C&C Chapter 35 teaser... · 3:47pm May 3rd, 2023
The first couple prereads are in and very favorable. After all the angst and issues this chapter gave me, it appears to have turned out well in the end. Given it's gotten very long—now nearly 20k words, split between three unique perspectives—I'm giving all prereaders until Sunday morning to hit it, when I'm planning to launch it.
As for the teaser, since I don't want to give away the memory replays themselves, I'll give you the start of the chapter instead. It will explain exactly how and why Gilda is forced to take part in this, when she would otherwise choose not to:
Gilda glanced at Giraldi and Fortrakt again, earning a sharp nod from each. “Fine. If that’s what it takes to show him what a crow-damned fool he is, we’ll do it.”
But instead of immediately accepting, Queen Lepidoptes turned her gaze on Gilda again. “Before you agree, think carefully if you wish to participate, Grizelda Behertz,” the Changeling monarch admonished her. “For I cannot censor or edit the experiences. By taking part in this, you will show not just the Tribune, but all your comrades who take part in this everything that happened to you in the past day.”
Gilda mentally froze. She picked up on the hidden meaning of the Queen’s words immediately, her mind racing.
“Is there an issue, Centurion?” Tribune Cipio asked icily as he saw her hesitate. “Perhaps something you don’t want me to see? Like a failure of leadership that cost lives? Or a lie you’ve been telling this whole time?”
She looked up sharply at the insult to honor. “I haven’t lied about anything, Tribune.”
“Then there should be no issue with acceding to the Queen’s request,” he said with a sneer, and Gilda realized that Giraldi and Fortrakt were now giving her questioning looks as well. “I have nothing to hide. Or are you afraid of learning that I haven’t lied? That everything I did was not only justified, but necessary?”
She ground the halves of her beak together as her mind raced, trying not to look at Karin Kazal behind her. She could feel his gaze on her, but whatever he was thinking, he gave no indication, leaving Gilda guessing that he feared speaking up might give himself away. What should I do? she wondered half-frantically. I might be willing if it was just me, but there’s the Starshina to consider, too...
But before she could form a reply, an uncomfortable Imlay cleared his throat. “With greatest respect, ma’am, I would rather not have my mind scanned,” the Marine Corporal told her. “You’ll understand that we’re still trying hard to keep our full capabilities secret. If my memories are shared, then the Cloven might gain the ability to use or counter our weapons by corrupting whoever they were shared with.”
Queen Lepidoptes nodded. “I see. A sensible precaution. In that case, I must ask that you leave the room, Corporal, as I cannot exclude you from the spell’s effects if you remain. Be assured that you will be safe from it outside these walls.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said with a nod, turning to leave.
“I must decline as well,” Miles Fortuna said as he exited between her two sentries. “No offense, Your Highness, but even if they are currently helping us, Raven capabilities and tactics must be kept from the ibex. And even yourselves.”
“We already know them, Senior Scimitar,” Karin Kazal said in some annoyance, and Gilda could pick out the tension in his voice as all three Ravens left the room. “That said, I admit to having the same reservations, given there are… certain things I would not wish to share.”
“Like an attempt at betrayal?” The Tribune suggested, earning a glare from Gilda and a growl-like bleat from the ibex buck. “Fine, leave if you must. I have no wish to see what lies inside the mind of a crow-damned goat anyway. So what will it be, Centurion?”
She closed her eyes and nodded slowly as she reached her decision. “I will respectfully decline to take part as well, Queen Lepidoptes. But not because I have lied about human weapons!” she immediately added to an angry glare from Cipio and at least a slight exhalation from Karin Kazal. “It is only because there are some… private experiences I wish to protect.” She allowed herself to blush slightly, hoping it would simply be assumed she was talking about an encounter with Marco.
“How convenient,” Cipio said with a second sneer. “Well, if you’re not going to participate, then I fail to see why I should.”
Giraldi gave him a cool look. “I would think that she’s trying to protect you, sir. Unless despite claiming the idea to be appalling, you truly wish to experience her laying with an ‘alien ape’?” he suggested mildly, causing the Tribune to make a face and his uncertain aide to give another barely audible squeak.
Gilda bared her throat to him, trying to hide her relief. Thank you, Giraldi! she mentally told her quick-thinking second. “Even if he does, I wouldn’t share it. As both my subordinates saw human weapons in action, and even used them in the case of the Optio, I see no reason to stay and indulge the Tribune’s voyeuristic tendencies. So, I will step out as well.” She rose to leave after one final wingslap at him, but she couldn’t quite force herself to meet his probing gaze.
“In that case, we’re done here, Behertz,” the Tribune said after studying her for a moment. “I won’t take part in this, either. And I will be telling Queen Molyneux that you’re lying.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you are lying! Between your tension and your posturing, you’re acting just like my daughter does when she’s done something that she doesn’t want me to learn!” he shot back, pointing a metal-clad talon at her. “I’m not sure what you’re hiding, but it isn’t just rutting a human, is it? There’s something you don’t want me to know, which means that I need to know it!”
Gilda froze, her eyes going furtive. “I…” She shot a pleading look to Queen Lepidoptes, realizing too late that her reaction had only confirmed his suspicions.
To her relief, the Changeling monarch came quickly to Gilda’s defense. “Your parental perception does you credit, Tribune. But in this case, you are jumping to an incorrect conclusion. I am aware of what she wishes to keep private, and I agree that she has good reason to do so. So if you will not believe her, then please believe me when I say it is irrelevant to this discussion.”
“And you’ll forgive me if I cannot take your word for it, Queen Lepidoptes, given her grandiose claims and the repeated assaults on my honor that the Centurion has made,” he replied, his glare never leaving Gilda. “She demands that I trust her while clearly withholding information under the cover of rutting her human lover? I will no more allow her to get away with that than I would my sixteen-year-old son avoiding responsibility for getting drunk on eating a rum cake by admitting to snacking on a dessert scone. Which he tried last week, by the way.”
Gilda stifled an urge to swallow, suddenly feeling for a moment like she was cub being interrogated on one of her many Equestrian misdeeds by her long-absent sire. But she forcibly purged it, forcing herself to meet his gaze and put some steel in her spine. “I am not your son, sir.”
“No. You’re my subordinate, which means I tolerate lying to me even less!” he instantly retorted. “So out with it, Behertz! Tell me what you’re hiding, or we’re finished here! And between that and your obvious emotional compromise, I will convince the Queen that your judgment cannot be trusted!”
Also occurring this weekend is the software release I've been working on endlessly for the last month-plus. Hopefully it will go smoothly and I can stop thinking about it. I plan to take a couple days off once I'm clear of it just to decompress, and then plan a summer vacation for late May/early June.
As for what's next on the writing front, I did promise an Eros chapter after this one, but it may be better to just finish off this little story arc since I've got so much written of its final chapter already—nearly 9k, though a couple thousand of those are spent on an abortive attempt at writing Fortrakt's perspective. I’ll think about it.
And I'm sure openly questioning the word of the foreign ruler who was essential in keeping this plan from becoming more of a disaster than it already was will earn Cipio plenty of brownie points with both her and Molyneux.
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The Queen is patient, to a point. So Cipio had better be careful that the accumulated offense he offers doesn’t exceed a certain threshold. Because if it does...
Well. Let’s just say that the Queen has her own ways of conducting attitude adjustments, particularly when she already knows you intimately inside and out.
Before and after the teaser:
Still pretty sure Cipio is to petty to be keeping him outside of tactical reasons. The necessity will make him not any less petty or unreasonable
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The DBZ Abridged version of Cell was far better than the real one, IMO. In DBZA, he’s not just the ultimate fighter but a master shit talker with a ton of witty putdowns. Witness his treatment of Light Yagami of Death Note fame in the special DBZA Cell versus series:
I would request that you reserve judgement on Cipio until you read the next chapter and see all he did and went through in the past day. As for pettiness, he’s tired, harried and dealing with a direct challenge to his command at what he feels to be a very bad time from someone who has no business doing it. Does that completely justify his actions and obstinance? No, but it does mitigate it at least somewhat.