#'indubitably Warden'

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

It's been over a month since I finished Nona the Ninth and I am still screaming crying foaming at the mouth over those two codependent idiots from the Sixth House. I will never be over them ever in my life.

Also my brother's name is Paul and I need y'all to know how badly that fucked with me

[acephodel]

Hi, just thinking about how Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus are in unambiguous romantic love with each other. 🥰🥰🥰 They kiss with tongue in the library and all the books watch and clap.

[crouchabout]

since cam and pal are childhood besties i'm pretty sure when she calls him "warden" it's with an undercurrent of showy emphasis bordering on teasing. i know if one of MY friends got a phd i would never stop following them around like

it is as you say,

DOCTOR

[chaos-has-theories]

Got someone to read GtN and they said Camilla has 0 personality... ripping tearing biting

[ancientrimer]

camilla hect. life is too short and love is too long. you agree. reblog

[hareblog]

Indubitably, warden!

Myself as Cam, @cafffine as the fantastic Pal.

[tiffanyachings]

“Fiat lux! If you want to talk improbable, let’s talk about this”—a scrape of stone on stone—“being three thousand and some years older than this.” A heavy clunk.

“Inexplicable, Warden.”

“Certainly not. Like everything else in this ridiculous conglomeration of cooling gas, it’s perfectly explicable, I just need to explic-it.”

“Indubitable, Warden.”

“Stop that. I need you listening, not racking your brain for rare negatives. Either this entire building was scavenged from a garbage hopper, or I am being systematically lied to on a molecular level.”

“Maybe the building’s shy.”

“That is just tough shit for the building.”

[just-a-quail]

nona has so much camilla and palamedes and the recording conversation is soo

"We are one flesh."

"I am your end."

"I hope you know that I adore you, Scholar."

"Indubitably, Warden."

[theriverbeyond]

I went to a ren faire with my wife yesterday, and i didn't do a costume. When we go next year, I wanna go as Paul, gonna get a bob haircut, grey cloak, gonna give myself a shitty beard cut (Paul gets that from pal.) The works, but i also wanna get a quote on a shirt that's super sixth, but can't think of one. Since you're one of my favorite tlt bloggers, I come to humbly ask you for favorite Sixth house quote.

omg i am SO honored you thought of me and also your Paul cosplay sounds co cool, super excited for you! Some of my thoughts re: 6th House phrases

Truth over solace in lies

Go loud

Indubitably, Warden

The Emperor's Reason

I'm drawing a blank on anything else that is specifically "6th" (vs a more individual Cam or Pal focused quote?) if anyone seeing this has ideas let's help anon out!

[celira]

4/5+1 (cw: violence against prisoners, neurological aftereffects of electric shock)

When the retaining wall around her composure finally caved in, it gave way like his skull must have – and she stared that thought head-on, now: explosively, irreversibly, inopportunely. 

Indubitably, Warden, she thought to herself, a negative made less rare in its repetition, and then again: Warden? at the little bag around her neck. 

He didn't reply. 

Truth over solace, but truth as a matter of belief in degrees – after long weeks of silence followed by long weeks of disbelief in confinement, she woke up the morning after her first conversation with We Suffer thinking: this is not the end. After the second: He would want to know more. After the third: We have work to do.

We was a thought that required dispensing with solace, as befitting her house, emerging from the remnants of her disassociation, and still it made her inwardly twitch. She chose belief like knowingly placing a hand to red-hot metal, less exposure therapy and more enduring overwhelming pain in hopes of a cauterization to follow. Did that hold up? She let herself, for the first time in many, many days, imagine what he might say: well, Cam, not your finest work, but an apt metaphor in some ways–

"Hect?"

She hadn't realized she'd frozen, head spinning with familiar neural pathways finally released from suspensed animation, trembling minutely but not so imperceptibly that it avoided the notice of Judith Deuteros, who she had been in the middle of examining – a routine review of her vitals, rote and familiar to her, which apparently had occupied only enough of her attention to let the rest of her brain go wandering through reconnecting wires willy-nilly.

The Captain's face, drawn with fatigue, still managed to convey bemusement with pinpoint clarity. "What happened?"

Before Camilla could collect herself, the door slammed open. Three masked figures streamed in, two unfamiliar and one wearing the mask used by We Suffer. Obscuring their facial expressions somehow did nothing to make hostility of the first two less evident.

The voice confirmed the mask. "Ah, we do not mean to interrupt you both,” said We Suffer in her careful, clipped House. “Camilla Hect, this topic of discussion only concerns you.”

“Anything you have to–” the Captain began, but Camilla stepped toward the three and cut her off, watching the two likely-guards tense further. “Yes?”

We Suffer said, “After conferring with other members of this wing, we have come to a slight impasse. Some of our officials find it difficult to assess your, ah, clarity of judgment.”

Camilla did not ask on what basis; she’d spent her first four weeks unresponsive to input. She thus still managed to be surprised when one of the other masked figures spoke out of turn, voice dripping with derision still discernable through a clumsy accent: “The Commander is a diplomat. In truth, we cannot trust the mind of a minion who yet carries wizard bones around her neck.” The person stepped forward and extended one hand. “A basic compromise. Hand them over. If you cannot do this simplest of tasks, we cannot work together.” “No,” said Camilla promptly.

“That tells us all we need to know,” said the other, who made the mistake of grabbing at Camilla’s neck. 

Even with slight rustiness, Camilla had a higher baseline of agility – and likely age – on her side; she dropped immediately into a deep side lunge and braced herself on her hands, sweeping out the extended leg into the person’s kneecaps. 

They buckled, and Camilla’s leg ignited. Reality went up in static briefly, and her muscles seized; she hit the floor next to the person, hard. Her would-be assailant reached for her again, and Camilla convulsed, shaking out the arm that was jerking less spasmodically and managing to swiftly shove her elbow back toward their face. She heard the crunch of cartilage and felt a moment of brief satisfaction before her leg went up in pain again.

And again. And again. Her vision went dark.

—

When Camilla woke to the walls of a medical bay, it took her a few moments to realize she was still in the same room – but now occupied the cot opposite Judith’s. One of them would likely be moved soon, she thought hazily, since shock recovery didn’t warrant the same level of long-term care. Probably. Maybe. When she attempted to flex her foot, her ankle screamed, searing fire up her right side; her vision briefly sparked and swam. She wondered what kind of nerve damage she might be experiencing. She started to wonder what else was wrong. She grabbed at her neck, and relaxed imperceptibly when her hand met rough, lumpy sack-cloth.

“They claimed you weren’t supposed to have lost consciousness,” said the Captain, apparently still awake. Camilla started, still clutching the bag. 

“Those three were all Blood of Eden officials,” she continued, gesturing at the door. “Whatever parlaying you thought to do with them clearly didn’t take, and you set yourself back by not giving up those bones. They left them with you because they seem to think that it’s better that you come willingly. It’s treason, Hect, no matter how you justify it.” So declaimed, the Captain’s hands dropped back to her chest limply, outburst exhausted.

Camilla didn’t feel called to justify it, but given the state of her leg and the so-called discussion that had landed her in this cot, it probably made sense to check her work. Judith Deuteros, she supposed, was as good a sounding board as any. Camilla tried to relax her fingers, gave up, and said:

“The commander – named We Suffer –” (“do we ever,” she thought the Captain may have muttered) “– has information about the Sixth House that should be impossible for her to know.”

“So they have spies you weren’t aware of. Unimpressive.”

“They can’t be active spies,” Camilla said, ignoring the roundabout slight. ”The references they make–” parts of the station long-dismantled, systems long-since updated, but in essence, still about the release mechanisms that no one outside of Oversight should know of – “are all…incredibly antique.”

“What kind of leverage does outdated and obsolete intel have over the Sixth, then? What utility could it have to you now?” The Captain’s weakened voice nonetheless managed to support a good deal of disapproval.

Camilla turned the allegations over in her head and back again and forth once more. Cassiopeia the First, founder of their House, the original Reason of the Emperor. What, she wished she could ask her, were you thinking? She returned her focus to diehard ranked Cohort officer Judith Deuteros and said instead, “The source they cite was themself a member of our House, a known and documented one – one involved in its earliest days.”

She heard the rustle of the Captain shaking her head slightly. “It would suit insurgents to claim that they can destabilize us from within, to have us believe they have been successful and canny for thousands of years.”

Fair enough, if you were the Captain. Camilla remained uncertain. Even if Blood of Eden were to have patched together an inexpert facsimile of information from fragments gathered over the years, hitting on something that sounded adequately convincing only through luck and her own wishful thinking, how could they have known about the break clause?

As if calling a recess over this quandary, the seizure decided to hit then. 

—

Camilla remained hospitalized. The stun cuff wasn’t, the medics reiterated, supposed to render her unconscious; given that it had, it had seemed likely that she would suffer additional neurological side effects. She supposed she could grant them an eighth of a point for correctly surmising this, and revoke it immediately for having caused the situation. “Supposed” implied a typical use, and however many times she’d been shocked certainly suggested a serving size above the daily norm.

Droll, as the Third might have said. Coping mechanisms, as the Warden might have said.

Warden, are you in there? she thought again. 

He still didn’t reply.

The thought didn’t rankle as much. Consecutive days in Judith Deuteros’s company, mentally mapping chess pieces to ceiling tiles and debating the merits of playing out Blood of Eden’s negotiation for information, resulted in her proverbially wiping the floor with the Captain in the former pursuit and wishing to physically wipe the floor with her after the latter. But it’d also aided her mental acuity as her neurons unscrambled, and further desensitized her to the brain zaps that had nothing to do with shock recovery and everything to do with one missing adept.

She vaguely recognized Judith’s engagement as inroads toward some kind of allyship, by necessity and by solidarity, even if it had taken being thoroughly incapacitated and unable to leave the same craft – or same room – for extended periods of time to engender it. 

It was nearing the end of a full week in the same ward when the Captain said to this effect, abruptly, “Hect. However you choose to act – remember we remain behind enemy lines. Whatever perspective I have as a Cohort officer who has seen active duty is at your disposal. Please avail yourself of it –”

Camilla just as abruptly realized that this – all of this – was what Judith Deuteros attempting to be helpful while still incapacitated looked like, and she thawed a fraction.

The next words out of her mouth iced that back over. “– before you compromise your values as a House dignitary, for the memory of a man who himself died in service of the Houses.”

The Warden would want to find out, Camilla had told her earlier, and that was a misjudgment.

“The Warden would dispute that characterization,” Camilla said levelly, and those were her final words until she was discharged.

[lady-harrowhark]

I started relistening to tlt yesterday and something I love about Camilla's introduction with all the "indubitably, warden" is that on my first read I was like "christ what a sycophant" and now on my third read I'm like "ah it's the love of my life, camilla the sixth, the funniest person to ever live" and I just have to share the brainrot with someone. Thank you

oh my gosh, i was rereading that part yesterday too! i love going back to their earlier interactions now knowing them better. she's such a little shit and i love her so much

[createacamillahect]

(Third installment! Sorry this took so long I’ve been busy as fuck. This one’s a bit of a choose your own adventure!)

You don’t see Camilla alone for a few days after you talk about Lyctorhood. You’re out of your mind with terror. You’ve half a mind to storm up to Sextus, in all your golden glory, and demand your lover back from his iron clutches.

Obviously, you don’t. That would give the game away, and secrecy was the one thing Camilla asked of you.

Being patient is difficult, but you wait for her every night for nearly a week. You pace the little corridor you always meet in, your eyes and ears catching on any shadow or creak that could possibly be her.

In the end, she comes. Camilla Hect can always be trusted to come.

When she kisses you, she does so with a fervor you aren’t used to. Her hands- those big, marvelous hands- grip your waist and she presses herself into the fat of your stomach. She lets you know, in so many little movements, that you are hers, only hers, and it is exquisite.

She’s a lot less tense afterward than normally. The muscles in her upper back aren’t quite so taut as they used to be. She does still look desperately in need of a massage, however, and she does not say no when you offer.

You dig your hands into her shoulders, and the question hangs in the air.

“I told him I wouldn’t,” she says simply. “He said he wanted to work out… alternative solutions, but I told him I wouldn’t and that was that.”

“Alternative solutions?”

“I don’t truly get it myself.”

That’s the first time you’ve ever heard her admit to not knowing something. It’s truly an astounding thing. You feel the urge to kiss her forehead, and you do not suppress it. You’re oddly gratified to feel her blush furiously.

“I think he knows about us,” she says. “I doubt he’ll mind in the long run, but-”

“But what, dearest?”

“Shh,” she murmurs. “I hear footsteps. It’s either him or your cavalier coming.”

“Oh, let them come,” you reply. “My moon, and my stars. You’re all that matters in the end.”

The swish of robes is a sharp contrast against the heat of her forehead again.

-🪷

Uno reverse! I was also busy and have finally reached this ask!! Thank you for your patience 🙏🙏🙏

Ps You don't have to apologize!💕 (I am working on apologizing less)

(Pss if you ever get asked your weakness in an interview Ive started saying I'm working on apologizing less and explaining myself more)

Also LOVE "Camilla's big hands"

The footsteps stop about 10 feet away from you two. You can't see who it is, keeping your forehead pressed to Camilla's.

"Am I interrupting?" Your instinct upon hearing such a question might usually be to snarl, but the question is asked so genuinely that you don't. Standing before you is Palamedes Sextus, who is watching you with a vulnerable expression.

"Technically," you answer, which is as polite yet honest as you can get. He grins.

"I was looking for you both." He answers. "I wanted to speak to you about Lyctorhood." Your grasp on Camilla tightens, and you can feel your eyes watering with emotion and from your nonblinking gaze. "Not like that," he says gently, as if speaking to a feral cat - which, fair, is definitely the vibe you're projecting. "I know you can't live without her, and" - here he holds Camilla's gaze - "her without you. I'm not here to separate you."

You're glad he said that first because you wouldn't have listened to him otherwise. Your shoulders fall with your tension. "Camilla said no," he continues, "and I respect that unconditionally. But there may be a way for the three of us to become one. And Camilla, if you say no, if either of you say no, I will never mention it again. But I thought it may be worth mentioning if the main reason you said no," he glances at where your hands rests on her, "is because you love her."

A soft smile breaks across Camilla's face. She glances from him to you. "Indubitably, Warden."

You feel a blush warm your face. Your fingers caress her skin and you wish you could get closer, be closer than this. You look back to him. "I'll hear you out, Master Warden."

[leescoresbies]

had the realization this morning that camilla and palamedes have a holmes and watson deal going which is of course why I love them so dearly. arguably they switch off which is holmes and which is watson. but listen, "indubitably, warden" = "elementary my dear watson"

[scholarhect]

three bags full of what. do i get to keep the handkerchief. it’s a nice handkerchief. maybe the building’s shy. don’t tell anyone else or they’ll want to see it too. how are you. indubitable, warden. etc etc etc

[chaos-has-theories]

Got someone new into TLT but when we compared favorite characters afterwards she said "Camilla has 0 personality though"

After I was done with the gasping and clutching heart I had to admit that fiiiine, she's obviously more present in Nona, and person hadn't read Dr. Sex yes, etc etc etc -

But like. Like

The very FIRST thing we hear of her is “Impossible, Warden. Improbable, Warden. Inexplicable, Warden. Indubitable, Warden." The SECOND this is "Swords don't lie". And THEN

They were fighting in close, cramped quarters, and Gideon was getting pinned. She smashed the other girl’s offhand out of the way and into the wall, scattering loose glass tiles in its wake as it fell: her opponent dropped as though shot, crouched, kicked her dagger up into her hand, and did a handspring backward down the stairs. (GtN, chapter 12)

How do you read this and DON'T immediately pledge yourself body and soul to the altar of Camilla Hect. Could not be me!!!

[zahroreadsthings]

indubitably, warden....