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Post by Katty on May 12, 2009 23:08:59 GMT 10
Title: A Little Light Espionage Rating: G Words: 200 Category: up to 250 words Prompt: Villain / Switch Summary: She does some spying, on the side. Written for the Goldenlake Drabble Tournament. Dedicated to Rosie. - - -
She’d been planning this carefully. She had to, to make sure she’d get away with it. Her employers would be most displeased if they lost their top Tortallan agent. His death had to be public, but not messy. Quick enough that they couldn’t save him. And painless, so he didn’t make any noise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Myles of Olau take a large gulp of his wine. He’d barely swallowed it before he slumped in his chair, gasping for breath. It took all her training to keep her eyes averted; it would do her no good for anyone to realise she was watching. A moment later, she was rewarded for her patience. “Myles. Myles.” His wife leaned over to shake him. She had been a healer, perhaps she recognised the signs straight away. Indeed, she shouted for help. “He’s been poisoned!” Instantly, the room was in an uproar. Noblemen threw their food and wine onto their tables. Guards sprung from their posts, blocking the exits. Healers ran forward to help. Gary stood up from his chair, violently dragging her away from the table with him. “Gods, Cythera, do you think he’s going to be alright?”
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Post by Rosie on May 12, 2009 23:14:06 GMT 10
No, Gary, I don't think he will be Love it - one of those drabbles that has me after more.
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rubberduck
Queen's Rider
Likes Uline... nom nom nom nom
Posts: 546
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Post by rubberduck on May 12, 2009 23:14:47 GMT 10
=O!!! Cythera!! I like Myles Now you must tell me whyyyyy, KAT! WHY?!
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Post by ubiquitous on May 12, 2009 23:18:08 GMT 10
I love this. ♥
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Post by Katty on May 12, 2009 23:53:37 GMT 10
Thanks for your reviews. Rosie: Poor Gary, so innocent Kirsty: Since when do I need a reason? I'm just messed up! Isha: Thanks ♥
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Imogen
Probationer Page
Posts: 100
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Post by Imogen on May 13, 2009 3:29:17 GMT 10
The first paragraph makes it sound like intra-office politics for the Tortallan CIA, which is really fun (sorry, Myles!). Cythera as a badass secret agent is also really fun, especially as she's characterized all the time as blonde, proper, demure.
I like how you worked in Eleni's job, and I especially liked the paragraph about the reactions of everyone in the room-- the nobles throwing their food and wine on the table, etc. The details made it realistic.
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Minuit
Knight
Helping George out of the Closet
*splat*
Posts: 2,011
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Post by Minuit on May 13, 2009 10:26:05 GMT 10
OMG! You are both brilliant and evil! I love you and hate you! Poor Myles.
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Post by Katty on May 13, 2009 11:38:01 GMT 10
Imo: Thanks I agree, Cythera makes an awesome agent - between her husband and her proximity to Thayet, she's a goldmine of confidential information! Minuit: Teehee, thanks ♥
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anilaurel
Queen's Rider
Posts: 505
Gender: Other
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Post by anilaurel on May 13, 2009 12:12:35 GMT 10
*points finger* EVIL, but wonderfully written. You always manage to twist unsung characters believably. Again though EVIL
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Post by Katty on May 17, 2009 21:20:48 GMT 10
Thanks
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rainstormamaya
Soldier
Helps Kat get her Conte fix
~best known as May~
Posts: 752
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Post by rainstormamaya on May 17, 2009 23:48:02 GMT 10
Oh, God, Kat. Perfectly nice normal character and you go and make her terrifying! *hides*
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Fox
Message Runner
Posts: 42
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Post by Fox on May 18, 2009 0:44:13 GMT 10
Oh no, Myles!!! Putting my horror aside, this is really good - very clever. I like how cold and practical you've made Cythera and the huge contrast between that and Gary, in just that one line of his at the end. Like Imogen said, the detailed reactions made it very real, but it was Gary's (so instinctive and raw) plus the open ending that made it for me. (It's left me wondering who Cythera's "employers" are, and how long she's been in their employment.)
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Post by Lisa on May 18, 2009 1:10:06 GMT 10
I like this - it's so out of left field. ;D And I have to give kudos to Cythera and her employers, keeping her so close to the crown for so long!!
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Post by Katty on May 18, 2009 13:29:21 GMT 10
Haha Did you expect much else from me? And thanks Fox I felt kind of bad killing off Myles, but he made more sense than the alternative character I had in mind. And thanks Lisa. Cythera would be the ultimate spy, she would be able to get her hands on SO much information
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Post by Lisa on May 19, 2009 10:01:24 GMT 10
Oh, she would! I just wouldn't think she could keep it up for so long without getting caught. ;D
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Post by boosette on May 20, 2009 2:01:41 GMT 10
I really, really, really want to like this and by all rights it should be pushing all of my drabble buttons (every single word is pulling triple-duty, ♥) and yet ... . I disagree so vehemently with this characterization of Cythera that I just ... can't. And that makes me sad.
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Post by Lisa on May 20, 2009 8:25:30 GMT 10
Well, the prompt is switch, so a shifting of characterization from someone who is predominantly described outside of canon as "sweet" to a cunning and ruthless spy is an interesting and justifiable kind of switch.
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Post by boosette on May 20, 2009 12:04:24 GMT 10
I have a really, really hard time buying such a major characterization switch in such a short piece; it's certainly interesting, though I feel it would have been better served by a longer piece - more room for the doing of homework, as it were.
(It looks like the smack you in the face twist ending is one of Kat's favorite rhetorical devices if the sample of her work I've read, and here it definitely reads as a rhetorical device to me.)
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Post by Rosie on May 21, 2009 22:44:54 GMT 10
Is it really a "major characterisation switch", though? We barely see anything of Cythera in canon. I think there's room for an interpretation of the quasi-canon "sweetness" as a front, and that's why I find this fic so delightful. If it had been a character like Thayet, I'd probably have similar objections to you.
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Post by heatherneather on Jun 1, 2009 11:58:54 GMT 10
I like the attention to details- Eleni the healer, the nobles- and the fact that the spy is Cythera, of all people. But why Myles? Whyyyyyyyy!!!?
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Post by zbilja on Jul 20, 2009 0:08:45 GMT 10
Congrats on winning.
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