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bard-llama · 3 years

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WiP Wednesday: A Single Spark (aka Temerian Civil War)

It’s still Wednesday where I am, so I totally didn’t forget, okay?

Anyway, the premise of this series is that Foltest decides to torch the forest the Scoia’tael are hiding in, and ignores advisors who speak out against it. Including Roche. Roche and the Blue Stripes and Triss and Keira go to help fight the fire in the settlements - Ellander, Flotsam, but also the Scoia’tael’s settlement. Roche and Fenn venture into the forest (where a fire is ACTIVELY burning, mind you) to warn Iorveth and his men - and find them already dousing trees and doing controlled burns of underbrush and whatever else you do to try to survive a forest fire. There are several very tense moments, for a variety of reasons, but the end of it is: Iorveth and his Scoia’tael escort Roche back to Ellander, because they want nonhuman representation at the bargaining table. Notice how I didn’t mention Fenn? Yeah, that’s one of those tense moments.

This specific scene takes place after that, when they hear that Natalis is holding a strategy meeting at the town hall, so Roche and Iorveth join them.

“My children, Natalis,” Louisa said, gesturing towards the door as a young man with dark hair opened it and guided two small children with lighter hair inside. All of them were Louisa’s children, but considering the old Baron (may he rest in peace) had had black hair, and Louisa herself had dark hair, it was clear to anyone who looked that the young twins had a different father than the older boy.

Roche knew that people often did not look, but even so, there had been more than a few rumors about Louisa’s affair with Foltest. They were discreet – Roche knew this because often times he would be the one providing the discretion – but they were both nobles to their core. Nobles never noticed the servants, never thought about the fact that servants could gossip just as readily as other courtiers did.

Natalis had obviously heard said rumors, because he stared for a long moment at Ari, the oldest child, then assessed the twins in silence for another long minute. Then he cleared his throat. “My lady, what precisely are you proposing?”

“I am proposing that Foltest’s children be his heirs to the throne,” Louisa was calm as she delivered the news, and in any other circumstance, her declaration would be cause for Roche to panic. A dispute over the line of succession could destroy a reign if rulers weren’t careful. But Foltest had been planning at claim the children as his own, once the right politically expedient moment had arrived. They were bastards, so there would still have been some dispute over the rightfulness of their claim to the throne – but Foltest had only one other child, and if their claim was viewed more strongly than hers...

And shit, Roche really should’ve invited her. He hadn’t even thought of it, and–

The door opened again and this time, Triss Merigold entered with a white-robed priestess of Melitele who was technically the Crown Princess of Temeria. Technically, because while the reality was that Foltest was her father, no one knew that. To the world, Princess Adda the White was Foltest’s niece, daughter of the late Princess Adda of Temeria.

To a noble, a sister’s daughter was less respected than the primary family line – aka Boussy and Anais, Foltest’s direct children – but she was at least considered legitimate. Sort of. The cover story Roche had concocted when Adda had appeared – and he did mean appeared, as in, out of thin air in many ways – was that the late Princess had secretly married a nobleman, who had then hidden their child from the King after the Princess died. He’d had to specify that the nobleman had hidden Adda from Foltest, because none of them had known about Adda’s existence until a witcher lifted the curse from a striga. Eight years after the late Princess’s death.

The public had accepted the story, fortunately, but the fact was that until the curse had been lifted, Adda hadn’t known anything but the life of a monster that hungered for human flesh. She was cured of that, but its affects remained even as the Sisters of Melitele taught her how to be a person. Roche was proud to say that he’d played some small part in that, in raising the young woman standing in the doorway.

He also had a recurring nightmare where Foltest decided that his former-striga daughter was too nonhuman to be tolerated. She wasn’t, of course. Adda was human. The witcher had cured her.

Sure, maybe Roche had noticed little ways in which she was still a little… affected, shall we say? Like the way that her growl made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. Or the way that she could hear people moving two rooms over when Roche certainly couldn’t. Or the way that she preferred her meat rare enough to still be bleeding.

Little things. Not enough to make her not a human, though. It wasn’t as if she was an elf or a dwarf or a halfling or something. She was human. And just a little superhuman as well.

Triss Merigold cleared her throat and addressed everyone assembled in the room. “May I present Priestess Adda the White, Crown Princess of Temeria.”

#rorveth #iorveth x roche #vernon roche #iorveth #the witcher #wip wednesday #adda the white #louisa la valette #john natalis #anais la valette #boussy la valette #ari la valette #my fics

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bomberqueen17 · 2 years

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i’m curious as to if it’s ever explained how la valette and foltest became a thing, and roches role in foltest’s life at the time. does he get sidelined for maria? do they resent each other ?

LOL anon-- i was JUST THIS MORNING having a whole convo with @akilah12902 (who is writing Major Design Flaw, which is all the dirty work of getting Roche fucked-up before I get to fix him in my shit LOL) about this, about the whole Maria Luisa LaValette/Foltest relationship went down and how it affected Roche, and so i screenshotted this ask and sent it to them because the timing was SO perfect, and they wrote AN ESSAY ok, so I'm going to paste their answer first and then add mine in.

First off, there is absolutely a plan for fics about how Foltest and Louisa became a thing and how it wound up affecting Roche, as part of the young Roche and Foltest part of this story Roche did not get sidelined, Foltest continued his relationship with Roche throughout the entirety of his relationship with Louisa (poor Louisa). Actually Roche got more attention than usual while Louisa was pregnant, because Foltest was losing his fucking mind with anxiety and also smug as hell about it, and was smart enough (and in the middle of a war enough the first time) to not take those worries out on Louisa herself. Roche definitely resented Louisa a lot for a while, he didn't think she was good enough for Foltest. It came to a head when she started a civil war over Anaïs and Boussy and told a chunk of Foltest's nobles that Adda was both his daughter and his niece (some details in Under The Ribs) Louisa, on the other hand, was aware of the rumors about Roche and Foltest but didn't actually think they were true... In large part because she doesn't quite. Understand. Bisexuality. So to her, Foltest being obviously interested in her meant he clearly wasn't sexually interested in Roche. She did, however, try and leverage some of the rumors to split Roche and Foltest apart a little, because she was aware that Roche did not like her, and she wanted to protect her position with Foltest. (I'm planning a fic about How Witcher 2 Got Started in our shared canon, and in the conversation that leads to it Louisa is also going to find out that yes, Foltest is fucking Roche, is in love with him, and has been in a relationship with him for... Fifteen years at this point. That conversation is just so much.)

And as for me, the bit of their relationship I'm most concerned with, I haven't made entirely explicit I don't think-- I've sort of left it implied-- but as soon as he had handed Anaïs over into Natalis's custody, Roche concluded that the girl deserved to have her mother in her life, and despite his personal dislike of her, he stuck to that belief. He (rightly) believed that Luisa's highest ambition was her daughter on the throne, and with that the case, she would no longer be inclined to cause trouble, so long as she were involved. He recognized how smart and ambitious she is, and argued that she should have an outlet for that, in giving her daughter some modicum of stability in her life.

Luisa, for her part, immediately understood what a clear-eyed and generous thing this was for Roche to do, and as soon as she understood that he didn't have any ulterior motives-- what ulterior motives could he possibly have? she tried to think of some and came up empty and had to accept that this was genuinely what he believed-- she put aside her own differences with him.

They're not bosom friends, but they have a goal in common.

and luisa still doesn't understand bisexuality so it is increasingly funny that she assumes roche is disinterested in women, which he is Not, he's just not into her for many very good reasons

#i have a really funny snippet where roche explains bisexuality to her already written #it will get slotted in somewhere no worries #the witcher #maria louisa la valette #foltest/roche

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witcher-ot3 · 3 years

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Sims 4 (Im)Perfect Strangers Characters

Okay, probably no one cares, but hey, may as well share. So, I’ve been making some folks from (Im)Perfect Strangers, and I figured hey, maybe someone else cares enough to want to see lmao

Triss So, obviously we know what Triss looks like in canon. But because I started with Netflix!Triss, my version is a bit of a combination of game and netflix canon. Also, because I have the mods that make it possible, yes she has hairy legs and arms and no, she is not ashamed of it. Idk if her eyes are quite so noticeable, but I like the idea that mages feel ever so slightly Off to lay folk.

Adda the White Adda the White is Foltest’s daughter niece and in my version of things, she was raised by the Priestesses of Melitele with Triss and Roche looking in on her/mentoring her over the years. She’s had pretty limited contact with Foltest himself. She wears the traditional headcovering of the Priestesses (aka a hijab). She also has sharper than normal teeth, a lingering result of the striga curse, along with slightly heightened senses.

In her priestess garb, I think she looks a bit like this:

Anais La Valette Yeah okay, she has a game model, but the Witcher 2 kid models are creepy. SO, Anais, as we know, is a rowdy, rambunctious kid. She likes fighting and rough playing and she is not afraid of demanding what she wants. Loudly.

Boussy La Valette Unlike his sister, Boussy is more of an introvert. He likes his own company, but mostly, he likes to keep busy doing something that makes him think. (I doing my best to portray him as autistic, btw). He also does not believe in casual clothing. If you’re gonna get dressed, you should put effort into it, that’s his philosophy. He probably learned to tie his own bowtie at like 7 just so he could wear it without other people getting in his space to tie it.

Rinn Originally created by the wonderful @franzwantscoffee, Rinn is our favorite Scoia’tael spy. She’s pretty young as elves go - well, most of the Scoia’tael are, honestly, but Rinn is around teens/early twenties in the human equivalent. She wears clothing that helps her blend into the forest and is so good at sneaking that it takes inhuman senses to be able to detect her when she doesn’t want to be seen.

Sylvar Amongst the Scoia’tael, no one has worse scars that Sylvar. He typically wears a red mask over the lower half of his face to help cover them, but the burn scars he bears are extensive. He joined the Scoia’tael after the house his mother and he lived in amongst humans was set on fire - with them inside. He managed to escape, but his mother did not. Only elven medicine was able to save him and help him regain mobility after the incident. Because of this, Sylvar, unsurprisingly, does not trust humans. He wants to believe in the Free Pontar Valley, but it’s difficult when trying to sleep with humans in the vicinity leads to nightmares and panic attacks.

Taredd Taredd is remarkably short amongst elves, to the point that he was often teased about being a dwarven bastard. He does not enjoy reminders of his height (which, of course, means that Sylvar has to remind him every so often, just because). Anxious and clever, he took a page out of Cedric’s book and self-medicates with alcohol to keep his mind from being too overwhelmingly busy. He’s probably the best tracker in the Scoia’tael.

Maeral Maeral is punk as hell, the cleverest commander in Iorveth’s Scoia’tael, and an all around badass. Her squad is all women and to be honest, she doesn’t have much time for men. Iorveth is an exception because he lets her utterly destroy him at chess. She trusts him unequivocally, but her team is also a strike force. They’re the ones who go in first, the ones who play the distraction, the ones most likely to die. She trusts Iorveth because he trusts her to do what she needs to on the ground to bring as many of their people home as possible.

Imadia Imadia is old, even for elves, and unlike most elves humans have seen, she shows signs of her age. That’s how old she is. She is also old enough to take no shit whatsoever and she likes a nice pop of color in life. Things are bleak enough without wearing drab and depressing clothing. Besides, as a medic, she is typically removed from the fight and doesn’t have to scrounge for “gently used” armor like the rest of the Scoia’tael. In addition to serving as Iorveth’s medic, Imadia and Iorveth have known each other since before the Conjunction of the Spheres. When he attended the elven university equivalent, she was his thesis advisor. His faith in her advise has survived since then, and even though her biting tongue might bruise his ego, when he’s in over his head, she is the first person he goes to.

Kythaela (also known as Ky) Ky is a very upbeat and bright person, rarely ever seen without a beaming smile. She came to the Scoia’tael with her father, Ayluin, but he eventually turned traitor, trying to sell the Scoia’tael out to the Temerian guard. When he was discovered, he fled, and Ky attacked him in anger. In the scuffle, Ky managed to stab her father through the heart - and then broke down crying under the weight of everything. That was how Iorveth found her and came to believe in her innocence. Of everyone in the Scoia’tael, Kythaela and Rinn are probably the closest. They’re of a similar age and despite their very different demeanors, they make a terrifying and effective team. Ky is part of Maeral’s all-women unit.

SPOILERS FOR (IM)PERFECT STRANGERS!!

Zeda In Between Two Fools Chapter 4, we discover that Kythaela is pregnant with a dwarf’s child. Epic sex ed fail in the Scoia’tael, btw. Zeda hasn’t actually been born yet in what I’ve written so far, BUT he’s going to play a significant role in the future. As a half-dwarf/half-elven child, this baby is TINY and came out with a full head of hair. I think as he grows up, he’ll also probably grow body hair, unlike elves, because dwarves are very, very hairy because I say so.

Because this was super fun, are there any characters that y’all would like to see visualized? Maybe I’ll do Luka next...

#don't cry for me temeria #character design #sims 4 #the witcher #the witcher 2 #my fic

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the-witcher · 13 years

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Anais & King Foltest & Boussy

#Anais La Valette #La Valette #Anais #Boussy #Boussy La Valette #Foltest #King Foltest

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bard-llama · 3 years

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13. group hugs 🥺🥺🥺

I hope you don’t mind, I combined this with a prompt from @moonlights-ordinance for 31. hugging while straddling partner

By the time Iorveth made it home to their house in Vergen, he was feeling ragged and rundown and wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep. He walked inside, calling a tired, “‘m home,” to Vernon and the children.

In front of the fire, sitting in his armchair and reading to the two little terrors who were currently curled up together on the rug, Vernon was lit up by the flames. It made his smile as he turned to Iorveth all the more impactful, and Iorveth decided that actually, all he wanted was to curl up in Vernon’s arms and never move.

He tilted his head. Vernon wasn’t in the perfect position for it, one foot resting on his other knee with the book balanced in between. But Iorveth wasn’t one to let little things like inconvenience stop him. He made a beeline towards Vernon, squirmed his way into Vernon’s lap, and then wrapped his arms around the man, burying his face in the smell of home.

––

Roche startled when Iorveth raised a knee onto the arm of his chair. As he watched, Iorveth climbed up and contorted himself until the elf fit – more or less – in his lap. He laughed, reaching up to stroke Iorveth’s back.

“Comfortable?” he teased.

Iorveth squirmed, settling in, then hummed, face pressed against Roche’s shoulder and neck.

“Bad day?”

Iorveth shrugged, not responding.

“I didn’t know elves were like cats,” Boussy said, staring at Iorveth in fascination.

“In that they have to get their way or in that they stick their butt wherever they want?” Roche asked. Boussy’s thought process worked very differently from his, and it was always interesting to hear how he reasoned out a situation.

“His spine moves differently than mine,” Boussy shrugged.

In point of fact, elven skeletons were different from human ones. Logically, Roche knew this lead to slightly different movement, but he usually forgot about it unless Iorveth did something particularly strange.

“It does,” Roche nodded. “Do you want to know why?”

“No,” Anais piped up, but Boussy nodded eagerly.

Roche prodded Iorveth lightly. “You wanna explain or you want me to?”

A grunt was his answer. Today must have been difficult, if Iorveth was wholly nonverbal. He wrapped his arm around Iorveth’s waist, pulling the elf closer, and began to stroke through Iorveth’s hair.

“Have your lessons covered basic anatomy, yet?”

“Ugh,” Anais said dramatically, throwing herself back on the rug.

“I… think?” Boussy ventured.

“Okay, so humans and elves are different species. This means that we have different anatomies – the way we look on the inside and the outside. You know that elves have pointed ears, but they also have a number of internal differences. Their bones are different from ours, but our overall skeleton is pretty similar, except for the ribcage. Do you know where your ribcage is?”

Boussy smacked his chest excitedly and Anais poked him in the ribs with her foot.

Biting back a laugh, Roche nodded. “That’s right. Humans have 12 sets of ribs to protect our organs, but elves have sixteen.”

“So… it’s longer?”

“Yup. But it’s also designed a little differently, which is why Iorveth moves a little differently. Because otherwise, elves wouldn’t be able to twist as much as they do. Does that make sense?”

Boussy frowned, processing his words, then the boy nodded. “What about dwarves? Are they different?”

Anais perked up. Unlike her brother, who was interested in all things elven, Anais had taken their residence in Vergen as an excuse to go as dwarven as a little human child could.

He hated to disappoint her. “You know, I don’t actually know. But I bet your teachers would be delighted if you asked them.”

Anais made a face again. She mostly liked school, but she didn’t like that she liked it, so for the past year, she’d taken to reacting more and more dramatically despondent when the topic came up.

He tried not to laugh. “Do you want to continue reading or do you want to do something else? I’m gonna be here for a while,” Roche said, indicating his new status as an armchair.

Boussy bit his lip, then leaned over and whispered something to Anais, who nodded readily. They shared a mischievous smile, which immediately set Roche on guard, and then the two of them launched themselves at him, shouting, “group hug!”

He groaned under the additional weight, shifting to help keep everyone from falling off the chair. Iorveth shook against him, and for a moment he was worried they’d upset the elf, but then soft giggles emerged and Iorveth pulled back enough to smile softly at the kids. He opened his arm to let Boussy wiggle closer, which meant that Anais absolutely had to get closer to Roche, but eventually, they were all more or less settled.

“So we’re just staying like this for a while, huh?” Roche asked, not really minding.

“Yup,” three voices chorused, and he couldn’t help stretching out his neck until he could press a kiss to each of their foreheads.

Read on AO3

#rorveth #iorveth x roche #the witcher #anais la valette #boussy la valette #don't cry for me Temeria #my fics #cliffsecord

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bard-llama · 3 years

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WiP Wednesday: A Single Spark

I don’t think I’ve shared this whole scene before, but it’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve written, ‘cause there’s so much going on with everyone as they try to figure out where their political alignment is.

Premise: This is from a fic series called A Single Spark where Foltest orders the forest burned to destroy the Scoia’tael - only it does a lot more damage than just that (and the Scoia’tael survive, because they actually know how to care for forests and periodically burn the underbrush. Also, Roche and Fenn risked going into the forest to warn them, ‘cause Foltest has gone off his rocker.) With the help of Triss and Keira, the Blue Stripes manage to help the locals keep Ellander and Flotsam from burning down, and after the fire has burned out, everyone tries to figure out where things stand now that they’re technically all traitors in Foltest’s eyes.

Iorveth’s voice was entirely reasonable as he said, “all we want is the right to live freely. Is that truly too much to ask!?”

“He’s right, John,” Roche found himself saying and saw Iorveth turn to him in surprise. This was going to sound callous, but, “just look at the numbers. If we want a single chance to stop this from happening again? We need nonhumans. Is granting equality really that much to ask?”

The look on Iorveth’s eye made him feel strangely warm and he cleared his throat.

Natalis shook his head, expression openly uncertain. “We are fighting for a Temeria where our king won’t burn down forests. But I don’t have the authority to promise that kind of change. The nobles would never support it.”

“Hang the nobles!” Roche swore. “They’ve already made their stances clear! If they stand for the reckless destruction of Temeria, then who cares what they approve!?”

“I know you’ve never been fond of us,” Maria Louisa La Valette chided calmly as she walked into the room, “but not all the nobles have betrayed Temeria, thank you very much. And that is a good thing, because I believe I have exactly what you need.”

“Oh?” he scowled.

“You should know better than any,” Louisa sniffed, looking down her nose at him, “if we are to have a real chance of opposing Foltest and his loyalists, we’re going to need a viable option for someone to rule in Foltest’s stead.”

Roche opened his mouth to protest – and then his brain finally kicked into gear and reminded him exactly why Louisa La Valette would be the one to make this point.

“Foltest won’t claim them if they oppose him,” he reminded her softly. He didn’t particularly like Louisa La Valette all that much, but she was a proud woman and, unusual amongst her peers, she was actually invested in her children’s lives. And she knew Foltest, probably as well as he did. She had to know how this action would cause Foltest to respond.

Her throat moved in a quick swallow before she nodded sharply. “I know. I’ve discussed this with my family, and we’ve made the decision.”

John Natalis coughed light. “Pardon me for interrupting, my lady, but what–?”

Louisa cleared her throat, sweeping her eyes over the assembled group – not that there were many of them. She was the highest ranked noble present, and he had no doubt that she saw that as meaning command should automatically fall to her.

Unfortunately for her, neither Roche nor Natalis were the type to turn over command in the middle of a crisis. Which meant they had 3 commanders, a Scoia’tael elf who probably wouldn’t listen to any of them, a mage who rarely did anything she didn’t want to do anyway, and another noble. Great. No way that was going to be a problem.

“I am proposing that Foltest’s children be his heirs to the throne,” Louisa was calm as she delivered the news, and in any other circumstance, her declaration would be cause for Roche to panic. A dispute over the line of succession could destroy a reign if rulers weren’t careful. But Foltest had been planning to claim the children as his own, once the right politically expedient moment had arrived. They were bastards, so there would still have been some dispute over the rightfulness of their claim to the throne – but Foltest had only one other child, and if their claim was viewed more strongly than hers...

Shit, Roche really should’ve invited her. He hadn’t even thought of it, and–

The public had accepted the story, fortunately, but the fact was that until the curse had been lifted, Adda hadn’t known anything but the life of a monster that hungered for human flesh. She was cured of that, but its effects remained even as the Sisters of Melitele taught her how to be a person. Roche was proud to say that he’d played some small part in that, in raising the young woman standing in the doorway.

He also had a recurring nightmare where Foltest decided that his former-striga daughter was too nonhuman to be tolerated. She wasn’t, of course. Adda was human. The witcher had cured her.

Sure, maybe Roche had noticed little ways in which she was still a little… effected, shall we say? Like the way that her growl made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. Or the way that she could hear people moving two rooms over when Roche certainly couldn’t. Or the way that she preferred her meat rare enough to still be bleeding.

Little things. Not enough to make her not a human, though. It wasn’t as if she was an elf or a dwarf or a halfling or something. She was human. And just a little superhuman as well.

Triss Merigold cleared her throat and addressed everyone assembled in the room. “May I present Priestess Adda the White, Crown Princess of Temeria.”

Natalis, Keira Metz, Duke Hereward, and Louisa all bowed courteously, some noticeably lower than others. Belatedly, Roche remembered that he was supposed to bow too, which got him some odd looks from the others, but Adda just smiled at him. Iorveth didn’t move a muscle, looking at them all balefully.

“Gentlemen,” Adda’s voice was soft, yet it easily commanded the room, “ladies, I understand this is a strategy meeting to determine what to do next about Foltest.”

Natalis cleared his throat, “yes, my lady.”

“Wonderful. If you wouldn’t mind filling me in?”

“Of course,” every single one of them said, automatically assuming that she was addressing them as the leader. He’d known that was going to come back to be a problem.

Triss rolled her eyes and called on her fellow sorceress. “Keira? Would you mind?”

“Of course, your highness,” Keira nodded. “We haven’t exactly accomplished much.” The mage’s voice was scathing as she flicked a glance at Iorveth. “Roche brought Temeria’s Most Wanted Terrorist to the meeting, which understandably bothered some people.”

Roche rolled his eyes. “And Iorveth made the surprisingly rational argument that if we want to change Temeria, why not give nonhumans equal rights and protections, too?”

“The people would never accept it,” Louisa dismissed easily.

“I rather think the nonhumans would,” Adda said, soft words ringing in the silence that followed. “I am not sure that working with the Scoia’tael is the right answer, but why not make this change as well? I assume you’re already intending to ask for Foltest to step down.”

“And his children,” Louisa emphasized, squeezing each of the twins’ shoulders. Anais and Boussy mostly just looked uncomfortable. “Will take their rightful place as his heirs.”

Triss arched an eyebrow. “Rightful place? You do recall that you are speaking to the Crown Princess, don’t you?”

“Who is Foltest’s niece. Not his direct descendant.”

Roche rolled his lips together, determined to take the particular secret that meant she was wrong to the grave.

“Niece?” Anais spoke suddenly, eyes fixed on Adda. “You’re Papa’s niece?”

Adda blinked down at Anais for a long moment and then knelt down and smiled. “I am. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t know I had other family.”

And there was a rebuke in that that had Roche wincing, but nonetheless, there was something incredible about watching this meeting of Foltest’s three children. It was only right that they should know each other.

Louisa’s hand tightened around Anais’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’d be delighted to get to know you,” the noblewoman said, eyes sharp and hard, “provided you do not contest their claim to the throne.”

“My lady,” Triss interrupted, “with all due respect, they’re children. Adda is of age.”

Louisa was not moved, but Adda cleared her throat, smiling at Anais and Boussy as she rose. “I’m sure something can be worked out. More importantly, I would like to know where everyone stands on the nonhuman issue.”

“More important?” Louisa muttered, but obligingly shuffled her children to be seated around the table. Natalis, Keira and Hereward were all already sitting at the table, and Triss and Adda joined them.

But Iorveth didn’t move, and Roche twisted back to cock an eyebrow at him.

“That ‘nonhuman issue’,” Iorveth grit out, “happens to be my life, my people’s lives, and the survival of our entire species in the face of those who seek our eradication.”

Roche blinked, taken off guard by the venom in Iorveth’s words. But then, he supposed he’d never really thought about it like that before. To him, hunting elves was just – well, just following orders. He’d honestly never thought much about the experiences of nonhumans from their perspective. Foltest had never been interested in hearing that intel and Roche had never even thought to gather it.

Swallowing down the turmoil of emotions that thought caused, Roche looked at Iorveth and forced himself to see. To see beyond the enemy commander and the wily opponent and the talented warrior, down to the elf underneath all of that. To Roche, that Iorveth was an elf had never really mattered. Well, obviously it did, because those were Roche’s orders, but he’d just… never really thought about it. Iorveth was a terrorist, a criminal. Who cared that he was an elf?

Except… except Iorveth was a terrorist because he was an elf, wasn’t he? Because he wanted freedom and equality for his people. His elven people.

Weird how Roche had never thought about that before. It made him feel… something. Something uncomfortable and sour and a little too close to guilt for comfort.

“You’re right,” Adda said, and the whole room stared at her. She simply bowed her head to Iorveth. “I apologize for minimizing your fight. While I don’t personally agree with your tactics, I can understand what might lead you to taking such actions. That does not make them forgivable,” she was quick to say as Duke Hereward jumped to his feet, “but you are right to remind us that there are real people behind these issues, real lives affected by what we decide.”

Iorveth looked gobsmacked, but then, so did most of the room. Adda was certainly different to what they were all used to with Foltest.

The elf still didn’t join them at the table, but he did reluctantly ghost slightly closer, leaning against the wall behind Roche, which Roche was weirdly okay with, considering Iorveth could conceivably knife him in the back at any time.

But why would he? At the moment, Iorveth needed him, needed his acceptance to keep from getting slaughtered. Of everyone in this room, Roche would bet that only Anais and Boussy were unarmed. Iorveth wasn’t stupid enough to start a fight he couldn’t win, and seven against one, even this one, was a fight he could not win.

“Your highness,” Hereward said, shifting uncomfortably. “You almost sound as if you support the nonhumans.”

“That would be because I do, Duke Hereward,” Adda’s voice was firm and spoke of absolute faith in her words. “I believe that Temeria should be an equal Temeria for all Temerians, regardless of species. That is the Temeria I stand for.”

Roche tried not to gape. It probably should not have been as much of a shock as it was to hear Adda’s words. In retrospect, she’d always been very insistent that Melitele looked after all people, no matter what their ears looked like or how tall they were.

“That’s absurd,” Louisa scowled. “Temeria is a human land. If nonhumans want their own land, let them go somewhere else.”

“You are sitting on top of the ruins of the city I was born in, dh’oine. This was my land long before it belonged to you.”

Louisa and Ari bristled, and Roche could see Natalis frowning in thought even as Hereward closed himself off entirely, clearly uninterested in anything the elf had to say. Keira looked phenomenally unimpressed, and Triss mostly just looked concerned, but he kept his focus on Louisa. If any of them might try to stick a blade through Iorveth’s throat, it was her.

Without really thinking it through, he held his hands up placatingly, “there’s no need for this to get heated–”

“Heated!?” Louisa snarled. “What happened to the Blue Stripes commander who defended Temeria against the nonhuman threat? You stand there and let him tell lies, you bring him here and vouch for him – what has he promised you?”

Roche frowned. “My loyalty is to Temeria, and it isn’t for sale,” he said firmly. “This is a meeting to determine our next steps, as people who are all considered traitors to Foltest now.” And oh, that hurt something deep in his chest, made it ache with the memory of everything Foltest was to him. Had been. Now? Now, Foltest was clearly mad, and Roche had to think of what was best for Temeria. “We’re talking about standing against the King and all his armies. If you believe we few have the capability to stand up to those forces, then you’re deluded. Even the men in your own service aren’t enough, Lady La Valette, and to send them into battle without support would mean a slaughter. Hundreds of Temerians dead, for no other reason than because you could not sit and discuss what might be possible if we worked together. Is that really something you want on your conscience?”

Natalis cleared his throat authoritatively, “what is it you’re proposing, Commander Roche?”

“I’m not proposing anything. I’m saying that the leader of the Scoia’tael is literally here, in this room. And all he’s asking is equality for his people. That sounds like the beginning of a negotiation to me.”

Hereward scoffed, wrinkling his nose. “Negotiate with elves? When have you ever known an elf to keep their word!?”

“Have you ever known a human to keep theirs!?” Iorveth growled, low in his throat, and the sound reverberated around the room, setting more than a few people on edge.

Roche had to try hard not to smirk. These people didn’t understand Iorveth in the slightest. Maybe some elves were liars and oathbreakers. Hell, plenty of humans were liars and oathbreakers too. But Iorveth? Iorveth had his own sense of honor. It was warped by his morality, of course, but it was there. Why else would Iorveth save him in exchange for warning the Scoia’tael of the coming fire? Why else would Iorveth send his men out to look for Fenn?

“Enough,” Adda said, quiet voice somehow cutting through all protests.

The end result of this is gonna be 3 factions warring for control of Temeria.

The Loyalists

Foltest and his cronies, including a mage. They say a king can do whatever he damn well pleases and that’s the way it should be. Foltest fully intends to keep his position as king.

The Pragmatists

Louisa La Valette, John Natalis, Keira, and the others that stand with them that say kings shouldn’t be able to abuse their powers that way. They want Foltest to step down and his children to take the throne.

The United Temerians

Roche, Iorveth, Adda, Triss, and others who stand with nonhumans. They say that while Temeria is undergoing this change, why not include nonhuman rights as part of it. They want Foltest’s ‘niece’ to take the throne.

Of course, before this can happen, there’s all the build up with the forest fire which I still gotta write. But eventually, some of this ‘verse will actually be published and I am excited for that.

#rorveth #iorveth x roche #politics #a single spark #fic planning #my fics #adda the white #triss merigold #keira metz #louisa la valette #john natalis #king foltest #the witcher

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