...Alicia, meanwhile, has swept Ciara off to be her sounding board as she picks apart the plot of Roses of Villarosa for important events and useful macguffins.

...She is rather bemused by this.

"You think better, as a rule, when you can have a conversation - or think you are.  And I realize you have duties that need attending to, but you should know most of this stuff if we're going to act upon it.  So.  I'm asking you for thinking help."

"Then I have something you ought to think about: While you clearly share intimate knowledge of the royal family's internal dynamics with Her Highness, not even a prophetic vision would enable the sort of personal development Princess Alicia Thorn Vaudelle has exhibited today to occur so instantaneously.  And you should know that I've made arrangements --"

-- Alicia can't quite stifle the giggle that Ciara Beraen's memetic preparedness, and its catchphrase, evokes when placed in such juxtaposition to the rest of everything - and then she cannot stop herself from apologizing, because that's really inappropriate.  "Oh, gods, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, it's just, I - you always will have - 's why - please don't hurt me I really do want to help - and the demon lord's real, sorry about that -"

...Okay.  So the Princess has been replaced by...someone who believes she has enough responsibility to apologize for a demon lord existing.

Or had some sort of Voidfucked mental break, but that's just...so implausible to consider as a cause of this.  It's not ever this nice.  (Mostly, she suspects, because nobody thinks of it.  She doesn't touch it herself, but there's some theory books in the castle's library, and somebody has to dust them.)

"...I hardly intended to hurt you, unless you posed a threat to the kingdom of Villarosa.  I think that's mostly proven false beyond my ability to reasonably doubt."

"...Well.  ...That's...good?  I don't understand how you came to that conclusion.  Especially because - I just claimed the demon lord was my fault and that's not even a lie.  From some points of view.  I mean I didn't literally put him here.  But I made choices that led to this and I just don't get how you're not --"  She trails off, gesturing frustratedly.

"But I guess I'll believe you."

"And when you had the chance, you immediately proceeded to take action to avert the thing you knew would otherwise happen, trying to maximize your chances of success even at significant perceived personal risk - putting yourself in a quiet room with me, despite the fact that you know I have the capability to hurt you, for example.  That, and you showed consideration for Rill, even when you were barely awake.  No matter how she was rather confused by it, it speaks well of your character."

"And I get credit for trying to solve a problem I am in part responsible for in the first place?"

"Yes."

"But it was my choice to have the demon lords exist in the first place!"

...This is certainly a claim.  "...They happen naturally, for values of naturally that permit the inclusion of heavy chaotic mutation."

"And I designed the metaphysics permitting that!  Because some fucker wanted me to have a romance plotline and I'm no romantic and the heroine of it all wanted to save the world and have a grand adventure and all that and I let her endanger - collaborated with her and also the fucking random omnipotent being -" she spits, like she wants to use much harsher language, "on endangering all of us and you should be upset with me!"

"...No, I don't think I should.  You're doing more than enough for the both of us, and you're fixing it.  You will be fixing it, as soon as you calm yourself enough to lay out what you know.  Now.  Take a deep breath, calm your mind, and let's do what we came here for instead of self-recriminating, how does that sound?"

She's sure the Queen would disapprove of every single word she just said, but frankly, this is her child now, and if the Queen wants her back, she'll have to notice that something's wrong and actually try to fix it instead of papering over the façade of normalcy with appeals to decorum.  She gives the first step a coin-toss's odds, and the latter - less than a hundredths-breadth.

...She's just going to sniffle for a bit.

There is a handkerchief available.  She made arrangements for this, just in case they proved necessary, and she is glad she did - for she'll be using them, to dry Alicia's tears before they can get on her pretty blue dress.

"...Why," sniffle, "are you being so kind to me?  The Princess - she was so -" she sucks in a breath, with effort, her face veiled behind the handkerchief's cloth "- mean - and surely that's - I wasn't here by choice but I'm not here by chance - this was designed and surely I could have --"

"-- no.  Hush.  You are not responsible for the Princess's prior actions.  You did not undertake them, and it seems to me that your ability to even shape them was circumscribed by a power higher than yourself.  You are not to blame for that power's actions."

"B --"

"No.  Not even in whatever situation you're dreaming up."

"...okay."

It takes an effort, both mental and physical, to straighten herself out and get ready for what is to come.  But she can make it.  Will make it.  She's not going to disappoint Ciara, not after this.  Not with all this belief behind her.

"Let's get to plotting, shall we?"

King Ambrose still hasn't had a chance to more than glance at Handling Foretellings by when it's time to meet Alicia.  But he doesn't want to put off this conversation any longer.

He nods to her as she comes in.  "I'm sure you've got a long story.  Where do you think we should start?"

"...Practical matters: There are certain items we both can and should secure for the kingdom's sake, and others that should be destroyed if at all possible.  K'xabriguthak's soul jar comes to mind."

She has some helpful documents prepared to detail these things!

"I've also taken the liberty of assuming that future thaumatology is of interest to the kingdom; unfortunately the details I can recall are more sparse than I'd like, but there were a few items shown in sufficient detail that I believe they're replicable.  A couple novel sigils, as well.

"And then there is the matter of people.  I've written down everyone I could recall as a member of the Academy, everyone I know or suspect was involved with the summoning plot - and whyso - plotted them along the timeline of events.

"Ciara was very helpful preparing this, by the way, despite this not really being in her job description."