The sudden bellows-blast of rage didn't last long, and Quinn slumped back down into a chair, looking vaguely sick.

"[color=skyblue]...You don’t have to do this. I…we don’t want you to have to do this.[/color]"

Quinn [i]laughed[/i] then, a thin flat thing totally devoid of humor or joy. A death rattle. "[color=FFE63D]You think [i]I'm[/i] thrilled about it?[/color]" She looked at her feet, and her voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. "[color=FFE63D]But there's...there's nothing we can do about it, right?[/color]"

She wasn't particularly savvy in politics, but she'd picked up a thing or two from Besca. "[color=FFE63D]Fine, I get out of it. What then?[/color]" She left no time for responses before continuing: "[color=FFE63D]We lose Casoban, right? And then what happens to the Aerie?[/color]"

She shook her head and looked down at her hands. They were trembling again, but her mind was clear as it could reasonably be, under the circumstances. That bolt of [i]pride[/i]—unexpected, but not unwelcome—that had punched through her mind from [color=black]Quinnlash[/color] stabilized her some. Enough to keep her together, at least. "[color=FFE63D]I'm terrified. You have no idea how terrified I am. I have no idea how I'm even speaking right now, when all I want to do is run back to my dorm, curl up under my covers, and cry until I wake up from this bad dream.[/color]" 

A deep, shaky breath. Another. A third. Three deep breaths, in and out. "[color=FFE63D]...But I—I can't. So...[/color]" she dropped her head into her hands. No. [i]NO.[/i] She absolutely could not. There wasn't anything she could do, or anyone else. She turned to Besca. "[color=ffe63d]...I'm drawing today.[/color]" She blinked, and for just that moment she was that terrified child again. The one who'd woken up screaming. The one who'd latched onto Besca in a death grip, and begged her not to leave. The one who'd cried her eyes out into Dahlia's shoulder, apologizing for killing her father. Who'd barely made it through her first phase.

Then she blinked again, and—at least for the moment—that child was gone.