Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Varric]

Varric cocks his head to the side. "Hmmm. My office is locked, warded and trapped when I'm not in it. Both of the twins have mabari so if you see a massive dog around, they're more intelligent than most dogs and utterly devoted to their twin. They're only aggressive to threats and they know both of you are guests. Seeker Helene, a samsaran- blue skin, white eyes, black hair- is not a child despite their appearance- oracle burden, a voluntarily chosen curse to better serve the gods and is neither male nor female: use they, them, their and so forth. Merrill, the only pureblood elf in the house, was recently hurt, so people are a bit... ruffled at the moment." After a moment, he shrugs. "That's all I can think of to warn you about."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Goodness," she laughs. "Your life sounds so complicated. I suppose Nyra does have it's disadvantages."

[Varric]

"Fate enjoys a good story," Varric quotes, tone a bit bitter. "Your own life hasn't exactly been... smooth either, from what I understand."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"For the most part it has. I am the daughter of a blacksmith, after all. Our life didn't get very complicated. Not until I started adventuring, anyway. We didn't have the money for the sorts of magic you describe, even if it had been available in Glaley."

[Varric]

"Money? Aside from the wards, none of that magic was paid for in coin," Varric says after a moment's thought. "More... sweat, blood and tears kind of things. Regardless, yes, Nyra can be more... creative, but less corrupt in her dangers. It's a trade-off." Also, blacksmith my arse. Not unless you left real young (I know blacksmiths, girlie, and you've never worked a forge in your life). Possible she means 'merchant blacksmith' but... Not important.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Corruption," she laughs. "Nyrans do seem obsessed with how corrupt Glalians are. I'm certain your guards are just as bribable, your nobles just as detached, your protectorates just as poor, as any in Glaley."

[Varric]

"Eh, I've seen the numbers for both," Varric says. "We have our flaws, sure, but we don't make a damned game of it." He pauses a moment. "Also, I just realized you guessed wrong- still getting used to it. It's, uh, actually Lord zi'Tethras..." He stares at the wall for a second or two. "Gods that's weird to say."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Goodness! I've never been in the presence of a Lord before," she says, fumbling to her feet. "Allow me to curtsy more properly." 

[Varric]

Varric stares a moment. "Okay, some advice? Don't try that after that flawless curtsy you did when you walked in. People don't learn how to do that for no reason. If you weren't noble, you interacted with them pretty often."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She blinks at him, doe-eyed. "Truly? You honor me, m'Lord." 

That said, she executes another, deeper curtsy: one more proper to his station. "I have interacted with minor nobility, on occasion, but never a Lord-- pardon, a Guiding Light, is it? That would be akin to our High Judges, would it not?"

[Varric]

"Eh, not really. Lights create policy, we don't enforce it. That's done by the guard and the courts. High Judges create and moderate the laws. Allows for more... well, corruption." He waves that off. "But I doubt you want a civics lesson right now. I was sworn in less than a month ago, I only thought of it because I've been able to see the full records now and yeah, unless our spies are getting seriously hoodwinked, we're doing a lot better than Glaley. If nothing else, our enslavement rate- for people being taken out as slaves or slaves being moved through here- has gone done twelve percent this last decade to nine as opposed to Glaley's horrifying increase of thirty-eight percent to roughly eight hundred in the same time frame, though that assumes we didn't miss any, which I'm sure we did." Number would have been even higher if it hadn't dropped to ten, elven, eight and then fourteen (rounded) in the last few years. Wished I'd had those numbers when Carver made noises about moving there earlier (got'em if he repeats at least) but... Gods that place is a shithole. 

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I see," she says with a small smile. "That's good to hear."

Also probably hogwash, something in the back of her mind grumbles. Give me a week and I'm sure I can find slavers.

"I know many who were taken by slavers. It's one of the reasons I left Glaley."

[Varric]

Can't blame her- for leaving or for not trusting my word. "Have more than a few ex-slaves in my employ," Varric replies, giving Cindy's hair a lingering look. One in fact that has rather similar hair, when he's not dying or otherwise hiding it... "Did you have any other questions? Objections, requests, observersations?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"No," she says slowly. "I mostly am concerned with my recovery at the moment. Though, speaking of," she says as she sits back down. "Darling, could you fetch me a glass of water? It seems my throat has become unused to casual conversation," she says, to Garrett.

He looks at her a moment, then nods, getting to his feet and heading for the door. Once he's gone, she leans forward, narrowing her eyes a touch.

"How has he been?" she asks, her voice lowering in volume, clearly fine. "Be blunt. We haven't much time."

[Varric]

"Barely functional. Desperately gripping to the idea of you waking up and taking control of her life again. That accident Merrill was in? Suicide attempt after Carver break up with her rather nastily while drunk because he bumped into Garret in her Liz face. Evidently seeing his dead sister walking around just fine and evidently happy broke something in him. So he's a ball of self-loathing and doubt, Merrill is paralyzed from the waist down and with a lot of memories missing and Beth is repressing hard and fighting back her own issues of doubt, self-hatred and guilt. Given Liz became Garrett because she was worried about facing her siblings, I rather doubt she'll handle that well," Varric says crisply. "She needs help, a lot of it. Actual help, not that shit they did where you were."