FaRtaL Chpt 32

==From a Ristar to a Lady - Chapter 32 -==
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===Echos of Past Defeats===
Rwabdogo’s Valley, Hoard
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space
17th January, 3053
1500 hours
Star Commander Avryl cursed as her light autocannons’ shells raked ineffectively over the thick hide of the Phoenix Hawk IIC, followed by a flight of LRMs that narrowly missed the assault mech. It would take forever for her weapons to shave enough armor off, even while the enemy Star of mostly heavy and assault mechs was eagerly beating down the other half of the Binary she belonged to.
Her light mechs were still trudging desperately through the pools, streams, and muddy ground that had formed in the wake of the flash flood the Nova Cats had unleashed upon the floor of the formerly dry valley. Avryl had no idea how the Nova Cats did it, except that they did, and changing the conditions within the Circle of Equals was not exactly prohibited by the laws of the Clans.
The Smoke Jaguars could only blame themselves for not foreseeing this possibility. Heads from the Watch were going to roll for this.
The batchall had been straightforward. Star Captain Tikern would lead a second-line Smoke Jaguar Binary of medium and light mechs against the Nova Cats in a Trial of Possession to contest several warehouses containing supplies, supplies that their clan desperately needed to rebuild after the horrendous losses on Luthien and Tukayyid.
For this Trial, the Nova Cat officer, a Star Commander named Hawise, underbid with her makeshift Nova of five mechs and a star of elementals, apparently all she had available. To even call it a Nova was laughable, since her second-line battlemechs could not transport battlearmor, unlike Omnimechs. Furthermore, Avryl read from her codex that this Star Commander Hawise had failed in her two previous bids for a Bloodname, and was also a participant in the lost battles of Luthien and Tukayyid.
In other words, Hawise was simply a loser, a defective product of the clan eugenic breeding system and on her way to irrelevance.
Avryl only realized she had been overly dismissive of Hawise after the Nova Cats sprang surprise after surprise on the Smoke Jaguars. They had lured her light Star to check out readings that she thought were the elementals, only to find mere elemental-shaped lumps of metal with the bare minimum of circuitry to fool their sensors. Meanwhile, the real elementals entered the field via some crazy glider-like things that enabled them to drop right on top of Tikern’s Command Star, while Hawise’s star of mechs smashed in at the same time, throwing zellbrigen out of the airlock.
Then to slow down Avryl’s light but fast mechs, the Nova Cats flooded the valley with water from somewhere, neatly taking advantage of the fact that none of her mechs had jump jets and relied on pure ground speed, which was partly why their Binary was assigned to this target in the first place! Enabling the Nova Cats to defeat the Smoke Jaguars in detail.
Tikern’s Hunchback IIC exploded spectacularly, both torsos blowing up as its ammunition stores were hit by the seemingly endless barrages from the Nova Cats. Vret’s Clint IIC was pummeled into a twisted wreck by two heavy mechs. Karia’s Glass Spider fell to the ground, missing a head after the Elementals decapitated it.
All the while, Avryl fired at the Nova Cats, trying to draw their attention while advancing slowly across the flooded terrain, peppering their flanks with autocannon and LRM fire from her Great Wyrm, but they resolutely ignored her. Her light Star was finally getting into range, but it was too little, too late.
Huyten’s Howler was the only other mech with any long range weapons, and it was also launching LRMs ineffectively at their opponents. Her Commando IIC, Snow Fox, and Locust IIC were just stuck trying to get into range, wading through the water and muddy ground.
Olina’s Corvis went down next, followed soon after by Buono’s Thresher. Both mechwarriors ejected, so they should survive, but it was small comfort to Avryl, who realized she now faced an entire heavy star of Nova Cats, of which any three mechs outweighed her entire Star. The Nova Cats might be damaged, but more than capable of fending her off.
The Trial, for all intents and purposes, was lost. Avryl gritted her teeth, and prepared for a final charge to the death, when her comms suddenly beeped, indicating a message from Star Commander Hawise. She punched a button, and Star Commander Hawise appeared on her HUD.
“Star Commander Avryl, this Trial is over. I offer you hegira.” There was no smugness or gloating in Hawise’s tone, just a statement of facts. “Any further battle would be simply a waste of resources, resources both our clans will need in the dark days ahead.”
Avryl tried to summon up some bravado, glaring at the image of the Nova Cat. “Are you afraid we will defeat you? Are the Nova Cats so afraid of the Jaguars that they would offer hegira than suffer more damage?”
“Neg. Should you really wish to die, we can certainly oblige you, quiaff?” replied Hawise with some sarcasm.
Avryl stayed silent.
“Seems like you do not wish to die after all.” Hawise barked harsh laughter over the channel. “You are young, you will get more chances at glory. But only if you are alive, quiaff?”
“Aff.” Avryl nodded reluctantly. “I accept your offer of hegira.” It was galling, but Hawise was right.
“Bargained well and done.” The enemy Warhammer IIC raised its tube-like arms in a salute. “You may recover your mechs and your dead,” Avryl raised an eyebrow, that was beyond generous. “I was instructed to do so by my superiors, no need to credit me for it.”
The Nova Cat mechs began withdrawing from the field of battle, while Avryl called down her dropship for pickup and to recover the fallen mechs and warriors. Still feeling stung by the defeat, Avryl could not help but declare to Hawise, “I shall meet you again one day, and I will avenge this defeat.”
“Who knows, under what circumstances?” replied Hawise cryptically. “Until we meet again, Star Commander.”
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===Social Visit with a Lady===
Kalinski Estate, Inman
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area
24th July, 3061
0700 hours (1100 hrs on local 28 hr cycle)
“These rich Spheroid nobles are really something,” whistled Hawise in envy as her family was escorted through the corridors of the Kalinski mansion. “Crechies, follow the nice lady and do not run about.”
The maid, who introduced herself as Luisa, turned around and beamed at the two children. “Your kids are so cute!”
A few days ago, a letter arrived at the hostel where the clan expatriates were camped out, inviting Hawise and her family to Lady Kalinska’s estate for a small celebratory meal as thanks for her assistance in the incident at the hoverbike race.
It was truly extravagant. A hoverlimo came to pick them up from the hostel, and her children were excitedly jumping all over the interior furnishings until Hawise strapped them in to force them to sit relatively still.
The maid Luisa greeted them when they reached the mansion, and her entire family was struck dumb by the sheer opulence of the entire place.
They were dressed in their finest clothes, but those were the only slightly more upscale civilian attire that they owned. Hawise could not help but still feel out of place. Even during the initial clan invasion, Operation Revival, she did not have a chance to visit any of the holdings owned by Inner Sphere nobles.
The unit she had been assigned to, the 274th Battle Cluster, was included in the final bid for Luthien, but was so heavily damaged by the end of the battle that its survivors were cannibalized by other units to bring them up to strength for Tukayyid. Hawise had been one of those survivors of Luthien, and then transferred to Beta Galaxy for that climatic battle. She often quipped, to anybody who asked, that she was one of those few clan warriors who lost but survived every battle in the Inner Sphere.
When they reached the dining hall, Lady Anastasia Kalinska greeted them with a graceful curtsy that Hawise did not think she could achieve even with years of practice.
Anastasia smiled gently, “My esteemed guests, welcome to the Kalinski mansion. I am so glad to meet you all. I am Anastasia Kalinska, heir to the Kalinski barony.”
“Uh, greetings, I am Hawise, chief tech.” She pointed to Winston. “My husband Winston, he is a scientist. And these two kits are Ava and Paul, my children.”
Somewhat to her surprise, the lady shook Winston’s hand, and actually crouched down to greet her children, treating them like adults. Ava looked absolutely enchanted, and returned the lady’s curtsey with a clumsy one of her own, while little Paul simply looked awestruck while she shook his tiny hand.
“I humbly apologise for the buffet spread,” explained Lady Kalinska. “This was arranged on rather short notice, so we were not able to procure some of Inman’s signature dishes. But I trust there is enough variety to satisfy you, since I was not sure what your preferred dishes were?”
There is need for an apology? Hawise stared at the food on the table in front of them, laden with labelled delicacies and dishes that, frankly speaking, she could not have eaten even when she was a fully fledged warrior of the clans. Since arriving on Delacambre, they had access to a bit more variety, of course, but nowhere on this level. The nobles really lived differently from the rest.
“There are both cold and hot desserts available from the kitchen when you wish for them. Just ask the servants,” Lady Kalinska informed them. “I recommend the chocolate sorbet ice cream. It’s one of my guilty pleasures.”
Hawise grinned, “Thank you for the tip. We will keep it in mind.” She picked up a plate and started taking food from the table, Winston following suit. The maid Luisa followed her kids around, asking them what they liked and piling their choices onto two cute-looking plastic plates on her tray.
After taking her own food, Lady Kalinska sat down next to her and said, “Chief Tech Hawise, I’d like to thank you again for your assistance the other day. If you hadn’t been riding behind me, Lady Seydoux could have been hurt really badly.”
Hawise shrugged. She had heard rumours about the politics of the incident, that the runaway hoverbike was originally meant for Lady Kalinska and to humiliate her. “I am just glad we were in a position to help.” She stared at Lady Kalinska. “I do not know why, but have we met before?”
Lady Kalinska actually flinched a bit. “Maybe I remind you of somebody. I’ve never even left the Trivet in my whole life. Have you come to Inman previously?”
Hawise chewed on a piece of rare steak speculatively, thinking hard even while enjoying the morsel as it almost melted in her mouth. “Neg, never even set foot on Inman until a few weeks ago, And I think I would have remembered meeting a noble.” And now you’re talking like a Spheroid, when during that rescue, you sounded like a proper warrior of the clans. You even mentioned the Ice Hellions! And why do I get the feeling you will deny it if I asked? What are you hiding, young lady?
Hawise had done a bit of research on Anastasia Kalinska, and some of the information she found was shocking. A love affair with the Count’s heir, rumored suicide attempt, almost kidnapped during a bandit raid on Altoona. Scandals seemed to follow her around, painting the picture of a wanton, spoiled noblewoman who had little regard for anything.
But Hawise had seen for herself that Anastasia was a brave and decisive woman, well-mannered and kind. Completely at odds with what the rumours said. So who was the real Anastasia Kalinska?
Lady Kalinska asked, “How did you come to Delacambre? I mean, I know Viscount Rason invited you, but not the details.”
“Oh, that.” Hawise paused. She bit off a piece of fried scallop, savouring the crispiness before swallowing it. She idly wondered what a scallop was, since that was the name of the dish printed on a label next to it.
Then she returned to the topic of the conversation and explained, “After the Smoke Jaguars were driven out of the occupation zone, us civilian castes were left behind. The vengeful Kuritans would probably have put us into concentration camps, so Anastasius Focht and Victor Steiner-Davion called for members of the liberating forces who were also nobles to offer us places in their landholdings. We were grouped together mostly by our enclaves, but where each enclave went was determined by a lottery.”
She grinned. “Just so happened that Viscount Rason got us from Schuyler.”
“If I may ask, how was life in the clans? How did you become a chief tech?”
“Oh, I did not start out as a chief tech.” She observed Lady Kalinska carefully. “I was actually a mechwarrior.”
“Oh, how unexpected!” Anastasia gasped, but her gasp of surprise was so immediate and fake that Hawise could pick up on it. Hmmm… she already knew I was a mechwarrior. And she wanted me to think otherwise. She could have asked the other clanners, it is not exactly a secret. So why pretend at all?
It just did not make sense to Hawise. She continued to talk. “Aff, I was a mechwarrior of the Nova Cats. I tested down from the warrior caste, and was reassigned to be an engine technician, specializing in fuel cell and ICE engines. I supposed I was good at it, which was how I became a chief tech.”
To add to her suspicions, while other Spheroids would have asked about what ‘tested down’ meant, Lady Kalinska did not. “The Nova Cats? Then how did you end up with the Smoke Jaguars?”
“My family and some others were taken as isorla from a Smoke Jaguar raid in the Occupation Zone. The Nova Cats were already shifting significant numbers of their civilians to the Inner Sphere, and I was a part of that.” That elicited a small gasp from Anastasia. Well, that was not commonly known outside the Nova Cats.
Anastasia asked, “Do you ever think of becoming a mechwarrior again?”
Hawise replied wistfully, “To have a mech under my controls again? That would be nice.” She smiled ruefully. “After the Smoke Jaguars took us, I was actually interviewed by one of their officers to assess my suitability to test back in.”
“So why not?”
Hawise held up three fingers and ticked them off, “First, by clan standards I am already solahma.” One finger came down. “Next, I am a Warden. Still am, in fact.” The second finger. “And finally, I was pregnant with Paul.” The last finger came down, and she beamed at the sight of her youngest devouring the pasta on his plate.
“Oh.” Lady Kalinska actually looked somewhat ill when the word ‘pregnant’ was used, which was another interesting data point. It was the usual reaction of most canister-born trueborns, but Lady Kalinska herself was a freeborn of the Inner Sphere, and a woman on top of it. Few other Spheroid women she had encountered so far had ever expressed such obvious revulsion at the idea of pregnancy, Lady Kalinska was one of the few.
“That said,” Hawise decided to probe a bit, “How is it you understood all the clan terms I was using? Test down, isorla, solahma, warden… these are not things generally known in the Inner Sphere.”
Lady Kalinska’s poker face was terrible. She paled, then quickly stammered, “Uhm… there… there were, I mean, we… we have some books on the Clans, and I tried to prepare for this meeting by reading them, which was why I had some knowledge of the terms you used.” She smiled, obviously hoping the explanation would satisfy Hawise.
It did not, not in the least. Hawise felt even more suspicious now. After this meal, I will talk to her privately. For some reason, the pack of tarot cards in her card holder felt heavier than usual. Hawise thought about her dreams the previous night, and her morning card reading.
Her vision was of a smoke jaguar trapped within a sapphire gem, snarling fiercely. When her family arrived at the mansion, she saw the adorning banners showing a hand holding a sapphire in its palm. Luisa had told her it was the heraldry of House Kalinski.
There was a connection, Hawise was sure of it. And her cards… the card shown that morning was Justice, reversed.
A higher power was at work, beyond the laws of nature and rationality.
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===Revelation and Provisions===
“I’m so full,” declared little Ava as she hugged Anastasia. “And the food was so yummy! Thank you, pretty lady!”
“Ava, behave yourself!” chided Hawise.
Despite herself, Anastasia could not help but laugh a bit. “It’s all right. I’m glad you enjoyed the food.” She noted the kids seemed a bit drowsy. “The children may be getting tired.”
“Uh-oh, food coma is kicking in.” Winston observed. “They are going to need a nap soon.”
“No problem,” Anastasia gestured to Luisa. “As my guests, we have prepared rooms for you to rest. Maybe the kids can watch some shows, play some toys, and then nap?” She turned to Hawise. “I would like to talk to the Chief Tech privately.”
“Sure,” Hawise agreed. “Go ahead with the crechies, Winston. I have some things I want to discuss with Lady Kalinska myself.”
With Luisa’s aid, Winston trooped off with the children. Anastasia was glad she had consulted Luisa and the other maids on what she could do for a guest family, and hence they were well-prepared. There were even some toys the maids had dug out of the storage rooms, in case the children wanted to play a bit while she talked with Hawise.
Anastasia still was not sure herself why she had wanted so much to talk to the former Nova Cat. Was it nostalgia? A yearning for a simpler time when she was just a mechwarrior in the clans? To be reminded of the mechwarrior she once had been, and maybe could be once more?
They sat down in the tea room, while a maid prepared blue mellow in the teapot, along with a small pot of lime juice to add to the tea for taste and the colour change. As she stirred her own tea, Anastasia felt a bit lost, wondering how she should start the conversation.
After the maid left, Hawise spoke first. “Lady Kalinska, thanks so much for hosting my family today. I’ve never felt so pampered.”
“It’s the least I could do.” Anastasia smiled sincerely.
“But there is something else, right?” asked Hawise. “How much do you know about the Nova Cats?”
That they are a bunch of superstitious mystics so dependent on their visions that they lose sight of reality? Anastasia bit back the automatic insult the Smoke Jaguars had against the Nova Cats, and said instead, “Oh, I don’t know much, the books I read only talked about the general features of the clans.”
“The Nova Cats believed in using visions to guide our decisions. As for myself, I never had much luck with visions for many years, so I used this instead.” Hawise placed a weathered but elaborately patterned leather card holder on the table. She unbuttoned the flap, pulling it off the velcro to reveal a set of laminated cards with strange drawings. “Tarot cards.”
“Tarot cards?” echoed Anastasia.
“It is an ancient tradition. A bit of a fraud in the beginning, admittedly.” Hawise started to shuffle the cards, her hands moving with practised ease. “But belief, even false belief, can evolve. When people start believing in something, they can make it real.”
At Anastasia’s sceptical frown, she added, “Think about the Star League, both versions. It existed only because people believed it existed. There is power in belief. Even the Goliath Scorpions and their necrosia, the Coyotes and their rituals, the Cloud Cobras and their Ways.”
“A bunch of Warden nonsense,” blurted Anastasia, then she realized her mistake.
Hawise smirked, “And I thought you knew nothing of each of the clans?”
Anastasia stayed silent.
Hawise held out the stack of cards. “Cut it. If you do not mind.”
She did so, taking roughly half the deck while Hawise turned her own deck the other way, then riffled the two halves together.
“I will now continue to shuffle until you tell me to stop.”
Anastasia waited for two beats, then said, “Stop.”
Hawise stopped shuffling, and dealt the top three cards in order in front of Anastasia.
“The cards are usually used as a tool for reflection, but on occasion they can predict the past, present, and or the future. Turn them over.”
Anastasia opened the cards as instructed. She read the titles. The Fool, Death, and Judgement.
“All upright, major cards,” Hawise murmured. Her eyes shot up to meet Anastasia’s, a knowing look on her face. Her eyes gleamed, as though she had discovered a great truth.
“I think these cards tell a story. Do you wish to hear it?”
Anastasia stiffened, then forced herself to relax and act unconcerned, just curious. She could not possibly know, could she? “Sure, why not?”
Hawise tapped the Fool card with a finger. “Once, there was this person. Naive, ignorant, but with the potential to grow, to be greater.”
Her finger moved to the next card. “Death. A great change occurred. Could be death for real, who knows?” Her eyes stayed on Anastasia.
Tap. Judgement. “Reincarnation. A new life. The person lives a new life, but is also changed. New perspectives are gained. What happens next?” She smiled at Anastasia. “That is up to you, quiaff?”
“Why does it have to concern me?”
“I get it, it is hard to believe.” Hawise was clearly probing, testing her, “You do not believe this, quineg?”
“No, I don’t.” It took every bit of her willpower not to say ‘neg’.
“Well, I can tell you there was one time when the cards came in handy… it was my last battle on Hoard, defending a cache of parts from some Smoke Jaguars.” Anastasia stiffened, but Hawise went on.
“They told me a fool led the Jaguars, so I had confidence in bidding quite a bit under, while relying on my traps to even the odds.” She grinned. “And his subordinate was just as much of a fool for not realising mech sensors could be tricked.”
Anastasia tried to suppress her anger, and forced out a slight laugh. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
“No? Star Commander Avryl of the Smoke Jaguars was too eager for glory in her very first battle, so she led her Star to abandon the rest of her Binary in an attempt to win glory by killing my elementals first. Too bad the readings were just decoys. And the flooding of the valley, glider deployment of my elemental Star…”
Anastasia finally snapped, scowling as she slammed one fist on the table, rattling the tea cups. “The Watch intel was poor, how were we supposed to know the valley could be flooded! Any warrior would have done the same!” The loss still rankled even after so long.
Anastasia’s eyes grew wide as she realized what she just said. She closed her eyes for an instant, before opening them to glare at Hawise in defiance, daring her to state the truth outright.
“Your eyes may be new, but the glare is not.” Hawise smirked. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
“I know that quote,” grumbled Anastasia, “Hamlet, Shakespeare. I was forced to read it as part of being a lady.”
Hawise laughed. “All right, all right! I will stop teasing you.”
“So what are you going to do about this?” asked Anastasia, her tone suspicious.
“Absolutely nothing.” Hawise shrugged. “You think anybody would believe me? They would lock me up in a mental institution.”
Anastasia breathed in relief. “You are the first to discover my secret. How you figured it out…” she stared at the cards, “I cannot quite believe it myself.”
“That’s because these cards appeared to me before. The Fool card on the day of the battle on Hoard, the Death card on the same day as Avryl Shower’s death on Garstedt, and the Judgement card on the same day you, Anastasia Kalinska, woke up from your coma. I very rarely have major cards turn up, so I had been pondering the significance of these cards since then.” Hawise paused, then added, “And, I had a vision which helped to lead me to this conclusion.”
Anastasia said acidly, “Forgive me if I still cannot bring myself to have any belief in your visions and your cards.”
“Are they any less believable than you waking up in a new body?” asked Hawise rhetorically.
Anastasia had no answer to that.
“What happened to the original Anastasia Kalinska then?” asked Hawise.
“I still get these… echoes… for lack of a better word,” replied Anastasia. “I can sense her feelings when they are very strong, for example when confronting Richelle Aubert.”
“That surat who sabotaged the hoverbike?”
“Aff. Anastasia hated and feared her. On a few occasions, she would also take over our body for short spurts. So I do not think she is dead, just dormant.”
“Very interesting…” Hawise mused. “The Cloud Cobras would have a field day debating philosophy of the soul if they knew of your… condition. Any idea how this happened?”
“None at all. Why I have been given this second reprieve at life, I have no idea.”
“The Powers do as they will.” Hawise murmured. “We are, but pawns in their grand design.”
Anastasia grimaced. “I refuse to believe that. Our fates are ours to shape, not at their whims.”
“Maybe, maybe.” Hawise conceded. “But this really makes you think about what possibilities are out there, quiaff?”
They sat in companionable silence for a while.
Anastasia broke the silence, her decision made. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Hmmm?” Hawise looked intrigued.
“The barony on Altoona I am going to inherit… the household infantry garrison is in bad shape. They’re slightly better now in terms of their morale, discipline, and equipment, but they still lack the proper training. I intend to train them up for combined arms operations, and that is where I need your help.”
“My help? What can I help with?”
“You were stationed with a garrison cluster for a time, right? And I remember vaguely from your records that you worked with battle armor, conventional infantry, and combat vehicles in garrison. You’re probably one of the few people in the entire Trivet who knows how to meld different combat arms into a coherent whole.” Of course, Finn knew it too, but she could not ask him.
“That is high praise, but if what you’re saying is true, then all you have is infantry. I do not see the ‘combined’ part of it.”
“I have two light mechs. Well, one real battlemech, a Valkyrie, and one modified industrialmech somewhat close to being a battlemech.” Anastasia clenched her fists. “I know they’re not much, but you’ll be a mechwarrior again. A mech is better than none, quiaff?”
“Aff, that is true.” Hawise conceded. “Then what?”
Anastasia explained, “You will be my household’s Weapons Master, in charge of the military defences and training, and the position is currently empty. On paper you answer to me, of course, but in reality we’ll probably work together on decisions. In addition to the company of motorised infantry and my two mechs, my father the Baron has released sufficient funds for me to purchase two heavy tracked APCs, second hand, to extend the range of the infantry. Altogether, they should be a potent force to deter any potential attack.”
Hawise raised an eyebrow, interested now. “Your offer is tempting. But I am still solahma…”
Anastasia scoffed. “Right here, right now, nobody cares about that. For any number of reasons, you’re my best choice. Your family will come along, of course, and your children will be raised within the household.”
“Will that be a problem? I mean…”
Anastasia smiled, “The household at Altoona actually has a fair number of children belonging to the staff with a dedicated childcare center… I mean creche. There are tutors provided for them, though from what I see, the standard seems quite rudimentary. In fact,” she mused, “I might bring in better tutors from outside the Trivet. Like what Finn did with the Smoke Jaguar civilians, just on a smaller scale.”
“I admit, I am very tempted, but I need to discuss it with Winston.” Hawise answered. “We are an equal partnership.”
Anastasia sighed. “How did you do… all this? Just stepping down from being a mechwarrior so easily? Having a family?”
“It actually was not difficult,” Hawise shrugged her shoulders, “Truthfully, my Star Colonel wanted me to stay on after the Trial on Hoard sufficed to requalify me. But I had been a mechwarrior for almost fifteen years, with not much to show for it except scars, broken bones, and the memories of too many fallen comrades and lost battles. There is more to life than being a mechwarrior, and I wanted to see it, experience it, for myself.” She smiled wistfully. “Now, I would not give up my family for anything.”
Anastasia frowned, “Not for anything? Not even a Bloodname?”
“Not for even the Rosse Bloodname.” Hawise asserted resolutely. “We crippled ourselves, Av… Lady Kalinska. Lost a vital part of our humanity. Most of us thought the lesser of ourselves every step of the way when we failed to match up to what our culture demanded of us. Not good enough, not strong enough. Blah blah blah.” She stared at Anastasia. “And where did it bring the clans? The ilKhan’s death at Radstadt was only the beginning. It led to Luthien, then Tukayyid. All the way to the Great Refusal. So many could not let go, to change.”
Hawise tapped her deck of tarot cards. “Say what you want about my cards, or the visions of the Nova Cats. They are a reminder that change is inevitable, that we must adapt to it.” Her eyes met Anastasia’s squarely. “If we do not change, then that would be the true tragedy.”
Anastasia admitted. “I will be honest with you. I do not intend to just stay like… well, this for the rest of my life.”
“Then you also recognise the need for change. Even if there are many worse fates than being a spoiled aristocrat,” Hawise commented. “But it is hard to overcome our upbringing.”
“It is not just that. The traitor who killed Avryl Showers on Garstedt… he is still alive, and here on Inman.” Anastasia revealed, her gaze cold and hard. “Pence Lamongue was abtakha from the Burrocks, and I have reason to believe he was one of those working with the Dark Caste. He changed his name, so now he’s Spencer Larouche, a transplanted noble working for the ruling family here.”
“You want revenge.”
“Aff. The two light mechs I have are no match for his upgraded Banshee. I am trying to gain allies and opportunities, to work towards my vengeance.”
Hawise looked puzzled, “Why not tell Viscount Rason?”
Anastasia shook her head slowly. “Neg, why would he believe me? More importantly, there is no honor in manipulating my fiance for that, when honor dictates I get my revenge myself.”
“A Trial of Grievance. Or something close to it.” Hawise surmised correctly.
“Aff. I’ll need a heavy mech at least to match his Banshee. And the right conditions that would allow me to fight him… I am still not sure how to achieve all that, but having you on board could only help.”
Hawise stayed silent for a while, before speaking. “I will keep what was revealed here confidential, of course. As for my decision… Give me about a week to consider. We are not leaving Inman any time soon anyway.”
Anastasia shook hands with Hawise. “Bargained well and done.”
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