Discussions at the table, part one

She woke up.

For a moment, she thought she was in her room in the Kingdom of Snow. There was nice and warm, and Shogi was sleeping as a cat-like creature on her legs and snoring. And then she saw the plants in pots and the shield with the coat of arms, she realized where she was and she was overcome with inexpressible sadness and shame. She lost her kingdom. She was just Frosta now, nobody else. She didn't even have a home because her subjects... Her people didn't want her. She couldn't even take her things with her, she only had what she managed to take with her on the trip, mainly a change of clothes. She didn't even have any sanitary pads with her, and it turned out that she had her period last night. The first time it happened was during the war and Glimmer helped her a lot... She didn't want to think about her friend, so she quickly dressed in the clothes Spinnerella and Netossa had prepared for her. She grimaced because he was much too big, or maybe she was too short? The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Snow were shorter, than the citizens of other kingdoms, regardless of what People they belonged to. She felt strange in this outfit, she usually tried to wear the ethnic clothes of her kingdom. This was to help her win over the clan representatives and prove that she was devoted to them and that the culture of her kingdom was the most important to her. It probably didn't work after all... Maybe if she wore those stupid and uncomfortable outfits she wore during state ceremonies every day... Would she then be… Respectable enough? Would she represent her kingdom and her subjects appropriately? Probably not, the problem was in a completely different place. In her. She sighed, then smiled slightly as Shogi began to chirp and rub against her legs.

"I guess we have to go, because they're probably waiting for us." she said to her companion and left the room into the dining room.

It turned out that breakfast was not ready yet. In the evening , Spinnerella told Netossa that she missed her very much with THAT voice, so they probably went to sleep VERY late. She wonder if someone will ever address her this way? She had never thought about it before. It didn't matter anyway. Netossa was feeding the Child porridge from a pot, Spinnerella was busy serving food despite her condition, Greypaw was nodding off, and Quickling was listening to the radio. She took a deep breath, put on the most serious face she could, and said solemnly.

"I greet the people in charge of this household and I thank you with all my heart for the honor of spending the night by their fire, which saved me from certain death from the cold."

All five of them, including the Child, looked at her with their mouths open, and Netossa looked suspiciously out the window, as if to check if the weather had changed.

"Oh Frosta ! You don't have to address us formally. It is our pleasure to host you under our roof." said the ruler of Windcrest, smiling friendly.

"Shogi!" Greypaw and Quickling shouted as they ran towards the shapeshifting creature, which now took on a more dog-like form. They had been playing with him all evening yesterday, although Netossa was a bit wary, after all, she had seen her new friend in Shogoth's natural form . Eventually, however, she decided that there was no threat to anyone from the ancient creature and began tossing him a ball for him to fetch. She almost forgot what happened to her then.

"Children, you haven't forgotten something." Spinnrella asked , looking at the children in a significant way.

"Good morning Princess Frosta!" Greypaw and Quickling replied at the same time, without ceasing to

petting Shogi.

"We need to think about getting them a pet." Netossa suggested, and her wife smiled warmly.

There were not many servants in the court of the united kingdom. Although dinners were prepared by the cook, both rulers tried to prepare breakfasts themselves, although due to Spinnerella's advanced stage of pregnancy , this will probably change soon. Vegan banana pancakes and rolls with tofu and sweet filling and vegetable broth were served, and she and Greypaw got milk soup with buckwheat noodles. She sat down next to the place occupied by the cat-like boy, who returned to his seat after a while. He was very different from Catra, just like all the other feline people she had ever met. She had never actually met anyone like Catra, but she had never been to Scorpion country for long. Her people probably lived there. Greypaw asked for a cup of almond milk and when he got it he asked.

"Frosta … I mean, Princess Frosta. Can you still cool the milk for me? Because you don't rule the Kingdom of Snow anymore, do you?

His question was innocent but fully justified, after all it was said that the power of runestones could not be wielded by those who proved themselves unworthy. And since she turned out to be unworthy of ruling her kingdom... She was shocked to find that she didn't remember using her power since she lost control there, in front of the ice palace. Terrified, she grabbed Greypaw's mug and froze it so violently that it cracked. Instead of relief at having retained her powers, she felt shame at having destroyed the mug. She lowered her head and remained gloomily silent. Spinnerella looked at her son disapprovingly and said.

"In the thousands of years since... Since the First Ones left Etheria, only a few times have any of the princesses been deprived of the Power. Talon of Brightmoon wanted to turn into a not-dead sorcerer to rule forever and murdered seven people. Scythe of Dryll carried out terrible experiments, Misty of Plumeria named herself the Princess in Yellow and began to distort her kingdom with Dark Magic, and Iron Grasp, Scorpia's ancestor, was simply a crazy Tyrant who wanted to enslave all the inhabitants of Etheria, ruined the reputation her people for many years " The ruler of Windcrest explained to everyone with passion. Quickling's eyes lit up with curiosity.

"It's Entrapta... Princess Entrapta has her own Runestone?" Saihe the girl asked .

"No, it was destroyed during the time of Princess Scythe by her daughter. It allowed for combining organic and inanimate matter, creating a connection between living beings and machines. Supposedly, there were eight runestones that gave powers, but only five survived... " she did not add that these five were enough to almost destroy their world. "Not all princesses who use the power have access to Runestones. I inherited mine from Ariel, Queen Angela's sister, Mom Netossa can make webs thanks to ancient technology, and Princess Sweet Bee can communicate telepathically... I'm not sure how, but I think it has something to do with her origins." Spinnerella explained . The rest of breakfast passed in silence. When Queen Angela was mentioned, she felt very sad. Her parents died when she was little and she had virtually no memory of them. It was hard to miss someone you barely remembered. And Glimmer lost her mother, whom she loved so much, and in such terrible circumstances.

Both princesses had been almost deprived of their own property during their years of exile in Brightmoon, and they did not want to abuse the Queen's hospitality and took care of most of the household chores on their own, and decided that nothing would change for them in this respect once their homelands were regained and united. After all, Their people had suffered so much during the war that it was inappropriate for them to live in comfort and luxury now. She asked to be allowed to help them, although she had only washed her plate during the last trip, so she didn't put much effort into it, but she wanted to be useful. At first, Netossa protested that she was a guest and didn't have to do anything for them, but Spinnerella said that it was great that she would help them. While she was washing up, Shogi was watching over the Child. The job helped her and made her feel a little better. However, once the dishes were done, she went into the living room to listen to the radio, but the only news was the Chancellor's speech about the great future of their new republic. She immediately lost her mood. Netossa swore so badly that she thought her ears were going to fall off, so she turned off the radio and then growled.

"Damn, Lonnie. That we also let her minions get away with it. They all had to be tied up and taken to the dungeon! They would fraternize with the rats!" She spoke until her wife put her hand on her shoulder.

"Kyle seems like the kind of guy who would befriend with rats, but Scarlet... I thought she was my friend. She saved my life even though she didn't have to." She didn't add that she knew the truth about Nightgale. Maybe there was a secret here? She was the daughter of Shadow Weaver, who was a liar and a manipulator… No, that wouldn't be fair. No one should be judged for who her mother was. They didn't know everything." Maybe it's not her or Lonnie's doing. But what do I know?I thought the Chancellor was my friend too."

Calamity would never have thought that at the sight of another feline creature, her heart would burn with such a hot fire of Righteous Wrath. The younger one, that Eti, for understandable reasons aroused in her hatred mixed with well-deserved contempt. But it was nothing, the mere glow of a candle flame in the bright sunlight. This creature took away her future, broke out her destiny. She made her wonderful Existence meaningless. She could have become the undisputed ruler of Etheria, or perhaps this part of the universe, but she was only an element of Nyarlathotep's plan, one of many. What a pathetic fall. Could she have been further disgraced? And worst of all, she could not seek justice in any way. Just stand here and smile benevolently, because that was the sorceress's plan. It was only with the greatest effort of will that she stopped herself from tearing out her throat with her bone claws. How long will her torment last?

The conversation with Heart Gift turned out to be quite fruitful. The AI was dumb even compared to the mortals, but she still didn't want to arouse her suspicions, lest she summon those damned crabs to tear her apart. That would be more than troublesome. Fortunately, she was able to be nice and hide her true nature, although she was tempted to tell the AI the truth about her mothers, but she came up with a much funnier idea... Perhaps she could even find a way to circumvent the agreement between Nyarlathotep and the Dark Sorceress. The power node map was interesting and will greatly help them with their grand plan. She said goodbye to Heart Gift, promising her that they would meet again. She intended to keep this promise...

The journey back to the vehicles that had brought them here was much shorter than it had been to get there, mainly because she no longer had to limit herself and could use the full potential of her perfect body. She got into the mercenary's vehicle in case her own was mined. You can't fall into the same trap again. She also notified friendly cultists who were to take care of her former friends trapped in the shelter, who, according to the words of the unwise AI, survived. She was happy because she had prepared something special for them…

She reached a small town where the house of her most important contact was, Klementine , the daughter of General Jocelyn . The girl was waiting for her outside the city, dressed in the rather pretentious robes of a Nyarlathotep cultist, put on hastily considering how disorganized they were. She greeted her with such sincere joy that Calamity wasn't sure if the girl understood who she was dealing with, or even what being a cultist meant. She decided that she was one of those naive creatures who looked for comfort and answers to their sadness and uncertainty in cults. Well, she could play that role, there you go, Shadow Weaver taught her how to play a savior and a benevolent protector.

The greeting was hurried, but she must have made the right impression, because the girl blushed when she spoke to her. This will be easier than she expected. Klementine wanted to take her to her house to entertain her, but she refused. She told her to change her clothes and provide herself with a suitable outfit so that she could meet the queen. The girl looked a bit disappointed, but complied. Well, she wasn't chosen because of her talents, but because of the position her mother held. Despite what she probably believed, her position in the cult was quite low. She didn't really need it to get into Glimmer's presence, her name alone should have been enough, but she decided it was worth keeping this acquaintance because it would come in handy someday. The servants were only a little surprised when Klementine brought such a guest at night, but the instructions for the girl to pack because they were going to Brightmoon made a much greater impression . During the flight she held onto it tightly, tighter than she had to, and while walking through the corridors of the castle she chattered incoherently. She kindly kept her talking, even though she wanted to pull out all her teeth and shove them down the girl's throat.

The chatter stopped when they met Catra and her three companions. She recognized Castaspella by the fact that she wore the head sorcerer's crown, which, like the sorceress herself, was carefully described to her by Shadow Weaver. She didn't have a very good opinion of the new ruler Mystacor , although now Calamity decided that she was too kind to her anyway. Behind her stood a woman who stared at her with amazement tinged with reverent respect. She was even taller than her, her face was hidden behind an illusory disguise, a very good one by the way, but most importantly, she had a mark that allowed the aristocrat to recognize her as an servant of the Creeping Chaos. The third individual was the most interesting. At first she thought it was an elf-blooded tiefling, but then she saw that it was translucent and floating in the air. Unimaginable power emanated from him, and there was pure evil in his eyes. She liked him immediately. When he noticed that she saw him, he looked surprised, then bowed and signaled her to remain silent.

"I heard about you, Adora told me about your meeting on Icarus. Catra said, wrinkling her nose slightly. She forgot to use smell suppressants. She sensed distrust in her eyes. Did she suspect something? But before she could answer the feline woman, she felt a painful burst of magic, not as bad as She- Ra's , but still painful like any Etherian magic, and Glimmer appeared next to her.

"Oh, I have a great idea. We'll make dinner together! I invited your father too! Oh, who are you?" The Queen looked at her surprised.

"Shadow Weaver has been underinformed again."

Lady Ka sometimes thought that the Lord Admiral should get himself a butler or an adjutant. Actually, Commander Reese had been his adjutant before he became Commander, but he had been promoted and, to her regret, he had performed his duties well. Although if the Lord Admiral wasn't such a damn handsome guy, she would have had a lot more objections. On the other hand, the whole ritual was not about getting dressed, but about an excuse to discuss matters that were important to both of them. And there have been quite a lot of them recently.

"It seems Lady Cala hasn't been completely honest with us..." she muttered to the Lord Admiral, straightening his cuffs. They were getting ready for a formal dinner, during which they could learn some Etherian customs and get to know each other better. The problem was that there were several people invited who were not expected to be there.

"To be honest, I didn't expect anything else. Nobody, who goes to such a place without hiding any secrets. However, I had no idea that Miss Daisy could come from this planet and, in addition, be someone who played such an important role in the history of this planet... And in the life of my daughter. However, it must be admitted that it explains a lot. It's no wonder that an aristocrat like Lady Cala decided to go on this expedition. The only question is how aware she was of her mentor's true nature. If so, it means that he is a much more calculating and ambitious person than we thought. And much more dangerous. For now, we have to pretend to be more unaware than we are." The Lord Admiral said thoughtfully. She nodded and said, smiling sarcastically.

"In the case of our Ashurk, it would be quite difficult. Good thing this idiot has no idea about anything important."

"Distribute the truth according to competence." Antares said thoughtfully. "But what does the Aristocrat want? Rather, among fairy tales we can include stories about the desire to experience adventure and get to know the place where one comes from. However, there remains the question of this gift. What could he be... If Miss Daisy is indeed the Shadow Weaver, she may have come here to take revenge on my daughter and her fiancée.. We cannot allow this under any circumstances!" said the Lord Admiral with the promise of a slow and painful death. "But as for the other inhabitants of Etheri… Well, I'm very sorry for what will happen to them." he added in a gentler tone.

Lady Ka tried to keep a straight face. Would she try to save the new kitten if that grim sorceress tried to kill it? She wasn't sure about the answer to this question/=. After all, this way she would solve most of her problems and her hands would still be clean. At least in the Admiral's eyes. New kitty, this Catra was undoubtedly smart and very dangerous. And her claws... She tried very hard not to touch the mask... Could she count on her being allowed to keep her position if necessary? Rather unlikely, although it would also depend on what the Lord Admiral's plan was. Perhaps he will direct events so that the girl has no choice. As he said, both war and politics were largely about creating order out of chaos, and this planet was a veritable melting pot.

Right after an overly long breakfast with her boss's daughter and an irritating conversation with the purple-haired idiot, she decided to look around the palace. The guards were vigilant and watching her, but since she was part of the entourage of their commander's father, they didn't really know how to deal with her, so they didn't stop her wherever she went... But she wasn't sure if there was even a single place in this castle which she would like to visit. In fact, she has never been to any palace or castle, apart from the absurd and grotesque residence of Jantar. She was a city girl and the city was her element, her natural environment, her feeding ground. What was she supposed to do in the fucking queen's abode. Picking up damn princesses? If they were all like that purple-haired nosy idiot, then she'd say thank to this idea, she wasn't that desperate and she respected herself too much. So she had to use simpler methods. She could read lips and had good hearing, and the servants here liked to gossip as much as anyone else. She also had some hard currency and gadgets for bribes and gifts, and she knew the basics of hacking, so she could break into private computers without much effort... Although, as it later turned out, the inhabitants of Etheria did not know the concept of digital security. Well, their loss. She learned the most by eavesdropping on the kitchen helpers' conversations. The cook even offered her soup, claiming that it looked unhealthy. She was pale, a bit emaciated, and the only visible eye was bloodshot and puffy, but let's be honest. Who is a normal person who offers soup to strangers? She probably wanted to drug her to get information from her. And even if she didn't, she still couldn't bring herself to eat something she hadn't prepared herself. The price of being raised by Jantar, or perhaps the price of wisdom, depends on how you look at it. So she poured the contents of the soup into the fountain, but first she asked the woman about this and that. She was talkative and suspiciously protective, probably trying to get her into bed, but at least she learned some interesting things. First of all, Lady Cala and Asindesa Di Vir arrived at the castle . They were alone without an entourage and it was unknown whether they knew about the Lord Admiral's arrival. They kept the entire expedition a secret, although not very secret. Neither Prime's heirs nor the Hellknights had noteworthy intelligence. She also learned something else. Apparently something happened in the castle at night. Some sort of burglary, sabotage, or maybe even an attempt to kidnap the queen. They claimed that some sort of People's Rebellion was responsible for this, although there was a thought in the back of her mind that she decided to keep to herself for now.

"I wonder how much our noble knight knows and understands? Maybe we should ask her about it? I'm sure she has something to do with that dark sorceress." she said, tying the scarf behind the Lord Admiral's neck.

"Hell Knights are widely known for fraternizing with the forces of Darkness to achieve goals that further their cause. The Order of the Eclipse may not do this as often as other orders, but I have seen knights and men-at-arms go into battle alongside Devils and the undead." Said the commander of the Fearless Armada thoughtfully. "I don't criticize them for that. In war, you must do what is necessary to win. Especially in the war we were fighting. When you face an opponent like the Swarm, you cannot hesitate to use even the most terrible weapons. However, if the Order is associated with the Shadow Weaver, or rather the Shadow Weaver is associated with the Order... This will be the second time they have withheld important information from us, and worse still, we still don't know what they are hiding from us. We cannot tolerate this." Anteres voice became hard, almost angry. She didn't tell her commander that they too had withheld important information, perhaps even much more important information, from the rest of the fleet. Her boss was an understanding man, but she preferred not to abuse this understanding.

"There is something else, from what I heard, there was an incident here at night. The locals suspect that the opposition to the Queen, some People's Rebellion or something is responsible for this, but I have my suspicions. Something tells me your other daughter may have been responsible for this. – She said, helping her commander put on his shoes, although she would take them off before sitting down at the table. So it was a waste of time, and he usually dealt with it himself, but she decided to take advantage of the opportunity and talk to her commander for a while.

"On what basis did you draw such an interesting conclusion?" the Lord Admiral asked with obvious interest in his voice.

"Mainly based on hunch. We know that they went to the zone and that your old friend Doctor Sidonius, who has always been fascinated by the First Ones is helping them hide. And in the entire region there is no place more interesting than Etheria. It may be a large planet, but such a break-in suits both my sister and... your younger daughter."

The Lord Admiral thought for a long moment before speaking.

"We need to get the girl back into our hands as soon as possible. Not just because of the artifact. She is the blood of my blood. I can't let her forget her destiny. Our bloodline will be safer with both of them. Besides, maybe one day her sister will need support. Right hand. Someone who will be willing to do things that she officially cannot afford."

"Someone like me," Lady Ka thought bitterly. The Lord Admiral looked at her mysteriously, as if he had read her thoughts, and said.

"Getting her back is not a priority right now. It is not worth chasing two hares at the same time, because you will be hungry in the evening. If you're right and the girl is here, she won't be leaving this planet any time soon. Especially if she knows about her sister... I wonder what she's looking for here, or rather what the Doctor is looking for here... It doesn't matter now anyway. The girl will fall into our hands sooner or later. Just remember." his voice now became very cold, a bit growly, threatening. "Not even the slightest harm can come to her. Whatever you do to her, you will receive tenfold. The same applies to her companions, as long as they are not Tarak shadows ... Although you can beat them up a bit, but I will need them as... a way of pressuring her to listen to our commands more willingly."

"What about my sister... That traitorous bitch." she drawled, barely able to control her fury. The Lord Admiral almost smiled as he said.

"You serve me faithfully, let her life be your reward..."

She smiled with the visible half of her mouth, extremely cruel, even for her.