#anywhere

"Well, Kerri's the Hearth, but Tove does Hearth things."

"Hearth things" A blank look

"...Hearth things, yeah. Storm trolls fight, Mountain trolls do magic and history, and Hearth trolls keep the Lodge running. Mostly by cooking, it seems. But lots of other stuff, too."

"oh, I don't know much about lodges" Valerie says "I heard Rivervale was one...is it nice?"

Dagmar nods, earnestly. "You should come visit!"

"There's a trod - how I got here, really, since I don't drive yet."

"I will but... how .. why are you here?" Confusion

"Oh, right."

"So, I've come to talk to you, troll to troll."

"Sure" She says "though I'm not sure there's a choice for us" Straight faced

"Right, well..."

"Okay, I'll just be blunt and go with it. My friend and kith-sister, she was hurt by a guy at Caer Falken. And we found out he's been playing games with other girls, too."

"Oh that's horrible!" She frowns "Does she need cookies to feel better?"

"Cookies might help."

"Would you come to meet with us and talk about it?"

"Get a plan?"

"Sure, who is this jerk anyway?"

"Elegan."

A pause "No no.. "She lowers her voice "Elegan is my boyfriend."

"It can't be him"

"Oh..."

Dagmar frowns, and gingerly reaches out. "Oh, I'm sorry.."

She pulls away "No. It's not true... you're lying"

"No, I'm not. I'm a Gwydion, and a troll, and I swear I'm not."

"Gwydions don't likeEiluneds.." she accuses "And.. you're ... " She clamps down. One does not challenge a Gwydion's honor if they're not ready to fight.

"I don't know this guy, but I know my friend. And he hurt her, and lied to her, and told her she was his only one - but she found out that was a lie when she caught him saying the same to another."

"And... then, there's others. Five girls."

"Five..girls.." She sits down

"All commoners."

"Stop it. " She says calmly but her fingers grip her bed edge with tense knuckles

"I'm sorry."

"What happened isn't honorable, and it's not fair. That's why we're getting everyone together."

"Even if I do just want to punch him until he cries."

"What..did he say to them ? do you know? if it's the same I'll beleive..."

"That they were his one and only, that he'd never felt like that for anyone before, how special they were..."

She listens... and listens.. and then her eyes darken... and she splits her blanket, and it's a thick blanket, it half "I'll KILL HIM"

Yup ... she's swayed

"Right, we want to make sure he pays."

"But if we just go straight to punching, that won't hit him where it hurts."

"Is everything okay up there?" A concerned father

Valerie calms herself with force, well, she's still angry, but she has to cover it, for her dad, "It's fine, dad. Sorry" then she mutters and hangs her head "I just dishonored myself"

"No, you didn't!"

"You acted in good faith, and believed what he said. The shame is on the damned liar."

"I should have caught on. I should have known... dad warned me some guys take advantage and ..even warned I let him"

If she weren't a troll Valerie would be crying

"Why? How? he's very skilled at this. You aren't at fault. It's not your fault."

"It's not wrong to want to feel loved."

"No, just stupid" How can a fellow troll look so shrunk

Grunt. "Ain't stupid."

"I... I mean, I believed a boy before."