It was probably only correct that Juniper wasn't getting updates on the army any more.
While before she'd only had to be ready to receive magical messages at the right point in the day, now that would have required her to be back through the portal, in the Midnight Fane – a place which actually felt marginally worse than the Nexus, now, since the Nexus had a consecrated altar and the Fane's major metaphysical connection was to the Abyss – and she was no longer part of the chain of command anyway.
Nevertheless, Juniper was… worried. Not in a big, expansive way, but in little ways.
Ways which she couldn't really resolve.
"You seem troubled, friend," Camellia said, and Juniper glanced up.
"I am, but that's nothing new," she replied. "What brings you over here?"
Camellia shrugged, delicately. "I noticed you were looking at your book in that way that means you're not actually reading it," she said. "So I thought I'd come over and ask. It's the friendly thing to do."
Juniper nodded, slightly, and closed the book.
"Anxieties about things I can't fix," she replied. "It's a surprisingly unfamiliar feeling… I've spent long enough in command of an army that not having it any more feels strange."
She looked out into the eternal night of Nocticula's corner of the Abyss.
"What about you?" she asked. "I don't think I've asked how you're handling it, yet. I really need to make time to check on everyone, but you're the one who's here."
Camellia frowned, minutely.
"I'd prefer that we were dealing with the higher parts of the city," she said. "The parts where they actually have some class, that is… demons have terrible manners, but they can at least try to put them aside. The Lower City is… dreadfully unpleasant."
"The only difference between that and the poor districts of any other city is that demons take it to extremes," Juniper said. "Which is a problem by itself, of course… but I suspect you'd have problems if we were obliged to work in the poor quarters of a mortal city as well."
"And why shouldn't I?" Camellia asked. "You're making it sound like some sort of character failing – but when everyone who lives in these places would like nothing more than to leave as soon as possible, what's wrong if I have the same reaction?"
Juniper nodded, conceding the point.
"Perhaps that's so," she said. "Though even then… I'm not sure but I think you might sometimes forget about how your father came into the Gwerm title."
Camellia's eyes flashed slightly, then she frowned.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, my friend," she said.
"Isn't it clear?" Juniper asked. "Your father wasn't born into the position of Horgus Gwerm, but gained it through a fortunate coincidence – at least, fortunate in terms of how it influenced his social position. If anything would act as a reminder that nobles aren't inherently superior through some inborn quality, it would be that."
The half-elf shook her head, with a slight smile.
"You must be assuming something about me that isn't true," she said. "Isn't it simply apparent that there are some people who are better than others? And that they tend to make their way into the nobility, if they aren't there to begin with?"
She indicated Juniper. "Look at yourself, for an example… don't you think?"
"There's some filtering effect, but I'm not sure how strong it is," Juniper noted. "It may well be overwhelmed by environmental factors in the case of those who don't do those actions themselves – you may as well say that the rule is that capable people tend to be able to devote more care and effort to raising their children… on average."
"And in my case, I was certainly given a better education than most," Camellia said. "So I think I'm quite justified in assuming that most people I meet are my inferiors… that's certainly been my experience. And while I wouldn't say that everyone of high social standing has been better than everyone of lower standing, it's so often the case that it saves time to assume."
Juniper thought about the many lives she'd experienced, and how few of them were accounted as nobles, and didn't say anything.
"Besides!" Camellia went on. "You'd think that these people could put in a little effort to look better and learn some manners. It's not like it's hard."
"It's not hard – assuming that you don't have anything else to spend the effort on, and you have a teacher," Juniper corrected slightly. "It's certainly the case that for a noble to avoid those courtesies, they must either not care or be doing so deliberately, but that's precisely because they have every opportunity for it."
She shook her head. "I know, it's a complicated topic – and one that's never easy to resolve."
Camellia looked like she was thinking about something in great detail.
"We'll have to agree to disagree, then," she said. "Rather than let this argument destroy our friendship."
Her expression changed slightly. "Do you think we'll need to get involved in demon politics?"
"It's probably unavoidable," Juniper said. "We are, after all, seeking assistance from the leadership of Alushinyrra – and hoping to do so by highlighting the negative actions of Baphomet and Deskari. Which means we're making a play in demon politics – and it's something we certainly need to be aware of."
She frowned, tapping her paw on the hilt of Radiance. "And in those situations, I dare say that etiquette… may or may not help."
"How very clear," Camellia murmured.
"More or less, yes," Juniper concurred. "In the absence of information about how a given demon noble is going to react to what we do or say, I think the best approach is probably courtesy – but without any hint of submission to the demon individually. Otherwise they'll just assume we must be inferior – and, as I'm sure you know full well, that's a harder line to walk than it might seem."
"Quite," Camellia said, looking into the distance. "So many of those little courteous gestures come from ways to profess your own harmlessness."
She touched the hilt of her rapier. "And, as I think you'll agree… so many of them are lies."
"That's a lot of what courtesy is, I think," Juniper suggested. "Little lies, to simplify things. To avoid hurting people. But – it's too easy to conflate the two. To assume that someone who isn't doing those little lies is being deliberately hurtful, rather than simply not doing the little lies."
"What an interesting way to think of it," Camellia said, her tone interested. "Little lies, bigger lies… does that mean that a friend is someone where you tell more lies, or fewer?"
"Different kinds of lies," Juniper suggested. "The ones that make someone feel better, and the ones that make sure they know what to do – not the ones that make someone feel worse, or conceal things that they should know."
It was an interesting topic… and it meant her attention had been taken off the worry of how the army was doing.
Thinking about that brought it right back, of course, but from a different direction, and Juniper chuckled.
"I wonder how the Queen is doing with the army's support structure?" she asked. "So many of the problems I ran into were because the Mendevian nobility weren't quite willing to support the Crusade in certain ways… I suspect Queen Galfrey won't have the same problems. But she might have novel and different ones."
"We could ask Count Arendae?" Camellia suggested. "I'm sure he knows."
"I'm not," Juniper replied. "Being too close to someone can blind you to their flaws… or to their redeeming qualities, depending on your attitude. It can be both."
She shrugged. "But assessing someone from far away is liable to miss details as well. It takes… combining perspectives, I think. Though of course I'm quite sure that I'm right about everything."
"You are?" Camellia said.
"Well, I don't think I think anything wrong," Juniper replied, quite casually. "So of course I'm right."
Camellia chuckled.
"Very amusing," she said. "Though I fear I should take my leave… I have some exercises to do."
Juniper watched her go, then stood up herself.
There was something she should check on.
"What brings you my way, Commander?" Greybor asked, interested.
"Two things, really," Juniper replied. "The first is – well, I should probably do them in this order. I know that when we discussed your contract, at first, there was a general assumption that it would be on Golarion, even if that wasn't explicitly stated."
Greybor looked up at her, then extinguished his pipe.
"I can see this is going to be a serious contracting conversation," he said. "You're right – there was an assumption that it would be on Golarion, but it never made it into the contract. I never thought we'd end up somewhere like here."
The dwarf frowned. "It's my mistake, I'd say."
"Perhaps that's so," Juniper replied. "But I thought I'd ask you – if we'd negotiated then and it had included the possibility of going to another plane, would you have asked a higher price?"
Greybor examined her expression.
"Interesting negotiating tactic," he said. "You're asking me how much more I want to be paid?"
"I'm asking how much more you would have asked to be paid, if you didn't know going to another plane was a possibility," Juniper explained. "But if it had come up in the discussion."
"I think I see," Greybor decided. "And I think… I'd probably have upped my price by about twenty percent. To allow for the possibility… with no option of refunds if the clause wasn't included, of course. Or, alternatively, there would have been an escalator clause. A higher separate price for extraplanar operations specifically."
"Twenty percent sounds quite reasonable to me," Juniper said. "What do you say… we treat it as if our agreement included those terms, and retroactively?"
"I'd say you really don't understand negotiating," Greybor answered. "I'd also say yes, mind."
"Excellent," Juniper declared. "And – you may see this as generosity, Greybor, and perhaps it is. But I'd rather be generous than leave you resentful."
She began counting out high-value gemstones, accounting for the starting value of the contract and the extra days since then.
"As for the other matter…" she went on, as she counted. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to bodyguard someone, if they plan to go into Alushinyrra on their own."
She winked. "And yes, I do mean bodyguard – not keep tabs on what they're doing. If it's critically important I would like to know, but that's incidental, and keeping the person safe is the priority."
"Might be an opportunity to stretch my legs," Greybor decided. "And I can certainly put in the extra work to keep such a generous client happy."
He chuckled, accepting the small pile of rubies. "Pleasure doing business with you, Commander. And I mean that sincerely."
