[color=8493ca][h2][center]Gertrude and Merilia[/center][/h2][/color]

Evening faded into twilight, twilight started to fade into a pleasantly still night – and then, from a higher tree branch than Gertrude's current resting spot where nothing had any business being without climbing up past her first, there was a question: "Have you still not been assigned a room, or do you just find this tree comfortable? It [i]does[/i] look tampered with…"

Gertrude sat up quickly, a small branch whipping her face as she gazed upwards. No one should have been there, but Gertrude recognized the voice. It was someone who, by all rights, should have no problem surprising her.

So in a sense, it was no surprise at all. Still, what did the old hag need from her? Gertrude imagined that geas did all the talking required between them.

“They got me a bleeding room, I just like to nap here,” Gertrude grumbled, “but what do you care about my sleeping arrangements? Surely that’s not what you came here to talk about, though I can’t imagine what you might have to say to me.”

"Can't I just want to pay my favourite apprentice a visit?" Merilia wondered, toying with a strand of hair, "If nobody had arranged for a room, I would have to make sure that the Roses still knew how to treat guests. But since they have… how would you like it if I fetch all your things from Lexie? I [i]would[/i] just swap the rooms, but that might make her mad. And the windows are such a pain~"

Gertrude frowned and crossed her arms for a few moments, just watching Merilia. Her angle. Her game. Gertrude didn’t know what it was, but…

“I was more Aleksiya’s apprentice than yours, and I’m… perfectly sodding happy with my room unadorned,” she lied.

She was being cautious. She didn’t want to owe the Witch anything. If Merilia was anything like Aleksiya, Gertrude was just a piece of entertainment picked up on a whim. That’s what it amounted to, right?

Besides, if she saw all her old stuff… she didn’t know how she’d feel. Nostalgic? Angry? Sad?

Was happiness one of those possibilities?

It [i]could[/i] hurt to find out.

"Hmm…" the older witch gave a slight frown and then was gone – or so it seemed for a moment, the branch beneath Gertrude adjusting to the new weight on her other side, the short woman [i]leaning into[/i] her. "You don't sound [i]happy[/i] about it. Resigned, a little?"

"If you truly don't want anything old, then…" It was just a sleight of hand, an elaborately-patterned playing card weaving through her fingers, adorned with some sort of bird, but it was hard to tell. She had always been good at this sort of thing, blurring the line between trickery and her actual magic.

Gertrude’s cheeks colored slightly as Merilia leaned into her. There was a time in her life when she would have smiled and wrapped an arm around the woman without even thinking about it, but the uncertainties crept up and froze her, her arm hovering trepidatiously behind Merilia’s back.

“...I just wish things were less complicated,” she mumbled, “I [i]want[/i] my shite, but I also [i]don’t[/i] want my shite and it’s bleeding [i]infuriating[/i].”

Gertrude sighed as she watched Merilia twirl a playing card between her fingers.

“Sometimes hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t, I suppose.”

Did either Witch ever really care about her? Was she crazy? Why did Aleksiya ask her to do that awful thing? Was it just entertainment? Did she think it would help? What was Gertrude supposed to think?

It was all too sodding confusing, so she’d done the only thing she could have at the time and left, only for Merilia to pick her back up again. For a job? Because she was worried?

"How about I move it in and if you [i]don't[/i] want it after, just ask and I can move it back?" the black-haired woman suggested, playing card stopping between her fingers and smoothly being slid back into the deck that [i]definitely[/i] hadn't been in her other hand until now, which in turn was encased in an elaborate wooden box. A box that promptly vanished from sight.

It was easy to ignore the sudden added weight in a pocket, or the way the witch surreptitiously straightened into the hovering arm.

"But for that, I do need to know which room it is. I don't want to start snooping around when everyone's sleeping."

“I… I suppose that works,” Gertrude grumbled, shooting a glare at Merilia, “but you’d [i]better[/i] come when I call for you, or I’ll be bleeding [i]livid[/i] like you’ve never seen.”

Gertrude went to reach for her broom, before noticing that her arm had made its way around the Witch regardless. Well, as long as it was there…

Gertrude slid her hand up the woman’s shoulder, and went to pat her head. The last time she did this, Merilia seemed to be unhappy with her. It might have been because she was angry and went far rougher than she otherwise might have, but this one would be gentle.

“...I’ll show you where I’m sleeping. Blighters have no idea how to treat a lady, so it’s just the bare essentials.”

"Well, they do tend to accommodate a lot of meatheads and career soldiers," the witch pointed out, smirking at something but not [i]objecting[/i] to the patting, "You could always pester Yaya if the furnishings aren't up to snuff; she was always one of the keenest to get the nice things. Her time in training really didn't blunt her upbringing."

"Speaking of…" the witch stiffened minutely, fingers dipping inside the sleeves of her foreign garments, "I suppose you're wondering why the geasa? On everyone else, as well as yourself?"

“Yaya,” Gertrude repeated, smirking, “didn’t know she was such a spoiled little princess.”

She remembered this being Merilia’s nickname for Tyaethe, and would have to remember to address the vampire as such moving forward. Any new avenue by which to tease Tyaethe was a welcome one.

Then, her smirk faded as Merilia brought up the geas.

“...Do you really not trust me? I’m sure it’s important, but you [i]know[/i] I wouldn’t… at least you should, right? What was I supposed to think? Guess that should teach me a lesson for thinking you actually [i]cared[/i] about me.”

Gertrude could feel the anger start to boil back up again. She’d felt betrayed. She didn’t care a whit if Merilia trusted the rest of the Knights or not, but Gertrude should have been exempt at least!

"It wasn't because I don't trust you, or even some of the knights," Merilia shook her head, eyes flicking up to meet the maid-dressed witch apprentice, "This was to make sure that [i]nobody[/i] can slip up. Even if someone is drunk, angry, and boastful, they can't let the secret out. More secure and less for anyone to worry about than without the binding.

"[i]If[/i] this information gets out, then it would find its way to Tyaethe sooner or later. And I still know her well enough to tell that she would immediately hunt me down, for one reason or another. If that happens…" the witch trailed off, disappearing again and reappearing seated in the air ahead, still under the canopy of the tree – just. The wooden board floating in front of her was an odd touch.

"Did Lexie ever teach you anything about divination?"

Gertrude was still angry. Merilia explained her reasoning well enough, but it didn’t make her feel less betrayed. Less controlled. Less like a thing rather than a person. Gertrude growled.

“No, I never had much patience for it. I don’t much like the idea of some [i]thing[/i] telling me what I can and can’t do. Fate can piss right off,” Gertrude said, laying down on her side as she watched Merilia, “but I suppose you’re going to make a point. Bloody well hope it’s a good one.”

"There's no such thing as Fate, but there [i]is[/i] probability," the witch continued, spreading her fingers to show off a rather impressive number of flat stone discs between them, inscribed with softy glowing runes, "If Yaya stays put…"

Well, that was… a pattern, on the board. Some of the runes active, some of them not. It didn't, without explanation, mean much, especially after she shoved it aside and repeated the procedure. "If she doesn't…"

Once pushed together, the picture was… broadly similar. The colours were a little different, the patterns shifted slightly. What had been a cool blue in places was an orange, or one tight bundle had scattered a little. "It's hard to read, so I'll just point out the more… concerning changes."

She pointed at one diminished-looking heap. "Aimlenn. The city is probably getting through everything that happens in either case, but things are shakier in general. She has [i]some[/i] role coming up and it gets surprisingly bad if it isn't – but she [i]is[/i] quite experienced, so now the Iron Roses are involved, is it surprising?"

"And [i]this[/i] stone marks you," She tapped one where the rune was a funny-looking squiggle. Yellow, not blue, on the second one, "Unless I forced you out of the country entirely, it generally seems like you'd find some way to be involved before the end. So, I put you into the knights… but once Yaya goes, it seems like you're in line for… something. I doubt it's the lack of her sword skills that matter."

She leant back, finger on her lips, "Unless you want to fight a dragon. That might explain it too; broad questions like 'how much danger are these things in because of current events' are hard to narrow down."	

Gertrude’s eyes glazed over a little as Merilia arranged some stones on a board. Despite her protests about not wanting to be told what she’s supposed to do, she got a little more excited when Merilia pointed her piece out, before frowning again. Well, if anything, it meant the Witch was thinking about her.

“So… you have a broad picture of at least a couple of different outcomes, and you’re trying to make the more favorable one come up.”

Well, seeing herself as a little glowing rock didn’t make her feel any less like an object, but at least the Witch was being honest. Or so it seemed.

“The better outcome doesn’t happen if Yaya is away, so she can’t learn about you-know-what because she’ll run off like the thick-headed boar she is.”

Gertrude sighed, and sat back up.

“And I was going to be part of it either way, so you stuck me… what, where I’d be safest? Where I’d be most useful? Am I supposed to be a tool? I don’t know what you [i]want[/i].”

"I want you to be safe, but if I [i]made sure[/i]… it would be no better than sticking you in a cage. If I put you here… well, it's better than running around alone, the food is good… maybe you'll even make a few friends. Or better, fufufu~"

As was annoying habit, the witch once again disappeared, reappearing… oh, [i]that[/i] was a hug, the small woman draped over her from behind, voice a whisper in Gertrude's ear, "I should have explained first, but… I [i]am[/i] sorry.

"My little sister's going to be so mad at me again. 'Being an ancient witch doesn't mean you know better than everyone else'."

Gertrude grumbled. Making all these decisions for her, keeping secrets, sneaking around… she didn’t like it, but if it really was because Merilia cared for her, then what was she to do? It almost made her [i]more[/i] angry that there was a good reason. A reason predicated on affection for [i]her[/i]. That fact made her anger less justified, which pissed her off.

Still, without even really thinking about it, she placed her hand on top of Merilia’s and interlocked her fingers with the Witch’s. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“What, you think I can make [i]friends[/i]? And what’s this shite about something ‘better’? Have you seen this wurstfest? The only women of note are Yaya and Fanny, and I’m still sore at the former. The latter is married to her sodding job, and it [i]can’t[/i] be healthy. She really should take a break.”

She turned her head to look at Merilia behind her.

“If you’re talking about Aleksiya, she’s right, though I’m still [i]seriously pissed[/i] at her. I think when you’re that long-lived, you must end up missing a lot of the smaller things for the big picture. I suppose feelings sometimes go by the wayside, which would explain why you’re both so terrible at communicating,” said Gertrude, who was perhaps even worse at communicating.

The witch let out a surprisingly honest laugh, "No, no, not Lexie. My [i]birth[/i] sister, she's much more… level-headed than any of us."

She loosened the hug slightly, humming. "Well, there are other options than the knights. Candaeln has more than enough staff, girls in the city might be interested in anyone from up here…"

“Hmph… I [i]thought[/i] it didn’t sound like Aleksiya. Well, it’s nice to know that [i]some[/i] immortal still has her head.”

Gertrude smirked, and shrugged.

“Anyways, those are the only two that really talk to me, and I don’t have much interest in those too cowardly to approach me,” Gertrude concluded, hiding how woefully inexperienced she was at initiating any sort of romantic dialogue with people who aren’t essentially forced to talk to her.

“Oh… maybe Fanny would relax a bit if a woman as amazing as I was asked her on a date.”

She’d just need to pick which insult to open with…

“Oh, sod it. That can wait. Did you want to see my room?”

"That [i]would[/i] help, certainly~"