a beautiful fool

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

The Court of the Stars was beautiful, but on this particular morning, Sohalia didn’t have time to stop and enjoy the views. She hurried past the fountain in front and up the stairs, looking frazzled. She’d come straight from the skyship from the Greatwood without even stopping by her apartment; she still carried her duffel bag over one shoulder, and her clothes were slightly wrinkled, as though she’d slept on the flight over.

Making her way through the halls, Soh wondered for the umpteenth time what Flora’s plan was, what her letters said, and whether Soh had been right to keep the queen’s secret. Whatever it was, Soh was convinced that it was nothing good, but her friend had asked her this favor - this huge, seemingly important favor - and if that was all Soh could do to help Flora, then all she could do was hope that it was the right call.

”Hadama?” Soh called as she knocked on a door. ”It’s Soh. Are you here?” She stood at the threshold, wringing her hands, as she waited for the King of Torchline to either forgive her or smite her where she stood.

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

He had not seen Flora in several days.

This was not unusual. They lived separate lives, and while they met regularly to deal with aspects of Torchline's governance they had been doing it together long enough that their region ran relatively smoothly on a day-to-day basis. Hadama not thought twice about Flora's scarcity in the Court until Sohalia's letter had arrived.

And then he had thought very hard about it, indeed. And done a number of calculations involving the distance to Stormbreak by airship... and by Compass. She would not, he had tried to convince himself while waiting for Sohalia to travel the distance from one end of Caido to the other. Not without telling me.

But she had told him. In the meeting with Deimos and Sunjata she had told them all. And now...

Hadama's expression was carved from stone. Stoic, but not serene. He carried himself with a tension that manifested as slow deliberation in every motion, and a precision sharp enough to cut glass. His pen scratched cross the page as he signed off on another piece of business and then paused at the knock on his door.

The voice he had been waiting - dreading - to hear since the moment he had read her letter.

"Come in. Shut the door behind you." The low rumble of his voice emerged from the room, passing through the door without difficulty. He was setting the page aside and placing the pen into its well with delicate control when she entered, but his emerald eyes were shadowed as he slowly folded his now-empty hands on the desktop in front of him. "Sit," he bade her, not without courtesy as he inclined his head slightly at a plush chair in front of the desk. "And tell me. Please. How did you get her letter?"

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

Why was it that Sohalia felt like she was being called into the principal’s office in school?

Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she did as instructed: she entered, shutting the door behind her. Placed her duffel bag gently on the floor by the door. Crossed the room to the desk. Sat, folding her hands into her lap. The chair, at least, was comfortable and plush, but she still sat ramrod straight in it as she looked at Hadama with concerned grey eyes.

From her pocket, she produced an envelope with Hadama’s name on it, placing it wordlessly on the desk. It clinked softly as she set it down; something - she wasn’t sure what - was inside other than the letter. ”Flora gave this to me in the Greatwood three days ago,” Soh explained, her voice low, as though afraid to be overheard even with the door shut. ”She told me to send it in three days. No more, no less. She said she was planning something, but wouldn’t tell me what.” Soh began to wring her hands into her lap, clearly distressed. ”She asked me to trust her, so… I did as she asked.” For better or worse - and she was inclined to think the worst.

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

The Tidebreaker may as well have been carved from stone, for all the movement in him. Even his chest barely rose and fell, his breaths shallow. Slow. Controlled. He watched Sohalia as she set down her bag and took the offered seat, and he made an effort to relax. To try and put her more at ease. It was not her fault that she was the messenger, after all.

But for once, he did not succeed.

The letter was set gently between them, Sohalia's hand holding it with care so that it was placed lightly upon the desk. Nevertheless, it fell with the force of one of his gravity spikes upon his shoulders as he stared at it, unable to lift his gaze as her explanation rolled over him.

Three days.

Fingertips flexed on the wood of the desk. A brief motion, no more, the flinch easily overlooked. "Thank you." The rumble was low and uncharacteristically rough. His jaw tightened as he swallowed and then forced himself to reach for the envelope. The soft clinking that he already knew the shape of chimed again as he reached for his letter opener and slid the blade beneath the flap. Flicked the wax back and opened the folded paper, tilting it to slip its contents into his broad palm, fingers closing immediately over the metal before he unfolded the letter and began to read in stoic silence.

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

Soh sat in silence as Hadama opened the letter. She didn't know what it said, but having met with Jack already, she could hazard a guess. And her friend - her calm, collected, stoic friend - was about to pay the price for Soh's trust in Flora.

The letter, when he opened it, would read:

---

To Hadama
(To be opened only by you)

Heeyyyyyyyy.

I’m guessing by now you’ve noticed something’s happened. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand, but it had to be this way. If I told anyone, it would’ve fucked up everything before it even began.

If you're reading this, then I've already gone to Stormbreak and met with Dahlia. And yes—before you throw this letter into the sea—I did it alone against everyone's advice.

I got her to give me a vial of her blood which by now Spice will have brought to you. The teeeeeensy catch is that I also allowed her to infect me but before you panic, I have a plan. Enclosed in this letter, you’ll find a stone key. If you use it at the Hanged Man, it will unlock one of the backrooms—the one I always keep shut.

Inside, on the second shelf near the window, there’s a box with your name on it.

Open it.

Inside, you’ll find one of Vi's roses that you can use to cleanse me.

I know this puts a burden on you and I'm super sorry for that. But I couldn’t sit back and watch everyone else play gods and generals with the fate of the world while doing nothing. And I had to trust that if anyone could pull me back from the edge when the time came… it would be you. <3

Don’t be toooooooo angry with me, okay?

xoxox
Flora.

---

Soh tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fiddled with the hemline of her shirt, shifted in the plush chair. She moved again to cross one leg over a knee, then forced herself to stop fidgeting. Gods, but she'd made such a huge mistake.

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

His fingers curled around stone, not metal, and for a moment he felt a pang of hope. Brief but profound. He had been wrong--

But the rest of the letter as he skimmed it proved his worst fears swiftly true and he swallowed hard as his eyes traveled down the page. His expression may as well have been carved from stone as well. There was ice in his stomach. His chest. His lungs.

His veins.

The page did not tremble in his fingers. His chest did not rise and fall with breath. Only his eyes moved, unblinking, as he scanned the letter again, as if the words would change. And then a third time, the only sound in the room the faint grinding of his other hand around the key that had fallen into it.

Emerald eyes closed, though the words were burned into his eyelids now. He could still see them, limned in violet fire. Soh sat across from him, but the King seemed to have forgotten her as he sought to master himself. She might have been left there for far longer than a few minutes if a scratching had not come at the window. A familiar sound, imperious and slightly plaintive, of a small dragon, and Hadama's head lifted and turned in a sharp jerk. "Spice--"

He leaned back to unlatch the window and pushed it open so the little dragon could enter. True to the letter's words, the companion did not come empty-pawed. He accepted the vial, bowing his head over the haughty reptile, heedless of the chill of her scales.

And then he spoke to Sohalia at last, his voice deepening with each word.

"Did you. Have any idea. What she intended."

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

In all the time that Soh had known Hadama, she had never heard him speak like that. His voice deepened with each word, and she did her best not to shrink away. Despite her best intentions, she was at fault here just as much as Flora. She’d allowed her best friend to walk into the enemy’s lair without even trying to stop her. She’d placed her blind faith in the Doubletake, and had been rewarded by the acrid taste of betrayal - a betrayal that she was now complicit in.

”No.” It was true, and it wasn’t. ”She said she had a plan, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.” Couldn’t, not with Vox listening in on their every word, apparently. And even if she’d been able to, Soh suspected that she wouldn’t have. She would have known that Soh would try to stop her, or insist on going with her, and where would that have left them?

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

No, she said.

And he believed her, because he could not bear to doubt another as he would now doubt Flora.

Slowly, with infinite care, he folded the letter. Each crease was pressed flat once more and he kept his eyes on the paper rather than the woman sitting across from him. The actions may not have made anything better, but it helped to focus his control. As he slid it back into its envelope he finally looked up to meet Sohalia's eyes. His gaze was not calm so much as glacial, but he drew in a deep breath and then pressed his hands flat to the table, the letter beneath them.

"Three days." It was a statement, not a question, but the thunder of his voice had quieted again. "Sohalia, I am not--" He cut the words off abruptly. Drew in another breath through his nose and breathed out slowly before speaking again. "Were there other letters?"

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

Hadama folded the letter slowly, as though buying time with which to think. When he finally looked up at her, Soh shrank in her chair. His eyes lacked their usual warmth, and though he did not shout or curse, she felt a certain frigidity in the air all the same.

”Just one. For Jack.” She swallowed. ”I dropped it off with him on the way here.” Perhaps she should have come here first, but it had been on the way, and she’d done her best to do this as quickly as possible. She drew in a quick, sharp breath. ”Hadama, I’m so sorry. If I’d known -“ Gods, if she had known, she would have done anything to prevent this from happening. Anything.

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

His thoughts were not the swiftest in Caido. They did not dance from plan to plan with a general's tactics or a smuggler's sure instinct. He did not make leaps in logic, progressing in flashes of insight from mental peak to mental peak. Hadama's thoughts moved slow and sure and deep. Cautious. Taking each step from one to the next.

But not always in a straight line.

Nor as noble as his reputation might lead others to believe.

"But you did not know what she intended. And you still do not. Do you?" His gaze was still cold, but it was not - quite - as hard as it been. He asked his question and this time he sought a true answer. What she said would determine what he did next.

Her apology received no acknowledgment. Not even a flicker of acceptance. Not yet. Perhaps not for a long time. It would depend a great deal on how the next few days and weeks played out. On what could be salvaged from this meeting and the one she had before, with the woman who had put them both in this position.

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

Later, Soh would find it in herself to be angry with Flora, who had put her into an impossible position. What kind of friend, she would wonder, would do this to her, would leave her between a rock and a hard place when it came to another friend she admired above many others? And why would she do this to Hadama and Jack, both of whom cared about her in their own way? Not to mention the myriad other friends and family that Flora had left behind to pursue her plan.

Swallowing hard, Soh fidgeted beneath Hadama's cold gaze. "I didn't know before. Jack showed me his letter, so I know now." She bit the inside of her cheek to fight against the tears she could feel threatening. She would not cry. She deserved every bit of Hadama's ire and then some, and she would weather this storm without complaint.

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

There was no warmth in him now. No gentleness as he watched her fidget and did nothing to lighten his regard. Not until she answered, at least, and then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, allowing no hint of his true emotions to reach his face. "So. You know." He repeated her own words, flat and low and infinitely weary. It was not a kindness that Jack had done her.

It may well have put her in greater danger.

So be it.

"If Flora seeks you out," he said slowly, opening his eyes and pinning the Luminary once more with a gaze as deep as the Maw. "Could you lie to her?" Not would she. Could she. Did the forthright former queen have it in her to tell a believable untruth to someone who knew her enough to trust her with the slimmest chance at salvation?

There is love inside this madness
We are walking on the moon

Could she lie to her best friend?

Sohalia stared at Hadama, for the first time startled out of her fear. She frowned, biting her lip as she considered. She was an absolutely abysmal liar, and had always striven to tell the truth - much to her own detriment, if her past with Koa and Jude was any indication. But if Flora was infected, and telling the truth would hurt not only her best friend, but their entire world - could she do it? Would she?

"I've never tried," she said finally. "But... if it would help... yes, I could." She met Hadama's gaze determinedly. "Don't tell me any more than you have to, but what can I do?"

Though I don't believe in magic
I believe in me and you

Sohalia

Sohalia was an honest woman, but she had also been a Queen. As Hadama knew from his own experience, one could not lead a country without learning something of politics - which was, in the end, only a longer word for 'lies.'

Or perhaps that was only Torchline that required such maneuvering.

Regardless, she answered readily and Hadama slowly let out the breath that he had been holding, inclining his head in reserved gratitude for her willingness to help fix the problem that Flora had created for them both. And as for Sohalia's place in it? ...He would decide how he would deal with it later, when his emotions were not so unmastered beneath his glacial exterior.

He met her gaze squarely, fingers pressing into the paper as if to grind it between his flesh and bones and the desk beneath. "Do not tell Flora that you delivered this letter to me." A simple request, even if it meant avoiding the Doubletake for a week or two. "If I am to have a chance at saving her, she must not know that I have read it."