09-09-2019, 12:44 PM
Lepis has always loved diplomacy. The tales her mother and uncle spun her of treaties and alliances, blood-bonds and marriage-ties - they fascinated the dun pegasus since she was a small child. But in her delight, she had been overeager to try her own hand at it, and the plethora of scars that hide beneath her navy curls are ever-present proof of that.
Lepis had learned in the autumn woods that spoken words and promises made aloud were nothing more than the surface layer of diplomacy. There is far more lurking in the depths, and it is that which Lepis has reached for, that which she grasps so tightly.
Diplomacy is a shield for most politicians. They hold it ahead of them, drawing attention and notice to the firm words, the well-meaning promises, the detail and meaning behind carefully phrased sentences, all of it serving as decorative woodwork on the pretty shield.
Lepis prefers to use the shield as a battering ram.
"I didn't need your permission to take the Taiga." She replies to Heartfire's claim that it was she who failed. Lepis does not fail. She does not let herself. Heartfire's interpretation of her fanaticism is not far from the truth; the Comtesse's self-confidence has always danced along the edge of arrogance."And I do not need your permission to keep it."
Lepis knows that she wishes peace. That is why she is here, that is why she has done all she has. She has made no mistakes - save perhaps not requesting Heartfire simply burnt out of Nerine. She has refrained because there could be children here, and the place is not so far from redemption as Sylva. She does think things through - but the conclusions she makes are her own.
"You forgot my question in your lecture, I think." She tells Heartfire with a smile that does not reach her grey-blue eyes. "Why should Taiga remain a territory of Nerine?" There is a breif pause, long enough to blink, long enough to consider what she might add, how she might impress on this roan mare how very serious she is.
"I spoke of this with Aten, and he thinks that you and the Isle would be vulnerable with Taiga pledged to Loess." He had said other things as well, but Lepis had not watched him say it. Her intent is to rattle the icey serenity of the Nerinian Queen, to let her know that Lepis has not been quiet with her plans. "Castile said we should not give you options, but I felt you've ruled long enough to deserve a choice - and you are family after all." Two can use Wolfbane, it seems.
@[Heartfire]
Lepis had learned in the autumn woods that spoken words and promises made aloud were nothing more than the surface layer of diplomacy. There is far more lurking in the depths, and it is that which Lepis has reached for, that which she grasps so tightly.
Diplomacy is a shield for most politicians. They hold it ahead of them, drawing attention and notice to the firm words, the well-meaning promises, the detail and meaning behind carefully phrased sentences, all of it serving as decorative woodwork on the pretty shield.
Lepis prefers to use the shield as a battering ram.
"I didn't need your permission to take the Taiga." She replies to Heartfire's claim that it was she who failed. Lepis does not fail. She does not let herself. Heartfire's interpretation of her fanaticism is not far from the truth; the Comtesse's self-confidence has always danced along the edge of arrogance."And I do not need your permission to keep it."
Lepis knows that she wishes peace. That is why she is here, that is why she has done all she has. She has made no mistakes - save perhaps not requesting Heartfire simply burnt out of Nerine. She has refrained because there could be children here, and the place is not so far from redemption as Sylva. She does think things through - but the conclusions she makes are her own.
"You forgot my question in your lecture, I think." She tells Heartfire with a smile that does not reach her grey-blue eyes. "Why should Taiga remain a territory of Nerine?" There is a breif pause, long enough to blink, long enough to consider what she might add, how she might impress on this roan mare how very serious she is.
"I spoke of this with Aten, and he thinks that you and the Isle would be vulnerable with Taiga pledged to Loess." He had said other things as well, but Lepis had not watched him say it. Her intent is to rattle the icey serenity of the Nerinian Queen, to let her know that Lepis has not been quiet with her plans. "Castile said we should not give you options, but I felt you've ruled long enough to deserve a choice - and you are family after all." Two can use Wolfbane, it seems.
@[Heartfire]
