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Seas Of Erin > Tir-Nan-Og > How loud are the drums of war?


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 04:49 AM
Marcello would not say that he slept, but he was caught somewhere in that hazy state where one is still aware that the world goes on around one, but where one is not participating in its goings-on.

And suddenly he heard shouts, and the squelching of feet in mud, and clashes of metal on metal and metal on leather and he sat up with a start, rubbing at his eyes.

There were no cries, no screams, nothing that sounded as if these sounds came as a surprise, but still--

He started up, tugging on his boots halfway, so that he was squelching rather horribly as he left the tent, making his way toward the drilling guard both hastily and with trepidation.

And catching sight of the red-haired figure who seemed to be busily overseeing things, he made a beeline for her.

Not entirely sure how to address her in her current capacity, her took a deep breath, stood straight up, and saluted about as stiffly as a tin soldier.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:01 AM
Niabheara turned around to greet him but was thrown off-guard by the whole saluting-gesture. "What are you doing?" Her hair was back in its braid-coiled-around-the-head motif, as dense and unyielding as the decorative frieze of a helmet. The skin around her eyes looked bruised from lack of sleep. "Shoo! Go back to sleep, it's only a drill!"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 05:05 AM
"You were meant to wake me," Marcello chided softly, giving her a meaningful look. "And you look like you ought to be the one sleeping."

He looked at his fingers. "It's a salute," he said, doing it again. "Is that another thing you haven't got here, or was mine really just that bad? A soldier's one thing I've never pretended to be."

Then his expression went more serious, and he gave her a questioning look. "So?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:09 AM
"I've ne'er seen anyone do that," she said wonderingly as he repeated the gesture. "I was going to catch a cat-nap once everything's been established here. Mortoch's not letting me near the trul--or at least he's not letting me near Brae'lok."

She shrugged a shoulder. "So Titania is going to realise eventually that her king did not come down from the hill yesternight."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 05:14 AM
Marcello saluted again. "It's a soldierly thing," he explained. "Sign of deference to their commanding officer. I expected you to wake me," he informed her quietly, shaking his head at her. "You look awful. You need more than a cat-na-- So he never left?" he finished, giving her a thoughtful look.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:20 AM
"He's in irons under guard on the trul side of the camp," Niabheara said calmly. "I'm declaring him a hostage to Titania later today. I expect she will not take it well. Hence the drills."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 05:23 AM
Marcello's eyes brightened considerably, and he looked the girl over, nodding, a smile playing over his lips. "Your idea?" he asked.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:31 AM
She gave him a wry if slightly lopsided smile in return. "It was. I take it this meets with your approval?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 05:34 AM
Marcello very nearly grinned, his eyes twinkling despite the sleepiness still evident. "It was exactly what I worried you wouldn't do," he informed her. "And the Puck?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:37 AM
"Also in irons and I'm having it drowned." She could not disguise a note of satisfaction. Scooping up her skirts, she picked her way carefully through the sloppy mud-pits trammelled through the clearing grass, looking over her shoulder to see if Marcello followed. "Why don't I own any trousers? How am I expected to do anything in a gown? I know I used to have trousers."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 05:43 AM
"Hold on the drowning," Marcello suggested. "It might come in useful yet."

Of course he followed. He always followed, using his rather larger stride (and trousers) to his advantage to trot ahead of her and offer her an arm. "Take some of mine," he offered. "Or Moira's, if mine are too large. Does Moira have trousers? You can take mine; Jamilah managed in them and she's not that much bigger. We'll pin the cuffs up," he offered, looking her over as if he were trying to picture whether they would fit. "Tell me what happens then," he asked. "Titania discovers him missing. She gets your declaration. We fight?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:53 AM
"Possibly," Niabheara said, sounding amused. "Most likely we fight. I doubt she readily will agree to my conditions. Perhaps we should send her an ear to sway her."

Just outside the clearing the grass was damp, but fairly solid. She dropped her skirts, then took his arm. Her other fists rubbed at her eye. "Who is Jamilah?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:01 AM
Marcello swallowed. "I was going to say the bit about the ear, but I was worried you'd be upset," he admitted quietly. He looked her over again. "I'd do it in an instant, if it were me. You need to sleep," he added again, frowning worriedly, and he took the hand on his arm, rubbing it gently for warmth. "I don't want to nag, but..."

"Oh," he said, realizing then that Niabheara had missed as much as he had. "That girl. The one I told you about? That's who Puck used for his prank, I spoke to her a bit, and she seemed not to be hurt, so I gave her some clean clothes, and handed her off to the Trul to get her some food and a bath and a place to sleep. I hope that's well with you?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 06:08 AM
"Of course it is." A strange look passed over her face; she made a small sweep of her hand over her brow, as if to wipe a stray hair out of her eyes. "I am upset. He's still the king. But the thing is done. We can't back away from it now. This has gone beyond pranks." She glared briefly at the ground. Pranks indeed.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:21 AM
"I'm sorry," Marcello said softly. "It went beyond pranks a long time ago. It was always beyond pranks. The pranks were only ever part of the madness."

He took a deep breath. "Is there something I can do? I can't just sleep, Niabheara; I've got to keep busy, and I don't know what I'm good for right now. What can you put me to?" he asked, before he stopped, frowning, and watched her again, silently. "We can go say goodbye properly, if you like," he offered abruptly. "Without an interruption."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 06:28 AM
Niabheara laughed nervously. "Are you any good at turning chain-maille? That will put anyone to sleep, if it doesn't cut your thumbs to ribbons first."

She let her hand slip off his arm. "There's nothing more to be said. We're doing this for him now. I've ordered the Oireachteigh banner flown under Cnoch-na-Niall. Titania will know what she took from me."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:38 AM
Marcello smiled tightly, and he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. "All right," he agreed, nodding to her. "You do know that's one of the most lovely tributes I've ever heard anywhere, since that mad prince made the entire city of Torino paint itself black when his true love was married away to an Alsatian prince."

Then he gave her a chiding look. "Then you're the one who should be turning maille, if I didn't want to preserve your precious fingers. I've been sleeping. I need to work now, and you know as well as I do that I've never done an honest day's work in my life. I can't be useless, Niabheara, not when you're about to go to battle."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 06:47 AM
"I could set you to collecting piss from the horses to soak hides," she said with a small grin. "A very tedious task involving lurking under a horse's belly and waiting. I'm not tired, Marcello, and I couldn't sleep e'en if I wished it. I'm waiting for three different messengers to return; the Lady Oisin's just announced that she's siding with Titania in the event of a conflict; I've got the rusting king in chains not a hundred paces from my door--I'm going to have nightmares about him creeping out whilst I'm asleep. Or crawling up out of the ground . . . " She winced and drew up her shoulders.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:53 AM
Marcello gave Niabheara a sympathetic look and reached for her shoulders, resting his hands gently on them to give them a soft stroke, as if her were smoothing them down. "I'll sleep on your floor," he offered helpfully. "Or I could collect piss. I'd be very good at that. Who's this lady and why the hell would she align herself with that?" he asked. "Who else do we wait on?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:02 AM
"No piss-collecting; that's why there are pages." She rubbed her eyes again and sighed. History was something she could still manage with little effort. "Lady Eleanor Oisin is the baroness of Eoghanachta and the elder sister of Leannan Oisin, who was Queensman before my father arranged to have him sent to Refuge. I suspect she does not yet consider the matter closed." The rest she ticked on her fingers: "Moira's at the College sending word to Fiona of the North. We're also awaiting word from my sister Morgana, who should be arriving at Anvil Harbour before moving to Tir-Nan-Og. And one of the trul's priestess is doing something involving someone. She was rather vague on specifics. Or I really was asleep then."

With a small crash, she propped her back against a tree to look up at Marcello. "You are no longer a puppy; you should not be required to sleep on my floor," she said.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:14 AM
Marcello tipped his head to the side, watching her with a look that made it appear as if just looking at her was making him more sleepy. "Well, that's hardly a reason to wage war against the daughter. Sins of the father notwithstanding and all, I think it would be obvious to anyone who's spoken to you for more than a few minutes that you are not that man and your goals are not his. Not having met him, I'm guessing," he added earnestly.

He rubbed his eyes again. "We've got your sister's people, then, and...the others seem promising?" he asked hopefully, before tilting his head over to the other side. "Niabheara, you're still not-- please give me something to do, else I'll have to ask Mortoch and what he might suggest frightens--"

He went rather red at her last comment. "Me. Ah."

And he shut his mouth for a moment before he made a complete ass of himself. "I wasn't a puppy for all that long. I could drag another pallet into your tent," he offered, still looking like a lobster who'd been dropped in a pot of boiling water.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:21 AM
"We have my sister. My sister has no people. To be fair I would prefer her at Cnoch-na-Niall rather than with us, to keep the place until our return. She was my chatelaine before I took the title; I trust her judgement. Plus she has a new baby, whom I've not yet met." She smiled tiredly at Marcello. "Dragging her away at all seems like a crime. Anvil Harbour is on the defence against Titania, and I've closed the circle at Cnoch-na-Niall. And why on earth are you giving me that look? What did I say now?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:30 AM
"I'd still like to meet her," Marcello assured Niabheara, before looking terribly abashed. "Your floor...and...puppies...ah..." He stammered a few times as he attempted to explain what she'd said, twisting his fingers into knots.

Then he shut his eyes, as if closing them would save him the embarrassment. "I'm not trying to look at you any way, I swear," he said. "Just..." He opened his eyes again, giving her a pointed look. "I'm no longer a puppy, I'm not required to sleep on your floor."

He hoped she would get the picture without having to explain further. "I'm sorry," he murmured abashedly. "You may slap me if you like."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 05:23 PM
Still desperately racking her brains to think of something for him to do--she wasn't sure if he had meant to state that as a demand but she had interpreted that way--she gave him a faint sick look. It was tempting to misinterpret the request to slap him as a demand as well. "What? It's degrading. You are not my servant. I have no idea what you are just now. Go find someone to show you how to turn a mandrel."

And she would have started off but suspected he wouldn't let her.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:08 PM
"You know, I'm only saying because if it had been me asking you, you'd have to tell me," Marcello pointed out, his entire face still a deep crimson. "It's not degrading; I'm offering so you'd have me there. Because I'd hope that's somehow better than a servant."

He sighed, then dropped her a low nod. "We're friends, still," he assured her quietly. "What's a mandrel?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 06:28 PM
"It's a rod with a handle around one end and they use it to make coils of maille-loops." Niabheara bend her head and rubbed the small knot at the back of her neck. "And if you had asked me I would have said you nay. It's not a wise idea, Marcello, and you well know why it isn't." She shifted into something nearer to her usual formal posture. "My own guard will suffice. You are safe enough with Moira. We are still friends?" The last was asked with wan note of hope.


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:39 PM
"I never suggested it was wise in the least," Marcello answered, giving Niabheara a pointed look. "It's a question of peace of mind, and I never said not to bring Moira, too."

Then he looked more tenderly at her. "Of course we're still friends," he answered, giving her a reassuring smile. "Why wouldn't we--" He caught himself in the question. "I can't envision a world where we aren't."

His expression then was soft, affectionate, but his posture was restrained. "I presume you'd tell me so if there were anything you needed particularly from me," he said, again, careful not to ask.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 06:47 PM
She relaxed again at the avoidance of a potentially awkward question. "I would. I will." It was moments like this when she could have absolutely adored him. She laughed quietly and dropped her hands before her. "It's the potential of Titania sweeping through and wiping out the lot of us at first strike. It does tend to pull one's thoughts in odd directions. I was wondering what Morgana might think of you--and part of me had to add that I hope she makes it in time to meet you. I've got to stop thinking like this."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 06:55 PM
Marcello sighed, nodding, and held his hands out to her. "So glam the Puck to appear as you, and dress in my trousers and come stay with me and Moira," he suggested, half-teasingly. "We could find you a cap; you'd make a terribly comely boy. All the girls would be batting their eyes at you."

Then he smiled a bit more broadly. "She'll be in time to meet me," he assured her. "I'm not going anywhere; I promise. It could be you and me on top of a pile of rubble, but I would still be there. And I have to give her my compliments on raising you so well."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:04 PM
The girl gave him a wry, smug look. The twisted braid sprouted fringe long enough to cover her forehead and the back of her neck; the delicate point of her chin took on a slightly squared bulk. In the time it took for the more superficial alterations to register to the eye, she was always striding off through the thin grove, transformation complete--as a boy. "That's one way to get some damn trousers," he remarked, and threw a broad, mischievous grin at Marcello.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:09 PM
"Cheat!" Marcello laughed and chased after. "I forget you can do this!" he exclaimed, jogging to catch her by the elbow. "The hair," he instructed seriously. "Don't make it brown or blonde, that'll make it too obvious, but auburn or chestnut will do marvellously. You're the most beautiful boy I've ever seen. Really."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:16 PM
"But that's a failing! Boys are meant to be pretty, not beautiful." Even her voice went down half an octave in this guise. Tolerant and amused, he let himself be drawn to a halt. "Tallfolk are not allowed to give advice on glamming," he said haughtily, but his dark eyes twinkled.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:22 PM
"Prettiest, then!" Marcello corrected graciously. "I have never in my life been more attracted to a boy. I can almost see what the Greeks and two thirds of the Popes were thinking, only in this case I'm quite certain I would feel differently if I didn't know it was you underneath all that. And I can so," he informed her. "I get to advise because I'll think of things that you would never imagine with your tired, old glamming. That hair is still obviously yours. You'd do well with some freckles, too."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:33 PM
The boy propped his fists on . . . well, what remained of his hips. "I wasn't trying to prank you, was I?" he retorted. "If I were, you'd ne'er so much as suspect who I was until it was too late."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:36 PM
Marcello grinned and reached for the front of the boy's shirt, feeling far more comfortable tugging Niabheara forward in boy-form than he did in her usual one. "Try me," he retorted challengingly, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "But now I've given you a head's start on me; you know to change the hair. If you'd tried it with that hair, I'd know in an instant."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:41 PM
He gave Marcello a quick light punch to the chest, still smirking. "One day, once you've forgotten this whole conversation, I will try it. You'll be looking for me and I'll tell you I haven't seen me in days." The boy pouted. "Save that you don't forget any conversations."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 07:46 PM
"I don't forget any conversations," Marcello reminded the boy cheerfully. He smiled more broadly, flicking at the boy's hair, but didn't want to point out to Niabheara that she was talking about one day that seemed much further off than any attack by Titania. "And I'd just have to kiss you, and then I'd know for certain," he added teasingly. "I suppose that means I'd have to start going about kissing every stranger I meet, but they already think I'm half-mad around here; it wouldn't hurt me any."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 14 2007, 07:50 PM
"What is it with you and kissing people?" The boy stepped out of hair-flicking range, with a stamp of his foot--and was, somewhere between the two gestures, and with a heavy swish of falling wool, back to Niabheara, who still looked amused by this whole idea. "I can't imagine it's that distinctive."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 14 2007, 08:03 PM
"With me?" Marcello asked, shooting the girl a crooked smile as she transformed back. "If I recall, I've only kissed or been kissed by one person since I got here, and she instigated it the majority of the times it's happened. Not that I have any complaints, as I'm sure there's no one else I'd rather kiss, but if you don't think it's distinctive...well, let me just say that there is nothing that can make you reconsider a romance so quickly as someone with a tongue like an overexcited sheep dog or lips like a cold, wet fish."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 04:53 AM
"Instigated? Twice! Imbloc does not count! You and your spurious and highly suspect hiccough cures . . . " Her face flared, but she still looked amused by the conversation.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 04:58 AM
"Imbolc does too count," Marcello insisted, becoming quite as animated as Niabheara, his grin broadening and his fingers dancing frenetically about in circles. "You set me up; if you didn't wish to instigate, you would have told me I had to ask some other girl. I was a stranger to your bizarre kissing rituals, and I would have been none the wiser! That's three for you and only two for me, and that's counting the hiccoughs on my side!"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:04 AM
"If your fabulous memory is anything so keen as you have claimed," Niabheara said coolly, "you will recall that I said at first that I was warning you in the event that some lady with a perverse attraction to tallfolk did ask you to kiss her, you shouldn't take it personally because that was what one does on Imbloc, and then you came along and asked me, and I couldn't refuse you because I'd been kissing people all afternoon and it wouldn't have been sporting to deny you." She looked up in triumph. "Now go turn some rings."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 05:14 AM
"That is not how the conversation went at all," Marcello informed her cheerfully. "You warned me that if I didn't get kissed, I would suffer the horrible fate of not being kissed all year, and that devolved into an awkward conversation about how much I hate superstition, and then that devolved into an even more awkward conversation about how very taken I was with you when you weren't at all with me, and then I asked you to kiss me. Because you kept insisting you were only warning me so I wouldn't suffer an entire year without kisses. I don't remember anything about any other ladies and I'm almost certain you said that the men had to ask the women."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "And now you're being merciless," he informed her. "Do I get to even the score or not?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:25 AM
"It was a warning, and it's perfectly true," Niabheara insisted. "You wanted to know what going on and I told you. It was . . . it was cultural exchange," she said, looking grateful that she had seized upon an explanation. "There's no score to be evened; this is not a competition."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 05:34 AM
Marcello gave Niabheara a hurt look. "Now I'm not even permitted to flirt?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. But his tone had taken on a touch of seriousness, and he took a slight step back, as if he might have crossed some invisible boundary.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:41 AM
Niabheara put a hand over her eyes and laughed for just a fraction longer than the situation merited. It was the stage of sleeplessness where everything was funnier than it might normally have been. "Could I stop you from flirting? Other than being immensely helpful, you've done nothing but flirt since you came here. If there were some position available for House Flirt, you would have long since surpassed any possible competition." She peeked at him from between her fingers. "Oh, stop being hurt. I'm not backing down o'er Imbloc not counting. We're two for two and that's final."


Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 05:49 AM
Marcello looked rather relieved and a bit abashed as the girl laughed at him, and he took back up his original place, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, if Imbolc doesn't count, then the hiccoughs definitely don't count. More cultural exchange," he said sagely. "You can ask anyone in Italy. And besides," he added, more serious. "If they do count, I can't really believe you'd stoop to allow yourself to be tied with me for very long."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:59 AM
"So we're . . . two-to-one, is that what you're saying?" Suddenly she threw down her hands. "Paugh. Again, this is not a competition, and if it is a competition then I want nothing more to do with it. You promised me." She gave him a steely look. "Not unless you mean it."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:10 AM
Marcello cringed a bit under her glare, putting his hands up helplessly. "Where do you get the idea I don't mean it today when I've meant it every moment leading up to today?" he asked her earnestly. "Do I have to be dead serious to mean it? I'm happy you're smiling; that's all-- you don't have to answer those," he threw in hastily. "If you don't want me to tease, I'll stop teasing."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 06:19 AM
Praise be for reprieves, because she was on the verge of answering him. She shut her mouth with a tiny plip before anything could escape and waited until he was finished. "I know you're teasing. I was teasing. It's gotten to where if I don't do something, my skull is going to crack open. I'm scared." She blinked suddenly and shook her head. "I'm not scared, just . . . "

Then she let her hands go slack. "Very well, scared it is."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:25 AM
"Well, I'm either much better at teasing or much worse at catching it," Marcello muttered, rubbing at his face before he shot Niabheara a tired smile. "I know the feeling. That's why I asked you for something to do in the first place. So, come on," he said, holding a hand out to her. "Let's-- what do you want to do? Do you want to go turn whatever-you-call-thems with me? Whatever you want."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 06:39 AM
"Mandrels," she clarified. "Chain-maille." She squeezed his fingertips, then let go of them. "I want to go kick the Puck in the face a few times and then take a nap," she said, with a small smile. "Or else take a nap and then go kick the Puck in the face once I'm nicely rested and can keep it up for a while. But I think I'm meant to be finding Captain Dorelei to read over the land-support estimates." She rolled her eyes with a purely adolescent weariness. "I'm going to make Mortoch do it. I'm going to show you how to make rings and if anyone asks, I'll tell them I didn't know where I was supposed to be. And I'm probably going to ask you for a hug." She laughed quietly. "And then I'm going to ask if you if we can get beyond this stage where we stop asking each other for hugs, since it takes all the spontaneity out of it."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:50 AM
Marcello didn't so much answer her question as wrap his arms around her, collapsing slightly as he pulled her close so he could rest his chin on the top of her head. It was the least he could do to give it some spontaneity, at least. "You're going to regret saying that when you find out I won't let go of you now," he informed her seriously. "But as far as I'm concerned, we can't leave that stage behind soon enough. You've just got to tell me if I get too...touch-y," he added quietly, still squeezing her. "Let's make rings, and then nap, and then go kick the Puck in the face. Together. If we haven't got time for that, we forego the rings and go straight to napping."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:29 PM
"Explain to me why I can't drown the Puck?" she pleaded, slightly muffled by his arm under her chin. Sorting out the height issue with tallfolks was always problematic.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 05:41 PM
Marcello smiled and pressed his lips to the place where Niabheara's hair and forehead met. "You can," he answered. "But Titania won't care; the Puck is Auberon's. And you have Auberon imprisoned. The Puck will bend to you like a daisy if he thinks it will help his master. You may be a better person than I, in which case you're certainly welcome to help him to a speedy death, but if it were me, I would be taking advantage of his loyalties. If the roles were reversed, they would be doing the same to ours, and with far less care than you or I would have."

He tried to slide his arm out of the way of impeding her speech.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 05:49 PM
"In this I fear the Puck more than Auberon." She leaned her head under Marcello's kiss. "I do not doubt that Auberon would strike directly had he the chance, but the Puck . . . if it should break free, we would need be anxious o'er them both. It would turn straight for Auberon in any way it could. I would put its mettle e'en against cold iron, if it meant to seek its master. Those two cannot be together, but I almost believe they could be more dangerous apart." She raised her face again with a tiny smirk. "I had it collared, as well as shackled," she said. "I think it would chew off its hands, but I see no means for it to take off its own head."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:00 PM
Marcello chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "You forgot one thing. Twist the head off first, then have it bite off the hands. That thing thinks with one thing and one thing only, and if you want to stop it, you'll need a gelder."

Then he looked a bit more sober. "It's a fair point, cara. It almost makes me mistrust drowning. Cut him into a hundred pieces, then glam the pieces to look like Auberon and send Titania half? I wouldn't even want the pieces in the same room."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 06:14 PM
Niabheara brightened considerably. "I've helped geld lambs. I can't imagine it would be that much different." Then she shook her head. "She's a mistress of glamourie; she would know the difference. I'm not so much counting on any affection for her husband as I am that she'll be offended enough to want back what she claims as hers."



Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:21 PM
"It would be no way different, except that the lambs don't mind so much," Marcello assured her, giving her a small smile. "It's rather nice to think my own release was a product of affection, not offence," he told her quietly. "What did you ask of her in return? Not that I would dream the Queen would negotiate."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 06:34 PM
"You would be terribly disappointed to learn it was both affection and offence, wouldn't you?" Ruefully she twisted her fingers around a bit of his sleeve. "There are no pure motives. I wish there were." Then she stepped away, shoulders going back as she recited: "I've ordered a writ of ownership acknowledging myself and my heirs as sovereign rulers in perpetuity of the county of Cnoch-na-Niall and her allied baronies. I've forsworn my allegiance to the Crown. I gain Titania's acknowledgement, and my autonomy, and in return, she gets her king and need have nothing more to do with me. Cnoch-na-Niall becomes a palatinate."

She stepped away, her back turned toward him, and added lightly, "Moira is of course furious with me; I didn't tell her what I was planning. But I see it as no concern of hers."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 06:41 PM
"I don't mind the offence as long as the affection was real, too," Marcello answered honestly, stepping after her as she turned, his lips pursing thoughtfully as she described her plan. "Well, I hadn't thought of that, and it's got its flaws, but it's also certainly got its advantages. Of course Moira's upset; she was half-hoping you'd give rule to Fiona. I...don't know if you'll make yourself many friends this way, but. It's what you want, isn't it? Without having to dance all in circles to get it. It's simple. She still won't give it to you, but it makes it clear you don't want her throne."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 06:54 PM
"I will have made the effort, and been properly rejected, and the records show that I ne'er made a move toward that damnable throne. If Titania prefers to spite me rather than ransom her own husband back, I'll see if his family wants him. He can do what he pleases from there." She shivered, suddenly cold, and cupped her hands around her elbows. "But from here on out, there's nothing more can be done. I've rejected her. I'll swear fealty to Fiona if I need the protection."

Abruptly she turned back and very nearly bumped into him. "And the hell of all this is that I'm still holding out for the Admiral to come through."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 07:05 PM
"You knew this would happen even then?" he asked her quietly, giving her a worried look. "Is he expected? What is he meant to do?"

He reached back for her again, rubbing her arms to warm them. "I think you've done the best you can," he assured her. "It's a good choice. Better than I would have even considered. The Queen will fight, but we always knew she'd fight, and this way, you're defending something you really believe, and not fulfilling anyone's ugly prophesies."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 15 2007, 07:19 PM
"He's to do nothing. He is a delivery runner." Her lip curled. "I suspected it might come to this, but for a different reason." Her voice lowered and her body stiffened noticeably under his hands. "The demon. The king. I didn't foresee anything else. The last word I had from the Admiral was at Drunnandannon, just before we came to Oireachteigh. If he's sent word since then, it's waiting with my lord steward."

She chuckled. "No, no, the prophecy still stands. If Titania gives up Cnoch-na-Niall and I don't have to turn to Fiona . . . I'll be queen of Avalon." It was the first time she had let herself say it, and saying it made all the implications real. "The prophecy only says 'queen'; it ne'er stated queen of what."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 15 2007, 07:34 PM
Marcello pulled her in closer when she stiffened, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, as if he could pass calming thoughts on to her.

Then he opened his eyes with a surprised blink, frowning at her, as if there must be something about her he hadn't seen before. "You mean there's a real prophecy?" he asked, giving her a long look. "About you? Not just people worrying you'll walk in your father's footsteps?" He bit his lower lip. "Niabheara, whatever it says, if that's what it comes to...You'll be a far better queen than any I have seen."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 05:13 AM
"I told you," she said, amused, "there's a prophecy about everything. We're a day's ride from the College; there's likely people there who do nothing but have prophetic revelations from dawn to dusk--which would be terribly inconvenient, if you think on it."

She shrugged him off. "If it happens, it will be incidental." She started back through the grove to the Tuatha side of the camp, with a look over her shoulder at him. "How many queens have you met, exactly?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 05:23 AM
"Titania," Marcello counted out on his fingers, "The Queen of Sardinia, whom I really have met, although it had something to do with the possibility of me being beheaded, and I've met two Medicis, a Sforza, and the Duchess of Venice, who counts, because we've barely got Queens in Italy. The Duchess of Venice is probably the one who gives you the best run for your money, except that she's forty-five and very sweet, but lets her husband make all the real decisions. I don't think she's half as smart as you are."

"So the being-Queen bit isn't the crux of the prophecy?" he asked, trotting off after her. "Do I get to hear the prophecy, or no?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 05:46 AM
"You'd think I'd know the exact verses, but I don't, and it doesn't rhyme out of Tuathailli . . . " Thoughtfully she chewed the side of her tongue. Her translating was stumbling. "'After the time of Avalon, Clan Niall will force the hand of succession. Three queens will reign: the first will flee, the second will perish, the third will prosper.' The only trouble," she concluded, "is that there is some small debate on whether or not Gwynyfyr should be considered the queen that fled, or the one who died. Practically no one includes my father, as he ne'er made it quite to power and in any case he wouldn't be queen. So there's no way of telling if I'm meant to be the second queen or the third."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 05:50 AM
Marcello's expression darkened, and he tugged at his ear for a moment. "Is there some previous queen who could have fled?" he asked her quietly.

Then he blinked, and looked up. "Have you got any relations? Niall relations, that is, or are you the last of them?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:03 AM
"That's just it," she said in frustration. "Caoimhe ni Niall was being called queen e'en though she wasn't. When Leabharcham came back from the north, Caoimhe abdicated and returned the title to her. And Leabharcham was Titania's mother." She sighed. "I'll have to draw you a chart. Suffice it to say there's several queens and an abdication's worth of muddiness surrounding the subject. But I'm the last of the Nialls. All the others have gone."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 06:07 AM
Marcello shrugged. "Then you can't be the second, can you?" he asked, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at her. "That is, you know how much stock I hold in prophecies, but if you want to believe it's true, you can't be the one who perishes, or there can't be a third one, because you don't have any relations or descendants for there to be a third one. You see? For you to die, there has to be someone to be the one after you."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:18 AM
"Which does not preclude my begetting an heir before someone comes along and kills me," she concluded--rather cheerfully, considering the subject matter. "As I recall Gwynyfyr reigned for some time in absolute terror before she ended up either running north or poisoning herself; no one's quite sure which. Either way," she went on, "second or third, the idea now is to convince Titania she needs her husband back."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 06:25 AM
"Were you planning on begetting an heir anytime soon?" Marcello asked teasingly. "Wait until you're fat and happy and forty years old. Anyway, if all it says is perish, it might be perish happy in bed at ninety, which is what I'm going to suggest because I fully intend to be haranguing you for the next fifty years at least."

"I don't think it's so much convince her she needs him back, as it is convince her she needs to get him back with as little harm to your soldiers as possible, isn't that it?" Marcello asked. "And I don't know. She seems like the sort of lady-- and I use that term lightly-- who would negotiate his release and order the charge against you in the next breath."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:38 AM
Her black eyes flashed wickedly and she wrinkled her nose at him. "Never. I'm going to be like Niabh of Oireachteigh--ancient and toothless and childless and clutching my torc until someone pries it from my cold and withered fingers." She stretched out her hands and fluttered her fingers to demonstrate. "I'm one short, so perhaps they'll have an easier time of it."

Returning her hands to the small of her back, Niabheara walked on beside him. "Likely she won't e'en bother with the negotiation part. If we're lucky, she'll send the Queensman; if we're unlucky, it'll be the Dire. I prefer to be prepared for either."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 06:45 AM
"Yes, but your spare is quite stronger than what most of us have," Marcello pointed out, wiggling his own little finger at her. "I say it counts as two. And you'll still be the most numbingly beautiful old hag ever to live. Your liver spots are going to launch a thousand ships," he informed her playfully.

"Just one man? And the Dire and I are old friends by now," he informed Niabheara confidently, before he gave her a more reluctant look. "I wish I could be more help," he told her. "Politics, talking--" he gestured in front of himself. "Anything artistic, I'm the best you've got. Or one of," he added, not to sound immodest. "But warfare? I'm lost."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:56 AM
Smirking, she jabbed him under the ribs with the little finger that actually existed. "So much for making you my Queensman." She sighed. "Don't trouble yourself. I've existed most of my reign as countess on the strength of good advice. I leave the military to someone who knows how to use a sword . . . do you, by the way?" she asked with sudden interest. "Know how to use a sword, I mean."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 07:04 AM
"You haven't even told me what a Queensman has to do," Marcello pointed out, looking very much in earnest. "Ah," he said, glancing around. "In a duel? I might. I've won my share, mostly in the name of maidenly honor. Or, ah, well, I was usually dueling for a lack of maidenly honor, but then, half the time I hadn't dishonored the maiden half as badly as her brother-or-cousin-or-fiance thought. On a battlefield? I'd be lucky if I didn't stick myself, I think."

He looked a bit abashedly at her. "I told you, I'm useless at this," he said apologetically.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 07:25 AM
"He's the Queen's chief diplomat, betimes her chief advisor as well. The Queen rarely leaves Tir-Nan-Og, so he goes forth with her seal in her stead and settles things in her name." Niabheara caught her foot under the thick end of a fallen stick and kicked it into her hand. "You're still a share up over me. I suspect they taught me archery first so that if a battle ever broke out I could be put well off to the sidelines, firing into the fray."

She feinted, marched, and then the stick, half-rotted to begin with, broke under the force of a particularly sharp down-swing. She let the other end drop and kicked a spray of leaves over it before proceeding. "You and your maidenly honour." She chuckled. "You can't have been that bad."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 07:39 AM
"I can be diplomatic and advisorly," Marcello informed Niabheara pointedly, thought it was clear he was joking. "And I'm very good at stamping things."

He shrugged, then picked up a stick of his own, launching into a very pretty piece of footwork that seemed more for show than anything else. "I grew up a bit, I think," he explained. "I realized that there's quite a bit more to love than trying to seduce every pretty face I happened to cross, and I also realized that pretty faces don't always make for pretty people. I know that sounds terribly shameful of me, but you're probably going to hear worse from Jamilah as it is."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 07:46 AM
"We've got to have something to do with you." She stood politely by, trying to stay out of the way of Marcello's footwork. "By the way, if anyone who looks official asks you if you're a formal hostage of Cnoch-na-Niall, I need you to say yes."

At present, she did not care to delve further into the subject of love. "I've not yet met your Jamilah. Should I? Does she know what she's coming into?" For the moment, she did not sound at all teasing.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 08:01 AM
"Of course I'm a formal hostage of Cnoch-na-Niall," Marcello agreed, finishing with his stick pointed at Niabheara. He closed the distance between them, tapping her on the side with the stick before he tossed the stick to the side. "I've been saying that for months. It's the best time I've ever had as a formal hostage," he assured her, nodding deferentially.

"As much as I would like to say that you should keep your distance," he answered, "you should meet her. She's smart as a whip and she's been all through the palace, she might know something we haven't considered. She's a priestess," he added. "She tells fortunes. She wasn't that when I used to know her, of course. But I didn't-- our reunion was brief," he admitted to Niabheara. "She knows a little; she-- she met Tristan before he died. And she knows he was taken from us. But the magnitude? All the specifics? Unless someone else has been thoughtful enough to fill her in, I think not. You-- you'll either like her very much or you'll hate her; I can't quite decide. She's got a temper like-- well, you haven't done anything to anger her, so she'll probably be as sweet as honey to you. And if she says anything about my cheeks, she doesn't mean it as a compliment."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:27 PM
"Then I should see her," she agreed, and then added wryly, "Though I'll ask nothing about your cheeks unless she mentions them first. If she's in well enough condition to travel, we might best send her on ere we become engaged--although at present, I know no safer place for her than here. I shall see if there is a way to return her to her home."

Then, in a slightly clipped tone, she asked, "Friend of yours?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 06:48 PM
"She'll mention them," Marcello assured Niabheara. "And she's definitely fit enough to travel. She's fit enough to--"

He stopped, then blinked at her. "Jamilah?" he asked. "I thought I told you. She lived in my house when I was a boy. She was my father's student. We were childhood sweethearts. Until she found out I had about four others," he added sheepishly. He shrugged. "She's still angry at me for it, but she's been pleasant enough since she hasn't been a prisoner of the Puck."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 06:56 PM
"Do you think I can keep track of all the women you've offended?" she asked kindly. "At least she'll be pleased when she finds out the Puck's in irons; perhaps she'll join us in kicking it in the head." Niabheara felt an instant kinship toward anyone who found herself a victim of the Puck. On the far side of the grove, at the edge of the Tuatha camp, she glanced back and forth amid horses and flaring pennants and tents. "Let's see to her, then."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 07:00 PM
"I offered her first shot at him yesterday," Marcello answered. "She just wanted to stay away from him."

He made a face at her first comment, then looked around. "If I know Jamilah, she'll be eating," he said, and made a beeline for the mess tent.

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 07:08 PM
Jamilah was indeed in the mess tent, having figured that she might as well take advantage of the chance to eat whilst she could. She was engrossed in picking apart a bread roll, demolishing the soft inside first, and completely ignoring her surroundings.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 07:16 PM
The Italian-or-whatever-he-was cleared his throat and started for Jamilah, nodding Niabheara over. "Ah, Jamilah?" he said hesitantly. "This is Niabheara. Ah--" He glanced at the redhead, wondering if he should be handling this more formally. "The Lady Niall. Niabheara, this is Jamilah, the...priestess of...something?"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 07:31 PM
Jamilah dusted the crumbs off her hands, caught somewhere between amusement and disdain at the somewhat less than pleasing introduction. She rose to her feet, offering a short bow in place of a curtsy, which she didn't much fancy attempting in trousers. "It's delightful to get to finally meet you, Lady Niall," she said, eyeing the Fishy Countess speculatively. "I've heard-" She stopped short, realising she'd made a mistake, but finished weakly with - "So much."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 07:37 PM
Niabheara laid a hand to her breast and nodded deeply over it, looking over the other young woman with interest. She had a completely different picture in her head when Marcello spoke of Jamilah; for one thing, she had expected someone older. "You have me at a disadvantage," she replied politely; "I've heard very little about you, considering the source." Somehow, without so much as looking at or gesturing toward Marcello, she managed to implicate him for all of the above. "It is good to see you well, lady."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 07:44 PM
"Good, then, we're all introduced," Marcello said, shooting Niabheara a helpless look. "You've got everything you need?" he asked Jamilah. "Niabheara wanted to let you know that we've still got the Puck imprisoned and in irons and very much in need of a good kicking."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 07:52 PM
Jamilah raised her eyebrows at Marcello, finding it easier to think of him under his new name in the presence of Niabheara. "That is comforting, thank you," she answered, not entirely sincerely. "I'd not trust my foot near him, all the same."

She cleared her throat, returning her attention to the Countess, spreading her hands open. "Marcello seems to be able to accomplish far more than myself; I fear there is probably very little to know, Lady Niall," she said, tone entirely without malice.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 08:00 PM
It was a clear struggle to keep her mind on business, as this would have been the perfect moment to ask what all this cheek-business was about, but she managed to keep her smile under wraps. "I had hoped to find you for another reason, lady," she said. "We are preparing for military action here, as you must see. I would know if there is anything I can do for your safety. I would not ask you to remain in such a circumstances."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 08:14 PM
If there had been anywhere Jamilah could think of that was safe to go, she would have been delighted by such a suggestion. As it was, she frowned, rubbing her palms together. "I- ah. Thank you, Lady N-" She cleared her throat, lowering her eyes. "Ah. Thank you, for considering my safety, but I - do not want to trouble you."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 08:18 PM
Marcello looked worriedly between the two women. "Da would take you," he offered. "If there's some way to get her back to England? He's still at Oxford. It might do him some good to have you there, too."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 08:24 PM
Jamilah's face brightened instantly, although she felt slightly sick at the thought of delaying her task even further. "That would be wonderful - if he doesn't mind. I'd even be willing to part with my fortune-teller's outfit."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 08:30 PM
"The only trouble being that there are no direct means from Tir-Nan-Og to the outer realms. Not without going through Titania herself, and she, of course, is largely unavailable. The Puck might could, but . . . " She let the statement trail off, with a disgusted look, at the likelihood of the Puck willingly doing anything useful just now. With a thoughtful expression, the girl sat herself down on the bench near Jamilah. "But there are still places in the Erins that will put you safely out of conflict." She gave the other girl a small, wry look. "I know your experiences with my people so far may not have been the most trustworthy."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 08:38 PM
Jamilah bit her lower lip, staring down at her plate. "The Puck is the only one I distrust," she answered with a shrug. "As long as he is not nearby, I am content to go anywhere."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 08:41 PM
Marcello looked worriedly from Jamilah to Niabheara. "We won't let you come to any harm here," he added reassuringly. "And Niabheara won't-- anywhere she sends you will be safe."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 08:46 PM
Niabheara gave Jamilah a more encouraging look, her black eyes dancing. "And for the present it will be good to finally have someone my own age to speak with. Everyone else is either immeasurably older and knows what's best for me, or else Marcello, who thinks he's best for me."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 08:57 PM
Jamilah started, having been examining her palm, perhaps in the hope of seeing her future writ there. A smile spread over her face, and she let out a startled laugh. "You should have him recite poetry for you," she said, grinning at Marcello. "There was this lovely one I read in my youth - do you remember how it went, Marcello?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 09:03 PM
Marcello's face, on the other hand, had gone dead white at Niabheara's pronouncement. "I never said any such thing," he said quietly. "And I will not be made a mockery of. I'll leave you to it, then," he said, giving Niabheara a cold stare before he turned on his heel.

He stopped at Jamilah's request. "EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face," he recited back at her, still facing away from the girls, his tone cold and clipped, "Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn, Rose-cheek'd Adonis hied him to the chase; Hunting he loved, but love he laugh'd to scorn; Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him, And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him."

And then he started out.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 09:12 PM
Niabheara slapped her hands down on her knees in pure confusion. "Lugh's arrows, what's this now?"

She tapped Jamilah on the shoulder, a silent request for the other girl to hold a moment, accompanied by a quick, questioning look--do you know what he's on about?--before rising quickly and managing to appear directly in front of him without covering any space between. "I was joking," she said quietly. "I was not mocking you."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 09:22 PM
Marcello looked startled, then gritted his teeth, taking a step back from her, which mean one closer to the table. "Then perhaps you might not joke about quite such a sensitive subject," he said quietly, his cheeks going flush, and he glanced back at Jamilah. "I don't wish your entertainment to be at my expense."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 09:30 PM
"Then I'll be silent." She followed his look back to Jamilah. Her eyes flared briefly, face stiffening, before she proceeded back to the table as if the glance had been a directive. "Forbid I cause you grieve before your old friends."

She resumed her seat at the table.

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 09:48 PM
Jamilah's mouth quivered, dangerously close to another smile. Figuring that she might as well have fun whilst she was still around, she placed her elbows on the table and cupped her chin with her hands. "You recited that beautifully," she informed Marcello sweetly. "I was distraught when you said that your cheeks were not so rosy anymore." She paused, feeling it safe to smile without fear of it turning into a grin - or worse, a laugh.

"If you still feel you must leave, I'm sure Lady Niall and I will find something to talk about," she said, sounding entirely sincere, and frowning, as though contemplating what they could possibly find to talk about...

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 09:55 PM
Marcello stayed standing where he was, glaring first at one girl, and then the other. "I'm sure you will, and since my lady has found it meet not to speak in my presence, I had best remove myself so you can discuss all my shortcomings at length, as I'm certain I am very much exactly the boy you remember at seventeen," he growled at Jamilah. "I'm sure you'll have her very well convinced of why I'm not best for her, if she ever deigns to speak to me again, not that she needs any convincing in that arena."

His cheeks were extremely rosy at this point.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 10:04 PM
Niabheara vacillated somewhere between mortified and indignant. "I don't e'en know anything about the length of your shortcomings!" she fired back.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 10:08 PM
Now Marcello's cheeks went crimson. "You've never expressed any interest!" he retorted.

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 10:21 PM
"I would hope that you'd have more respect for me than to assume my aim is to break down your friendships," Jamilah said quietly, breaking a piece off the crust of her roll. "I assure you, I have no interest in divulging your shortcomings."

It wasn't, of course, entirely true, but she wasn't keen on an argument that she couldn't participate in.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 10:32 PM
Now Niabheara was somewhere between mortified, indignant, crawling under the table, and ordering Marcello to go turn chain-maille until she felt prepared to look at him again. Briefly she hid her face behind her hands, then immediately put them down flat on the table so that she couldn't seek that particular escape route again. "Perhaps if some people has as much confidence in my judgement as they claim, they would not be so terribly concerned that a moment's conversation might undo several months' friendship--unless they do, indeed, have something worthy of hiding."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 10:40 PM
"That," Marcello informed Jamilah indignantly, "is not one of my shortcomings, and if I recall, you wouldn't know, either."

He sat, reluctantly, down on the bench, a bit further from Niabheara than he would normally. "If there's anything worthy of hiding, you're more like to know it than she is," he told the redhead quietly, eyeing the bench as if he were talking to it. "And it's not your judgment I'm worried about. Jamilah, you never told us what you're a priestess of."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 10:53 PM
Jamilah mumbled something about how she thought everybody knew that Marcello didn't have very much worthy of hiding, reducing her bread roll into crumbs on her plate.

"You're worried about the judgment of a god?" she asked, eyebrows raising. Her face sobered and she closed one hand into a tight fist, covering it with the other. "It's... hard to explain," she began, lowering her voice, simply out of habit. "It's not quite a priestess, I suppose we're more - guardians, of an ancient spirit." She gave Marcello a level look. "We don't usually bother anybody outside our own lands, so you needn't think I'm not trustworthy enough to sit with. I'm just looking for something that's been lost, that's all."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 11:00 PM
Marcello blinked at the girl. "Oh, hell," he muttered. Suddenly, he was wishing they were still discussing his shortcomings, physical or not. "When the hell did you go from being a literature student to that?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 11:01 PM
"What are you looking for, then?" Niabheara asked, partially out of genuine interest, with a small fragment devoted to ignoring Marcello--although she gave him a rather alarmed look at his tone.

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 11:08 PM
Jamilah blinked at Marcello. "I was never a literature student," she said calmly. "Not really. I was raised to be a guardian. The Oracle needs-" She broke off, studying her hands. "Dedication," she finished, as though that was the word she had been meaning to say all along.

She frowned thoughtfully at Niabheara, remembering what had happened the last time she had shared her task with somebody. "I am searching for a man, a few years older than me, with three lines marking his left palm. Unfortunately, since men tend to move around, it has not been particularly easy."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 11:11 PM
Marcello blinked again. "What the hell were you doing studying Shakespeare?" he asked her, looking completely perplexed. "Is it an oracle of the dramatic arts or--"

He decided it might be better to hold both of his unmarked palms out on the table for both women to see. "So what happens when you find him?"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 11:21 PM
"I already saw yours," Jamilah reminded him, looking a little exasperated. "Back in the prison. And I don't know why I was sent there, but the Oracle requested it as part of my training."

She unclasped her hands and reached up to fiddle with her hair. "When I find him, I'll just bring him home," she answered. "That's all the Oracle wants. Nothing sinister, just to talk to him, to find out what he's discovered."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 16 2007, 11:27 PM
"Then you do need to be returned home," Niabheara mused. "How did you come to Leabharcham? What were you in the Courts?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 11:30 PM
"You have to specify 'nothing sinister'?" Marcello asked dryly. "I don't know what kind of deity wants girls to learn about a dead filthy playwright from a drunken Englishman as part of their formal training."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 11:34 PM
"I won't be able to find him there," Jamilah said, a little desperately. "He's not from my country - or, at least, he's not in my country. The Puck got me, told me he'd take me to people who would help me find what I was looking for." She broke off, frowning at Marcello, remembering that had been at least partly his fault too.

"I only specified that it wasn't sinister because that's what you seemed to be suggesting," she said coldly, her eyes narrowing. She ignored the rest of his comment for want of a decent response.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 11:42 PM
"What I'm suggesting is that it's a little strange for an old childhood--" he glanced at Niabheara-- "friend should show up out of nowhere and tell me that she was living some terribly secret life the entire time I knew her."

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 16 2007, 11:47 PM
"Which was a matter of months!" Jamilah snarled back, losing her temper. "It wasn't some terribly secret life, and I'd probably have been turned out of your house if I had told you! Anyway, I'm far more interested in how you managed to gain seven extra years!"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 16 2007, 11:55 PM
Marcello gave the girl a hurt look. "Turned out of the house when you left before you were meant to because of a milkmaid?" he asked her. "Maybe if you'd told me, I would have understood a few things about you better than I-- and I didn't gain anything! How the hell does the magical oracle priestess have a right to accuse me of aging too fast when she's the one who isn't aging at all?!"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 17 2007, 12:04 AM
"I am not magical," Jamilah snapped, inhaling sharply. "And you know very well that it wasn't just the milkmaid! I'd have been able to handle the milkmaid, but my first - and you'd - and I am aging! Just because I'm doing it at the same rate as normal people doesn't mean I'm not aging."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 12:07 AM
Marcello threw his hands up. "It was ten years ago! And you're the one who's travelling around to magical worlds. I'm supposed to believe I'm the one who's not aging normally?"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 17 2007, 12:10 AM
"You're travelling to them too," Jamilah gritted out, her own hands clenching into fists.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 12:14 AM
"Only once!" Marcello answered. "I don't make a hobby out of it!"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 17 2007, 12:18 AM
"Well, you've certainly encouraged me to never leave my country again," Jamilah rapped out, her lip curling in a snarl. "And you are surprised that I didn't tell you where I really came from in the first place!"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 12:19 AM
"I wouldn't have been angry if you'd been honest!" Marcello snapped back. "And I might not have slept with the milkmaid, either!"

Posted by: Jamilah Ai'livahzi Oct 17 2007, 12:27 AM
"Honesty!" Jamilah spat, her breath catching in her throat. "Why - you - that-"

She seemed to run out of words, but fortunately, she had always held that actions spoke louder than words.

She leaned across, raising her hand to slap him, aiming for his rosy cheeks.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 12:43 AM
Automatically, and before even she knew what she was going to do, Niabheara threw up a hand--but only to catch Jamilah's before it landed. "I'm sorry," she explained; "while I can completely understand the desire to slap someone, I have currently been cursed to intervene when this man is placed under threat of harm. You may slap me instead, if you like," she added cheerfully, "although I realise it's not at all the same satisfaction."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 12:46 AM
Marcello, who had been in the process of flinching, gave Niabheara a slack, jawed look and rubbed his cheek. "You can let her slap me," he said, after a moment, sounding quite miserable.

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 12:58 AM
Moira blew into the mess tent, looking winded and agitated--although the paused tableau was enough to take her aback for a moment. "My lady," she said, eyeing the three young people warily, "the Queensman has arrived from Leabharcham. He waits outside the gates. No retinue. Your guard have him under arms. He states he has orders to speak to none but you, on pain of death."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 01:03 AM
Marcello stood up, straight, his expression tight, the conversation behind them forgotten, and he held a hand out to Niabheara.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 01:11 AM
"How long have you been back?" Niabheara asked, concerned. She took Marcello's hand and rose to follow the bard.

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 01:11 AM
"I've been looking for you since my return," Moira returned crossly. "I hadn't been here long enough to find you when someone found me. First negotiations?" she asked.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 01:16 AM
"Very likely," Niabheara said bitterly, "or the start of the death threats. Have him brought in. Make sure he is alone." She shoved through the tied tent flap and stepped out into the rain, making for the makeshift spiked gates as quickly as she could without tripping in the muck.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 01:29 AM
Marcello gave Jamilah an almost apologetic look, taking a deep breath as he followed Niabheara out. "Does none but you mean you alone?" he asked quietly, turning back toward Moira. "And how did your part go?"

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 01:32 AM
Trul are not known for taking chances. As soon as the Tuatha at the gates had identified himself as the Queensman, the guards broke over him like a flood, lifting him bodily from the ground to carry him to the Countess.

Mortoch followed behind the quartet of Trul holding the prisoner, ax ready in his hands.

Looking to smaller woman, Mortoch saluted.

'M'Lady, a visitor"


Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 01:32 AM
"He's come to our camp," she replied, looking straight ahead; "he'll take whate'er we give him. Mortoch." She put her hand to her breast and bowed politely over it. "Set him down. Lord Gaoth-Dobhair." She had to peek around the guard to make sure it was, in fact, Lord Gaoth-Dobhair and that he was carrying Titania's seal around his neck. "Set him down," she said again.

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 01:36 AM
"It went well enough, for a start," the bard said stiffly to Marcello, trying to keep at wary attention for the prisoner's sake. "We won't know for a few days' time."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 01:39 AM
"Niabheara told me everything. A few days may be too long," Marcello informed Moira quietly, before turning to stand beside the Countess, straining for a look at the man Mortoch carried.

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 01:42 AM
Mortoch lowered his axe, the flames racing up the crystal blade flickered and dimmed with the motion.

"Ok, lads- set him down, Gently mind you. Stand ready."

The Trul eased the Tuatha to the ground, then moved into a loose semicircle around the party.


Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 01:47 AM
The dark-haired man, in his court's black-and-gold, dusted himself off and gave a cross twitch of his sleeves. "As much as should expect, but no matter. Countess." He bowed briefly to the girl. "A pity we must meet under these circumstances. I bring you the word of my lady Queen. I have been informed to keep it for yourself alone. Is there anywhere else . . . " He took another look at the trul, then Marcello and the bard.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 01:54 AM
"These are my counsel, sir," Niabheara said, cold but polite. "I might invite you to speak out of the rain, but I will have them. Suffice it to say that there is little trust left between myself and Titania." She turned her back toward the lot of him. "Mortoch, escort his lordship to the pavilion."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 02:01 AM
"Form up! Mortoch barked- and the Trul bounced in to formation- Two on each side & Mortoch behind him. "Good as done, Countess." He said, bowing to Niabheara.

"Move out."

He looked to the man in the Queen's sircoat- waving his hand towards the departing Trul

"After you, mate."

Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 02:09 AM
"As you will have it, lady. I suppose it's useless to tell you that come in complete peace?" He shifted uncomfortably to draw himself as far from the flanking trul as possible while still maintaining some semblance of dignity as he followed.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 02:12 AM
"Completely useless. Lead him in." She stood aside until the trul had taken the man within the pavilion, waiting until Marcello and Moira joined her before proceeding in behind them. "The lady has received the declaration, I take it. Shall I prepare to tell His Majesty the good news?"

Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 02:15 AM
The dark man stepped slightly away from the trul, with a brisk shrug of his shoulders. "You have shamed yourself greatly with your underhanded tactics. You attacked His Majesty at a child's burial, Countess; what mettle are you made from?"

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 02:21 AM
"That child," Marcello put in politely, "was my Lady's betrothed. His Majesty's hobgoblin grossly interrupted the Lady Niall's mourning, and there was no attack upon His Majesty or his henchman."

He glanced warily between the women who accompanied him, with the apologetic look he got when he thought he might have spoken out of place.

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 02:23 AM
"Perhaps of the same mettle that would murder a child one harboured under one's own roof?" Moira added loftily.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 02:25 AM
"You're giving questions for questions, sir," Niabheara said. "Let's hear the answer to mine first: have you been sent to secure His Majesty's release in accordance to our demands? There will be no negotiations, and I am beyond being scolded like a child of three by a woman who has proven herself to be a killer and a harbourer of killers."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 02:30 AM
'And 'your King'"- Mortoch sneered- '"instigated the whole damn thing by drawing blade on yon tallfolk- one of the Countess's retainers- unprovoked."

Mortoch smiled at the dark-clad man, he teeth flashing in the gloom- "As to the Puck, or whatever it is, we're currently dicing to see who has the pleasure of taking his hide."

Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 02:37 AM
"You will gain nothing by threatening me," said the Queensman. "My lady holds no claim upon what His Majesty does and does not do and washes her hands entirely of the Puck." He ignored the bard's remark completely. "There will be no negotiations for the king, lest he can secure his own release under his own merits. You have forsworn your oath of fealty with the Courts and are therefore no longer under her protection. The suggestion is that you prepare to defend yourself and your lands."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 02:41 AM
Mortoch's hand shot out, lifting the man from the ground by his face.

"Well, that ended about like I'd planned," Shrugging, he looked over to the Countess- "Shall I show the ambassador the door, M'lady? Or would ye rather have one of my men find something more permanent to do with him?

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 02:45 AM
"Mortoch, put the Queensman down," she hissed. "Gently."

She turned back to the courtier. "I hope this is not the final decision. Otherwise you will be receiving your king back, will you or never so, over the course of the next several days."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 02:50 AM
"Or weeks," Marcello suggested lightly. "My Lady should show her prisoners at least the grace Her Majesty does hers."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 02:52 AM
He very slowly sat the man back down on his feet, then crossing his arms with a clash of armor, stalked over behind the Countess. Under his breath- in Trul- he spoke to her.

This bastard is cut from the same skin as that baby-slaying bitch. I say we send his head back as our answer to her boast.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 03:17 AM
Niabheara nodded to Mortoch, then frowned and shook her head. "Is this all you have for us? I'm afraid you've wasted your journey, sir. When should we expect this attack? I assure you, we are quite prepared."

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 03:20 AM
"I say we let the King speak to his lordship the Queensman," Moira remarked. "I'm sure he would like to send a last message to his lady. I expect it will be quite wordy."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 03:25 AM
"He should have word of his lady Queen's decision," Marcello agreed. "Of course, I would like our friend here to return to his lady in one piece."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 03:25 AM
"Yea, something along the lines of..." Mortoch paused, then continued pantomiming agony- 'OHHH God! It HURTS! please let me die! It's been three weeks! I don't have anything else left to burn or chop off! Mommyyy!"


Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 03:33 AM
"Mortoch." She shot the trul a glare.

Brushing her hair out of her face, she looked to the Queensman. "No. I'm sorry, I will not disclose His Majesty's location. If he wishes to send word, I'll permit him to write, but no more than that. If this is all you have for me, you may go. Tell your mistress that I hope she will reconsider. She now has one year from this day."

Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 03:41 AM
The man bowed his head. "This is all I have for you," he said curtly. "I do, however, hold a second message for the Priestess La'Shaara of your company. Likewise to be given only to herself, under pain of death. Since you have proven unyielding, I would be taken to the priestess."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 03:55 AM
Suddenly, without warning, the ground under the pavilion began to ripple and flow. A red-dreadlocked head broke the surface of the sand, and a huge- even by Trul standards- Trul woman rose gracefully from the earth like a dolphin, settling down gently on the surface of the soil. She was clad in a robe of red dragonhide, the scales glittering darkly in the lamplight. Cruelly curved steel claws jutted from the bakq-na that adorned her hands. Her eyes gleamed a reddish-gold of molten lava and liquid metal. Etched deep in her forehead, just above the baleful eyes was the brand of Tssraath.

It was La'Shaara.

The dark man felt a hulking liquid force envelope his mind, and a message thrumed through him.


Greetings, Tuatha. I am La'Shaara, Daughter of She Who Walks Beneath us All. What is your message.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 04:02 AM
Marcello stepped back, looking rather shaken at the woman's appearance. "I hate when they do that," he murmured quietly.

Posted by: Fortuna Oct 17 2007, 04:12 AM
The Queensman turned, calm and unsurprised, to the trul priestess. "I come on behalf of the Lady Titania, Queen of the Erins," he said to her with surprising formality. "My message is for you alone. I would prefer some privacy."

Posted by: Mortoch Starhammer Oct 17 2007, 04:16 AM
We can discuss matters in private if you like, Tuatha.

The priestess walked over to the ambassador, the tent shaking slightly with each step. She placed her hand over his heart, and the pair sank slowly into the earth.

Floating in the cool darkness, he felt the words enter his mind-

We float in the Mother's Blood. Speak.

(post out)

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 04:37 AM
Niabheara was too furious to speak. "Gods!" she spat out. "Please spare me from having to explain what's happened to the Queensman this time! Damn it, damn, damn!" She rose and kicked her stool. "If this is the g-me she wants to play, she'll have it. I'll cube the monster small and feed him to Omaudaun and hang his skullcap o'er the fire, I'll . . . ."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 04:52 AM
"Shh," Marcello said, reaching for the girl's hands, his expression tight. "It was what we expected," he pointed out. "At least she sent the man to tell us, and didn't attack outright. I think...Moira is in some ways right. The King should know his wife would see him dead. Do you...is anything beyond this point decided?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 04:28 PM
"I don't believe it. Not for a minute." The girl calmed enough to unclench her teeth. "She's scheming. Titania does not let things walk away from her. I want guard doubled around the king. If we can't spare the men to double, I want it as close as can be. And I want to know what she put to the priestess. We're on alert. I would rather be gone from this place ere the lady Oisin brings down what troops she can. For now we guard the barricades and make plans to strike camp and move His Majesty back to Cnoch-na-Niall."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 04:40 PM
"I don't believe it either," Marcello agreed, nodding to Niabheara. The nod was part in agreement, and part to keep his voice from carrying to the trul guard. "Can the priestess be trusted?" he asked quietly. "And what do we do with the Puck? I suspect bringing him home with us is a risk I would prefer not to take."

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 04:51 PM
"The priestesses are loyal only to the trul and the Dragon Courts. Mortoch will have to see to them." She was pacing, chewing on her thumbnail. "Lest we kill the Puck now, we have no choice but to take him. I would not trust him free."

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 04:52 PM
The bard's expression darkened. "Much as I mislike it, the Puck is now part of the parcel. I think he could prove useful if sufficiently motivated. He did come to you, after all, on his master's behalf. I vote we move yourself and your immediate retainers, along with the prisoners, to Avalon. If the Queen wants to strike, make her come to you."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 05:00 PM
"Are we sufficiently fortified at Cnoch-na-Niall?" Marcello asked. "We brought a large part of our supplies to Oireachteigh, and I don't know what defenses we left at home. Are we going to be able to withstand a siege?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 05:16 PM
Niabheara stayed silent, weighing the options. "You're right. I don't believe we could do so well besieged as we are besieging. We can't support the trul contingent at Cnoch-na-Niall; here, we're prepared to forage the countryside if needs must. At the same time we might spend all our time here batting down Titania. Damn." She put her hands to her face, looking over her fingertips at the bard. "You've sent word to Fiona."

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 05:16 PM
"I have," the bard said, stiffening. "Are we prepared to stand ground until reinforcements arrive?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 05:18 PM
"That was the original plan," Niabheara said wryly. "We might as well not change it this late." Niabheara drifted closer to Marcello. She was shaking in the cold.

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 05:29 PM
Marcello glanced at the remaining guard, stepping closer to Niabheara, looking torn for a moment in the face of potentially acting improprietously in public, and then took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Which left him shivering, but he gritted his teeth and bore it amiably.

"Is there anyone else we may be able to attract as allies?" he asked. "Our biggest weakness if we're to stay put is that we have no defenses here. It's our tents against her walls. But our armies are here. Can the Trul build? And what is the situation at Oireachteigh? I know they are hard put, but if there is anything they can spare? Would we be able to trust the Duke with his brother's imprisonment, or is that foolish?"

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 05:39 PM
"The trul can build--are building. It's a matter of lending them time enough to do so." She clutched the jacket closed around her throat. "When last we left the Duke he was in scarcely enough shape to care for himself, much less defend the city. I can likely request supplies, but that's going to take more time in the shipping. And I would not trust him with his brother. Not in the condition he's in."

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 05:39 PM
"We've more allies than Oireachteigh," Moira said. "Beal-Feirste, Anvil Harbour, a few others--and Fiona. Word spreads fast through the baronies."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 05:51 PM
Marcello, meanwhile, was clutching his hands to his armpits and listening with growing concern. "So we're playing a waiting g-me, then?" he asked. "And Titania would be wiser to strike sooner rather than later, then. It would be better if we could move the camp far enough from the castle proper that she would be forced to show herself before-- oh, but she can appear at will, can't she?" he asked, looking a bit miserable at this revelation.

He shivered again, and then looked to the two women. "And I think I would suggest for the time being, if we can move somewhere warmer?" he asked earnestly. "As lovely as the company may be, I hate your climate."

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 05:56 PM
Moira burst out laughing, unexpected in the current dour mood. "If she were going to appear tonight, she would have done so already," she said, grinning. "And if I know her, she'll prefer to appear with some style and in relative comfort. Which means it might be best to seek her near the fires. Which is where I am going. Countess?" She raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Get some sleep, else I will drug you."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 05:59 PM
"I've already tried that," Marcello answered, giving Niabheara a look. "Only without the threat of drugging. She's right," he informed the countess softly. "You should rest when you're able. The fires sound perfectly pleasant as far as I'm concerned," he added, nodding to Moira.

Posted by: Niabheara ni Dowd Oct 17 2007, 06:01 PM
"I would sleep, save we are convening in my bed-chamber." She waved them gone. "If I promise to sleep, will you all promise to leave?"

Posted by: Moira an Tiompan Oct 17 2007, 06:01 PM
"Leaving," Moira assured. "Come, Marcello."

Posted by: Marcello Basciano Oct 17 2007, 06:06 PM
Marcello nodded, turned to Niabheara, and touched one finger to his lips, then turned the finger out toward the girl. "Rest well," he said softly, before following the bard out.

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