#dreaming

"He is mad." One says "But not conciously cruel but at times..." A pause "At times, he loses a sense of what was what, or what is, for he makes what is. What need has a god of memory when the very past becomes what he wants? The present his whim?"

"He has no time. Not future, no past..."

"And thus those around him must do what they can to fill the roles that fit his mood... oh we sing for him, not because he 'makes us sing' but because he makes us. Why, if we didn't sing, he might wonder why he has us and we might be made into something else..though, his love of the lsot means he favors us as we arel"

"I think" One says "Once, I was not as I am. I whispered.. and... couldn ot sing. I had no teeth to bite flesh. How odd ,yes?"

"A whisperer.. aye, I know of them..."

"YEs, oh well... I know not when tht was, .. he'll turn the seasons again soon no doubt. Oh in Spring we can be quite randy" A look at another "Thouogh some of us are in ANY seasons"

Zara giggles.

"Oh, my love is here... he would capture us in paint..."

One of them sticks her black tongue out back at the accusation "Why be denied?"

"oh? " And they look intrigued .. oh they are not sluagh to be so intrigued

"We could pose and then others see his work and if they come near they shall think us sweet like mermaids..." A wicked huntress smile

"We could! Draw them close, stroke them, and bring them into our embrace..."

Oh this causes a chatter "Use them for pleasure..." "Use them for the hunt" "Teach them proper respect for the old ways" "All of the above" "Then take the pretty things they drop from their pockets, put them into our coves"

Zara listens, and learns. Earl can see her delight, her gifted voice bubbling up musically in the mix.

And as she lures them more into view... he begins to paint, oh how alluring they will look, pale glimpses of alluring flesh, with just a hint of the sharp teeth waiting should any chase after the former

Zara feels a bit of a preen coming on.She could sing now, and summon her gargoyle to sink like a stone.. to the depths.

"We must... we must be patient, so he may bring us more men."

Some pining, longing, and thirst to those who swim IN water aplenty but then that pining turns into music too, not to lure him to his doom, but to inspire perhaps as much as theycan.. and to please the Exile. He has been wonderful to keep their kith existant.

Zara sings... oh, a rare thing this, a new sensation.

And wonderful it is... to be errie, and alluring, oh any mortals that came here, if they could, would feel their blood heat and yet the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end.

OH and she learns secrets, it takes focus, so much focus, but between songs and posing... (And it is agreed that if she wants to eat Earl AFTER he's done painting they will only dine on what she leaves)

How polite!

She also learns of what's in the castle.. the other rooms. They've wandered now and then

Oh, she wants to see - she always does.

"Not all those who wander remain..animate" One says "It's ill manners to be rude to the Exile"

"Oh, aye, heaven forfend!"

It would appear Ruslka are quite mannerly thank you.

They are, after all, sisters... er.. cousins...

And when she rises out of the water, pale and beautiful, the gargoyle looks tempted to take her then and there, his painting done... oh how alluring... men will be inspired by it. But she wants to learn and see some of the other chambers.

"Much to see... Agnes is so busy, nu?" This time she does nip his ear, playfully.

"But the longer we wait the more we risk..." but the nip catchees him off guard, and a low pleased growl is in the back of his throat and he takes her up and flies her off.. will he have his way with her in the rafters? Or will they find a bed chamber empty and his wings spread over her there?

Well, that's not for mere mortals to inquire about.. .not safely. Folks have been drowned for less rudeness than that