#baronyofthesilverwolf

Rochallor smiles "Thanks. Maybe the other hobbits won't laugh at me now"

"If they do, you tell them to come talk to me." Marigold says.

"Now, Blossom, sweetheart. Let's make sure we have a room set up for you. Not upstairs, of course, mmm, we can clear out the eastern hall, I should have been on that already. Just give me 2 shakes of a lamb's tail. That is... I assume a bed will suffice? Or we can put a pallet or mattress on the ground if that's easier. I'm assuming you want to stay inside, but if you prefer room, we can put up a tent at the paddock, but I'd prefer to keep you close while the warriors clean up after those hunters."

"Miss Marigold this is really good food" The little girl assures her, and delights as already she's being made a fuss over, "I think a bed will work, but my body IS kind of different, maybe a big pillow so I can prop?"

"I'll make sure you're comfy. And you, Rochy dear, I'll set up a nice room for you too, don't worry on that. You're welcome to stay as long as you like. Oh, dear. Where are you both from? Parents, or family looking for you? I don't want them to worry."

"I left the shire a long time ago. Joe says our old mentor was okay before the call of the Ring took him" A sigh from Rochallor, "So I needed a new mentor, and Joe says I should have picked better"

Blossom admits "I don't know if my old famly is looking for me or not"

Looks like Joe/Rochy (Still better than Roach) went through the usual sainingg and year and a day and stuff. Just fell in with the wrongg guy.

"Do you want to go looking for them? You don't have to if you don't want to, but if they are worried, it would be kind to let them know that you're safe."

"I could call them!" She says "But.. is it true they can't be part of this?"

"It is, and it isn't." Marigold admits. "You're something special now, called a Changeling. That means that you have both a fairy soul, and a human self. Both are important, but very different. Mortals - normal folk, can't see our Fae selves without special enchantment, and that's tricky. Even with enchantment they may not understand or approve, and it's not healthy for them to spend too much time thus. Many Changelings manage to stay with their families, but it's a bit of a double-life. Others, they come to live with Fae mentors, and we cover for them to explain to their family why they left."

Joe has fled

"You will need to spend time with us, at the very least." She nods. "For a year and a day from when you first became a centaur, you should be protected, taught and trained and learn how to be the best Changeling you can be. I'm sorry that no one found you earlier."

"Oh dear. He forgot his cocoa."

"Well, I've only been a centaur for a week and..." A look around "Oh! Poor Rochallor. Ishe just shy?"

OUtside, someone might notice a loose colt...not full grown to be sure, of the Shire Horse type

"Is that so? Well, marvelous. We'll not have much catching up to do. Let's get you set up with a room, and I'll worry about the poor boy. He feels guilty for your treatment, the sweet lad. Do be gentle with him. Tomorrow will be soon enough to get in touch with family..."

A pause, looking after where Rochallor ran. "Or not, as it may be."

"I'll be gentle" She assures, "And okay, I gett my own room" beaming

"You certainly do." She reassures, and then goes to show Blossom a quick tour of the hold.

Meanwhile, out front...

The shire horse colt races back and forth, in a manner like hectic pacing

"Whoa... whoa there." Baron Aiden, returning from checking on the horses, is startled by the appearance of the colt. He approaches slowly, a hand out, and his voice pitched low. "Calm down...."

Joe calms, the guy is..commanding, but more than that, he seems to have an understanding

The colt shows signs of guilt, as if he was caught doing a bad thing. Not just speeding about the area. Oh yes, guilty pony

But the muzzle/snout settles into his hand

Aiden frowns, confused. "You are not from my stable..." Though, he admires the colt, examining him with a trained eye. Good lines, strong form - this will be a magnificent horse someday.

Kenning, he blinks, and then nods in understanding. "You are the boy that they found with the hunters." Resisting the urge to run his hand down the mane and feel the musculature in the foal's neck - it's a child, not a horse, remind yourself.

A head bob and nicker

and a gain that look of guilt before the horse turns its gaze away from him.

He lightly turns the head back to face him. "You act as if you have done something wrong. Let me make things clear to you." Aiden speaks frankly to the horse - as straightforward as he would be to anyone else standing before him, adult, child, or human.

"You are now on my land, and under my demesne. Follow the laws of Silverwolf and our representation of the Escheat, and you have nothing to fear. I will not judge a child drawn into schemes..." He frowns a little, thinking of the Redcap child the Thanes had mentioned.

"And even if you did choose poorly in the past, you chose rightly at the end. That counts for much. Even Edward, who betrayed his family, once forgiven became a king of Narnia. You may be a pooka but you are also a stallion. Do not hang your head so. Be proud, or you do dishonor to the form you wear."

He perks at that, seems torn, then races behind a .. is he running away? Ah, he is seeking a place to change

and sure enough, the boy comes out "My friend saw something horrible. A girl's parents? My friend saw this terrible hunter pull out the doodle... and the hunter doodled their noodle.. and now they think they have no kid.. i wasn't nearby but Joe .. joe heard it on the interwebs"

Something in his gaze is unsettling as Aiden looks over the boy, now back in pooka childling form. But it passes quickly.

"And what of your parents? Have you not a sire and dam you wish to return to? Or failing that... a mentor, a proper one, who will miss your absence?" He adds, "I do not speak of those in Dark Gate's cells. Even if they did dare ask, you would not be returned to them."

"I left the shire a long time ago." He shrugs telling the lord what he told Marigold "Joe says our old mentor was okay before the call of the Ring took him" A sigh from Rochallor, "So I needed a new mentor, and Joe says I should have picked better" then says, "Marigold says that while I'm here, I have to be called Rochllor because she doesn't allow Roachs in the kitchen"

"Rochallor, you say? The great horse of the elven-king? You are not humble." But he looks amused, rather than offended, especially at the remark about roaches. "We have done our part to defeat a leech. Let us have no repeats with roaches, young Rochallor.

"Come now. Unless you wish to sleep in the stables? We do have the finest stables in Apples. But Marigold will fuss if I leave you with the horses, and the horses may fuss if I leave them with you."

"It's an exclusive club" the boy warms a bit "I.. guess Joe would tell me to get back in there, try to let folks know that the huntsman oblivosoed Blossom's parents." he straightens and blushes "Elven king? Wow ... Joe needs to have a talk with that namer" he follows the lord

"Namers, indeed." He muses, realizing that is something he needs to seek for the near future.

"Yup. Joe says they sure seem to get the high society treatment"

"Naming is a rare gift, and those that have mastered it deserve the deference they receive. As holders of true names, they must be respected, but also, perhaps more so, not offended nor made enemies."

"Always offer the olive branch," the boy says "That keeps folks at branch length"

An appraising glance, and he nods. "Just so." He has lead the boy to a hallway. Marigold's voice comes out from further down, "Now, no peeking in, or it will take longer for me to set up your room."

Bluebell curtseys to Aiden, wiggles her nose at Rochallor, and slips past holding a quilt. Behind her trots Julius, laden down with a stack of pillows.

Rochallor smiles at the nose wriggle

"oh! I'm dying to know!" A little girl's voice can be heard "My eyes are covered!" Dramatic litle thing

And if they peek they might see Blossom covering her eyes so Marigold can surprise her

"Marigold, you are setting up two rooms, yes?" Aiden calls to her, remaining out in the hallway.

"Oh, heavens, yes. Don't you worry yourself about this, Lord." The Boggan pops back out of the room, a bit of dust on her voile, and carrying an armload of linens. "Blossom, pick the room that suits you best, and we can set up your pillows for now and have something custom made if needed. Proper sleep is important!"

"Okay!" She beams then sees the lord again, blossom bows "My lord! Everythting is wonderful!"

Blossom may well feel proud, as the handsome sidhe lord pauses to admire her.

She does indeed. The young girl seems to enjoy folks making a fuss over her "I have spots" She adds proudly

Meanwhile, Joe ggoes to marigold "marigold, ma'am? The Baron told me to be proud to be a Narnian American and I think Ishould tell you, that ... Blossom's parents? They took right of ignorance to 11 now thanks to a brain frape machine?" A whisper through this, worried

Marigold exchanges an adult glance with Aiden, and nods. "It was very brave of you to tell us that. Don't worry, we'll work things out."

He nods and quiets. Unlike the centauruess, he's happy to skip attention

"Marigold, can I have this room?" The fact it is one with a full length mirror isp robably a coincidence. It also has an open feel. Far more important. She could LEAP through that window "I like space"

Marigold looks to Aiden, and he smiles. "You know best, Marigold. I leave our young charges in your hands, as far as lodging is concerned." She nods briskly! "Then that is your room Blossom, for however long you wish to stay. Rochy-"

Aiden raises a brow at the nickname!

She continues, "This one is rather nice too, and the window looks out over the gardens. Now that there's a garden to look at, that is."