[OOM] Palace Corridor

[fighting_mad]

"There's been an incident," Count Hilunda had said quietly after interrupting the meeting, and the bottom of Plourr's stomach had dropped out. She'd excused herself and ducked out into the hallway with her aide, but Hilunda had tossed a meaningful look at Aurelia and Rher, and Plourr had walked down the hall with him, away from the guards.

They stand there, conferring in low, serious tones.

Comments

[eiattu_pride]

For Rial, it had been a messenger, someone he didn't know. Basically the same words, and he'd closed his eyes and taken a deep breath. Then he'd followed the messenger to where Plourr and Hilunda stood.

So now he stands maybe a foot away, hesitating. "Princess?"

[fighting_mad]

Plourr raises her head, and she's tired but she gives a tight, genuine smile, and she waves him in. "Come on, come on." She glances at young Count Hilunda. "Tell him what you just told me."

[sw-npc.livejournal.com]

'Young' Count Hilunda (who was born only a year after the princess) nods, "Yes, Princess," and turns his attention to the other count. His face lights up in a sudden smile. "We caught three of the Priamsta soldiers, sir. Outside of Holiana; they sent a raiding party which was quickly rebuffed by the city guard, and they left their wounded."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial smiles. It's tired but it's there, and steady. "Excellent. Have they been questioned?"

[sw-npc.livejournal.com]

Hilunda's grin can't be dampened. "As we speak, sir."

[fighting_mad]

"The two that aren't badly hurt. The others are receiving medical treatment," Plourr corrects him, resting her shoulder against the wall with her arms crossed. "I spoke to the captain of the guard; he'll be held personally responsible if anything happens to those men. We have to keep it quiet. There are enough people on this planet furious with the Priamsta that I'm not certain we could guarantee their safety if word got out where they were being held."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial nods, mind already moving quickly through options. "That makes sense."

The he hesitates, smile fading slightly. "Is there any possibility at all that they've been fed incorrect information, or have been instructed to give us the wrong answers? Because if we mounted an attack based on their information, and the attack went badly enough...the people would begin to lose trust in us, in our decisions."

[sw-npc.livejournal.com]

Hilunda's mouth opens ... then closes, and his face all but screams 'kriff, I didn't think of that.' He glances at Princess Isplourrdacartha.

[fighting_mad]

Plourr nods grimly. "It is a possibility, and it is one we will have to bear in mind." Some of the royal formality slips, unnoticed, from her manner as she says, "But the two we have access to right now are talking already, Rial; Holiana's guard is getting some incredible information from them, and apparently, one who's in bacta will know even more. We'll do everything we can to assess the truth, and if it seems to pan out -- we'll have to act on it. There's no other flightpath to plot."

[eiattu_pride]

"Okay." Rial tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, and his face softens. "Okay."

Because this could be the moment they've been waiting for, the moment they stop being defensive and start to attack.

[fighting_mad]

She nods once, then looks to the younger count by her side. "Thank you, Count Hilunda. Is that all?"

[sw-npc.livejournal.com]

Hilunda bobs his head. "Yes, Princess. Sir." He gives a short bow to each of Eiattu's rulers, and then he is quick to slip away. With the way that the princess had just looked at her husband, this is one count who is more than happy to escape.

[fighting_mad]

Rial missed a piece. With company gone, Plourr reaches out and brushes the stray strand out of his face. "This could either be very good or very bad," she says frankly, keeping her voice down.

[eiattu_pride]

Damn. It figures. Rial sighs, and nods. "Why?"

[fighting_mad]

She crosses her arms again. "Exactly what you said. It's either good information, or they were purposely left behind to lead us into a trap."

[eiattu_pride]

"So how do we know which is which?" Because if they make a mistake, if it is a trap...it won't turn out well.

[fighting_mad]

"We set somebody who knows what they're doing on questioning; I spoke to the captain of Holiana's Guard and he said he put his best interrogator on it. Then we study carefully what they give us and try to gauge whether or not it's plausible or even possible. Coordinate with intelligence and see what they think." The princess falls silent.

"Life was so much easier when I could just punch whatever Huttslime was causing a problem."

[eiattu_pride]

Rial smiles faintly at that. "Don't I wish. How long before we can have the information?"

[fighting_mad]

"Two of them are being interrogated now, and they're apparently spilling their guts. The Guard should be sending me their report in an hour. The highest ranked among the prisoners is going to be in a bacta tank for at least another three days, and one of the others for five. We can't act until they've all been questioned, so it could be a week."

[eiattu_pride]

"Damn." He sighs, and shakes his head. "A week."

Too many things could happen in a week.

[fighting_mad]

"I know," she says simply, but her jaw is tight with frustration. "I know, but we can't do anything until we've corroborated their stories and matched them against each other as much as we can."

[eiattu_pride]

"Okay. And they're apart from each other, so they can't get their stories straight?" For now, they'll just have to wait, and try to make sure that they get the right information.

[fighting_mad]

"Yeah. They're not together." And she's silent again, because that's all there is to discuss for the moment and she should get back into the conference that was interrupted, but she doesn't want to.

[eiattu_pride]

Rial hesitates as well, then leans forward and kisses her gently.

"You should get back to work."

[fighting_mad]

"Yeah," she says. She can still taste him on her lips and there's no logical reason for the uneasy feeling that just crept into the pit of her stomach; she shakes it off and touches her hand to his neck, kissing him again briefly and drawing back just as quick. "Think you'll be home in time for dinner around 1930?"

[eiattu_pride]

"Um." Rial hesitates, glancing up at the ceiling like it holds all the answers, then shrugs. "Not sure. I'll try to, okay?"

[fighting_mad]

She grins suddenly, twirling her stylus between her fingers. "Good; I won't be, either. I'll tell the chef to be prepared for sometime after that."

[eiattu_pride]

That startles a laugh out of him, and Rial grins. "We'll have a romantic evening over datawork."

[fighting_mad]

Plourr makes a disgusted noise that sounds something like "ergh," but she's smiling faintly. She smooths a hand up and down his shoulder once before letting it fall to her side, and she takes a step backward, toward the room that she has to return to. "I'll see you later, then."

[eiattu_pride]

"See you then, my princess."

But Rial's not leaving until she does, so he can watch her walk down the hall. Make sure she's safe.

[fighting_mad]

She turns away and walks down the hall, and she glances back over her shoulder when she doesn't hear his footsteps leaving. Rial receives a slightly quizzical look, and, "Make sure it's interesting datawork, at least."

Plourr turns back, though, because she still has this kriffing weird sense of forboding and she doesn't understand why. She nods shortly to her two guards and slips back into the conference, the door closing behind her.

"Now, gentlemen," she says, and she forces a small smile, "where were we?"