𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁

“that book hasn’t contained anything of interest to anyone that isn’t a scholar in over six hundred years, now please give it back. it’s priceless.”  elsie can’t imagine what the empire might want with a book like that, but she’s terrified of it being taken. she’s grown protective of her collection, most of it being inherited from her father. it’s all she has left of him. 

“thank you then, ma’am.”  there’s a warm, if soft, smile from the young professor at that. elsie’s heard a little of the president’s wedding and wife -- she doesn’t often keep up with current events. mind never stays long in the present century.  “i understand. but that’s also why i’m here. to point out that there are often connections between groups like these, and the antiquities trade. from my understanding, when people are... fanatical about things like they appear to be, they either want to crush the past in any way possible -- the destruction of ancient sites all across the world is proof enough of that -- or... they might believe some of the older, more... occult stories about objects they might find in the antiquities trade. it’s not all art collectors and dusty old books, ma’am. and even if that’s a tenuous link at best, i’d... regret not taking this opportunity to come here and speak about something i know is wrong.”

“i believe it is.”  it’s got to be a bold move for some professor, as remarkable as her accomplishments at her age might be and as well known in the academic community as her surname has become following the work of her father and uncle, to yank the rug out from under the president’s feet as it were. but this is something elsie’s passionate about. more so than almost anything, especially with her fiance risking his life for it.  “the illegal antiquities trade, ma’am. current legislation is doing next to nothing to stop it, and -- well, nobody’s keen to listen to a woman like me arguing for the protection of world cultural heritage, but these are desperate times.”

@politicalmom​.

“i know what he is.”  and she knows her loss doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. this war is still going to wage and she’s going to have to keep fighting it -- and she will. but she’s not going to give up on jared. every spare second she has will be devoted to finding him and getting him back home safely.  “if you can look me in the eyes and tell me that if i was the one missing, jared would let me go, if you can say that to me and mean it, i’ll admit he’s dead. otherwise, i’m carrying this to the hangar, and then i have work to do, and i don’t need to be treated like a widow who needs someone to make sure she’s sleeping and eating. i’m fine.”