<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/7/74/20988cb18c2ca2c0d063217f759e25e1.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Carnelian Dreams (https://docs.google.com/document/d/12AIY_4pT7pV0ML8-bz_OSQbiDEz7GmHx4lBI84TZaGk/edit)</strong></span><br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>28th of Resplendent Earth, Evening after meeting to review evidence<br/><strong>Where:</strong>The City of Narthekhal, Upstairs, The Seven Flowers Bathhouse, private meeting room<br/><strong>Doing</strong>Panic<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Ryoko, Nellens, Kotone<br/><br/><br/>The body was gone, the words had fallen on wild thoughts, her own mind running away. The All-Seeing Eye, an agent dead, her future not just gone, but annihilated. Taleda was talking, what had he said, her thoughts processed the words a bit more. Wait, really? Her flesh ran cold as she worred about her own death and the destruction of all that she had touched, Willow, Ryuko, they had no future. The Forager would be crushed, in fact all of her businesses, root and branch, her friends. Then a rush of heat as her thoughts raged against his petty revenge kick, then his growing enjoyment of her humiliation. This she also crushed even as the first flames of her control broke were reigned in. Just the slightest flicker of rage flame licked across the tip of her nose, her bangs waving in the heat wave, without singing. Manage the moment, plan the frying of this ... Taleda would pay, later. After they dealt with social ramifications. Kotone was still here, for her first meeting, that would not work.<br/><br/>"What must I look like, here on the floor?" She rose, draping decorum across her shoulders to hide the shame of the instance. "Some business decisions are harder to make than others." Words, empty platitudes to shelter behind. "Thank you, Ryuko, just stand here a moment. Again she turned from everyone, but this time she took shelter behind her bodyguard. Schooling her face, her form, her body language, Carnelian Dreams pulled herself together. She could not forget the man who had died before her, but she could set him on a priority to be dealt with in time. She knew it would have to be high priority. She would not be able to hold this off long. She thought about withdrawing, no, if she took a moment, she would collapse, and could not offer that now. She had shown weakness, now, they needed to see strength.<br/><br/>"Taleda," As she stepped from the shelter of her bodyguard, she swore that she would stand with this woman until her Step mom knelt before her. It was the least she could do. "Taleda, I want his name." She laid the Bulb into his hands, a wonder of the first age, her words said more than the man on her floor, she wanted the name of those who fell in her hall as well. She would tend to their funerary costs, she just wasn't sure how to get it to discretely to their homes, yet. She did know a few smugglers now... There was a thought.<br/><br/>"My dear Rhapsody , you must think us all barbarians. I hope we can assuage your concerns that the price of life not be so cheap here in the Threshold. He will get full honors, just, they shall come in a roundabout way." She stepped past the mantle, offhandedly gathering an apple from the fruitbowl upon it. Her path continued around the room, not aimlessly, for her goal was the seat where she had been seated as ensconsed in a throne. She had collected a small bread knife from the cutting board, where fresh bread and butter lay, third thing she lifted was a small ivory figure depicting the Blessed Mountain, The Pole of Earth. As soon as the third hit her palms she began to juggle them, the smooth and repetitive motions, calming the fiery beauty.<br/><br/>"Food, wine, and frivolity, well, at least what we can accomplish in this backwater. Tomorrow night, I invite all present here, to the unveiling of my new Water Dancer team. Taleda, bring Satsuki, I understand Tepet has gone south after the investigation fiasco. We will meet at the Special-Tea Shop, I have the assurance that it will be the social event of the week, for all but the highest upon the hill. One social ring at a time, right girls?" Carnelian smiled to the two women in the room.<br/><br/>“Rhapsody dear, I offer lodging of caliber, my treat,” the entertainer offered a broad smile, just the lightest sense of manic behind the mask.