tending the garden [r]

sophia watches her guests carefully. not as a ruler upon the realm, but as a player setting up her pieces.

she is not the queen. the queen can be taken. the queen can be killed. the queen's title can be succeeded. sophia did not want to be any of those things. she is the player, and so she will remain.

she is self-assured enough to think that all of these things will remain true for as long as she wants them to be.

there are people who should meet and people who should never meet. sophia directs and diverts their attention like a stream. she converts some of their idle chatter into meaningful alliances. sophia only gives each of them enough of her time to remain relevant in their minds, but not enough to wholly satisfy their curiosities. she draws threads that some might not have seen on their own. she culls the potentially dangerous partnerships.

she told herself that she had come to irkalla because she did not want to be alone anymore, but the gap cannot be unlearned. sophia is aware that she is no less of a ghost than she's always been.

"lady rosenburg" a servant bows to her. she makes a note of his blue necktie, a system that she had devised for nonverbal communication between herself and the servants. blue stood for 'irregular'. an unexpected development. at best, an unverifiable invitation. at worse-- well. she will have to find out for herself. "a guest would like to speak with you."

whether or not that was actually true is irrelevant. what's important is that she follows.

she had spent the last four years converting herself into steel and glass. she had not been ready to be rendered into flesh and blood again.

LAIKA OF GS!