Liliana Vess Defiant Necromancer

Mistress, you may wish to come down to your parlor.

Her steward's voice in her head made Liliana whine, curling up tighter under the blankets and dragging a pillow over her head. "Nooooo, I don't wish to."

Respectfully, Mistress, I believe this...issue...would be better dealt with sooner rather than later.

"You do it then." Yes Liliana knew that she sounded petulant and childish (was being petulant and childish), but she was exhausted from yesterday and she really deserved to stay in bed and then proceed immediately to her bath, possibly with food delivered to either location. What she did not want to do was 1) get up, and 2) deal with any 'issues.'

I believe this is something you would rather handle yourself. Clothed.

Well, that made her sit straight up in bed. "Are the children back?!" That was what it had been the last time he'd requested her presence somewhere and specified she should be dressed for it. If it ended up being more children, she was just going to Planeswalk to Innistrad. Ravnica. Her tower on Lorwyn if she had to. Just not here.

No, Mistress, no children. She got a distinct impression that he was sighing, which was CLEARLY IMPOSSIBLE because he didn't have to breathe. Which meant he was only doing it as an affectation. She didn't know where that predilection could have come from. Probably Ignis. There is...a dog.

A dog. There was a dog and somehow she was required to deal with it and it had been five minutes and she was already going to fire today. "Fine," she muttered, kicking the covers off and climbing out of bed. "I'll be down shortly."

What next?

[For the dog causing all this trouble and the gentleman living with her, should he wish!]

"I'VE DONE IT!"

Liliana thundered up the stairs from her workroom, holding aloft a purple crystal skull, now subtly glowing with light. Being a cat and then swept off on a weekend long trip to beautiful places and seeing little more than extravagant hotel rooms in them had definitely pushed Liliana's experimentation back a bit, but locking herself down in her workroom has put her right back on course. Not only had she figured out how to use this skull, she'd also designed a new spell to continue to make use of it and the creatures she needed to banish to make it work, and working on that had given her the inspiration to come up with a third, unrelated spell entirely! Yes, that one was still more theory and idea that actual spellcraft, but it was sound theory and idea, needing only some tweaking and finetuning to get it right.

"Mistress." Her steward waited for her at the top of the stairs, holding out a domed tray. "Mistress, you must--"

"Dance!" Liliana agreed, plucking the domed lid from his grip, setting it aside, and taking his hands to dance a reel. "I know! I'm brilliant!"

"Mistress." Her steward sighed. "Mistress, this isn't what--"

"Hush, we're dancing," Liliana told him, swinging him about. "Blind Eternities, it almost makes me want to hie off to Kylem for the rest of the weekend, make a debut there. It's been such a terribly long time since I've even stepped into the arena. I'm in the Vault of Champions, you know. Several times." She preened.

"Mistress, you need to eat."

That brought Liliana's dancing to a halt. "Nonsense," she scoffed. "I ate only a few hours again. I lost almost an hour's research time trying to retrace my steps and remember what I was doing when your interruption broke my train of thought."

"That was more than twelve hours ago, Mistress."

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. "Ugh! Physical forms are so limiting."

"Yes, Mistress." It was a frequent complaint.

"Fine." She stomped over to the table. "Bring me whatever meal I missed."

"There are two, Mistress."

"Well, bring me one and we'll say I ate both."

There was only silence from her steward.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This is insupportable. You are mine, you know."

"Yes, Mistress." He retrieved the tray and set it in front of her.

"You know very well that I could override your will entirely."

"Yes, Mistress."

"I could replace you entirely. It would be nothing."

"Of course, Mistress." He lifted the lid from the dome. "I can only hope you feel less inclined to do either after you've eaten."

Liliana sulked. "Not only has he turned you into a tattletale, he's made you sassy, too."

"Yes, Mistress," her steward said, stepping away to a respectful distance while she ate. "It was very much only Sir's influence there."

"...You are lucky that this smells too good to do anything but eat," Liliana huffed, tucking into her very belated dinner. "Otherwise I would demonstrate how very cross I am with you."

Her attention on her plate, her steward allowed himself a very small, very fond smile. "Yes, Mistress," he said.

[Establishy unless someone has a reason to contact her at oh-god-thirty?]

Was it a bit ridiculous to have your steward hie all the way over from one side of the island to the school just to bring you your cat to play with during your office hours?

Yes, yes it was.

Liliana didn't care, she wanted kitty cuddles for awhile. And also to watch him run about, chasing the laser pointer. Her steward was standing by, ready to bring Josu home if either cat or mistress decided that that was enough kitty enrichment for the day, but until then, Liliana was content to sit in a chair in front of the window and cuddle her precious, sweet boy in her arms for a little bit.

Liliana stared down at the paper angel in her hands. Her hatred of angels was no secret and she had left a trail of dead angels behind her ever since-- She had left a trail of deal angels behind her without a qualm. If anything, with pride. Nor was it a one-sided vendetta; Liliana rarely struck first. She did, however, always strike last.

( Liliana is gonna HATE Christmas )

...She was putting far too much thought into this, wasting too much time dwelling on nonsense. None of it deserved an iota more of her attention. She stood up, summoned her steward, and when he arrived, carelessly tossed the decoration into his hands. "Dispose of this trash," she said imperiously. "I have work to do."

Her steward bowed, hands cupping the angel like a fragile bird. "Immediately, Mistress," he said as she stalked past. "It won't be seen again."

And that was that.

Liliana woke with a start, gasping for breath. Something fell into her mouth, cool against her skin. She reached for her face and felt the softness of the Chain Veil on it, the burnished gold worked so fine that it felt like silk under her fingers, not metal. With a groan, she pulled it off and opened eyes that felt thick and gummy. "Wah--wat--"

"Here, Mistress." Her steward was at her side, offering her a bottle of water. "Please, drink slowly."

Liliana took the bottle, frowning at the layer of dust on it. She tried to speak, but the only sound that came out was a rough groaning sound, one that seemed like it should come from one of her darlings minions' throats rather than her own. She took the bottle and drank, one slow sip after another. Half the bottle was gone before her throat felt like she could make sounds again. "What...happened? Why was I wearing the Chain Veil? What happened? Where's Josu?"

"You were recovering from your burns, Mistress," her steward explained gently. "And one night you got up and placed the Chain Veil on. You...seemed to be communicating with something while you wore it."

They both glanced down at the veil, where it lay innocently on her purple coverlet, catching the light. "You refused to take it off. And then one day, you 'walked away. And did not return until yesterday evening."

"How long?" she asked and eyed him. "You are speaking much better than when I left."

"Five months," her steward replied. "And thank you, Mistress. I practiced while you were away, to better be able to assist you when you returned. I regret to inform you that your other servitors have fallen back to bones and dust."

By this point, Liliana couldn't even be upset anymore when she discovered that something bizarre had happened and she had missed weeks or even months. But this...this was weird for other reasons. She'd lost time to the Chain Veil before, but never gone Planeswalking while wearing it. And she had not a single memory to go with it. It was all just...blank. "I see," she said. "And Josu?"

"Has missed you very much, my lady," the steward assured her. "And is quite well."

"Excellent," she said. "A bath. Draw me a hot bath and then something hearty for dinner."

Her steward hesitated. "Regrettably, Mistress, the only food in the house is that for Josu. The rest has long since spoiled while you were away."

Blast. Fair. The important thing was that Josu had been taken care of. "Just a bath then," she said. "And then I shall see about fetching myself something to eat from town."

The steward nodded. "Of course, my lady. Will that be all for now?"

"Yes," she said. Then, "Wait." The ghoul paused, turning back towards her and she leaned over and took his hand. "Thank you," she said softly. "For taking care of everything - especially Jesu - in my absence."

Her steward's leathery face made expressions and emoting difficult, but something about it seemed to soften, perhaps even smile. "My honor, Mistress," he assured her, then bowed and left.

[Establishy]