#brightwindsbarony

A wry smile. "That's the Rivervale coming out. Straight-shooters, the lot of you."

"For the most part" She concedes "I hope this news doens't strain my welcome here?"

"No. You let them know there's an opportunity. And now... those trolls will have to decide what to do."

Sparrow wraps her wings around her arms and sighs. "I wish..."

A patient tilt of the head

"I'm the baroness here. I fought the tyrant, saved the day, claimed the fire. These are my people."

"So. I can't just run off to the County Seat to give that Fiona a piece of my mind."

"Would you like me to?" She offers "As a friend? I'm less impressive mind you"

Then another thought "Huh, of course, something else MIGHT be more effective"

"What might?"

"Well, this Count, he has to have Duke or Duchess He answers to, doesn't he? I know as a Liam you're not used to going oversomeone's head, and it's a challenge if you do, but you're not sworn to him. You owe him no allegiance or for that matter, there is no chain of command for you . There IS for him, and maybe his liege is ignorant of what's going on?"

"Harkson was allowed to run wild here for years."

"He was." A nod "But still, the Duke or Duchess might have expected the Count to deal with him. That's another failure on his part"

"Tell me - what did you notice up there? He is silly and selfish, but..."

"He's very concerned with appearance, and image among other nobles I think, but he tends to treat his commoners as an after thought. I didn't want to tell Nessa, she was boiling enough, but I hear he has a personal healer in his court, and he didn't send that healer out. And.. well, there was this fireworks thing"

"Dross for fireworks, yes." A scowl.

"AH, she told you"

"Fiona tend to like adoration - including that from commoners."

"Honestly? SIv is very proud that Fiona are ThE most commoner friendly house. This Count seems to have missed that memo"

She rubs her temples. "Well, maybe I need some Fiona in the mix."

"You want me to ask Siv if she can visit? or do you mean Dio? whose sashes got a lot of praise by the way"

"I wish I could be as confident as my soul-mother, to be honest."

"Coradel would wither him."

"To ashes" She nods with a smile, then "Very FEW Are as confident as she is,so you're not alone there. However, if there is something Rivervale can do to help, please let us know? Allies give aid when they can and besides it's the right thing"

"Getting my people home safely was a big help."

"I might need to send Nessa away, depending on how the Count reacts..."

"Count or no, he won't be able to pry her from another duchy."

A brow lift "obviously rivervale would grant her haven, but I think you might find Nessa dig her hooves in on that. Her family and home is here, and she might defy even you rather than deserting you and them"

Sigh.

"I know. It's a last resort. There's a Liam Duke in Mexico..."

"OH, Duke Tierone? He is Jessica's liege, pretty far west, but yes. "

"I've met him once - long time ago. Firnost."

"Everything seems to start there" She ponders

A soft snort of laughter. "Ain't that the truth?"

"It so is" A grin wolfish "I see Morthwyl moved out o f that area to go with you. You made a good impression. Then again, Firnost nearly turned him from a reformer to a traditionalist'

"I remember watching all those sidhe who would go there 'slumming' to flirt and drink and ignore their holds."

"You know the place better than I . Uncle Vali did not want me going there. Said it had Shadow Court taint to the core"

"Well - no. Not really. Firnost is Firnost. It's the crossroads, the wild west - it doesn't answer to the Shadow Court."

"But it doesn't "answer" to anything or anyone. "

"I think it was the goblin drinking openly with Leanhaun that did it to him, but you're probably right. Just..well, we trolls get set in our minds sometime"

"To be fair, they tend to be the fuck-ups of the Shadow Court."

"The goblins , or the LEanhaun?" She asks

"Anyone who shows up to drink at Firnost."

Snerk

"Sylvi, when she was younger, wanted SO badly to go there because she was told NOT to. Really pissed her off when I followed her"

"Well, no appeal like the forbidden."

" I like to give myself credit for robbing the moment of it's cool and thus killing the appeal"

Smirk.

A smug look, then "Firnost serves it's purpose, Olgar says. he's a rover so I guess he'd know. He says it's an expression of the Dreaming's drive to force various dreams to intermingle and the trods there give us no excuse"

"That could be it."