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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Balance of Power--Chapter Sixteen

Started by Evie, October 22, 2015, 08:47:31 PM

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Evie

Nigel may have been suffering from lust at first sight when he proposed to Sybilla, but I doubt he'd have married her despite the advantages of an alliance with Andelon if he'd suspected ahead of time that she was already in love with someone else.  Sybilla was ambitious enough to pass up her chance at a love match in order to marry someone more widely seen as a "good catch," so I'm sure she did her charming best to ensnare Nigel in hopes that her greater power as his Queen would lead to her greater happiness than a marriage to the prince in faraway Camberia whom she had a greater affinity with, especially since there were no guarantees at the time that Malcolm would end up being the heir to that throne. Of course, once the realities of marriage to each other settled in, both would have swiftly become disillusioned with each other, since they were quite incompatible to begin with, even if it hadn't been for the added complication of Sybilla secretly being in love with (or at least more attracted to) another man.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Shiral

WOwowowowowowow!!!! I'm not that worried at this point whether Sophia can defend herself arcanely in a pinch, since she could off her nasty grandmamma at age 6.But goodness gracious, how WAS that explained, "officially"?  Granted, Sybilla would have been distracted by fighting with Araxelle and wouldn't expect a killing blow from a six year-old.

There is one thing that worries me; why wouldn't Duke Henri fling the Jerraman crystal away out the car window? Maybe I too, need to re-read that scene. Not yet sure I understand it all, yet. Glad that Araxelle had a good heart and loved Sophia for her own sake, same with Duke Henri.

Methinks the Haldane Regalia may take some tracking down if it were in the car with Henri and Sophia the day of their accident. Maybe another search akin to Camber and Rhys' hunt for the Haldana necklace in  Saint Camber.  

Poor Jen, unable to roam Coroth Castle at will.  =o) But she's got the closest thing possible to being escorted around by Alaric Morgan's descendent.  He's definitely got that loyal Morgan ethic going though, being there at Sophia's side when she needs him.

Melissa
You can have a sound mind in a healthy body--Or you can be a nanonovelist!

DesertRose

Shiral, I think (Evie can correct me if I'm mistaken) that Sophia had the jerraman crystal and Duke Henri never knew it was there.  Also, he was not Deryni and might not have known what it was even if he did see Sophia playing with it.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

#18
The official "diagnosis" of Sybilla's cause of death was probably something like heart attack, embolism, or stroke.  Any announcement that "The Queen Mother's heart just stopped on the evening of _____" would be assumed to be due to natural causes, since no one would suspect a sheltered six-year-old princess of having to kill her (presumed) grandmother in self-defense.  Any medical examiner taking a close look at the deceased Queen Mother to determine cause of death could easily have had his or her memories tweaked if necessary to back up such a story. The general public would have seen Sybilla as a tragic figure by this point--a recent widow who had also lost her only son not long before, and who was now reeling over the death of a son-in-law and the near-loss of a granddaughter in the same unfortunate accident. They probably assumed she died of heart failure brought on from extreme stress and heartbreak!

Duke Henri was Human, so he may have not realized the significance of Sophia's "pretty rock," or even if he suspected anything, it may have acted on him even more quickly and powerfully than it did on his Deryni foster daughter.  He probably just suddenly found himself getting inexplicably drowsy, and therefore spent all of his dwindling focus and energy just trying to stay awake and on the road, and never even noticed what Sophia was playing with.

I should probably add, though, that Sophia's ability to kill Sybilla doesn't necessarily mean she was some sort of prodigy when it came to magical ability. That was more just a combination of Sophia having very strong natural (if totally untrained) potential plus a heaping helping of good luck. Sybilla simply wasn't on guard against a child she wouldn't have seen as a serious threat; her entire focus at that moment was on getting rid of her "weak" daughter Araxelle, so Sophia was able to get past her minimal (against Sophia) defenses at just the critical moment. Call it a fluke, divine protection, or Saint Camber looking over the child, but Sophia's survival in that particular situation doesn't necessarily mean she's got the knowledge or training to be able to handle another arcane attack easily unless either her Haldane potential can be activated or she gets training in the Deryni arts in the more usual (and time consuming) ways.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Actually, now that I visualize the scene in my head, I think Sophia's instinctive act to protect her "Mummy" would have been to use the full force of her powers to push Sybilla away from Araxelle, in which case Sybilla could well have died from an abrupt fall and a fatal head injury.  "The Queen Mother passed away last night due to a bad fall" would be an announcement consistent with such injuries.  If there were some nearby stairs for her to conveniently fall down, that would also add to the plausibility, although since I'm envisioning this happening in Sybilla's bedroom or some other similarly private area of the Royal Apartments, it might have to pass for her having tripped (or passed out, or had a sudden heart failure or seizure) and fallen against a hard piece of furniture, a fireplace mantel, or a stone wall.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DesertRose

Quote from: Evie on October 23, 2015, 11:44:06 PM
Actually, now that I visualize the scene in my head, I think Sophia's instinctive act to protect her "Mummy" would have been to use the full force of her powers to push Sybilla away from Araxelle, in which case Sybilla could well have died from an abrupt fall and a fatal head injury.

And Sybilla deserves the death-by-head-injury far more than certain canonical characters who died that way.  *coughRhysThuryncough*
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

Quote from: DesertRose on October 23, 2015, 11:47:44 PM
Quote from: Evie on October 23, 2015, 11:44:06 PM
Actually, now that I visualize the scene in my head, I think Sophia's instinctive act to protect her "Mummy" would have been to use the full force of her powers to push Sybilla away from Araxelle, in which case Sybilla could well have died from an abrupt fall and a fatal head injury.

And Sybilla deserves the death-by-head-injury far more than certain canonical characters who died that way.  *coughRhysThuryncough*

Yes, quite!  #ThinksOfRhysAndCriesForever   :'(
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DesertRose

Sybilla makes me think of that old joke.

What's the first question in a murder investigation in Texas?

"Did s/he need killing?"
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

revanne

"There are telepaths, minor acts of telekinesis, etc, but no one is out there flying under their own power, turning people into frogs,"

A pity really, as there are plenty of folk both in KK's canon and in fanfic (especially Evie's fanfic ;)) who would benefit considerably from being changed into frogs. Although whether the frogs deserve such company is a different matter entirely...
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46 v1)

Elkhound

Quote from: revanne on October 24, 2015, 08:11:06 AM
"There are telepaths, minor acts of telekinesis, etc, but no one is out there flying under their own power, turning people into frogs,"

A pity really, as there are plenty of folk both in KK's canon and in fanfic (especially Evie's fanfic ;)) who would benefit considerably from being changed into frogs. Although whether the frogs deserve such company is a different matter entirely...

In David Eddings' "Malloreon", Garion asks his Uncle Beldin if it is really possible to change someone into a frog;  Beldin says yes, but frogs reproduce so fast, and it is better to have one annoying human around than a few hundred p-ed off frogs.

Laurna

#25
Now you have me envisioning an entire army of Furstan-Fistel frogs leaping out of the Rheltan mountains to invade Gwynedd.  :P ;D

Or in modern times there would be an Atherton-Haldane army of frogs in Camberia trying to board cargo planes to Gwynedd.  ;D

Everybody wants a piece of Gwynedd.
May your horses have wings and fly!

DesertRose

Quote from: Laurna on October 24, 2015, 11:30:04 AM
Now you have me envisioning an entire army of Furstan-Fistel frogs leaping out of the Rheltan mountains to invade Gwynedd.  :P ;D

Or in modern times there would be an Atherton-Haldane army of frogs in Camberia trying to board cargo planes to Gwynedd.  ;D

Everybody wants a piece of Gwynedd.

A plague of frogs?  :)
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Marko

Quote"No worries, I'm sure you're not used to being escorted around by a man who carries a set of throwing knives, a pistol, and a boot knife on his person."
He's a Morgan alright.  Could he be descended from Nigel as well?

Evie

Quote from: Marko on October 25, 2015, 05:14:44 PM
Quote"No worries, I'm sure you're not used to being escorted around by a man who carries a set of throwing knives, a pistol, and a boot knife on his person."
He's a Morgan alright.  Could he be descended from Nigel as well?

LOL!  Yes, definitely a Morgan.  Not sure if he'd be descended from Nigel (he's definitely descended from Kelson, though!), unless some descendant of Nigel's married into the Royal branch of the Haldanes, perhaps, or married a McLain, since Morgan Haldane's mother was a McLain.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Marko

Quote from: DesertRose on October 24, 2015, 12:06:19 AM
Sybilla makes me think of that old joke.

What's the first question in a murder investigation in Texas?

"Did s/he need killing?"
It's the same here in Georgia.  Although I think that defense hasn't worked in decades.