Backstage

[girlwiththegandrshot]

On the day Saber went the theater, Kirsikka Edelfelt wrote a letter in her head. Dear sister, she would write. Saber is exceptional. There are none alive, I am certain, who could measure against her. The men and women of this age are too small-minded and mean, but she! She is a creature of sheer strength and ambition. She will not stop until her legend is made immortal. She has inspired me, sister, as only legend can ...

Then Saber came home, bloody and happy and in need of healing.

Dear sister, she could have written instead. Saber is a fool.

This was not how Kirsikka expected her entrance in the war, and it was her entrance, for Saber's blade was her destiny -- was that not what she sang, at the summoning? It should not be drawn in vain. She argued with her Servant, insisted that from now on each battle should be strategic, and that Saber should be as close and obedient as a right hand, or else venture out under the watchful eye of a familiar.

But truth be told, Saber's specialization was melee combat. It must have been glorious to witness, Kirsikka thought to herself, for the second time. And she missed it.

Comments

[chanson_de_maupin]

"He came to me," says Julie, hands spread defensively. "I didn't seek him out."

[girlwiththegandrshot]

That brings Kirsikka up -- it takes effort, not to chew her lower lip, or worry at her pearls. It takes effort, to only give the defense her placid consideration. "It would not have befit you to flee," she allows at last. "It might have betrayed weakness, and we cannot allow the enemy to think us weak. But is it better, if the enemy thinks us reckless and easily goaded?"

[chanson_de_maupin]

"Oh, there was no goading--I asked him his purpose, he offered a fight nobly as you please, and I accepted. He's good; he might even have a thing or two to teach me, if I can swing him right. And then I offered him an alliance, and he said he'd have to speak to his Master." She reports it calmly, as though she hasn't in any way betrayed her Master's authority by making the offer on her own. "That's a good idea, I thought. I thought I'd speak to mine, too. Would you like to have Lancer sharing his information and his strength with us, until we've culled the field a bit?"

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"You might have spoken to me before -- !" she breaks, before pausing to calm herself, fists balled at her side. "Well, you might have, if it was your intention to offer an alliance to every Servant you battle. But given where we are, we should proceed with care. If we chose an ally, he should be strong enough to make the alliance worthwhile, but not so strong that you could not overcome him ..."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"Not every Servant. Just every Servant until I get one I like." A shrug, as she flings herself down onto a chair--and then repents immediately; the chairs are too hard in this country. "The first one, I admit, I wanted; this time, I offered because I don't know who was watching. You can't be the only one with eyes on the ground. Wouldn't do to break type." She glances over toward where a sleek ermine is watching her, black eyes solemn.

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"You are ever thinking of your audience," she sighs, and reaches to run her fingers through the ermine's fur. "Perhaps I should learn to do the same. You've fought two Servants and survived -- if they were watching that, then that must be to our advantage."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"And I didn't even have to flash a Noble Phantasm--none but my sword, and everyone can see that I'm Saber-class." She dismisses that breach with a careless wave of her hand. "So let them see me reaching out to my fellow Servants. Let them see that I'm open to making friends; most of them won't be, and they'll assume the same of their compatriots. They'll assume that if I'm still asking, no one's taken me up on it--and if Lancer does consent, that gives me a secret advantage." A bit troublesome, to have arranged to meet with Lancer in a public place, but a fine young spark like that will be easy enough to draw on to a scene-stealing battle.

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"So you are capable of strategy," says Kirsikka with a smile.

[chanson_de_maupin]

She returns that smile, tapping her fingertips on the arms of the chair. "Little bit. Capable of choreography, which is near enough to the same thing. Do I have your permission to make this alliance?"

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"Yes." She draws herself up. "Yes, I believe you do -- if you're confident you can defeat him or lead him to his defeat, when the time comes."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"I can't be confident of that until I know his Noble Phantasms--but my best chance of learning them is seeing them in the field." She rises, as well, hand on her hip over where her saber hangs; the other hand swings free as she paces. "So let's discuss the field tomorrow. He'll show up and give his answer; I'm confident that he'll at least give me his answer face to face, whatever it is. He's scrupulous. He won't lay a trap for me. Other Masters and Servants might not be so honorable, so you'll have to have familiars scouting the site well ahead of time. If he tells me no, that's easy. I'll just wipe the shore with him. If he tells me yes, now, that's a problem. No one can see that it's a yes, and I don't think he's the type to take well to subterfuge. I might draw him into a fight and let him wound me, then fade out as quick as I can ... no, that won't fool anyone. A man like that would wear his feelings on his face."

She pauses, turns to Kirsikka. "I need you to direct me. You're a Master. You know what would fool another Master. How do I rig this?"

[girlwiththegandrshot]

Nothing, she thinks. Nothing would fool me. And she can't recognize it for the piece of arrogance it is, only curse herself for having been born so excellent.

"If I were another Master," she says, "I wouldn't wait to be outwitted -- I'd sweep in to attack you both, where I knew you both would be, before you could form your alliance to threaten me."

Another, wiser Master might not, after having seen them fight, and imagining how they would fight together. Another Master might watch and wait. She can't recognize that, either.

[chanson_de_maupin]

"Then it's better not to go--better to seek them out, explain our reservations, and ask for a response before time. I can dispatch a scout and a messenger, but I can't speak for his skill; no one writes operas about glorious trackers." A wry look. "Are we agreed, then? Is that our strategy?"

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"Wait," Kirsikka says, as the idea strikes her. "They do write operas about glorious heroes, do they not? Cannot one of your company impersonate a Servant, and stage an attack before the opportunity goes to someone else? Then you can draw him into another location ..."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"Tricky," she says, considering the problem nonetheless. "We'd have to invent a class for the Servant and hope that we haven't mistakenly guessed a spy's class. I've seen Rider and Lancer; that leaves Assassin, Archer, Berserker, Caster. To choose a hero who might as easily be one as another--as easily Assassin as Archer, as easily Berserker as Caster--might lend credibility to the ploy."

A considering pause. "Perseus. Armed with the head of the Gorgon and his own reflective shield, which makes an Assassin of him, since he kills by trickery. And he played at quoits and threw the discus--a bit of a stretch, but I suppose that would make him Archer well enough. And Caster, because the gods gave him gifts willy-nilly."

[girlwiththegandrshot]

Saber is not a fool, after all. She is shrewd, and wise, well-learned in theater -- Kirsikka will never write this letter, and so in her head, she lets the truth of it be known. And she makes me laugh. "A reasoned decision," Kirsikka says, and she should like to say it with an authoritative distance, but she cannot keep from smiling ...

[chanson_de_maupin]

And that smile makes Saber grin widely in return, catching Kirsikka's hand as though she means to send her spinning again. The time is past for mad dances in a summoning circle, but perhaps not far enough past for a warm handclasp. "Only two question left, then--do I defeat him dramatically and prove my strength, or do I flee and let them think me a coward? And how do we manage what Lancer will do?"

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"They must never think you a coward," she says with perfect simplicity. "And Lancer -- if he is as scrupulous as you claim, he will do what is honorable."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"That's what worries me--because what's honorable, if he accepts, is to help me bring Perseus to the ground. I don't want him to be seen helping me until we face a real Servant; there's no advantage in an alliance that's common knowledge. That's the advantage to sending a messenger; it allows him to act honorably, without jeopardizing our secrecy."

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"True," she allows. "Can we make it honorable for him to let you handle Perseus on your own?"

[chanson_de_maupin]

"I'll tell him that we have an unfinished battle and claim the right of victory as my own--and if he's any kind of honorable man, he'll recognize and respect my claim. Even if he were a coward and a liar, he'd let me wear myself out in a stupid duel. But that won't dismiss him; in his place, I'd hang on the fringes and wait to challenge the victor or congratulate her."

[girlwiththegandrshot]

She tries to imagine what an Edelfelt would do -- but Edelfelts never flee. She tries to imagine what an actor would do, if this were a story on screen ... "Suppose there were someone for him to save, then? Someone to take to safety."

[chanson_de_maupin]

"That would do it, but I can hardly ask him to bring a hostage, and I can't expect him to trust anyone who appears in the vicinity--even a dockworker out for a stroll might easily be another Master, or a Master's stooge. And I won't bring you to the scene, not when any mage worth his salt knows who the Edelfelts are."

[girlwiththegandrshot]

"You can't mean to leave me!" She lifts her chin. "What, do you believe you're the only one who can act?"

[chanson_de_maupin]

"I believe we'll both be safer if they don't know how you can act. You can fire a pistol from your fingertips; all your family can, to hear you tell it, and anyone who knows the Edelfelt name will know that. Too much of a risk to tip our hands that early."