13-09-2019, 07:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 13-09-2019, 07:44 AM by Ramesh_Rocky. Edited 1 time in total. Edited 1 time in total.)
"And Grandpapa Count's soul is in Heaven. Probably playing poker and sharing his ideas to make the world a better place with my papa, Jesus and Martin Luther King. Because if there is anyone whom I truly believe is in Heaven right now, it is he and my parents!"
He took a drag to calm down before continuing.
"And I know for a fact that he is keeping his eye on San Finzione and yourself all the while. Would he want EITHER of us sending the Army into Little Uongo to break down doors and search room-to-room for Dietz? Into the homes of people who fled Kiburi and the warlords to San Finzione! Because YOU promised them that THEY would find a new life HERE where they NO LONGER had to live in fear of exactly THIS!"
He stood, leaned against the credenza, and calmed down again. Ramirez then stood at attention before gesturing to the stars on his shoulders.
"YOU gave me these; because you trusted that I would not carry out an immoral order. Is the woman who pinned them on me one more threat to a loved one away from giving me such an order herself? Will she 'make it a command?'"
"Never!" Helen answered as Ramirez sat back down and took a drag of his own. "Because I respect you and still beat myself up for not thinking to exclude YOU during the Morgan thing!"
"It is the sort of thing you are heading toward." He replied.
"Sometimes, even ruling this place involves difficult choices." She leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk, taking a puff. "I know I can't just go after him myself; I had that conversation with Troy yesterday."
"Si. And right now, everyone except Lady Maria whom you think of as loved ones are safely on the other side of the world. Colleen is a phone call away, but I know you will not call her because you fear putting her in danger of the kind that we both recognize Lady Maria must be prepared to handle. As she did today, and La Contessa must deal with every day. So, you called Mander instead; whose job title may as well be 'Royal Assassin.' And HE is now sitting in the War Room, occupying the seat that was originally for someone I respect even less than him!"
"Mander's more of an all-purpose criminal. When I say, 'don't kill anybody who doesn't deserve it,' Mander gets what I mean. He works for pay, but I get that he also cares. I can GET us plain-old assassins, but we've got the Ultimados, so it seems redundant!"
"Si. This is why I did not object to Mander's presence at the meeting. I've worked with her long enough to know that La Contessa needed someone she regards as 'a fellow criminal' for comfort in the room. I objected to your plan to invite Don Nessuno! I'm sure he would have been HAPPY to loan YOU a few hitmen just to settle a few markers! You wanted to invite the Mafia to the War Room!"
"I have the same understanding with the Nessuno Family that Vincenzo did!" Helen raised her voice to him for the first time. "Mine's a little better because of The Thing; but with the same lack of trust, and recognition of a useful ally to call upon in times like this. Vincenzo understood that creating a Paradise on Earth means that you need to sometimes, if not deal, then have an arrangement with The Devil!"
"Si. He did. He understood a lot of things. I know. Has it not occurred to you that some of us who were born here, lived our lives under his rule, have memories of him too?"
"Oh, I'm reminded multiple times a day!"
"I'm not talking about things like that. I'm talking about the day I met him personally, years before he brought you home. La Contessa knew him like no other for the last two-and-a-half years of his life. And you met him in another country. He spoke to my graduation class, when I made it into El Squadra de Ultimados."
Helen calmed down at that.
"What happened? What did he say?" Helen asked.
Ramirez stood up and walked over to the coffee pot that had now finished heating the water.
"Call a page." He told her. "Call for your robes of office. Have them bring the tiara and scepter up from the Vault as well."
"Hernando, if you're doing this to make some kind of point..."
He cut her off. Which he hadn't done before. Helen looked at him quizzically.
"Si." He got a second cup out and started scooping cocoa into the cups before adding the water. "And my point is that MY personal story of meeting Count Vincenzo Ramon de San Finzione the First is not one I see fit to tell the person whom you currently believe yourself. It is not a story to be told to 'a criminal!' It should be told to his wife. The mother of Vincenzo the Second, one of my godsons; and the woman to whom he entrusted his country: Contessa Helena de San Finzione. I know that there is only one living man who has complete liberty to speak to you however he wishes. He is not here; I am not him. Therefore, I will tell this story only to my Contessa. The woman he found worthy of marrying after losing his first wife and mourning her for decades. After losing his children and grandchildren. After some of us spent our entire lives watching him put on a kind, brave face for The People! Until THAT woman came along! So, she is the one who to whom I will the tale."
"I could command you to tell me. I could order you to do it."
"Si. We both know that you won't."
Helen let that hang in the air a moment. She thought about how when Vincenzo really first saw her, she'd been dressed to go prowl clubs and find people worth fucking with Julie. She'd then gotten in an ugly fight with Julie that put any such thoughts on hold for the next few years, so she wasn't entirely looking her best the second time. She considered making a joke reminding Ramirez that he was a married man.
She decided against it. She picked up the phone to call for her robes and the Crown Jewels. They smoked while Nunzio fetched everything.
La Contessa changed into her robes behind a screen kept in the office for this purpose.
Helena's emerald-green robes trailed behind her as she walked to the cart that Nunzio had brought up from the vault. He confirmed that the Generalissimo had gotten La Contessa's cocoa correct before leaving them again.
She picked up the tiara and gave Ramirez a "do I have to" look. His reply was to stir his cocoa in silence. Helena put the tiara on and returned to her desk. She picked up her cocoa and took a sip. La Contessa then picked up her golden scepter and waited for him to begin. After a sip of his own, Ramirez began to speak.
"As I said, it was the day I made it into El Squadra..."
He took a drag to calm down before continuing.
"And I know for a fact that he is keeping his eye on San Finzione and yourself all the while. Would he want EITHER of us sending the Army into Little Uongo to break down doors and search room-to-room for Dietz? Into the homes of people who fled Kiburi and the warlords to San Finzione! Because YOU promised them that THEY would find a new life HERE where they NO LONGER had to live in fear of exactly THIS!"
He stood, leaned against the credenza, and calmed down again. Ramirez then stood at attention before gesturing to the stars on his shoulders.
"YOU gave me these; because you trusted that I would not carry out an immoral order. Is the woman who pinned them on me one more threat to a loved one away from giving me such an order herself? Will she 'make it a command?'"
"Never!" Helen answered as Ramirez sat back down and took a drag of his own. "Because I respect you and still beat myself up for not thinking to exclude YOU during the Morgan thing!"
"It is the sort of thing you are heading toward." He replied.
"Sometimes, even ruling this place involves difficult choices." She leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk, taking a puff. "I know I can't just go after him myself; I had that conversation with Troy yesterday."
"Si. And right now, everyone except Lady Maria whom you think of as loved ones are safely on the other side of the world. Colleen is a phone call away, but I know you will not call her because you fear putting her in danger of the kind that we both recognize Lady Maria must be prepared to handle. As she did today, and La Contessa must deal with every day. So, you called Mander instead; whose job title may as well be 'Royal Assassin.' And HE is now sitting in the War Room, occupying the seat that was originally for someone I respect even less than him!"
"Mander's more of an all-purpose criminal. When I say, 'don't kill anybody who doesn't deserve it,' Mander gets what I mean. He works for pay, but I get that he also cares. I can GET us plain-old assassins, but we've got the Ultimados, so it seems redundant!"
"Si. This is why I did not object to Mander's presence at the meeting. I've worked with her long enough to know that La Contessa needed someone she regards as 'a fellow criminal' for comfort in the room. I objected to your plan to invite Don Nessuno! I'm sure he would have been HAPPY to loan YOU a few hitmen just to settle a few markers! You wanted to invite the Mafia to the War Room!"
"I have the same understanding with the Nessuno Family that Vincenzo did!" Helen raised her voice to him for the first time. "Mine's a little better because of The Thing; but with the same lack of trust, and recognition of a useful ally to call upon in times like this. Vincenzo understood that creating a Paradise on Earth means that you need to sometimes, if not deal, then have an arrangement with The Devil!"
"Si. He did. He understood a lot of things. I know. Has it not occurred to you that some of us who were born here, lived our lives under his rule, have memories of him too?"
"Oh, I'm reminded multiple times a day!"
"I'm not talking about things like that. I'm talking about the day I met him personally, years before he brought you home. La Contessa knew him like no other for the last two-and-a-half years of his life. And you met him in another country. He spoke to my graduation class, when I made it into El Squadra de Ultimados."
Helen calmed down at that.
"What happened? What did he say?" Helen asked.
Ramirez stood up and walked over to the coffee pot that had now finished heating the water.
"Call a page." He told her. "Call for your robes of office. Have them bring the tiara and scepter up from the Vault as well."
"Hernando, if you're doing this to make some kind of point..."
He cut her off. Which he hadn't done before. Helen looked at him quizzically.
"Si." He got a second cup out and started scooping cocoa into the cups before adding the water. "And my point is that MY personal story of meeting Count Vincenzo Ramon de San Finzione the First is not one I see fit to tell the person whom you currently believe yourself. It is not a story to be told to 'a criminal!' It should be told to his wife. The mother of Vincenzo the Second, one of my godsons; and the woman to whom he entrusted his country: Contessa Helena de San Finzione. I know that there is only one living man who has complete liberty to speak to you however he wishes. He is not here; I am not him. Therefore, I will tell this story only to my Contessa. The woman he found worthy of marrying after losing his first wife and mourning her for decades. After losing his children and grandchildren. After some of us spent our entire lives watching him put on a kind, brave face for The People! Until THAT woman came along! So, she is the one who to whom I will the tale."
"I could command you to tell me. I could order you to do it."
"Si. We both know that you won't."
Helen let that hang in the air a moment. She thought about how when Vincenzo really first saw her, she'd been dressed to go prowl clubs and find people worth fucking with Julie. She'd then gotten in an ugly fight with Julie that put any such thoughts on hold for the next few years, so she wasn't entirely looking her best the second time. She considered making a joke reminding Ramirez that he was a married man.
She decided against it. She picked up the phone to call for her robes and the Crown Jewels. They smoked while Nunzio fetched everything.
La Contessa changed into her robes behind a screen kept in the office for this purpose.
Helena's emerald-green robes trailed behind her as she walked to the cart that Nunzio had brought up from the vault. He confirmed that the Generalissimo had gotten La Contessa's cocoa correct before leaving them again.
She picked up the tiara and gave Ramirez a "do I have to" look. His reply was to stir his cocoa in silence. Helena put the tiara on and returned to her desk. She picked up her cocoa and took a sip. La Contessa then picked up her golden scepter and waited for him to begin. After a sip of his own, Ramirez began to speak.
"As I said, it was the day I made it into El Squadra..."
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