Claire has been really trying to press the things. While Enma is openly showing her weak side and not quite being afraid of that. It's to be uncovered sooner or later, and since Enma is going to keep this girl close, there's no way she will be able to hide those for long. And what is there to afraid anyway, Loyola is not considering Claire a threat on any possible level at this point. People who may be interesting in returning, capturing or killing her are a threat.
Being a little bit envious, that Claire is admiring Charlotte and not her. She didn't really care what relations are between them, it was just a fact that mildly annoys her. Not enough to explode, but those royal born kids had everything from the time they were born, while Enma has to make her way to the stars, failing all along the way.
— I doubt that it was an actual don, I even never heard that name. Must be some pretender.
It almost seems like she ignored the point about Charlotte, but Enma could not put too much effort into this so it took some time to start speaking.
— A deal? Maybe you will enlighten me on what kind of deal we had? The only thing I can recall is the engagement and you don't seem to be too happy spending time with your fiancee.
Enma pushes herself for a short smile, but it didn't look any good.
— Did you send a message to the his highness by the way?
The statement was brief, followed by a swift change of topic to what she truly cared about. She put the handheld computer down on the side of her chair. Enma's twisted smile was unnerving, but she couldn't go easy, not on this matter.
— You've told me I'll be able to retrieve her when we arrive. She has to be here, with me. We won't be strong enough without her support, and she's my elder sister. Now with Joseph returning, and Charlotte as well, we might be able to get the public attention we need to start moving somewhere.
As much as she wanted to insult and curse at the woman, she knew what would happen. She has to see Charlotte, and the only way was to do it diplomatically.
Enma liked this pressure, even in this situation something in this girl is not allowing her to give up. Is this the nobility? She can admire it since she would be crawling on the knees if she was in a similar situation. Chewing some grapes and actually thinking about what to do with this situation. Covering her mouth with fingers, she would spend even more time, now obviously showing off that she's worrying and thinking on how to solve this.
— If I promised you that you will see Charlotte, then you will. I sadly did not say anything on timings, because it's not that easy. If you need support, even a moral one, I am here to offer it. You choose to play games instead of talking with me honestly. You will not be able to stay with Charlotte long enough, without her starting to use an inhaler, which is concentrated and will drastically increase her dependency. Or without you coming down to Malta. We are not getting anywhere unless you will finally stop to see me as an enemy and make a step towards sincere friendship.
Enma leans back into the chair, as she's done with grapes.
— I don't know how much time I need to repeat that I am not your enemy. And whatever energy you are spending trying to play something against me, you better spend it into the other places. Can you also check if your cousin has replied? I like him, he got some things you lack.
Her response seems to have somehow irritated Claire even further. The woman's requests for friendship were met with a scornful look, but she was too meek to say anything about it, lest she wanted to repeat past experiences. What Enma said unfortunately made sense. She didn't want to increase Charlotte's addiction, but would it be possible for her to go down to Malta? That was too much of a risk.
— I don't consider you an enemy. Yet the only way to move forward is with her, and she's not here. We need to find a way.
Play on the side of caution, that's what revolved in her mind.
She picked the computer up again, looking to see if there were any updates. There were. The reply from Joseph came in. She took her time, intently looking through it as Enma sat there waiting for a response.
Her mood shifted, and the Outcast could notice it. He just offered her a great alternative, something that can fix the situation for both Claire and Charlotte. She had her doubts about what kind of force the prince could muster at this rate, but even the thought of being stalked and hunted by the Royal Navy would cause paranoia for virtually anyone. He was completely right. It was a mistake to trust the Sirians. It only resulted in Belisama's captain dying and the ship's crews fates sealed, along with herself being degraded to levels she couldn't have imagined. She really was naive. They only had themselves to trust.
—Oui. He replied. He's asked for support in his claim to the throne in exchange for assisting in retrieving Charlotte.
Going against her usual stoic, neutral posture, she leaned backwards and rested her head against her hand. She gazed at Enma, curious about her reply.
Loyola smiles at the girl learning and adapting so fast. It's so far been very confusing as to value this girl. Her staring at Enma becomes more and more confident and after a comm, she seems to mood up even more. It makes sense to let Claire play a princess a little. She could more or less guess what the crown prince said to cheer her up.
— I will have to talk to him personally then. He looks much more promising than you after all. At some point, our engagement could be a little rushed.
Enma gets out a little mirror from the purse, checking up how she looks. She will have to get out that old gallic expensive outfit that she got, hopefully, it's not lost. Then she's saying with a somewhat disappointed tone.
— But if it won't work, uh, then maybe I will have to come back to you.
Completely ignoring Charlotte topic now, Enma really considers hooking up this girl to Cardamine as well. She wants to keep the pillar of DeFrance's personality while trying to make this girl function in a way she would like. Maybe it was mission impossible. Maybe it will work in time, but hell, dealing with the gallic royalty has been one of the most stressful and infuriating experiences she had so far.
— I see you have an exemplary record of loyalty. Then I wish you luck.
That sentence sounded almost as sarcastic as a Bretonian. She took off the ring that was forced on her, leaving it on the table. While Enma couldn't see it, she was relieved to finally not have that symbol of control on her anymore. The gaul then focused her attention back at the computer, re-reading the reply.
— I hope that Charlotte will be able to arrive soon, for all our sake. Otherwise, we're stuck here.
— First of all, I did not allow to take it off. It belongs on your finger, you don't want me to get upset, right?
Enma says with a somewhat threatening tone as Loyola notices the ring at the table. While not considering her chances with Joseph as serious, she just wanted to make Claire feel bad. But it just worked the other way around. Being repeatedly declined like that is just painful, looks like Claire is taking an initiative now and Loyola cannot do a lot to do anything with it. Aside from applying constant physical or moral pressure, which is bothersome by itself.
— You can stop mentioning your sister no matter what. I already said that I will do everything that depends on me to make it happen as fast as possible.
Enma was curious about the reply that Claire is studying so carefully. Maybe, they would get a chance of just spending time together, talking about something that is not war, held sister or a power struggle. Enma then looks at Claire's pocket computer, deciding to ask kindly to share the comm that the princess was reading.
— May I?
Despite Enma sounding a little bit more kind, she would also sound confident. For all this time she could only relax on Ibiza. All this stress, fighting and running. Enma got used to this lifestyle, but it did not make it less hard to live through such moments. And even then, DeFrance girl is handling it much better despite not having years of fugitive experience behind her back. Royal blood really does matter.
Claire said as she passed the pocket computer to the Outcast. It's not like she had anything to hide - and his reply was bound to upset her, which made it much more entertaining for the noble. For once, things were going her way, and she wanted to capitalise on that.
At least she managed to have Loyola mention that she will work on getting Charlotte on the station. She took the time sitting there just idling, exploring the room with her eyes, before focusing her attention back to the ring on the table. She despised it and everything it implied. It was a constant reminder of all the horrible things that happened to her ever since the war was lost.
Loyola takes the computer thing, She sighed a couple of times as she studied the comm. Her face is expressing a lot of annoyance and disappointment. Maybe even a shame to some degree. And then she just hated it. With the suppressed voice, she couldn't helo, but to read aloud.
— Locating your sister and making sure she is brought back to us safely... with the might of the Gallic Navy backing any actions to retrieve her...
She shakes her head a little, taking a deep breath and sighing. She expected something, but she did not expect it to be this bad. She then would continue, to see the matters only getting worse.
— Will show them to never lay a finger on anyone with our name... As naive as you are siding with... insects?
Outcast then hits a table with the fork. Just to reveal stress, annoyance, and even anger. But then she would keep reading.
— Any Sirian you're in the company of they're not to be trusted. They will betray you sooner or later... pffff, Okay. I will have to talk to him myself.
Enma gives gadget back to Claire, her skin became my paler. She clearly had no idea what to do with this yet.
— We... You will need to contact someone within Enclave, I think. And we still should warn all the Houses..., And I think you meant Tau-53, Your Highness, I don't know, I will have to check that. If something, I can send someone. But if you have a business in Gallia, we have our own border with it, a jumphole that leads to Lorraine.
She couldn't help but feel delighted looking at Loyola stressing out over Joseph's reply. She was smart enough to keep the grin off her face, knowing that it's a bad idea to show her expression to the upset Outcast.
— I'm sure you'll understand now why I kept mentioning Charlotte. You're free to try and talk with him, but I feel like you know the reply you're going to get if you approach him directly.
She took the computer as Enma handed it back to her, and began trying to work out if it had any information on the Tau-53 system. It was proving difficult for the noble to navigate the menu, having never used anything even remotely similar to what she had in her hands - Sirian technology is just remarkably different, and so was their software design. Frustrated with the unintuitive controls, she put the handheld computer back down on the table.
— Oui, Tau-53, then. The reason I'm asking about Tau-53 is regarding Belisama. I want to know what happened to the ship - I need some closure.
Noticing how stressed out Enma was, she decided to divert her attention back to her. As much as she wants Loyola to suffer, Claire doesn't want the Outcast to snap at her again.
— We do need to contact the Enclave, and send an announcement that we're backing Joseph on his Gallic reconquest against those terrorists. He is the Crown Prince, after all. I'll just need confirmation from the Enclave, if he is with them, to see how strong they really are. This is the solution we've been looking for, so we shouldn't waste time.
![[Image: Sici.gif]](http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Sici.gif)
![[Image: Ramkerawr.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Ramkerawr.gif)