Silja's journal (original) (raw)
Her inbox had no unread emails, the Message Glass was dark, and the large, carved oak desk free of reports and papers. Margareta smiled to herself, for once not paranoid about the quiet, about the lack of direction. She expected holding three jobs to be a lot of work, but once she had herself organised and settled, it turned out to be less work than before, and far fewer reports. No more busy work, no more High regent second guessing anything she did.
Rand, the spy in their midst, had become unusually personal the other night.... “Enjoy your chantry. It isn't the same, ever after, if they take one from you.... You'll end up a crazy old woman, wandering the halls of a House that is a Home, but that will never be Yours.”
What if Lazaro found her unworthy?
What if she was not cut out for leadership?
But she could not think like that. She had to do her best for the Pyramid, for her Lord, for her Apprentices. Run interference between the two at times, she was sure. She was fortunate to have a good set of Apprentices under her though only one chosen by herself, and he was not permanently assigned yet. She knew they could get results if she let them have enough free reign...
Enough rope to hang you with? -
That too. With each positive came a negative. She had to keep herself back from checking up on them every night, to let them have some freedom. But she had also to be seen to manage them, to have control over them.
Walking the tightrope.
Margareta looked around her office. So quiet... an underground stone building, and no-one on her level. A whole apartment to herself. Sh never had that before. Her own cell, sure. Her own office even. But never a whole level of a chantry all to herself. The space was nice, the ability to have her own library, her own ritual chamber she did not need to book time in. But it was so quiet... no company unless she sought it. Maybe she should get a pet. Isn't that what mortals did when they wanted company?
Maybe not.
Margareta tapped her computer and turned on some music. Ahhhh... relaxation. She knew it would ot last long, she knew there would be more challenges and stresses. But for now, there was a regency, and a win, and music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDfGBmbNbMw
Beep beep beep beep
Margareta's alarm sounded on her computer. 30 minutes till dawn.
Time to shut everything down and get ready for the day.
But she couldn't. She still had emails to send, reports to read. Everything had to be perfect, no errors, no omissions. The Re... the Captain expected much of her (must remember to address him as he wishes), and the Lord even more.
They knew what she was capable of, it was good to have their confidence.
They knew what she was capable of, and expected much of her.
Too much?
Getting that motion passed was a lot to ask.
Getting that position was.... not wise. So she politely declined the Lord's suggestion, wincing as she sent her reply. Would he consider her insolent for not trying? Lazy, too cautious perhaps? Or was it another test to see what she would do, whether she could figure it out for herself, stand up for her chantry?
She'd wish he'd stop with the constant tests, the constant little “not sure I promoted the right person to High Apprentice”.
She knew it would never stop. Even if she got promoted the college, there would be the threat of demotion... not overt, but subtle, always there.
She saw it in his eyes when he was here.
The look of a hunter.
The look of the calculating Elder. Knowing what he could get out of her, and determined to get it.
But she could not blame him. She was not some naïve chit, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she allied herself with the up and coming regent, she knew what would happen, what it would cost her.
Margareta looked at Alessandro's painting of her from way back when she was first elevated to A5. She spent 200 years after that in happy relative obscurity. And then...
how a small fall can cause a meteoric rise.
Beep beep beep beep
10 minute alarm. Time to get to her quarters and get to bed.
The ghouls had bought her one of those new blankets that is like a pillow but bigger... duvet, it was called. It was rather pleasant not as heavy as the woolen blankets she was used to on her small cot.
Maybe if she got regent, she'd buy a bigger bed and some luxurious silk sheets or something...... she could only imagine what Apprentice Genesis would say about that.
Margareta hit send on her email and sat back in her office chair, smiling.
New adventures, new beginnings.... more work, more reports.
A day, maybe two... then things would be official.
And a first deadline in less than two weeks. A steep ask... but she'd want to impress her new boss and her new Lord both. There was still another title, another elevation she wanted, past this one. She had a chat with Apprentice Rand last night in elysium, trying to figure out what he wanted, why he was truly here. Was he a rival for regent? He was a close ally of the Lord's, and an Elder... so definitely competition.
One to keep an eye on.
She wondered how many said that about her.
Everything ooc etc etc
****************
Margareta leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Ahhhhhh music.
She did not often get the chance these nights to truly listen. Too many masters, too many calls on her time. Hopefully now she was A7 things would calm down somewhat. The regent had even called San Juan "her city". That email made her have a silly smile on her face for hours afterwards. Right until the other email ...
The Tremere sighed. Carrot and stick... she knew what the regent was doing, but there was still a little involuntary shudder each time she read an email or got an Encrypted Missive that was less than complimentary. She had to strive to do better, always. A well trained Child of the Pyramid she was, her Sire and previous regents made sure of that. A well trained bitch, as she overheard someone saying. But hey, whatever works, right? She'd made a lot of contacts through the plotting, and now they all wanted a piece of her. Networking, power, pressure, it's all the same really.
Margareta leaned over and turned the music up loud, since Apperson was down in the library and the others were out. A peaceful chantry, all reports done, no regent breathing down her neck for a bit, no Lord, no Vertex, no Prince, no harpy. Just her, and the music.
At least for a while.
Will thinks this is Margareta Sasul, my Tremere High Apprentice, as a Disney figure:
(IC post, OOC knowledge)
Ashley leaned back in her seat on the plane, closing her eyes.
She took a deep breath, held it a moment and exhaled as the plane took off. Good. In the air, going back home.
Well that was about the stupidest thing she'd ever done.
A null zone only a short few weeks ago. A Pleasantville. Mass murder. And an understandably paranoid cell, cut off from the rest of the planet apparently, that no-one knew was there, that no-one helped. There were still issues there, but the local cell could hopefully handle it, and if not they knew they had friends now, people that would come and help if they wanted it (probably not- see Chattanooga!). But what if they'd gone earlier? What if the local cell had just kill them as Herald sympathisers? They sure seemed intent on killing any problems...
Ashley asked two people for advice, for help, before she left. One said be very careful and blend in, the other very clearly said don't go. She didn't listen to either. She was kidding herself, thinking she knew stuff, she could handle it. She would never have forgiven herself if something had happened to her... to the future she carried. She would need to do better, to care less about what she wanted. To listen to her mentors and family more.
(IC Tremery goodness, all knowledge ooc etc etc)
Margareta rubbed her temples with her fingertips in a slow, circular motion. Well, at least Kindred couldn't get headaches..
T- 2 nights.
So many important visitors for the Prince's gathering. The regent's quarters were prepared, the kitchen having been removed and the doilies and other overtly girly items removed. The guest quarters for the several Elders, Princes, regents and combinations thereof were all ready too. The chantry had been scrubbed and all security procedures reviewed, the ghouls primed on what to expect, on how to address the guests and especially the new boss, should they have to talk to them.
Margareta looked over her glass desk, unusually cluttered with treatsies on the finer points of etiquette and status issues. "Margareta Sasul, Influential as Master Harpy of Puerto Rico"- The Elder Primogen in his wisdom had chosen to announce her to the whole world, Could she lower his standing for that? Probably better not.... it was a mark of respect that he trusted her to do the job so well he was confident of announcing it to all of the Ivory Tower, even though she cringed when she read it... talk about a trial by fire. Harpy- not a position she'd ever thought of for herself- she was the background diplomat, the dependable, solid, boring person. Not the flashy gossip. But she agreed to take this new court position when offered, because she knew she could do it, because she knew she was the best candidate, but first and foremost, because the clan needed some of its former glory back, some of its standing within the local Ivory Tower. She didn't think the primogen council wanted another Tremere harpy after what happened before, but they did. And it wasn't even a trap... she was pretty sure of that. They genuinely believed she could do the job, and do it well: "A steady hand, even-keeled perspective, dependability and service, steady and reliable a presence in a time of great delicacy, versed in court protocol, sharp witted, her finger on the pulse of Kindred society. Not afraid to make the right pronouncements, competent, intelligent and eloquent.....". Nice to hear those words about herself. She hopes the Lord was listening.
Still, a promotion in House, Clan and Camarilla at the same time, three new jobs to get used to. It was a lot, no matter how competent one felt.
Could she do it?
Did she have a choice?
Tremere lived to serve.
Back to work.
(first half from proxy write-up, second half my own)
Ashley sat by the locus, in the lotus style Stephen had taught her, taking a deep breath before she let her thoughts float into Shadow. The sounds of the garden were peaceful and calming. It was reassuring to Ashley and she knew that Willow would always hear her over the sounds surrounding her. The gentle voice of their Guardian broke through the usual cluttered noises of the Hisil. It was a strange mixture of worry and peace in her voice.
Ashley woke up in her hotel room and stretched, enjoying the feel of the Egyptian cotton sheets. Raphael certainly didn't spare any expenses for her. She wondered where he was, whether he was ok. She wanted him here. Why? He had nothing to do with this, just provided the hotel, and the plane, and the funds, and the idea..... Ashley reached for the remote and turned on the TV, then grabbed the room service menu from the night stand and considered her breakfast options. She wasn't supposed to leave her room today, so it was going to be a loooong day. Ah well, they had x-box here and then tomorrow she'd made plans to visit Howes Cave, that should be fun, and then back home Sunday. Back home to her new family. Rose, who seemed to finally have accepted she was not a little kid. David who... made as good a step granddad as any. Lucas, family by type. Irene, family by choice.
Putting her hand on her flat stomach, she wondered if she'd gone crazy. Crazier than the psychs of her childhood ever thought she was. No. This was the right thing. For the Accord, for hope. She may not be able to fight like a Ursa, or do magic like a Mage, or force people to do things like a Vampire. But she could do this. Un Arbol. The good guys had to come together, the tree had to grow. Ashley would do what was needed, and study the effects.
... and then she got Rose' text, and was back to San Juan by midnight.
