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(no subject)

Who: Everyone
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Iskaulit
When:

[So we've been stuck on the poison moon for a couple months now, so a lot of people probably want to get away from that.

Unfortunately, the only place you really can get away from it besides your own ship is the Iskaulit. So, here's a June Iskaulit mingle!]

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Joffrey is the king of the Seven Kingdoms and he is to be my husband. That is what matters, it is agreed, I will honor the promise my father has made. I am not afraid of him.

[ here, she will be. at westeros, not very much ]

You're not? [She believes her. It's more that she wonders why she's not. Even if this is a private sort of question.]

I am to be a Queen. If I show fear, I will be nothing more than that, a cowering girl standing next to a throne. I am a woman, a lady of Highgarden, we are not taught fear, we are taught to be clever and care for those we love. Our family and the people, those of the Kingdoms. Fear is a dangerous feeling where I come from, once people see it, they never forget.

[ a moment later she smiles ]

My house is noble and old and it was our men who saved the capital from the attacks brought upon it, it is our food that feeds that people and our gold that reaches the king. My brother is the finest knight in the Seven Kingdoms and he is stationed by my chambers day and night and the king, however cruel he is said to be,

[ she is very careful not to agree with it, not yet ]

is but a man. they are all men, fishermen, kings, bakers, lords. Will he lift a hand to a queen from the second richest house in the kingdoms? a house that supplies him gold and men and food for the people?

[ a moment passes and she adds ]

and will he still be cruel to those people when it upsets his queen so? would he keep her from her little womenly charities? from feeding orphans and giving alms? it is a matter of cleverness not a matter of fear.

[She's quiet following all that.] You have a plan. [And she's not sure what to make of it. She sounds almost as if she'll be performing a public service to keep the monster in check and do good works with her power as queen. Maybe she does mean this, but at this point Kitty also wonders if she's just being told what she wants to hear or a version of it. There is something about her previous word choices that now feel like she was being "handled" before. Her expectations were managed and she didn't question it because there was no reason to expect duplicity. None of it seems hostile, but it grates up against Kitty's trust issues. The hardest part about those issues is that they don't stop at others. They make it harder to trust her own instincts when things like this come up.]

I am to be Queen.

[ she smiles, brushes a lock behind her ear ]

What do Queens do? Care for the people, make certain they are safe and well-fed and healthy, do their duty. That is what I shall do. Honor my lord father's promise and honor my duties.

Is that what you want for yourself? To follow the wishes of someone else? Or is that just how you're framing the situation for me?

[ she has to smile a little ]

Does your world care very much for wishes and wants?

[ a kindness, if it does ]

we all do our duties. Kings, queens, daughters, sons. Very few do get what they want and very few think of such things as wishes.

My world doesn't have a lot of roles or duties. Not anymore. You fight for what's important to you. Which, for a lot of people doesn't get any further than their own lives. [And she's not judging that. It's hard enough to manage. In talking to Tyrion it felt like they both came from very harsh places and yet still very different ones. His and Margaery has much more structure even if it's in a state of flux. But Kitty's probably has more than she's admitting.]

In my world, men fight for their kings. In wars, there are maybe many claimers to the throne and each would fight for their king and I shall respect them for it. Daughters do their duties to their father, namely marrying those he chooses for them and queens do their duty to the realm, to make certain people are safe and that they have chances of happiness.

[ she nods ]

It call we can do. Do our duties and pray to the gods for peace and prosperity, for the safety of our loved ones.

Are you doing it because it's how it's always been done that way or because you choose it?

They are one and the same, truly. I choose it for myself for it is the way of my realm and the way of my house, a house I am very proud of.

Okay, in that case, no more questioning and lectures. But you should make with the honesty around me—the actual straight forward kind. Not that "may not technically be a lie if you turn sideways and squint" kind.

I won't hold it against you and if you want me to keep something to myself just say so.

That was not a lecture?

[ she arches an eyebrow, not unkindly but pointedly so. ]

We are different people here, men and women both. Some of us had one manner of upbringing others - a different manner. We look at the world and see it differently, see different paths to take for our own well-being, for our loved ones. I shan't presume to tell anyone else how to take their steps upon that road, no more than I favor being told, myself. No matter what I know of that soul's past. We all have ours.

[ she places down her glass and rises ]

With your leave, I trust I must rest now. It has been such a long day.

It was a suggestion. [One where she might still trust you, but probably not so much with that response. It's not an unfair response. But as a reply to "be honest with me" it comes out as "no, thanks" to Kitty's ears.]

See you around.

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