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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 18:24:56 GMT -5
*It was time to speak, she knew. Time to tell what was actually the truth.*
"I was a kitchen girl here, you know. And the day that I learned the true nature of royalty was when the King tried to rape me, and only Steerpike would come to my aide."
*By then she'd already knocked him out, but still.*
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 18:28:25 GMT -5
"You see, then, that this could not be allowed to continue. And yet for all of your horror at his reign, did any one of you attempt to stop him?"
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 18:33:43 GMT -5
"And where were your cries of 'murder' when we freed the people from his torture chambers? No, only when you become inconvenienced were these remarks made!
And now, the drought. We do not have magic ourselves. But you do."
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 18:39:49 GMT -5
"But you don't use it, do you?" he accused the group at large. "No- it's easier for you to sit back and complain about how difficult your lives are and how you miss Saint Orduag!"
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 18:42:09 GMT -5
*She sat back down, letting the implications of what had been said sink in. Some seemed mollified, some did not.*
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 18:48:39 GMT -5
"You toss accusations at my wife and I every day, and you never look at yourselves!"
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 18:52:05 GMT -5
"So, a choice must be made- is it more dangerous, as you claim, to use your magic, or to let the land starve?"
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 18:56:48 GMT -5
"Of course, it is no longer your choice, you must understand."
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 18:59:05 GMT -5
*This received some more angry shouts*
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 19:03:46 GMT -5
"For far too long, you have been viewing the peasantry upon which this kingdom rests with nothing more than a vaguely interested pity. You say you care, and I see no evidence of this."
He straightened slightly, and said, very calmly:
"This Court is relocating South, and all of you, and your families, will be put to work on the farms until the ground yields a crop. The farmers and poor that you spit upon will meanwhile enjoy all of the things you have taken for granted while domiciled here in your palaces."
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 19:08:41 GMT -5
*To say this did not go over well would be a bit of an understatement. Eleanor glanced at Steerpike, impressed that he'd gone through with it.*
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 19:12:17 GMT -5
"And now you're complaining? You have the audacity to say that-"
Eva, distressed by all the noise, began to cry, and he stopped midsentence to bounce her very lightly up and down and try to soothe her while the audience raged.
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 19:16:33 GMT -5
*For her part, Eleanor remained calm*
"You will learn what we who have had to work with our hands know- the way life really is. And if your magic still feels too dangerous to use, I for one will be impressed."
*She directed this at some of the Elven ladies- the ones she knew had been laughing behind her back earlier. They weren't now.*
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Post by Steerpike on Jul 2, 2008 19:29:56 GMT -5
They obviously weren't falling for the baby trick, and Eva was still wailing.
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Post by Eleanor on Jul 2, 2008 19:33:39 GMT -5
*Eleanor leaned in to whisper to her husband*
"Should I call Susan for her?"
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