((Do you want to go through the motions of getting Laetitia and facilitating the meeting with Alips? I don't see much more involvement for Fiona... ))
((Not really. I'm just hoping it goes fairly quickly so she can get back for the whole Certamen thing with Rotgut and the ensuing drama. If not, no biggy. Does Alips want Fiona to stay the night, just hold her or more, or does she still not want company? She won't ask or invite herself, but she won't say no if Alips asks.))
Well, an extra day was added for the tournament, since Praxiteles' death ended the events for that day, so that is certainly not a problem.
So, since the Dimicatio was the morning of Day 2 before it was halted, it resumes the morning of Day 3, with The Melee that afternoon, and Day 4 having The Joust in the morning and Falconball in the afternoon, then. Works for me. Actually gives Fiona more time to hang out at Valnastium, since she doesn't really have any interest in The Melee. Look up a couple of people she may have met before.
Unless Alips asks her to stay, Fiona will politely take her leave (note that it won't take any convincing for her to stay, even if it's just to cuddle) and slowly return to her cottage, head bowed and deep in thought. She still has a hard time believing that Praxiteles is dead, and isn't quite convinced that it was an accident, although she has nothing more than a vague feeling of unease about that. And that could very well be just the shock of what happened as much as anything else.
She is silent through dinner, and gives Sheelagh a big hug before they go to bed. Fiona can't get to sleep, however. This is only the second time she's ever lost someone she cared about, and the last time (when Apollodorus died) she had a week of reforging herself and having the Blacksmith rock her until she couldn't walk straight. She hates feeling like this, and she feels more than ever for Alips, wondering how she's able to cope and hoping that she's okay.
After who knows how long, and she's still awake, she get up, puts on a simple dress, and looks in on Sheelagh without disturbing her apprentice's sleep. God, I hope you never lose anyone you care about, she thinks, before she quietly closes the door and leaves. She spends the rest of the night wandering the covenant. She doesn't want to be alone, but she doesn't really want to get laid, either. She doubts she would turn someone down, but that's not really what she wants. She just wants someone to hold her, but she can't think of anyone she can go to who wouldn't expect sex. So she winds up walking pretty much all night, both sides of the regio, until it feels like it's getting close to sunrise when she goes to Valnastium to meet with Laetitia. (if she meets anyone while she's out, she will likely be willing to talk to them if they initiate contact.)
While out walking, Fiona runs into Marcus.
"Hullo, Fiona. Having trouble sleeping, too?"
Fiona nods. [color=blue]"Yes. It's been a very bad day, and..." She stops as the tears well up again, and she wipes her eyes.
[color=blue]"I'm sorry...Praxiteles and I weren't that close, but I was fond of him. And a good part of me hopes that none of this is real."
"I was extremely surprised at what transpired, myself. But today's actions fill me with hope. You see, Valerian has proven himself to be weak and petty. He thinks his demonstration was meant to cow us, make us quake in fear, but it hasn't. And, finally, it illustrates that all is not well within the House of Guernicus. They have a monster that they cannot contain. Whether they know that, yet is another thing.
Fiona lowers her voice to little more than a whisper. [color=blue]"Do you feel that this tragedy may not have been entirely accidental?"
[color=blue]"Yes," she says in a more normal tone, [color=blue]"as a punishment for his tragic loss of control over his magic, he's likely lost his office as Hoplite and is being forced to serve the Inner Council at Magvillus. Little comfort to a grieving widow and miserable friends."
She looks down for a minute as she fights back the tears that have all but overwhelmed her for most of the last day. [color=blue]"You're right, of course. But the wound is too fresh for it to matter much. Maybe when some time has passed and I'm able to see things more clearly."
"I believe it was entirely purposeful. And you chose your words, well. 'Being forced to serve the Inner Council.' What does that say?"
[color=blue]"That they feel that...well, not exactly acting against their wishes, but taking matters too much into his own hands," Fiona says thoughtfully. [color=blue]"I have a feeling that what happened to Apollodorus, it was Valerian's doing, but that his masters weren't ready for him to act yet. It would...it may have happened eventually, but Valerian overplayed his hand. That's just a feeling, nothing that I would be willing to base a Tribunal prosecution, or even Wizard's War on. But from what we've read about Guernicus, if they were behind that, it would be incredibly sloppy of them. But the fact that they haven't gotten rid of him entirely, that tells me that they're not entirely angry with him. But they want to keep him closer, to keep him on a short leash, and to...guide him, perhaps, work with him so that he's not acting so rashly."
She smooths out her dress and sits down so that Marcus isn't craning his neck to look at her. [color=blue]"That makes me nervous."
"It should also make you realize that they aren't immune from making mistakes, themselves."
Fiona nods. [color=blue]"True. They're human, after all. They may make up an institution, one that's widely regarded as the cornerstone of the Order, but they're only human."
She thinks for a minute, taking in this new perspective. [color=blue]"By the way, does the name Mattheus mean anything to you?"
((from when Alips mentioned him earlier in the evening...does the name mean anything to Fiona? Int 1 + I'm guessing Order of Hermes Lore 2 + die roll of 5 = 8, or 9 if he's a magus from the British Isles.))
((bump, just in case this had a phantom post, too.))
"No, should it? Despite being from Normandy, and having lived her for the last 5 or 6 years, I'm still uninformed about some of the personalities of the Tribunal."
"No, should it? Despite being from Normandy, and having lived her for the last 5 or 6 years, I'm still uninformed about some of the personalities of the Tribunal."
[color=blue]"It was just a name I heard in passing, and it wasn't ringing a bell with me. It's probably nobody important."
She sits there rolling over everything in her mind, Marcus's observation that Praxiteles was more or less murdered by a Hoplite whose only punishment looked to be being more closely observed by those who had manipulated thousands of people over the centuries for their own power ploys, and the fact that one of the few women she might call "friend" lost the man she loves for no reason, and she finds herself crying again.
Marcus gives Fiona a hug, such that he can, rising up to her height and wrapping his arms around her as best he can..
Fiona returns the hug from her seated position, holding Marcus close until the crying jag peters out. It wasn't the first time she's cried herself out since that morning, and she doesn't think it will be the last.
[color=blue]"Marcus, can I ask you a favor?" she sniffles. [color=blue]"Can I stay with you tonight? I don't feel much like being alone."
"Sure, you can stay, but you'll need to shrink yourself down to fit into my bed." He pauses. "I usually sleep on the floor next to the hearth and Ignitio, so it's not a problem."
Marcus has a small cottage on the mundane side of the regio, that he built with his own funds/finances.