When they're done, Guiverna takes her time getting dressed (as much for Acutus's benefit as her own). She then curls up against him and rests her head on his shoulder (making sure that she's on the side with the eye so he can see her).
"So, now that the pleasantries are aside, for now, what do you think of Valgravian's proposal?
"I rather got the impression that Carmen was dead set against the Catalan Tribunal for some reason. But if not that, what of Bellaquin dissolving her Covenant and becoming a chapter of Andorra's?"
Acutus shrugs his other shoulder, "My knowledge of politics, even at Andorra, is tenuous at best. I'm guessing Carmen's reticence at the proposal has something to do with her past and her fathers' at Andorra. I don't know anything about that past, but it's the only thing i can think of. Honestly, I barely spend any time at Andorra, as my sanctum is not exactly nearby. In fact, I had taken up residence at my sanctum without knowing Andorra had a claim to the area. I mainly joined just to avoid any potential confrontations.
As for Bellaquin becoming a chapter house; I don't see any reason why the master's would be against it. It makes sense to me, but I don't now what other political concerns they may have."
Guiverna says nothing for a couple of minutes as her tongue darts playfully across Acutus's neck and throat.
"I really hope they're just flustered because Valgravian caught them by surprise. I don't think Bellaquin has the resources to hold on for much longer without help. And if we don't survive..."
She continues to nuzzle, almost thoughtfully, before she continues.
"If...if Andorra doesn't take Bellaquin in...I seem to recall Valgravian saying that Andorra already had a chapter house. Do you think it would be possible, if Andorra lets Bellaquin wither and die, for us to apply individually?"
In latter discussion, Carmen will admit to being affected by the Mentem effects. Vulcanus must have had some sort of Arcane Connection? Vocis is still perturbed that she blurted out her thoughts on Erat Caecus when Barcelona was brought up.
But as for now, she favors packing up and going home and having a private executive conference on the subject then.
Acutus' hands slowly explore over Guiverna's body as he listens, "I don't see why not. However, it would depend on how many more regios are available in Sa Dragonera. See, there is this strange phenomena where there are multiple regios around the island of Sa Dragonera that are strangely connected to it. Each of us residing in Sa Dragonera maintains a sanctum in one of these regios. Although, there are a few that seem interested in moving to Andorra proper, so perhaps you could move into one of their sanctums should they relocate."
Guiverna responds approvingly to Acutus's caresses. "That sounds interesting," she moans. "So, the regiones are all connected, but not directly to each other? More like spokes of a wheel, or strands of a web, that you traverse from one regio to another, but you don't have to pass through one regio to get to all the others?"
She shifts and starts to put her own hands to good use. "If Sa Dragonera, or Andorra, takes in anyone from Bellaquin, are there enough resources to go around?"
"It doesn't sound like anyone's come looking for us yet," Guiverna says with a smile as she starts to wriggle out of her dress again. "Do you think they'd miss us terribly if we stayed here a while longer?"
"I don't know," he says as a slight moan escapes from him. "But like I said, there may be some regiones opening up soon...or at least that's the rumors I'm hearing."
"I don't really care," he says as he rolls her over and...
In the aftermath of this it is learned that Beaquin botched their last Aegis casting, which they did not reaize until this incident. Not only was it non functioning and the participants unaware of it, it as interfered with the ability to detect resisting a spell.
Antoine still can't believe Vulcanus would be so low as to cast a Mentem effect on fellow Magi. His desire to reconcile the Valdarians with house Verditius is undimmed - but he'll not work with Vulcanus if he can help it.
Vulcanus has earned Frederika's enmity. If she doesn't do anything about it, it won't be for lack of will - distance and lots of work should do the trick though. It also seems foolish not to test your Aegis after you put it up, but that'd just be Rika venting with the benefit of hindsight.
Eventually, Guiverna will untangle herself from Acutus and squeeze into her dress again
"I suppose we should return to the meeting and see if the seniors of Andorra have returned from their meeting and if they have, what, if anything, has been decided."
She finds her belt and shoes (one of which somehow wound up under the bed, and she has to kneel on the floor to reach it), sitting on the bed to put on the shoes before she cinches her belt.
Once she's ready to go, she'll take Acutus's arm and walk with him back to the dining room, letting him go just before they arrive.
If she doesn't bump into the Masters (Carmen Perez, Arachne, Solomon, and/or Vocis) on the way in, she will veer toward Fleur or Frederika.
"Have things calmed down somewhat while I was away?"
Guiverna had her Longevity Ritual at age 29. (It's currently on her post-Gauntlet advancement as Summer 1233, but I'm going to add a couple of years of advancement to see if I can get her fangs-and-poison spell combo, for those times when simply turning into an asp is simply gauche.)
Guiverna purses her lips in thought. "It was right after Vulc yelled, and Robert and Roberto almost came to blows. It looked like you had matters well in hand when I left, but I just felt like I needed a breath of fresh air."
"Hmm... I think it's a toss up, we found the root problem, Vulcanus was messing with all of our minds, but there is a lot of residual tension, it could take years to clean up some of this mess, but that is above my position. And to think, I had come here today thinking I was only going to look for other women for playtime." She flashes Guiverna a half smile and looks her over.
Solomon will agree with the others that heading back to Andorra is probably the best course of action, although he is still interested in understanding the full plan and ramifications of forming a new tribunal.
[hr][/hr]
Acutus is actually in a grand mood; his time at Bellaquin has been quite enjoyable. He's obviously quite annoyed to hear that his mind was altered, but he's not ashamed at his actions. Perhaps Bjornaer are a little more in touch with their "animal instincts"?
So that Solomon is clear on Carmen's opinion, she is not at all opposed to the new Tribunal proposal. She does think it to be infeasible, but will fully support any efforts to get it to work. She is dead set against merging with Bellaquin, and is quite unhappy about this lease situation. Ideally, she would like to find a way to get them out of Andorra.
But it is quite alright for others, such as Guiverna and Acutus, to misunderstand her opinion.
"Wait...Vulcanus was messing with our minds? How? I mean...I didn't know him all that well, but I didn't think his Mentem was that strong, based on the conversations we had since he joined. And I'm not sure he's the kind who would serve as someone's lackey in something like that. He could easily have been duped into playing the cats-paw, though. Or if someone's Mentem was strong enough to mess with everyone's minds through our Aegis, he could easily have controlled Vulc into setting us up."
She doesn't seem to acknowledge Fleur's interest, but as Guiverna's talking she casually finger-combs her hair (which is considerably more mussed than it had been before she and Acutus left), smooths her robes, and stands slightly profile to show off her features.
((I believe Valgravian is still in the room.))
Guiverna turns to Valgravian. "Sodalis, I would like to act as our delegate to Andorra while they discuss the matters."
