#like she adores Teia--she thinks she's good for Viago--and many of the other Crows she's worked alongside for so many years

[antivanism]

just thinking about Viago and Bianca training under House De Riva as kids.

that's it, that's the post.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Family for your wip game???

This is one of those "2am on my phone" snippets that might or might not make it into the main fic for A Working Relationship, in some form or another. (Rookanis, Pre-Game)

WIP Folder Game

“Dearest Lucenzo,” I read, “’I’ll always think fondly on those summer days. Remember, as the season grows warmer, what I was always best at. May this gift, and the scribe that has been seconded from my House for your journey, bring good fortune to you and yours. What stories I might hear when the whole family is back together!”

I flipped over the letter. “It’s unsigned,” I told Luca, “But it's Teia's writing. Have you two worked together?”

“Shit,” swore Luca with feeling. “Give that to me.”

I handed the bit of parchment to him, and he cast it into the fire.

Luca’s eyes flicked between me and the blackening parchment, and he used the fire poker to break up the ashes for good measure. He sighed.

I eyed the poker, warily.

“You have good friends,” Luca told me, setting it in the stand by the fireplace and not meeting my eyes. He drew away from me, further into the room, and I followed with just a little hesitation. “Teia specializes in killing cruel men, and I’ve seen firsthand how effective she is at it. She's brilliant, deadly, and adored by most of the other Talons, but that doesn't mean threatening me was without risk.”

“You're not de Riva or Cantori, then.”

“No, and if Teia wanted to make a play against me, she might be one of the few people that my Talon would allow to get away with it—as long as she succeeded.”

He raised a hand to rub at his eyes, and I caught the hand halfway to his face.

“Don't make a habit of that near things Viago might have touched,” I advised, handing Luca a cloth that I had doused in a neutralizing situation. “Even if he just wants to ruin your day, you won't soon forget it.”

“My thanks, then,” he said, glancing up at me as he took it.

“What would happen if you told your Talon?”

“I'd be punished for not handling it myself,” said Luca, matter-of-fact, “But if someone wanted to sow division between the Houses? A Talon threatening an important member of another House would do that.”

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. “She put the Crows at risk? For me?”

“Talons play many, many games when it comes to their potential successors,” said Luca, “The request likely came from Viago. I don't take offense, if that's what you're worried about. And Bolivar did worse, by calling for your indirect assassination.”

“You're helping me, though. Even if it wasn't a major risk, how much reward was there, really?”

Luca looked up from where he was wiping his hands. “I overreacted. The message was oblique. It would have been hard to pinpoint me as the subject.”

I studied him. There was something too accepting about his tone, and he hadn't stopped moving around the room since I'd started reading the letter. “Luca,” I said slowly, “Maybe you need to be less worried about protecting all of us.”

He gave me an unimpressed look. “Maybe you should learn to value when you're important to someone.”

“Are you jealous?” I asked without thinking.

-

Notes from the translator, Enchanter Alan Adams [not yet beta'd]:

SWEARING: The original passage reads, “'Mierda,’ juró, alargando las sílabas” or “'Shit,’ he swore, drawing out the syllables.” Since it was difficult to preserve the exact phrase, I have chosen to focus on the author's intended tone.