as written by Ottoman and Krysis
The joke wasn't lost on Josefine, though the subject at hand had put a slight damper on her sense of humor. She smiled a small, distant sort of smile that one wore when doing their best to be polite, even if their mind wandered elsewhere on matters far less pleasant. "Simonov is a good man, even if he takes his work far too seriously." The empress took another bite or two of her food, eyes lingering on the table as she mulled over her thoughts, idly chewing at her food as she did, speaking only once she had finished. "He would be an honorable husband, I think, but you are right." She offered her thoughts on the matter, even if it wasn't bidden directly to her. It would be a marriage born out of ulterior motives, one meant to gain something that had no place in matrimony - between spouses, their families, their children. Earnest marriage, indeed earnest love, could be a hard thing to find even here in the Supremacy, despite their touted moral and ethical superiority to the Coalition. They were fettered to social mores and cultural customs, for better or for worse, and they stood by their decision, no matter how it hurt them at times.
Wistful green eyes shifted over to Josef as he started not but a moment or two after Josefine had finished. "Then, if you'll forgive me for giving unbidden advice, the best thing I'd say to do is wait." If only to spare herself, and whoever she chose, a deal of heartbreak. He had known several people who married, as Isabelle said, for spite, whether it was against their parents, their station, a former lover... it rarely, if ever, worked out for the better. With a slight shake of his head he dismissed her concerns regarding silliness, "I wouldn't call it silly - it was something you were born to that you might not feel a calling to, or perhaps you just don't care for it." It didn't help that her family was who they were of course, even as honorable as Volstad and his children were, who lived today were not the shining examples of Supremacy culture that they should be. "Nobility is more of a yoke than it is a boon, at least in my eyes." Josef offered a smile at that, hoping that his words weren't coming off as too presumptuous.
"Many in the Coalition and elsewhere see the noble hierarchy, the Assembly and all the dukedoms and baronies, as a tyrannical system of exploitation, using the men and women under them to fuel their lives of comfort and decadence." He let those words hang in the air for a moment as he reflected on them himself, blinking once or twice as his own thoughts were drawn away, if only for a moment. There were some that did such, and to some extent Isabelle's family had practiced such a school of thought, at times, but that wasn't what he held to be the true ideal. "I do not see the nobility as 'masters' of figurative plantations, it isn't what we're meant to be." It never was. "The foreigners, the Coalition, make the fatal mistake of looking at the Supremacy as a system, an establishment, meant for profit. It's anything but." The sharpness of his voice, the inflection he possessed, when he spoke the name of their strategic adversary belied his thoughts, and the analogy he was building did little to assuage such emotion.
"It is an establishment, an instrument, of survival, best not thought of as a plantation but a simple farm - a yeoman's homestead." Josef leaned forward in his seat, articulating his thoughts. "It's not the wealthiest place, but it is honorable. There are no house staff, no slaves, no one to toil or to work or to live there, save the yeoman and his family. They work day in and day out to tend the fields, from the youngest child eldest, all helping somehow. There are no wages save the bounty they harvest and the love they share, overseen by the patriarch, and the matriarch, of the house." Josefine listened to her brother all the same, caught in the words he spoke, even if she understood their sentiment, and had for centuries. The Kaiserin rested a hand on the table, Josef's eyes falling to the motion for a moment before they returned to the lady Stier. "Parents are no more masters of their children than they are servants to them, they give them direction and regimen, set their moral compass and instill work ethic, the concepts of duty and honor. We are every inch the servant as we are the master, Isabelle. It is our privilege to serve the commons, to guide them, to protect them, to ensure that they are safe from the nightmares that lay beyond our homestead. But not everyone is meant to be a father," He paid Josefine a brief, if sympathetic, glance, "Or a mother. There's no shame in wanting away from nobility, Isabelle."
But there was shame elsewhere, and the Empress lowered her eyes, her hand retreating from the table as she looked back to her plate for a moment. Everyone was beneath the both of them by the design of the system, but it seemed to be their lot to ignore the truth that Josef had just stated - the Supremacy had a mother and father that loved them dearly, even if they were born out of wedlock. She let a long, silent sigh slip out of her as she glanced back to her friend, hoping that her melancholy demeanor hadn't upset this luncheon. "Well, if you do decide to start courting, I don't think there'd be any shortage of suitors." If only for her looks alone, nevermind her wit. There would no doubt be those who lusted after her name but, given Isabelle and her inclinations, she doubted that anyone of their number would get the time of day.
"I don't think I'll have to play matchmaker for you."
____
Isabelle had been about to respond when Josef launched into his passionate explanation of the ideal of the Supremacy as opposed to the perceptions of the Coalition. Her smile grew wider and her eyes were soon sparkling with repressed mirth. What he was saying wasn't funny at all, and indeed it was quite serious-- but it was the habit of a politician to make speeches, even at an informal lunch, that had Izzy on the verge of giggling.
Without really considering if it were appropriate or not, she reached over to pat Josef's shoulder when he was done, encouraging and reassuring as much as she could. Her grin was for Josefine though, "It's amazing. That was almost the exact same speech as I remember hearing when I was a bitty thing. Inspirational as always, but sometimes I fear it falls on those it is intended for in the wrong way."
Izzy's smile faded when she realized that Josefine was not as amused as she was, going more to concern as she watched her friend. When Empress seemed to be trying to cheer herself up, Lady Stier hitched her own smile back into place and shrugged, "Yes, well, a flood of 'renewed interest' has been noted since I took up my new post, so you are accidentally matchmaking without even knowing it. You know, for a while there I was a bit of a pariah among the nobles. Now they think that it was a clever ploy and won't believe me when I say it was never my intention to rise so quickly."
Chopsticks flashed as Izzy seemed to be quite adept at carrying on a conversation even over a meal that she intended to finish before it got cold. "Still, I'm a second daughter in a house with too many heirs, so the 'interest' isn't too demanding yet. The idiots that used to pressure me with the 'your options are limited' line must be grinding their teeth now. It's petty of me, but satisfying. To know that I got this far pretty much on my own, that is, through the opportunities that others overlooked." She grinned as she abused herself, judging herself harshly and by a higher standard than she had been raised to, but the young noblewoman was having fun in the process.
____
Josef smiled at that, picking up on Josefine's disappointment easily enough as well, nodding to Isabelle as he returned his attention once more to his meal, dealing far more damage to his own plate than Josefine did hers. "My apologies, Isabelle. It's... a vast majority of our lives." His and Josefine's, that was. "It's hard to escape the mentality." After a few centuries, it was nearly impossible. It had been ages, figuratively and perhaps literally, since he'd been able to do anything in public the way that Isabelle had today. Indeed, Josefine had never had the opportunity to do so in her life. This was supposed to be a pleasant, casual sort of lunch with Josefine's colleague, not some political discourse - they had more than enough of that in their daily lives.
The Empress picked up on Isabelle noticing her mood, brightening as she could though she did her best to avoid her methods as a stateswoman, the airs and the expressions she wore as a leader, when things weren't going so well. She could be honest here, and that honesty showed on her face - her smile was laced with disappointment, hurt by something that had been said. "I hope you'll forgive me, Isabelle. I'd no intention of bringing that sort of attention upon you." Though she wouldn't take back anything she'd done. If there was one vital lesson she had learned from Josef, and Josef's life, it was to own one's decisions, for better or for worse. "... I would be a liar if I said I didn't have a few moments where I enjoyed such satisfaction." The men, and the women, that had called her a doll on a shelf, a symbol.
Well, she didn't mind being a symbol, if only a symbol with four doctorates.
____
"Oh, I know. Father used to do the same thing, when we actually dined together. He would rant and orate on whatever issue had his attention at the moment, and could make even the smallest insult sound like it needed to be avenged with the fires of war. That was always his preferred answer, though he tempered his temper in public." Isabelle shared openly, crinkling her face with amusement at the memory. At the time, she had been terrified that the Stier would actually have to go to war, but the years had faded that part from her memory.
She actually laughed at Josefine and shook her head, "You didn't do a thing, cousin. I mean, unless you sent a request to the personnel office for whatever nobles they had in stock-- Wait, did you? Oh, what a sneaky Empress you are, if so! I thought it was all luck."
Izzy's grin stayed playful, so it was clear there was no hard feelings in any case. "Besides, it had to happen eventually. I planned to put in a request when the post opened up anyway and just didn't get a chance before it fell in my lap. What is done is done, only the timing different than expected."
____
The man wasn't too far from Josef in some regards, the Emperor knowing that he wasn't above such behavior at times, when the ineptitude of his own people or the gall of foreigners cut him deep enough. Josefine was typically the voice for caution among the two of them, the less vindictive of the pair, but she too had her moments of demagoguery. There was a time or two when blood had been spilled on the field of battle for the petty actions of a politician or noble, but the Supremacy prided themselves on being above such things - at least on a national level. Of course the Houses still busied themselves with such wars, as was their place to do so, but the civil government - the imperial government - focused on matters abroad, not lowbrow conflicts at home. The Kaiser murmured, echoing some of Isabelle's cheer on his own features, "Sometimes the simple threat of the stick works just as well, if not better." That was half the reason for the Landwächter and the Verhör after all, and the whole reason for the Seraphim. All that was needed was one display of power, of retribution, and it would establish a precedent that would not easily be ignored.
In reply to Isabelle's question, Josefine shook her head. "I didn't ask for a noble," She had inherited her brother's distaste for relying on the social strata, especially from established families, mostly for their propensity to overestimate their own worth - nevermind how accustomed many might have grown to nepotism in their own respective realms. "I asked for the most capable." And to the Empress' surprise it had been, of all people, a Stier. She would have never guessed that name, at least not for some time, if any nobles had been on the list. More often than not the great houses tended to be lackluster in such pursuits, away from the martial sphere, though there was the occasional diamond in the rough - as Isabelle had proven. "That happened to be you." At the suggestion of one of her advisers, though she elected to leave that detail out of the matter. There had been some competition, some contest as to who should succeed the vacant position, but in the end Josefine had gone with the numbers, and with her cousin.
"Make no mistake, Isabelle," She offered, a playful smile returning to her own features, "If there is anyone who would like a reprieve from the nobility, it's us." The nobility, the governing of such and interaction with, dominated the lives of both Kampfs, but especially the domestically-minded Josefine. "You've proven a most pleasant surprise, hasn't she, Josef?" The twins locked gazes for but a moment, Josef nodding as he agreed with her. She had more of Volstad in her than her kin would likely want to admit. A light sigh managed to slip from the Kaiser before he made the diplomatic move to change subjects to something far more pleasant to his twin's ear.
"... Josefine tells me you've taken an interest in gardening?" He offered, nodding briefly towards the expansive ones that the Empress helped to maintain.
____
Isabelle was very glad for the change in subject, having started to blush under the unfamiliar praise and attention. It had gotten past the point where she could just laugh it off. Especially since the pair were people she liked and respected.
With a grateful sigh, and a wry smile, she switched to the new topic readily. "Well, yes. I mean, I never really had time before, but now-- That sounds kinda backwards. Yes, it is a busy job. Yes, it is important and demands focus. No, it doesn't keep my hands occupied enough."
Then she gave an expansive gesture with her hands, chopsticks still tucked between her fingers. "Plus, things move on and off my desk so quickly, I wanted something that will stick around. A potted plant sounded perfect, until I managed to kill the first one."
____
"Well," The Empress began, "Not to imply you will have an abundance of time, if you're going to be working here on the capital - or simply living here - you'll have to find some sort of hobby." Life could grow dull here at the seat of all power in the Empire, or at least she felt so after four centuries of life, and she had taken to gardening. There was always some new plant, some new flower, found on some distant world that she could add to her already bountiful collection. The titanic palace wrapped like a horseshoe around the gardens she kept, which proved equally large, and it held her attention in most of her free time spent away from Josef. It was an innocent enough interest to nurture, considering the tastes of other citizens on Tannhäuser. "I'm glad it's one we'll share."
The younger Kampf sighed in her seat and looked out beyond the patio, to the imperial gardens. It was more beautiful than the sordid passions of any bohemian noble, in her opinion, not unlike their own Supremacy to every other despot's regime. It didn't exist to only serve their whims as monarchs. "Feel free to come by any time, to the gardens. We might not always be available, but just call first." Josefine glanced back to her friend, smiling genuinely again. "Which reminds me why I'd invited you over, Isabelle. Charlotte?" The Empress turned her head to address one of the house staff, "Fetch my package for the lady Stier, if you could." The housemaid bowed her head and set off to do just that, returning after Josefine had again addressed her cousin.
"I beg your forgiveness, Isabelle, but I may have been a bit too consumed in having such pleasant company over again. I forgot myself. Ah-" With the package, a gilded sort of container not unlike a cigar-box, soon offered to her by the young servant, taken with a small nod and murmured thanks. "Here, for your mother from you, with my blessings." The Kaiserin soon handed the black and gold box to her friend, inside of which the young lady Stier would find two cryogenic cylinders, each containing a rose - one red, one yellow.
"It was the best I could do."
____
"A hobby?" Isabelle looked rather blank at that concept, like it was something she had never heard of before. Maybe it was being encouraged to find something frivolous to spend her time on that was so unexpected. She smiled and shrugged a bit, blushing a bit again though she wasn't exactly sure why. "Your botanical skills are legendary, ma'am."
It seemed like she was going to end up learning far more about plants than she ever intended to.
When presented with the roses, Izzy lit up. She actually clapped her hands and gave a little bounce of excitement. "Oh, these are so beautiful! Mother will be so thrilled. Not to mention that it will get her off my back for a while."
After she had set the box down carefully, she indicated the gift bag in the middle of the table. "I'm not really sure if that is your style, but frankly, I liked it. Sometimes it is nice to have something around to remind us of being girls."
The vase was for cut flowers, not something growing, but it was pretty. The pinkish vase had a hourglass curve to the semi-translucent material, like the shell of a giant snail had been polished with a loving hand. Then it was banded with a thin strip of antique brass at the narrowest point, as well as the top lip and the edge of the base.
____
The other simply nodded on the note of a hobby. If there was one thing she'd discovered ruling the Supremacy, and not simply living the centuries of her life, it was that all work and no play had rather unpleasant consequences. But the Empress afforded herself a smile not unlike Isabelle's upon seeing her reaction to the gift, though it may have been a bit more muted. "Frozen for the trip to Stockberg, of course." That they might arrive there in pristine condition, straight from her own garden. Green eyes returned to the bag at the center of the table and Josefine reached for it. "... I do suppose I should stop being rude and actually see what you've gotten me-" The small vase drew a raised eyebrow from the monarch as she turned it about in her hand.
"It would fit nicely on my vanity, I think." She murmured, eyes dancing along the curve it held as she pondered what Josef thought of that before refraining. "... sometimes it's nice to know that people care." As people, at least, and not as politicians or allies. Yes, the vanity would do nicely. She had enough floral and feminine elements in her own wing that this wouldn't be out of place in the slightest. Kampf held it a few moments longer before setting it down, looking back at Stier. "And here I am with nothing for you." She offered with a sigh and a smile, feeling a hint of guilt.
"She has been blessed with the boon of our company, Josefine," Her brother offered, teasing, "Isn't that enough for any true Imperial?" The Empress looked to the man and paid him a light kick in the leg for that which he weathered with a grin.
"And the patience to put up with you."
____
"It's a hostess gift." Isabelle pointed out, laughing a bit at Josef's comments. She grinned at Josefine then and added, "If you visited me, I would expect a gift at that time. I probably wouldn't have a place to put it, in the shoe box I live in, but it would be the polite thing."
She winked at Josef then, not quite brave enough to pinch him like she might have one of her more casual friends, "That is one of the marks of a true Imperial, right? We're always polite, no matter the provocation?"
Izzy was more relaxed than she thought she would be with the living 'gods' of the Supremacy. They seemed to be rather ordinary, despite all the hype and pomp surrounding the pair.
____
Josefine would've commented, but Josef beat her to the punch, nodding at Isabelle's words, "It is something I pride myself on, with the Supremacy." Of course to so many other peoples and powers they were stuffy, even preposterous, when it came to ritual and tact, but it did set them apart. Even at the most bitter times, Imperial Scatterrans were civil folk, and when one was not, well... it was quite the indication. "Given another-" The Emperor hadn't the time to finish his thought as a voice familiar to him called from over his shoulder, the black uniform of the Landwächter standing out starkly amongst the verdant green of the garden and the earthy tones of the Adlerhorst behind his figure. He was of middle years, and wore the insignia, decorations and expression appropriate to his station here on the capital,
"My lord, please forgive the intrusion, but there's a situation that demands your immediate attention."
Kampf turned in his seat to look to the officer who'd approached the trio, nodding to the man immediately once he explained himself, taking a quick dab at his lips with his napkin as he did. A momentary, parting glance to both the Empress and the lady Stier came alongside his words, though his gaze lingered on Josefine for a moment, another, unspoken apology. "My apologies, Isabelle." With that he stood and soon marched off alongside the officer to whatever end that he'd been summoned to, the Empress lingering there in her seat, watching him depart with a sigh. Her expression was somewhere just beyond disappointed, but it didn't last long, the woman turning back to her friend with a renewed smile.
"... as I meant to say, I just might have to visit you, sometime." She enjoyed seeing how others lived, having known palaces and manors and retreats all her life, it was refreshing to see others' smaller abodes - cozy was the word she liked to use. Josefine looked back to her plate for a moment as she picked a moment or two longer at her food, her mind doing its best to dodge the frustration that'd flared up just moments before, thinking of where best to push the conversation.
"I don't suppose you've ever been to the Reichplatz before, have you, Isabelle?"
____
Izzy frowned at Josef's back as he left, though she had nodded at his apology. It wasn't that she was upset, more that she was remembering many similar dinners, many times in her youth when one or another member of whichever family she was dining with was called away without warning. Sometimes they came back after a few minutes. Sometime, hours passed. Once, they never came back at all, reassigned to something distant and killed in the line of duty. She couldn't help the worry that spiked in her heart.
Isabelle gave a funny expression at Josefine's request to visit her, then laughed a bit harder than was precisely polite. She covered her face with both hands, rubbing her cheeks until she could make herself return to her usual calm smile. Finally, she asked, "Got a wig?"
With a shrug, Lady Stier explained, "I don't think it would be exactly safe for you to visit as yourself. I mean, I wasn't joking about having a tiny place. It's easier to keep clean and straightened up, and means I can save most of my earnings. It also means that my neighbors are a bit bitter and sometimes unpleasant."
She shrugged again at the question about the Reichplatz, "I've seen most of what is open to the public. When I moved here, I had a week before I started work, so I saw the sights. Mostly just to be able to say that I had."
____
There were times when Josefine worried the same way - indeed, she'd experienced the same sort of fear, terror in her case, when Josef had left only to die. It had happened a time or two since, even to her, but their capabilities had made death little more than a nuisance at this point. But those times when she'd fretted, when Josef's forgetful nature had left her quite alone and very afraid in the tumultuous era of the Reformation, were long past. She wasn't much of a young woman anymore, by any stretch of the imagination, and whether that distraction would take him to the Western Frontier or the western wing of the palace, she knew he'd be back.
But Isabelle's good humor got the better of her, and better that it did, for the Empress smiled in a rather quizzical fashion as she looked back to her colleague, dabbing at her lips one last time with her napkin before asking, a light chuckle to her voice, "A wig?" Certainly, in her centuries of existence, that was one question that she'd never been asked before. Kampf shrugged at the thought, soon shaking her head in response. "I fear not, though I could dye my hair, if that would work." It was more of a jest than a serious thought, though she'd thought, many times before, if she'd look better or worse with darker hair, or with something lighter.
"Though, Isabelle," She began, thinking of how best to word this without dismissing Stier's caution - for she was glad that the woman was willing to look at her as a person and not simply a title, or a figurehead - speaking with a smile that was almost coy. "I can make most anywhere safe." Especially on Tannhäuser. The more domestic of the two she might have been, but she was still a force to be reckoned with. "But I don't mind small spaces, we'll have to see about something at your place."
With that thought she sighed, glancing over the table before she moved to stand, glancing to a nearby servant briefly before looking back at Izzy. "... would you like to see the gardens? It's been some time since I've simply strolled through them." More often than not she was elbow deep in them, too busy working with the soil to admire her handiwork, but a walk would do her well after that lunch, and she could think of few better places to do such.
____
Isabelle grinned at the thought of her apartment complex being made safe for a visit from the empress, rubbing at her chin as she considered what it would take. Then she shrugged, "I'm sure you could make it perfectly safe, but then what would be the point? You wouldn't be seeing how people actually live, just what the soldiers think it is safe for you to see."
She made she her face was clean as she rose from her seat, and tucked a spare napkin in the sleeve of her sweater. "I'd love to see your gardens. There are rumors, you know, about all the exotic plants tucked away here."
____
As she and Isabelle made their way from the table, her mind lingered on that thought - that it would simply be what the Landwächter wanted her to see. It was a curious notion, that the bodyguard had more influence over her than she over them, and one that would stick with her for the rest of the day, but Josefine did her best to focus on the now and her colleague. "They're always open to you, as is the palace, should you ever need it." Though it was a bit beyond simply inviting someone over to one's house, wasn't it? This wasn't a two bedroom house or some flat downtown, it was a hallmark of imperial gothic architecture, the building that many considered the supreme seat of authority for an interstellar superpower.
As for exotic plants? Well, the rumors weren't entirely false, though they were limited largely by the soil and the atmosphere here on Tannhäuser. A great many species had been preserved, in small numbers here, from a myriad of worlds now under Imperial rule - both from planets simply colonized, and many that were conquered. Josef had his museums and his artifacts and she had her garden, an extensive display of plants both decorative and practical, stretching for the length of the gap between the Adlerhorst's wings, the palace's layout not unlike an angular horseshoe. "You don't mind, do you? My giving you the roses?" It was a gift meant more for Isabelle's mother than for her by and large, though it might bring her just as much pleasure to deliver such tidings from the Imperial House, considering what Josefine had gathered about her family life.
Perhaps a small bit of vindication for her choices in life.
"I... also apologize for Josef's interruption." She added quietly, having hoped that they could manage the whole meal without business or duty cropping up as anything more than dinner conversation. But such was the nature of the beast, a price paid for autocratic rule - their lives always came second to the well-being of the nation. "I am sure it was urgent," The Empress murmured, as much to convince herself as to explain to the lady Stier, "The Landwächter doesn't typically make a habit of concerning us with inane matters."
____
Isabelle's eyes widened at that invitation, and she was actually speechless for once as she nodded her acceptance. Overwhelmed with the magnitude of such favor, it was clear that she understood the value of having those doors opened for her, even though the young Stier couldn't find words to express it. So many people could abuse such a policy that it was an incredible honor to have the trust of the Kampfs to such a degree.
So the change of subject was very welcome indeed. Izzy gave a sly smile as she thought about how her mother would react when they arrived, able to see it clearly in her mind's eye. "The roses? Oh, no, they are beautiful, and mother will love them. All the more for knowing where they came from. I might have to write her a stern letter to remind her to actually use them for the intended purpose though. Otherwise, she might just tuck them away just as they are, only to be displayed on very formal occasions."
She brushed off the apology then, shaking her head at Josefine feeling the need. "As pleasant as a meal and conversation are, honor and duty are more valuable. That is what usually prompts such sudden departures. Only the very young do not understand that. It is just a little odd to have the impulse to pray to Kampf for the safety of such a one, when it is he that is running off."
Isabelle would gladly walk with Josefine into the gardens, closing her eyes and breathing in the scents for a long moment, distracted by the surroundings, as she admitted, "I'm sorry to say that I am not a very good Neo-Sarenist. I only pray when I am afraid for someone. Otherwise, I tend to assume that things are going as intended."
She didn't mention that meeting their deities had not improved her faith. If anything, the young noblewoman was more comfortable with her lack of belief. On the surface, she remained a loyal follower of their church, but the struggle in her heart was all but over.
____
The Empress returned the other's smile, "In whichever fashion she decides to use them, I hope they at least prove a boon to you, somehow or another." To impress the petty opinions of her family, or at least get them off of her back for some time. Isabelle should never have to feel harried or ashamed for her choice to pursue this line of work, it was just as vital to the nation as anything else she could have gone into, if not more so. The Austran woman moved to tuck her hands behind the small of her back as she strolled further into the gardens, ears still not quite accustomed to her quiet footfalls, far too used to the click of her uniform's riding boots. "It's such a small gift, I fear I feel a hint guilty." Two roses cut from her garden, though she supposed the weight of it being her garden might offset all of that.
Josefine reminded herself that they were for Isabelle's mother, and not for Isabelle, at least not directly.
She couldn't help the smile that crept to her face at the note of prayer, taking a moment to glance over to her cousin to show that she was amused by the thought. "I used to do that, when I was much younger but... well, I've caught on to what is or isn't pressing when it comes to the Landwächter. I didn't see a single armed escort, so I'd wager it was, hm." The Empress took a moment to think, reviewing the possibilities in her mind as he pace slowed for a few steps. "... a transmission, a communique of some sort, meant for him. Or for me." At that she shrugged, knowing that either of them could fill in for the other in a pinch, even if their areas of focus differed so broadly at times.
"Pray, Isabelle, whenever you feel it is necessary - it's not the best sort of thing to force, I've found." If she only prayed when someone was in danger in some form or another, if she felt the need to, then at the very least it was genuine, born from concern from her heart. "Prayer doesn't determine one's righteousness either, at least in my opinion, but I don't mean to delve into theology - we're rather lucky this came up away from Josef." Josefine offered that last thought with something of a grin, knowing that the Kaiser would likely make something of a sermon out of it all, though she'd found, in time, that he couldn't help it. The man that was buried under all the titles, responsibilities and the uniform had been striving as the leader for so long, he didn't know how to be anything else anymore.
"Besides, I enjoy that I can speak to you, Isabelle. It's rather refreshing to have an objective ear to voice my concerns to."
____
Isabelle laughed a bit and murmured, "Not sure how objective I might be. I mean, I'm still just an ordinary person. I have my own opinions and preconceptions." Then she gave Josefine's arm a gentle squeeze, supportive and undemanding as she added, "Now a friendly ear? That I can manage without reservations, and hope to receive the same from you. Especially since I am about to ask you too many questions, because these plants are incredible."
Out in the sunlight, Izzy was a study in shades of gold, from the antique shades of her brownish hair, to the pale cream of her blouse and metallic glint of her sweater. She'd gladly distract her hostess for hours on end with admiring the gardens and enjoying the pleasant day, if given leave to do so. Furthermore, if Josefine wanted to teach something more practical, like how to actually care for the greenery in question, she'd find a willing student in Izzy. The young noble had no fear of getting dirty after all.