#debukefarmhold

"Aye. 'Stuff." " A brief bow to Sally Mae before she turns to DeVere. "Sir?"

Mr. DeVere leads her along a distance, to a quieter locale, and speaks in that soft way "i would like your take on the events here before I reveal my own thoughts. Pray forgive the bluntness.unseemly i know"

"Well, tis the preponderance of trolls."

"I take no delight in Agnes being afflicted, of course - but twas fruit of a poison plant she has watered well."

"I fear a schism here. Many have gone their whole lives unexamined."

"exactly my thought. i am no lover of sidhe nobles. else i would not steal their flames...but... Clem will soon be challenged. She will ally with Sally Mae. She will open the gates to certain specific sidhe. There will be a struggle for the soul of the lodge"

"And some of the old guard will be angry - and yes, desire to be Chief."

"I believe that will weaken them. The Lodge is not a secret, too many know of it."

"Aye. You see how this plays into the hands of those who would end them" A nod

She nods.

"what i plan to do next, I fear they will not approve of"

"Better to be well-woven, than a single thread, alone..."

Eyebrow. "Aye?"

" i am going to spy and find out who the challengers are... and see what dirt i can find on them. Tawdry, I know, but I have put too much work in this farm to let it fall apart now"

A firm nod. "Good."

"you approve. I thought you might seek to talk me out of it" a thin smile "These trolls, they can get under the skin of even the finest whisperer"

"Aye, but I am the Great Corrupter." AMused.

a chuckle, dry as reeds far from the water "yes, you have gotten under their skin. there is one other thing I am considering. finding them a new home. The glade is..not sufficient"

"No?"

"too small... if there is a break, then the farm may go to the winners. I am fond of even the idots here. I need to find places they can go."

"Ah..."

"you disagree?"

"If Clem loses - if those who will not fit in the single mold leave... " She shakes her head.

"The Farm will surely fall, and be a ripe fruit to be plucked by an ambitious lordling."

The old sluagh looks bent at that, more so than normal

"The misfits guard the gates and till the fields and rear the children. The traditionalists are split, too - there are those who fit in, aye, are content. They like this farm, this life, question not the values of hard work and stoicism and agrarian mores."

"But... there is then the reactionary guard. The ones who have allowed fear and hatred to fester, who cannot see any deviancy as aught but a threat."

"Sidhe, aye - but also artists and nockers and kinain who wish to marry for love."

"All that is different is dangerous. And from that... from that, is not all suffering born?"

"yes" A sigh "And my beloved, if it comes out of our...infidelity, it will be she who suffers."

"From that camp, aye. I will not spread Earl's lineage, but..." A sigh. "Earl might."

a brow "No children for thee ever? or do I misunderstand?"

"I mean - I shall not speak of his sire, sir."

"For, as you say - the punishment shall rain down upon your beloved, and no thought at all for why she would seek refuge from the lout."

"Ah, " A sigh from the grump "yes. well, the man is a provider. at least, though he never treasured her as he should. i must warn earl not , in his efforts to stand fast with Sally Mae, to betray his mother. she was flawed, so was I, but I do not regret it or his birth"

"Well, needless to say - nor do I."

A thin smile again "yes. it brings me joy that he knows love" a pause "he was hurt. cold iron? i saw the scar on his belly"

The smile faded there

"As for Earl's descendancy..." She considers. "There is time, yet. I am but nineteen."

Grim. "Aye. A Balor."

"yes apologies," he says "like any father of a son who ahs grown I wonder what grand children would be like? how I look to spook them with stories of ghosts that may or not be there... how I hope to confuse them with odd behaviors that cause them to think me unsound." A wistful sigh "but you are too young I know both of you are. apologies. It is only natural that you yourself might want to have children very late in life so that you'll be closer to hagdom yourself and thus even more frightening" A nod of understanding "The balor.. who hurt my son. will not hurt him again?"

"He fell into the water, gravely wounded."

"noted"

"Which... is not as firm an answer as I would like, no."

"Earl is alive .. that is what matters. i admit, if I find this balor lives, i shall rejoice. One can teach the dead, but its easier to teach the living...and I have so many lessons for any who would snuff out my son"

"Aye."

A breath "but the farm must come first. regardless, i thought it proper to tell you of what i was about to engage in. you have a stake here, no less than mine. "

"And I shall protect that which is mine."

"Though I fear for him. He will try to live to his ideals - it is why I love him, aye, but..."

"but he is still a troll" A sigh