Dear Haurchefant,
I finished my previous letter by
pledging to stay and protect Ishgard from the upcoming dragon invasion... and a day later, I had already left.
I'm saying that for comedic effect since you already know why: after all, you accompanied Alphinaud and I when we visited Ser Aymeric de Borel to tell him of the hare-brained plan hatched by the boy.
We were together in the kitchens of Fortemps Manor when he had the idea, actually. The maids were
fussing over us and provided a bounty of chamomile tea (Alphinaud's favorite) and ishgardian muffins (my favorite - well, one of many).
"I just wish", I said thinking aloud around a bite of pastry, "that there was a way to stop the assault from even happening."
When I next gazed upon the boy's face, he had that far-seeing look that I've come to know quite well. Bugger it all, he had went and gotten
an idea.
He set his teacup down on its saucer and looked at me, bright blue eyes now a beacon of determination.
"What if we did?"
And so you took us to the Lord Commander for a meeting, and we explained the plan - find
Iceheart and convince her to help us broker peace with the dragons.
Ser Aymeric is not a violent man - he has no appetite for blood, be that of dragons or his own countrymen - so he accepted, under the condition that we'd take with us Estinien, the Azure Dragoon. I fear that this may hurt our standing with the dragons, but I'm still forced to recognize that it's necessary. It's undeniable that Alphinaud and I are far from having the Holy See's trust, and Estinien's presence will ensure that whatever deal we make will be recognized by Ishgard.
The whole scheme is still utter gibbering madness, naturally, but I'm elated to be doing something instead of simply waiting for the dragons to darken the skies. And this time, it's my choice.
This is... good.
What it hasn't been, however, is
easy.
The first challenge occurred when our little trio set out to the Western Highlands to track Iceheart. It had to be done by foot, since the snow is much too deep here for horsebirds to tread safely (by the way, would you please visit
Isel for me in the Fortemps Manor stables to make sure he's okay, I'll be eternally grateful) and I can't exactly summon
voidsent steeds in Estinien's face. Despite Alphinaud's new cold weather outfit sewn by Tataru, he was trembling like a leaf by the time we decided to seek shelter at the Convictory.
The second challenge is one that I suspect we'll have to deal with for this entire mission - Estinien's attitude towards dragonkind. He isn't an entirely unpleasant man, but his ideological rigidity is difficult to handle for Alphinaud and I.
At the Convictory, we met all sorts of knights - many lowborns angling for glory, and several disgraced nobles seeking to restore their honor. And yet, they who have pledged to spill as much dragon blood as necessary to achieve their ends have something Estinien lacks: doubts. Dragons, they told me in whispers, retrieve the bodies of their fallen brethren, even though it makes no strategic sense. They howl at night, as in mourning.
Everyone is aware of the incredible minds the great wyrms like Nidhogg and Midgardsormr possess - this is what makes negotiation a possibility. But to see thought and heart in the lesser dragons, when many think them to be entirely controlled by the
voices of their elders... The Convictory men seem to require a rather potent cocktail of halonic devotion, war-bred resentment and denial to keep those doubts at bay.
It's one of the necessities of war to make enemies inhuman in one's eyes, to make killing them the moral equivalent of putting down an enraged beast. Otherwise, how would the blood ever wash off?
This, however, doesn't make it true. One has to be careful what they allow themselves to believe.
I'm more curious than ever to find out what Iceheart has to say. I just hope she and Estinien can refrain from killing each other long enough for me to find out.
Yours,
Lalli
