[@Forsythe]

Innes didn't even wait to be accepted. The second she was inside, she started talking at a thousand miles a second

"It's not Temair. It was never Temair. She's the fall guy. There's something more to all this. And I know you're thinking 'Innes, how ever did you come to this conclusion?'. Well, I was in bed and I was thinking about it and I realised that Temair's actually a really nice girl. Properly nice. And when I saw you talking to your Mama, I thought 'That's the way Temair and Weyss speak to each other' and when Temair kissed me I was like 'woah, why did she do that?' and then I realised that Temair's all talk and no action. She mouths off to anyone who'll listen, but she won't [i]do[/i] anything. And I realised that she's not actually as powerful as everyone makes out she. She's like everyone else, just going along with it, but because she's Head Inquisitor, she has to be seen upholding church values, you know? So I'm thinking maybe there's someone else, someone who's really in charge, like a sort of cult within the church. And now I'm worried because that might mean that they'll try to overthrow Temair and Weyss and me."

"And then I thought about your face when I told you my story and you looked so angry, and now I'm thinking that maybe you don't like the Konjans and they're not all bad people! They're just doing what they think is right, but these other guys are manipulating them into doing bad things. And I'm scared cause now you're Admiral that you might say 'hang it all! these Konjans are nothing but trouble' and attack them and then the Church will be in ruins and then the Republic would fall apart because they don't have anyone to back them up, and it would be just like the old days. It's like..."

For a moment, Innes stopped, looking around for a suitable analogy. She settled on her Pyjama top.

"It's like my PJ's. When you've got them on, you're all warm and safe and snuggly. But if you take the buttons off - " to demonstrate, she undid the buttons, leaving the shirt hanging loosely over her like a cape -" and yeah, it still works, but there's no support so it just all falls off when you try to move. BUt if the shirt was off, but the buttons were on - "she took the shirt off entirely, then buttoned it back up "- then yeah, it's all nice and buttoned, but it won't help you cause it's not on and you feel like if it was on, you'd be all warm and safe, but since it's off, then you're out in the open, you know?"

"And you might be like 'yeah, but we can set up a new system if we get rid of the Konjans' but that won't work because then you'd have to be on the planet, or at least looking over it, and then yo might think 'what a waste of time! these people aren't worth helping' and leave and then we'd fall apart anyway, or worse, maybe someone will be like 'they're already part of us. We should just integrate them fully' and then we'd all be nothing but slaves and..."

Realisation lit Innes' face. She looked at Astra in absolute terror and shrank back, backing away from her.

"Unless that's your plan all along! You're going to take over Paardveid, aren't you? You know we can't fight back, so you'll use your new, fancy Admiral title to declare war on us! Is that why you brought me here? So you could see what having a Sinnsyk slave is like? Try before you buy, is that it? Well, let me tell you, missy, that it's not going to happen! I would rather die than live a slave! You think I'm going to run about, do this, do that, dance, monkey, dance, cleaning up your mess? No, not going to happen, no way no how!"

Innes had slowly backed herself into a corner. With nowhere else to go, she started curling up into a ball.

"I won't let you enslave my people! I can't! They might not be very nice people, but they deserve freedom, as much as your race does! If you think I'm going to lay back and let you take over, your dead wrong!" Innes sounded desperate, switching between anger and fear at a moment's notice. It was like she was afraid Astra would suddenly declare war on Paardveid right now and could have a battalion there in minutes

"I - I - I'd do anything to keep them safe. All of them. I'd sacrifice myself if I could. I..." she stopped short, swallowing her words, then continued in a low, defeated voice "If it means keeping the Republic safe, I'll do it. I'll be your slave. Anything you ask, just please, don't hurt them. I know you don't think much of me. I'm just a scrawny little girl with a pretty face. You'll probably laugh at me for offering something so pathetic. But I can change! I'll be anything you like! Just don't hurt Paardveid!"

It never crossed Innes' mind that maybe Astra didn't want to enslave her, or that maybe she wasn't quite capable of invasion. In her head, she was all that stood in the way of her Republic becoming a vassal-state of the Faira. She didn't break down in tears, or yell or cry, she just looked at Astra with a grim resolution on her face.

"Anything... except Pardveid."