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Smiles are a gift. To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting such a gift that day. I was prepared to go to the conference, listen to a few less-than-interesting lectures and then go home to my own work and concerns. The first smile came when he addressed the assembly about poisons. I confess, I was amused since this was my area of expertise and I was thoroughly prepared to heckle in the fashion that scholars sometimes do with each other. You pose a question that you know the lecturer has no clue about and end up making them look like a complete buffoon. With this lecturer, however, I was pleasantly surprised that I was not given that opportunity. He knew exactly what he was talking about. His manner was thorough yet engaging and I could not resist the urge to seek him out after the conference. I waited patiently till most of the other attendees had gone when I could have a moment to speak with him, as one scientist to another.
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Is it possible for someone with a dark and ruthless reputation to actually have a heart? Beneath the hardness of heart there lies a not so easily exposed place where only the most tenacious and patient can gain access to it.

I understood him.

I did because I was intrigued by how a man of such ill reputation could so easily traverse the corridors of nobility. He was not always twisted and cruel. He was born to privilege, raised a Count, and yet he had a gentle heart that was generous and loving. His mother and sister knew of these virtues all of their lives, and I know in that in his darkest years he was ever-glad that neither of them had lived to see what he would become. I know that it was because of his gentleness, because of that soft and vulnerable place inside of him being crushed, that he became what he was.
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Both mun and muse would like to thank the most generous and anonymous Livejournal Faery who has gifted Fanny with two extra months and icons of extra time on her journal. Whomever you are, you are so very wonderful! Thank you! 🙂

To my Dear Friend:

I realize that this letter may be quite unexpected. I am clearly not someone who writes fan letters to anyone.

The only other time I was tempted to do something similar was to write a letter to Empress Wu Chao of the Tang Dynasty. After all, she was born one of the worlds most treacherous Courts outside of the Realm of the Fae, rising from being a fifth tier concubine of one Emperor to later becoming Empress over the entire Empire itself. She was so ambitious, so determined to rise above her rivals and to sweep away all opposition that she smothered her own infant in order to accuse the Empress and supplant her. No doubt others were swept away by various means until she in the end became one of the greatest rulers in all of China’s history. She understood the law of Power that that sometimes one must destroy one’s enemies utterly if one wants to succeed.

But then I realized that there was someone nearer to me; someone who has been a friend to me for aeons, who was just as ruthless as Wu Chao, if not even more so. I am certain that you will think that I want something of you when I say that of all of those whom I have known in these four hundred odd years, you alone understood the Laws of Power as I have come to know them. Your motto, “Power, Profit, Pleasure in that order, ” certainly that very adage that you have oft quoted over those years must have had some influence upon my own motto, “All is fair in the pursuit of Power.” Whenever I have had need of advice, you have always given it to me unreservedly. I know that is something that you certainly would not want many to know about! Your secret will always be safe with me on that score!

In short, Hsu, much of what I learned about ruling I probably inadvertently picked up from you without realizing it. Indeed, your ruthlessness helped shore up my own. And whenever I have not been able to contact you, I have often asked myself, “What would Hsu do?” (WWHD) Nine times out of ten the problem is solved with beheading, evisceration or bankrupting an enemy. I cannot tell you how often, especially during various times of trouble that such a thought has come in quite handy! It definitely has saved my skin more than once!

I will close by saying that any knowledge of this letter both you and I can certainly disavow if you prefer. I know how you feel about such things. And if anyone were to ask me – I would insist that you were an insufferable, arrogant ass. But then I would quickly add, an insufferable, arrogant ass to whom I am quite proud to call my friend.

Sincerely,

Fanny

Muse: Fanny Fae / Faelyn
Fandom: Original Character/ Folklore / Mythology
Word Count: 476
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