Bless My Homeland Forever [Ursula]

[Brenner Dornkirk]

“Most of my travel has been relegated to our territories or at least close at hand. I spent the last decade patrolling our skies and fending off threats from both without and within.” He’d frequently offered air support to operations of the Order in their efforts to root out and destroy illegal covens, and he was no stranger to suppressing the odd insurrection through force or the threat thereof. His latest commission aboard the Searing Victory had tended toward the latter. Often a dreadnought of such size and armament as the Searing Victory was more than enough to quiet the most rambunctious of rebel hearts without needing to fire a shot.

“But my recent trip to Kalzasi was harrowing indeed. It was so different to how Prince Talon portrayed it when he visited here. He spoke of a libertarian paradise, but what I found was an Avialae autocracy ruling through fear and the threat of eldritch retribution against all dissenters. You know, they criticise us for burning illegal witches at the stake, but they practise far crueler forms of discipline. Did you know they have a slave class called the Dead Legion who are committed to battling beasts in the Warrens until they die? The terror they must feel at being sentenced to such a lot rends my heart…” Brenner appeared genuinely moved by the experience. After a moment’s pause, he shook it off physically and downed the rest of his flute in one fortifying gulp.

He smiled faintly as Ursula drew them toward happier matters.

“Family is everything.” He said of the notion of children. “And I shall fight to make this world better for those future generations, so that you may explore such peaceable pursuits as you describe.”

[Ursula Fletcher]

Her eyes were wide as he described Kalzasi.

She’d heard rumors, of course - and, when she’d been much younger, she’d traveled there with her parents. Of course, she’d been kept in a hotel room entertained by her nanny while her parents explored. It’d been dreadfully boring.

And, hearing Brenner, she suddenly was very grateful she hadn’t managed to escape.

It sounded like a nightmare. She hadn’t thought much of the Kalzasi way to rule, but she’d secretly harbored a suspicion it wasn’t unlike what Zaichaer had been, before. They had princesses and princes although they had different names for royalty. And, of course, all their nobility had wings.

Brenner painted a very different picture - of slavery, of horror, of terrible magics. “How cruel,” she whispered, her heart pained at the idea of men sent to their deaths below the earth. Ursula couldn’t help but imagine the endless weave of caverns. She couldn’t help but think of a place untouched by sun and light and warmth. She couldn’t help but think -

“Yes,” she caught herself from becoming too distracted, from becoming lost in her own thoughts. “Family is everything. I look forward very much to one day starting my own.”

Ursula recovered, remembering her smile. Pleasant things, she thought to herself, pleasant things.

“I don’t know who I would be without my family,” she said, “Am I wrong to assume you are very close to yours?”

A sip of champagne. A cracker of sweet berry jam and soft cheese. Another sip.

How terrible Kalzasi must be. How very terrible indeed.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"Incredibly cruel." Brenner agreed with a firm nod. "That they have the audacity to paint us in so grim a light as they do is the more confounding for how pernicious and backward their culture is." The First Minister's voice sharpened, as he spoke of Kalzasi. He sounded like he might have punctuated his last thought by spitting on the ground, but he was far too genteel to succumb to such base instincts in such civilised company.

"You are not wrong in the least." He conceded, "I am quite close to my family. My father, like many great men, is a bit aloof, but such is to be expected. I don't begrudge him his focus on his heir. Being the spare, I have always been the delight of my mother's eye. I'm quite close with Stefan as well, so it was a particular boon when we both ascended to our new government positions concurrently." Their father had, of course, been particularly thrilled with Stefan's appointment as it promised the already prosperous Dornkirk Windworks would be acquiring many new and profitable government contracts. Particularly with the threat of war on the horizon, the aeronautical magnate was certain to profit greatly from the impending boom to the manufacturing industry.

"And what of the Fletchers?" He inquired, "Are you a close knit family?" He hadn't really gotten a good feel for them as yet. The mother seemed like she might have been a bit cloying to Ursula from his observations, but they didn't seem to have a bad relationship. The father seemed so soldierly it was hard to get a read on how he might behave when there was no mixed company to demand formality of him.

[Ursula Fletcher]

The spare. Myles Arnnett called himself - well, there were more than just two sons in that family. One of the spares, he’d always say.

“I’d like to think so,” she said, “Even if my brothers used to tease me endlessly about one thing or another.” It’d been harder when she’d been younger. She hadn’t understood why - why the dresses, why the finishing school, why the galas. Ursula had only wished to be left alone with her gardens and her horses and her aviaries and her -

“I was spirited as a child,” Ursula smirked, remembering. “I suppose that happens with three older brothers. My father promises he lost all his hair by the time I turned thirteen and only grew it back a few years ago.”

A silly joke he told again and again and again. It had annoyed Ursula - and her mother - at first, but now she found it darling. “I think it was harder for my mother, my youth, because she’d imagined an easier time after three sons.”

Another taste of bubbling champagne. How endless her mother wondered about her fourth son disguised as a daughter. But, eventually, her mother had got what she’d wanted - a perfect daughter.

“But, despite whatever grief I caused them, I think we’re close. My brothers are all married now but they come often enough to visit. We all - well, my parents and I - look very much forward to when they start having children,” she smiled at the thought.

“I think I will be the most splendid aunt. I’d never be caught by any of my nieces or nephews without a sweet or gift at the ready.”

And never would she ever tell them of responsibilities or duties. She’d offer them no practical advice. There would be no warnings, she promised, of what other people might think.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"Boys will be boys..." Brenner offered with a mild snigger as she spoke of her brothers' tendency to taunt her. As a child Brenner had wanted another sibling just so he wouldn't be the youngest and the smallest but, as fate would have it, he remained as much. Stefan was, of course older, but had also remained taller and broader. If he'd been more outgoing, Brenner imagined no one would have ever paid any mind to his paler, smaller brother. But fate had afforded him other advantages, including the deference of Stefan himself who preferred to accord Brenner the spotlight than to glow himself. Not that he wasn't ambitious, capable or charismatic, it just seemed more strenuous for him to sustain his social obligations.

"My brother took a wife last Ash..." He noted with a grim, wistful glimmer in his eye. "It all felt so sudden for the ending of an era. He set off on his own into a new house and, as a bachelor I remained here at the manor." He gestured vaguely toward the mansion in the foreground. "I suppose it was a pain I needed to brook at some point, and it will make my own transition to my new home at the Presidium that much easier." He cracked a grin at her description of her materteral ambitions.

"I'm glad to hear you have such a keen mind for gift giving! I'm awful at it." He laughed, "I know I probably shouldn't admit that... Least of all after offering you and your mother presents at the garden party, but it's true. I have the most difficult time coming up with ideas, so I tend to procrastinate until the last minute. I'm ashamed to admit that bouquet was cut from right over there." He gestured to part of the garden and shrugged. "I had one of the gardeners cut the flowers and arrange them for me, though I will take credit for the selection of Zaichaeri edelweiß."

[Ursula Fletcher]

“Endings and beginnings both, change,” Ursula mused, remembering something her grandmother used to tell her. Nothing stays.

“You must congratulate him, on my part,” she smiled, “I heard he and the bride made quite the pairing.” Angevin and Dornkirk. How the Astor’s had raged. There’d be more matches between the old and new, her father had prophesied. There was a new order forming. Money would be as good as blood soon.

“There’s no shame in that,” she said, “It is a clever leader who knows when to delegate, my father says.” Ursula offered him a winsome smile.

And, besides, they’d won him points with both her parents. The flowers of her family. “Would you like to take me for a tour, Commander Dornkirk?” Ursula asked, looking out over the garden. She wondered what the style was, here, the vision of the place. It felt too wild to be Zaichaeri. She wondered if the mother had planned it to be more Imperial.

Sylana, wasn’t it? Always a mystery or that’s what her mother had said. “I’d like to see where you had the flowers plucked.”

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"Then your father is a wise man." Brenner conceded, "For a great many people in power think they need to take on every task themselves, unwitting to their own limitations, and that never ends well." He smiled and nodded. "Very well." Downing the rest of his grüner, he rose to his feet and gestured toward the steps leading down into the gloriette and out onto the hill overlooking the grounds.

"Dornkirk Manor was constructed in my lifetime. Our prior property, which I don't recall for being so young, was a townhouse not far from here. Much more modest, of course. But when my father's prospects improved, my mother urged him to have the manor built here. She was keen to stand apart from the crowd, and so the architect was instructed to design an estate that hearkened back to her Gelerian roots. You will note that the building is in a Gelerandish style, but the gardens are more evocative of what may be seen in manor houses of Dardouen. This was intentional. She didn't want it to be a replica, or a pastiche. It was to be something altogether new- And not just for Zaichaer." He smiled as he led her down the footpath toward the Edelweiß he'd pointed out earlier.

"So much of Zaichaer is already influenced by Imperial themes, so it doesn't contrast overmuch from the surrounding properties. Our family wanted a spectacle, not a scandal, so..." He shrugged, "This is Sylana's spectacle."

Brenner wasn't the most comfortable tour guide. To him, the styles of architecture, the topiary, the landscaping- They were things he enjoyed passively, not actively. He liked the look of the manor, the aromas of the gardens and so forth, but he took no real direct interest in how they got to be so pleasant. He was really just parroting back information he'd accumulated over the years living here.

[Ursula Fletcher]

“He is, I suppose,” she said, slipping her arm around Brenner’s as she descended the stairs. It was a needless provocation but she felt especially wild.

Besides, she reasoned, it was harmless enough. Her chaperone was close behind, parasol at the ready. Yes, she was flirting, but she was also being courted. Or perhaps she was courting. It wasn’t usual that she played the pursuer.

But there were many parts she could play.

“My father thinks you very clever, Commander Dornkirk,” she said, smiling at the flowers, the butterflies. “And he admires your father’s eye for business.” Safe compliments. Nothing too brash.

She was more interested to see how Brenner reacted. The lingering look he’d given Myles. It bothered her. Ursula hadn’t thought Myles was one to keep secrets. This, if her suspicions were true, was an especially big one.

“He isn’t usually so generous with kind words. I very much respect my father’s opinion.” This was less true. She loved her parents despite their difficulties. Ursula would accept them for who they were even if they could never do her the same kindness.

She kept her arm through the crook of Brenner’s unless he otherwise tried to separate them.

The garden was beautiful. The house, too, but architecture hadn’t ever held her interest in the way nature did. The Imperial style she’d found always too perfect, but she supposed Zaichaer was worse in that regard. Neither especially made a house feel alive.

“Well, consider me a fan of spectacles, Commander Dornkirk,” she noted the flowers, the contrast of colors, sizes. The mother had taste, she decided, which was something she appreciated. Her mother would as well.

“She has quite the eye, your mother. This is all terribly impressive.”

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner smiled as Ursula claimed his arm, and lifted it to a position that would be more comfortable for her and would signal his consent to the physical contact.

"My father, like all good Zaichaeri men, is enamoured of our military and so he holds your father in high esteem as well. I was supposed to rise the ranks and follow his sort of cursus honorum, myself... It is only recently that I've found myself drawn off the battlefield and into the political arena." It still felt strange- Especially as they were preparing for war- knowing that his place wasn't in the theatre of battle on the frontlines, but on the public stage in the capital.

"Well!" He chortled, "I shall be sure to let my lady mother know of your compliments when she undoubtedly summons me for a debrief of our latest meeting." The Lady Sylana was interested in the marital prospects of her youngest and only remaining bachelor son. He'd been able to skate by without too much scrutiny before Stefan was married, but now that the heir was secure and had already set about the work of starting the next generation of Dornkirks, Brenner could no longer hide or tarry.

"I've heard mother call it a 'Dardouen formal garden', whatever that means." He noted with a shrug, figuring that might be more informative to his companion than it was to him. "But there are apparently elements of Arlaisian horticulture involved as well, which would be absolutely anathema in the Imperium, given their rivalry..." Now that he had parleyed the subject from plants to politics, he felt himself on stronger footing.

"But such concerns are distant from Zaichaer, and both cultures have lovely elements from which to draw."

[Ursula Fletcher]

Ursula smiled as she nestled her arm against his.

Maybe she had imagined it.

“It can’t be too surprising,” Ursula said, “You are quite winsome. You have a talent for words. You have a sharp mind.”

Compliments were far easier for her than her father. Her mother had instructed her, very carefully, on the charms of language. Truth, she’d said, bred the only sort of sweet that didn’t rot. Never lie. Never overindulge. The words must come as easily as a summer breeze and leave as quickly.

“It seems you’re well suited to politics. Do you prefer battle?” She asks, her thoughts briefly spinning all sorts of fires. War. It was closer than many wished.

“Dardouen? I’m not quite familiar with Arlais,” she starts, pausing for a minute to consider a rose of outstanding color. Purple. She’d seen black roses and even blue, but purple was a novelty. She’d have to ask around - that was something she wanted for her own.

“But my mother swears by Dardouen wine. I think one of my uncles - her brother, not my father’s - has a vineyard there. Or at least, I think it’s in Dardouen. I wish I knew the Imperium better than the shops I favor. You must think me completely vapid.”

Politics wasn’t her forte but conversation was firmly where she remained most comfortable.

“I do so enjoy when cultures marry happily,” that was more daring. A flirt, but she was careful enough to hide it behind something real. “Take cuisine, for instance. We have a chef trained in both the Imperial and Zaichaeri tradition. The bread of your mother’s land - why, I’m sure you know. It’s vastly superior to anything we have here.”