[b]Dear Redana,[/b]

The Alcedi who flagged you down and pressed the letter to your hands is now doing her best to look like she's not reading over your shoulders, and failing badly.

This isn't Alexa's writing. You know how Alexa writes. You've seen her notebooks, each chunky serif  letter inscribed with the precision of a printing press. But the words on this page swoop and dive, each letter an experiment, surround themselves with doodles and impressionistic flowers, almost more art than word.

The letter continues:

[i]There is no easy way to say this. Molech has obtained a command seal and bound me with certain commands. It is best we do not meet; he has commanded me to kill you on sight and bring him the other seal.

I am working to subvert the commands given me as best I can. For this reason, I've asked Ti-jm to act as my scribe. If you know the commands by which I am bound, you can act more safely and we can work to  "rescue" my darling father.

First, and most damning, is the command to obey him. It is important I keep as far away from him as possible, so as to limit the number of new commands he can give.

I cannot harm him. And, frankly, I'm finding that I maybe don't want to? For so long I thought that was the only way I could be free of him, but if I don't have to kill him…

Which is good, because if he dies, I am to kill myself. I am unsure what this would entail or how it would trigger or even how I could do it, given getting handy with a melting core didn't do the trick. If you do learn he's dead, I would ask you never to tell me.

If he's lost or captured, I am to find and join him. Thus far, this has been held at by by telling myself he's not lost or captured yet, and besides we're getting to him as fast as possible, but I'm unsure what will happen once we find out the situation aboard the [i]Plousios.[/i]

If I hear anyone discussing how to overthrow or kill him, I am to kill them on the spot. Thus far, I've instructed all the Alcedi that we are rescuing him, which is not technically inaccurate. Still, it would be good to spread the word about this.

And finally, he told me to call him Molech, preceded by one of three appropriate titles. Unlikely to be useful or a hindrance, I think, not unless I can annoy him into making a mistake by using the wrong title enough. 

If you can think of any more ways to subvert these commands, please, let Ti'jm know and she'll take the response to me. But please, more than anything:

Stay safe.

P.S. Ti-jm worked very hard on this letter--she wants to be a painter, she says, and wow, it shows. I imagine it'd mean a lot to her to get a princess's thoughts on her work?[/i]

***

[b]Dolce![/b]

The knocking at your door has the air of someone who's mindful you might be asleep and doesn't want to wake you, but also won't be satisfied with knocking once and leaving.

Sure enough, the door creaks open just a crack--just enough for Alexa to peek one eye around the corner, see you sitting up, and slip the rest of herself through the door.

"I brought tea," she says, shrugging a thermos on a strap onto your bedside table and taking a seat at the bedside edge. "Mint, with a hint of lemon and more than a hint of sugar. Unfortunately, I cannot serve it for… obvious reasons, but it should keep warm until you're ready for it."

And for a time, that's all there is to it. Just the two of you and a quiet, companionable silence that does not need to be broken to be enjoyed.

But break it she does.

"… Would you like to talk about it?"

***

[b]Vasilia![/b]

"You know, I have to laugh. The first time I overthrew my father, it was for a girl."

Alexa leans against the railing, and stares pensively out the window at the stars blurring past.

"The doom laser helped hasten the decision," she admits. "But it was because he hurt someone dear to me, really. And now I find myself doing it again, and again it's because he's going to hurt someone else."

She still doesn't look at you, biting her lip with thought.

"I do wonder about that, sometimes. I was made to protect and… I talked a big game about freedom and being what you want. But then I turned around to do just what…

"I have to believe that I'm doing this because I want to. But I still worry, just a bit."