Under the Maltese Skies

[Omi]

Swaddled in the fur coat she'd been offered, Charlotte followed the contrails of a distant pair of Rapiers, each of them swooping low over a mountaintop before disappearing into a cloud bank. The chilly mountain air barely seemed to faze her, despite the thinness of its oxygen content.

"The best option might have been to leave my liner alone in the first place," she muttered, although her tone didn't imply any real blame. It was far too late for 'what-ifs', at any rate. The Calliope had been taken, and that was that.

"I'm glad she's safe -- or, well -- as safe as can be expected," she continued, shaking her head slightly to refuse the water offered to her. "To tell the truth, I had expected a lot worse." Her expression clouded over slightly with thought, her forehead creasing a little. "The Belisama is a fine ship, as I understand. If she can recover it in any functional capacity--"

Charlotte broke off suddenly, grimacing. "Look-- I cannot stay here any longer," she said, stopping in her tracks to force Enma to follow suit, ensuring she had the other woman's attention. "I can respect that-- that you did what you had to in order to shield me from your people's... proclivities, shall we say, but if you are as much a friend to me, my sister, and my family as you profess to be, then I expect to be allowed to leave Malta on my own devices." Assuming I can make the necessary arrangements, she thought -- who knew what state the remnant Kingdom might be in, or what she might find once given the opportunity to read up on the state of Sirian affairs? "I don't mean to ask you to direct me to a starport and a fuelled transport right away, of course, but I've imposed on your hospitality long enough, I'm sure we can both agree." There was just a tiny bit of venom to that last statement, each syllable lightly etched with the frustration of month after month of no news at all.

"I'll look to establish contact with her in my own time, too," she added eventually, her tone now a little uncertain. "We need to be on the same page -- I don't wish to work against her, and together our claim to any remaining authority among Crown-aligned forces will be stronger, or so I should think. Regardless, my demands and desires stand as I've just said -- I wish to leave, even if all I can accomplish is to go to my sister's side and lend her my aid."

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