#anywhere

"Wine, please."

"Ah, tea. If it isn't any trouble."

Coradel tickles the baby's belly lightly.

"Red or white, mother?" A smile "Dad I know how you lke your tea"

"Thank you."

River giggles

"Red, red, very red," she says in a sing-song, answering Magnus while smiling at River.

August seems almost bemused.

"Magnus..." she says, as he fixes the drinks, "how difficult would it be for us to tear you away from your family duties for a bit of investigation?"

"Well, right now my wife is on guard duty again, so I would need a baby sitter" He serrves the drinks "Investigation into what?"

"Oh, I think we could happily do some babysitting duty. And...well, August, you tell him, please?" She's preoccupied with baby.

August relates, with a touch of chagrin, what he's heard.

"Shit. I've been outt of the loop" A frown "Problem is they may not want me looking into it, the Duke annd Duchess I meann. "

"Well, no, they might not," she agrees. "But they shouldn't be allowed to cover up this much..." A pause, and a blink. "Oh! Oh, goodness...I just had a different thought. We may have another way. Hume."

"Ahhhh......" that sound he makes between a warning and a confession.

She blinks at him. "Ahhhhh?"

"Ahhhh?"

They may, in fact, harmonize.

"Lord Hume and I were talking and, ah, he... he was the one who mentioned matters at the Duchy Seat in the first place."

"Oh! Well. I'm not trying to suggest that what Hume does is a substitute for what you can do, Magnus, but I did think he would be a good first source. If we already have what he can provide, then...I think we need boots on the floor to get more."

"Or, see if there is information coming from the Duchy, anyway?"

"And perhaps you could bring another with you. Somebody who might find out what rests in the shadows that the Duke and Duchess do not wish you to see."

"you want me to take Lord hume on a field trip?" Amused

"I don't know if he's suited to shadows. Or field trips. While he has proven his willingness to face a foe, he is more suited to his desk and his screens. But perhaps one of our more stealthy friends?" The last is half-cooed at the baby.

"Oh? Zara.. I think she loathes my style" he sighs

"Perhaps Zara. Perhaps Velvet. Whoever it is, perhaps I can get them to see it as a competition? Who can find out the secrets, first?"

A smirk "I mustt admi, that migght work.. beat the sidhe' would intrigue the ladies "

River makes faces bback

Coradel smiles, and makes a face back at River. "See? Your grandmother is pretty clever, isn't she!"

"Magnus, would you like to propose the idea to our quiet ladies, or shall I?"

"Up to you.." he says "As long as I get my babysitter"

"Oh, done and done! How hard can it be?" says the Fiona.

"You really are fearless" A grin nfrom herr fellow Fiona

She waves at him. "Making mountains out of molehills," she dismisses his comment. "Well, let me go and issue the challenge to our sluagh, then."

"Enjoy"

"And soon enough, little miss thing, we will have so much fun!" Another tickle of River's tummy, and then she gives Magnus a hug before leaving with August.

"I don' suppose you'll be the demure girl in the family?" He asks his daughter when i's just them again

River makes a FACE at her father, then shits in her diaper, and smiles at him.

Demure? Not likely

(End Scene)