here comes the new boss, definitely not the same as the old boss

[ipseite]

FORM: Crystal.
SENDER: Petrana de Cedoux.
RECIPIENT: Everyone.
WHAT: New boss introduces herself.
WHEN: Now
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: division page!

Good evening - my name is Madame de Cedoux, ( she is not in the habit of giving out her first name, given the blithe tendency of so many to casually throw those around when they have them, ) and henceforth I shall be taking over as head of division for diplomacy from Mssr Trask. All affairs that were previously passing through him, I will now be overseeing; please speak with me if any matters are pressing. I am, as some of you may be aware, from beyond the rifts; I can only allow my work to speak for itself on my readiness for this position.

( She'd considered making this message for the division alone, but given the work - and the fact she's relatively sure at least one of her project leaders is seconded from another division - it's probably better to broadly introduce herself and narrow it down as necessary from there. )

At earliest convenience I would also like to speak with Mademoiselle Bonaventura and Mssr Elris. If I am not in my office, please contact me by crystal to arrange a meeting.

Comments

[foxsays]

[Even if for misguided reasons Araceli's project reports to the leader of forces, a model ship isn't going to go amiss here. Something small and tasteful that won't look too out of place. Kirkwall is good for getting your hands on just about anything compared to Kirkwall and havig to go all the way to Rivain or Orlais.

(Perhaps the name of the tailor to send measurements to, appearances can be everything as she was taught time and time again in her life. Hightown might be good but Araceli's fond of this particular seamstress.)]

I did hope when I joined this division that I would be of assistance. [She settles into a seat, remembers Trask and how utterly frustrating it had been--] Nearly two years here in Thedas and I wish to make a difference, outside of the navy, I think that from when we have spoken before that there are things we agree on. That there is a way of doing things and being able to speak to one another that is regrettably very rare here.

[Things she misses, things that make her ache in her bones where this could all be Castileos if she closed her eyes and just let herself pretend for a moment if she were given to that sort of thing. Just let the world fade away at the edges and it could nearly be home. But she can't and she won't. This is real and there's work to do and she's been here too long now to indulge outside of her dreams and the borders of sleep.]

[ipseite]

I think that that is so.

( When she lays her hand against the side of the teapot, a glyph-shape lights there under her fingers, and the pot steams gently - tea. Settle in, for they have much to speak of: )

Enchanter Elris has accepted a position as something of an assistant to me - he will take the office adjacent and I will require, I expect, a great deal of him. It is important that we are not seen to be alien things conspiring alone at the top of a tower, and perhaps another choice might have been...

( A rebel elven mage is a different, equally strong statement to be making. )

Nevertheless, he is my choice. But I have made it, in part, because I wish to have you at my right hand and on the other side of that office - my best used asset in the field and out of it. You are the most suitable to work most closely with me, and for that -

( She offers the tea. )

- we must understand one another. I would like us to, as the idiom goes, lay our cards upon the table. If it makes you more comfortable, I am ready to go first. But I think we need to know what we work with.

[foxsays]

[Small magic like this catches her eye - she doesn't see it so often, see it when people fight, some when there were repairs or the healing she avoids but this...it makes her smile.]

Do too little, you are idle, you expect much and the whispers start. Do too much, you are too ambitious and the whispers start. The Inquisition is about setting a course for the future of Thedas, no? Many other project heads such as myself are rifters, elven, mages, Wardens, Dalish, dwarven. [Statements are being made already, this is carrying that forward.]

You've picked up what others haven't then. [Because she slipped. Maybe she wanted to. Maybe it's been familiar but her mouth pulls a little, slightly embarrassed because she can imagine Leliana's disapproval (she would, wouldn't she, for giving herself away?) Or Araceli recognised enough in her to feel comfortable doing it.]

I can go first. I have done so before for Sister Leliana, the Nightingale, when I began my bard training under her. [Such studies required honesty that Leliana had laid before them and it was only right to give that to her, if this is being extended to her, she can do this again only--

A pause, she rubs the base of her left thumb absently.] It's been a while since I spoke of it to anyone. There's a part of my life I leave out because when I came here, I came in the first group to arrive. When we were treated with suspicion. With hostility in some corners. And, I had no way to prove who or what I was. Allowing people to believe what they wish to believe serves me well in life when I need to get my work done either way.

I am a thief, a captain's daughter, a whore's daughter that is all true. But I am also a member of the queensguard to Leandra, Her Grace Above the Waves and had been for a good year before I came to Thedas. I was the first commoner to hold the position, the first Castilean due to rules and laws, a loophole was used: I went to steal her jewels, she had eyes on me and sent spies to ask after me, an exisiting assassination attempt became a test--

[You know how these things are.]

She inducted me on the spot, I was trained and began guarding my queen with all that entails. We attend her audiences, we go to the places she cannot, we are always there but can easily be part of the furniture if she wishes it and so forth. [The last time was the Outsider in a dream so the rules were different, before that...a long, long time ago, the tiny handful and she exhales a shuddering sigh through her nose. It's so much to hold in and keep safe to herself all the time.] I...I expect there are questions.

[ipseite]

( Fewer than there might have been, if Petrana hadn't yet had the opportunity to see of Araceli what she has - her capability, her competence. In Leandra's position, she imagines she might have done similar; set upon the throne that Marius had in mind for her, she imagines she will try to do exactly that, in fact, and can only envy the other woman for what a jewel she'd found.

The jewel is here before her, though, and she is never going to sit upon that throne. She need feel no envy, only appreciate the opportunity. )

She chose well, ( is what she settles on. ) You have been marvelously trained. I believe that you're quite right - I see no reason for this conversation to leave this room.

( Better that Araceli be able to work as she does - forcing people to see her another way, when that other way may not benefit them, that is unnecessary. It is useful for Petrana to understand the tool in her hands, but preferable - quite frankly - if others do not.

There is a pause. )

Where I am from, I am two people. I am la reine soleile; Princesse Petrana de Lamorraine, Imperatrix-in-waiting, wife of l'Duc who rides on Lamorre, his regent and his right hand. La princesse rebelle. L'Duc leads from the front, and so I rule in his stead, at his back. Where we go, so does change - so does war, I suppose.

Illegally, in the opinion of the empire which stripped me of all my rights and entitlements. There, I am the exile's whore, a traitor to the throne and church both, living only on stolen time under a death sentence for witchcraft and treason. Had I been the dutiful daughter of Lamorre that was expected of me, let him go and carried my Marquise's title to a more suitable marriage - had I remained, when he went. Our daughter would have been forfeit. They would have killed her, for what he had done. And none but those nearest me would have ever known she lived at all.

They would like very much to make an example of me. The witch. I will be blamed, always, for Marius's magic.

( Nevermind that by her own account it was her husband that taught her- )

It is much more convenient, that way.

( It is both her story and - a neat dovetailing with Araceli's own, with her logic: here is a woman who understands perception. )

[foxsays]

She would be proud to hear you say it, as would my parents. [Teach a little girl lessons when she's very small and watch how she'll manage to do those same as breathing.] Gracias, even now I can still count those who know on one hand and one of those has departed back to his own home once more.

[Again that moment where whore is used to hurt. Another world where women more than men are labelled with it and it's meant to mean something that has her stomach lurching, cheeks heating. That she does and doesn't understand it never seems to make it any easier.]

A child. [Her voice is small, that sticks and catches because she knows. She does know that bad things happen to children, no one can be so naive but it doesn't make it any less abhorrent.] Forgive me, none of that is a small or easy thing to live with even by choice. When given to us by others...

I understand. And now that we know more of one another, I hope to be better able to use the skills that I have to help. [Those that the Inquisition doesn't necessarily know about.] Same as my queen, as my fellow guards, as any lady or one in need would, you have my blade as well if ever required.