After all, does not the end affect the means used to achieve it? Affect -which- groups one collaborates with?"

His lips purse and he leans his head back against the wall. One, two, three thunks. And then his eyes open once more. "Which I suppose brings us back to my first question. What do you want your Palace Lands to look like after this war, Lady Daiyu?"

There is a few thoughtful moments. And then an accepting nod. "Mayhaps I also misunderstood part of the context of the line of questioning," she admits. Resumes her relaxed position in the chair. One of the benefits of her tails being an even number is they maintain a visual balance, a pair to each side curled around the sides. Occasionally a tip will twitch, but they remain still otherwise.

"For us, being tra--" she stops herself. Changes her mind on phrasing, "Living here gave many a freedom never before had. To be able to choose for ourselves, even if Landers controlled most of what the world had and did. Many... did not know how to handle this freedom of choice, as we had no direction or prophetic visions as you were given. So instead oppritunity was squandered. Jealous and greed rose, wanted what the Landers had. The Landers, the leadership of the land, clamped down in return. I do not know where those accursed Crowns came from or how they made more, but at the time they seemed like providing the guidance that was lacking. By the time it was apparently otherwise," a long sigh, "it was too late."

Then she seems to realize that she is getting partially off on a tagent, aheming softly into a clenched fist. "Choice with no knowledge or guidance how to choose is almost as bad as no choice at all. My people need to be taught how to live with that capacity that they did not have, and take the oppritunities of this world instead of envy or horde them."

Daiyu pauses, a hand almost subconciously lifting to her brow. But there is no longer a thing to try and curb her from thinking freely on the matter. It's just a force of habit. Or maybe reassuring herself that this isn't just some long elaborate dream.

    "It will not be growing back, Lady Daiyu," murmurs Elly. It is a gentle assurance, with a little bit of playfulness to it, of course. She lets her eyes drift shut then. It feels comfortable to do so. She is not yawning, of course. That would be rude. But she shifts subtly in her seat and manages to get far more comfortable along the way. It is like her body is yawning completely as she settles in.

    "Choice can be a set of shackles," she agrees quietly. "Wandering a world without any idea of how to set one's own limits is a dangerous thing, indeed. Whether we are aware of them or not, limits do exist."

    She sighs softly and moves a little bit more in the seat. Like every chair in the castle, it is delightfully comfortable, and she draws her legs up to get more comfortable. She remains decent, of course, though one might wonder just how on earth that can be managed with her eyes shut and nothing but a light robe on to achieve it. Regardless, she achieves it with graceful ease.

Robert listens attentively enough from his position on the wall, until Daiyu has finished. "And which of the..." He pauses, then, eyes drifting towards the Baroness in her light robe. The frown deepens. He utters an audible sigh, unslings his cloak, and neatly tosses it in Wake's general direction. The toss is on-target. But not exactly gentle.

"And which of the current leadership," he continues, "do you think would be willing to embrace such a society? Which would tolerate it? Which would be against it? How much have they undermined themselves through the use of crowns, in practice?"

"Kallamore is the least... overall restrictive. The Crowns were treated as a status symbol, a means to accomplish and maintain a higher level of social standing." Daiyu frowns, mostly at herself, as she speaks. "Though it seems like no one is entirely sure if one person is operating the show there, or if it is just many of the wealthy and ... exploitive." Its now, in hindsight with a clear mind, that she sees how foolish that was. Even if at the time it felt like the right thing. Both to help her new home and maintain the public stature she had achieved for herself, and not on the fame of her former life.

"Even the wise can be foolish..." she mutters briefly under her breath. And decides to just move on.

"You already know how the Queen has been lead onto this path. Somehow she was made to believe this would protect her people from outward threats, as she still cares very much for them." The frown returns. "Thor... Thor is the tough one. Their leader was directly wronged by Adventurers and their machinations. He is the least likely to be able to convince straight forth."

    Is Robert baiting Elly with that last question? It might be the case. She does not bite, though. In face this entire topic doesn't seem to bother her in the least! She maintains a very even, calm expression. It's almost angelic, really. If not for the way she slumps comfortably against the high back of the chair, one might almost imagine she's not half-asleep!

    Honestly, with the way her smile is growing softer, it would be wiser to bet on a fair amount more than half-asleep. It was a long night and this is a very comfortable chair. As for reaction to having clothing thrown at her? There was nothing much there, other than a slight quirk of her left eyebrow. Really? Throwing things at her? She will have to discuss this with Robert at a time that provides her with the greatest advantage.

"Logic always has been and always will be a slave to emotion," Robert reasons with a wry twisting of his lips. His shrug is easy and self-deprecating, a zen sort of helplessness without despair. "And reason will always serve the final, desired state rather than being impartial. So it sounds like when group that can potentially be negotiated with. One that will require the heat to slowly be turned up. And one where..." Another grimace. "Well. I suppose that tells us where we need to focus on finding replacements. Though certainly knowing more about everyone would be exceedingly useful. Good thing we have you and the other uncrowned to provide perspective."

"If they will trust me," Daiyu sighs. "Not that would expect them to immeadiately after. I certainly would not trust myself just because that thing is gone..." A shrug of her own. "You two are here because you got to know me, even when I was not entirely myself. Others... will take time. If at all. But that is for me to find a way through." It will be an uphill battle. There are things she will never be able to entirely recoup for. But she will try. If she's even allowed to. If it's ever safe for her to walk out of Eas. "But there is a chance. Oppritunity is only wasted when it's not pursued."

    Elly's contributions to this conversation are only delivered in her dreams, it seems. She is quite comfortably asleep now. Barring some outburst, she will be basking in a very pleasant slumber. The soft, distant sound of voices is comforting, somehow.

    The cloak gets adjusted to better cover her legs. It is, after all, February in the mountains, and it is chilly. This may be the only way to keep her from butting-in on the conversation! It also ensures she will not be scolded for failing to properly catch-up on her sleep. Which is a bonus.

Again, that faint flicker of a smile. "I do hope you don't mind if the Baroness spends the night here," he comments with a sideways tilt of his head. "I'm afraid you might not have a choice. I expect she does not snore though." Beat. Again, that upward flick of his eyes. "Probably," he hastily amends. With which comment he pushes off the wall to make his own departure. "Patience. I'm sure Elly will let you use her facilities for her training. And whether you're immediately trusted or no, I should think you are greatly needed."

He bows. "Goodnight, Daiyu. And welcome back."

Daiyu glances over. Smiles a little herself. "At least she is sleeping." She finishes the end of her tea, setting the empty cup aside. She will return it to Tae in the morning. "I think she has the right idea, though. I am still not fully back up to capacity yet." Pause. "Or I am and it doesn't feel like it because the perspective is different." Then a shrug as her tails uncurl so she can rise from the chair. "Either way, a new story is starting, and this time I am my own author again." She returns the bow with her own. "Thank you for checking on me, Robert. It gives some hope that I have people willing to look beyond what I was made do."