#anywhere

"I'm glad yo ulike it." A curious tilt, "What is you wish you could do?"

"Stay here?"

"Well, maybe one day you can? And until then, we'll make sure you can be here as often as possible"

She nods, biting on her lower lip.

"I'm sorry, Dagmar. I know you think I'm naive and stuff... and it's true I don't know the mortal world is like compared to you, but I do appreciate you looking after me . I won't let any boy pressure me into anything I don't want."

"If any one of them hurts you, let me know, okay?"

"If anyone hurts me, I'll tell you what hospital room you can visit them in"

"Okay..."

Siv smiles, "Now, is every boy after me? That's kind of going to make me vain."

"You're pretty. So sure."

"I think Sylvi gets more male attention than I do. Not taht I'd tell Olgar that. He's liable to axe a boy."

"Sylvi is really pretty, too."

"And she seems sweet on Colton?"

"Yeah, seems so.Or at least she likes his attention." A pause, "He seems nice, but if he hurts her we'll have to feed him his arm." In a 'of course' matter of fact way

"Well, yeah."

A nod, "Looks like we agree. So..how many kith have you met so far?"

"I've met a sidhe, and a satyr, and a nocker. Everyone else has been a troll. There's some others at school, but I've not... not really talked to them yet."

"Your dad gave me a run down on the basics, the ones I'm likely to meet."

"the boy I met is an Eshu" She smiles, "And he tells wonderful stories."

"Yeah? They're the travellers, right? Has he been lots of places?"

"Sure has, well, ok. By land."

"I've been in lots of places in Bergen County, New Jersey."

"I know, but thee's a whole set of kingdoms... I can't see them yet.Because I'm not ready." A groan

"Like, I was born in Englewood. But I've been all over. Mostly Hackensack and Paramus. Tove said that New Jersey's a Duchy?"

"You been to New York yet?"

"Nope" A huff

"There's buses that go."

"And yeah, Duchy of Gardens"

"i'm not allowed without Sylvi."

Afrustrated look

"Well, you gotta learn how to recognize bad people."

"What, they wear signs on their foreheads?"

A sigh, "I'm just very..very frustrated."

"No, that's the problem. You gotta... wait, I guess. You can't just trust anyone."

"You trust everybody - some might be okay, sure, but then the others will figure you're a mark..."

"Once people think you're weak, that's when they move in - right?"

"I don't know.." She paces, "Sylvi's great, but I'm older than her. I feel silly having her hold my hand. At Sea? I was somebody. I was an able bodies Sailor. I was CREW. I fought monsters. I solved riddles. and puzzles. And yeah, I think folks tried to trick us and we did okay ...how am I supposed to get better at sailing THESE waters if I never get out of port?"

"Sure. But... " A sigh. "I wish monsters were more like the ones in stories. Ones you could just... fight, and be done with."

"Most of the time, you can't fight. You can't do anything. You just have to wait until it's over."

"Well," A stubborn look in her eye, "Maybe I can do something."