#the lonely bard - phenex

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

duke?

do u... still hate

y'know

my. kind?

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

duke?

do u miss him?

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

duke?

do you hate me?

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...

I'm listening. I'm, going to assume we both are. go ahead.

i...

i'm phenex. a marquis.

and im the first hybrid in existence.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

Talk to the others.

I can't be the go between unless I can talk to both.

Assure that one won't run, one won't chase. On both sides.

i'm not running.

this court is my home. i'd never run from it.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...

I-

I'm sorry.

No one should have to feel that way.

it's fine.

not like im not used 2 it!

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...she's lucky she didn't end up imprisoned. I think.

but quite frankly that felt like a very brazen, very effective distraction, and now I'm very concerned.

and imprisonin her went fantastically for us last time.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

squish balls are fricking awesome? I have like four just sitting on my desk, but-

as for eating him... didn't he taste like rotten meat? I realize that's probably a strange question for me to be asking...

yeah.

we've both had worse.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...not doing something, just. nit being willing to reveal something. but-

...

Duke Valefar? this tool is meant to be first and foremost to be a tool to answer to your hand until the king's return. leaving it open to be used against more than just the two can be taken as both a strength, and a vulnerability, but as ut will answer primarily to you-

with the rest of the proposed m!a remaining the same, which would you rather?

please, duke?

trust me?

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

twice she's come into the court's heart, after the prison was summoned. she remains uncaught. and if she is talked down, will it be real? can she be trusted, if she says she agrees? or will she bide her time to strike again?

tell me our options... I see five.

one, kill her.

two, talk her down, and accept that it isn't a trick. that she isn't a liar, and manipulator, and abuser, and will genuinely have a change of heart and go forth without offering threat again.

three, talk her down, and forever live with one eye open, waiting for her attack again. waiting for more to die.

four, imprison her. forever. alone. in a prison that's inescapable, which I never intended her to remain in permanently. with no built in way to ensure she's able to feed. or risk her escaping multiple times a day to let her do just this.

five, place her in a prison that isn't inescapable. guard her again. and in a year, a century, or a million years, she escapes again, and more die. keeping in mind she can just teleport out.

...

if I'm missing an option. please tell me.

the prison keeps its inhabitants alive, does it not?

i just don't want her to die. i don't-

i don't, care. what else happens to her after that.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...

I'm mortal. I've seen through our history what succession of power can do. What it can become, with enough transfers of hands, and want to limit the potential dangers it might pose beyond its specific intended purpose.

I trust the king. I trust Duke Valefar. But who he trusts, and who they trust, and who they trust in turn, it's harder to see.

...your thoughts, Duke Valefar?

please, duke?

please, just trust me. just this once. you never have to again.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

i

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...or something.

eh. sorry. like I said, it's probably unrelated. even if it would explain a lot of things if it were true, which is why I can't just let it go, even though I probably should.

you uh. you know about my tendency to have trouble with that.

i do.

srry. just picked up the phone 4 a sec. i'll get goin.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

...it is someone else I'm worried about.

Jester's right, we can try to help you, but I can't help but feel an underlying sense of dread about doing so.

can't imagine why.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

please tell duke to stop throwin flour at me

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

i'd accept an editable list. like- somethin only changeable by the court leader. that way we can still use it, but it's not abusable.