WHO: Max & Various WHAT: A little catch-all post, mmaybe some open starters to come but I'll edit if so. WHEN: Ambiguously Harvestmere WHERE: Places NOTES: Black Sails spoilers and discussion of slavery in the thread with Silver.
[ Freedom isn't a word Max throws around lightly anymore. Once upon a time it was open windows and wind-caught curtains, a boat waiting in the harbor to take them somewhere she hadn't even bothered to imagine because together and away were enough. It was a dream tainted in the losing, a hope she told herself not to hold again without a solid foundation beneath her feet to support it. But Marisol calls that freedom too, and it doesn't feel like a fantasy. It doesn't sound like the sort of empty rabble rousing she grits her teeth at amongst the Walrus men. It sounds like something as solid as Marisol's hand in hers, and she looks for a moment surprised by that thought, by the carefully contained impact of giving this dream the name she hadn't dared to use. To imagine the meaning of the word having a different shape for her than those who use it so casually.
Her hand — smooth as a kept cat's — tightens on Marisol's almost imperceptibly. It makes answering the rest of her question all the more difficult. Max chooses her words carefully. ]
I believe that power, placed in the hands of those inclined toward cruelty, will be used that way. [ She looks at Marisol, and she thinks of Anne, blood wicking up the hem of her skirt and magic still crackling on her skin, fighting the ghosts of men long since dead. ] Being born a mage does not protect you from that. It does not create that. It simply is.
( A very slight quirk at the corner of her mouth. Not quite a smile, skirting the edges of that. )
Wise words.
( Perhaps careful, rather than honest; aware of who she is speaking to. She might keep the extent of her magical abilities secret from most, but person need only be sensible to have concerns about displeasing the daughter of a Merchant Prince. They are nice to hear, but she knows better than to be too taken in by nice words. Isn't that exactly how she likes to best disarm people?
It is now that one of the staff return with glasses and something for them to drink. She allows him to work to make space, rather than leaning back and releasing Max's hand to make it easier. Perhaps she is curious to see who will let go first, or perhaps she is indulging herself with contact. So long as she remains sensible it hardly matters, does it?
She waits for the waiter to have poured their drinks and depart before speaking. )
In my experience, those who have felt the string of cruelty hold their friends and allies all the more preciously. Trust and loyalty are... very valuable currencies. Those who violate such things?
( A little shake of her head. Presumably things don't go so well for them. )
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Her hand — smooth as a kept cat's — tightens on Marisol's almost imperceptibly. It makes answering the rest of her question all the more difficult. Max chooses her words carefully. ]
I believe that power, placed in the hands of those inclined toward cruelty, will be used that way. [ She looks at Marisol, and she thinks of Anne, blood wicking up the hem of her skirt and magic still crackling on her skin, fighting the ghosts of men long since dead. ] Being born a mage does not protect you from that. It does not create that. It simply is.
no subject
Wise words.
( Perhaps careful, rather than honest; aware of who she is speaking to. She might keep the extent of her magical abilities secret from most, but person need only be sensible to have concerns about displeasing the daughter of a Merchant Prince. They are nice to hear, but she knows better than to be too taken in by nice words. Isn't that exactly how she likes to best disarm people?
It is now that one of the staff return with glasses and something for them to drink. She allows him to work to make space, rather than leaning back and releasing Max's hand to make it easier. Perhaps she is curious to see who will let go first, or perhaps she is indulging herself with contact. So long as she remains sensible it hardly matters, does it?
She waits for the waiter to have poured their drinks and depart before speaking. )
In my experience, those who have felt the string of cruelty hold their friends and allies all the more preciously. Trust and loyalty are... very valuable currencies. Those who violate such things?
( A little shake of her head. Presumably things don't go so well for them. )