#earthrunes

"No more candy from Firnost, right?"

"We'll have more than you can possibly eat at Carnival. And ice cream."

"Oh, I understand the temptation of Firnost, Freddy. But no more for now. And yes...you should work off what's left of this. Ludmilla's plan's good...but it should happen someplace safe. Dark glamour, after all."

"I'll take him offf the grounds but in my care," Ludmilla volunteers

She thinks about this a moment. "Off the grounds, but safe? Where do you have in mind?"

Freddy sighs

"I mean quite litterally at the foot of the hill outside the hold. As he starts to forget himself I'll put good glamour in him." She says

"Sigh away. Grown ups are boring and fussy."

A bit of a laugh to Sparrow, then a nod to Ludmilla. "That's fine, then."

Ludmilla says "Come with me, young man. I think you'll sleep better tonight by the balefire."

Coradel stands again, a flicker of thought at Ludmilla's parting comment, but then she looks to the others. "The rest of you feel okay?"

Isis sighs "I suffer from neglect. No one has told me i'm purrfect in like hours."

Sparrow watches as the pair depart, feathers still rumpled.

"I should find that pooka."

Isis gets a scritch. "Perhaps that's because you tease your brother?"

"Do we know any more than 'cat pooka,' Deryn?"

"She was at Firnost."

Isis says "Only because I love him lots and lots."//Enri sighs "If only she didn't love me so much"

"I don't know that I've met a cat pooka there." She goes to Enri and gives him a bit of a comforting hug.

"I've met one. Fleur. She's... she's a difficult one."

"Difficult how?"

"Thorny. Difficult lies to parse. Something is going on with her, but it's hard to be sure just what..."

"Like she's hiding something. That's not comforting." She looks to where Ludmilla and Freddy left.

She nods. "Exactly. I'm no Gwydion, most pooka don't bother me - even if they do sometimes confuse me."

((hang on, feeding cats))

((back))

"I'm rather fond of pooka." She gives the sibs a wink. "But I don't appreciate them tormenting my wards. I want to go to Firnost and find the one who did this...but I want to be sure it's the right one. Hmm....Somebody here must have the ability to see back to when Freddy was dosed."

"Magnus might."

"Actually, I'd be willing to bet that he does. I swear, that boy has more arts than is reasonable."

Oneus says "he tells some good stories. Maybe he should have been an eshu like Freddy."

"Maybe! But I think he does okay as a sidhe, too."

"Magnus! Of course..." She shakes her head. "Well, I'll message him, have him come see what he can see."

"Lady Claire wants him to climb her tower and proposition her" Isis says "it's very romantic. Only he's a dummy head and doesn't realize their loves is ready to go to the next evil."

She laughs. "Oh, you're perceptive! And yes, sometimes he's a dummy-head, but he's our dummy-head, so we'll keep him."

She quashes most of a laugh before it escapes entirely.

gyre says "You shouldn't get Dame Claire talking too freely and then share her secrets. She might get furkin mad"

"Oh, I've made her mad before." Coradel waves that off.

"Fearless Fiona."

"Roar." Coradel winks.

"Sir Magnus is scared of her, how come you aren't?" Gyre asks

A wry smile.

"She's found Sir Magnus's weakness. And someday he'll figure that out."

She fishes out her cell phone from a pocket, and quickly taps out a message, then sets it aside. "Now, show me what you've been working on?"

"Masks! And banners, and posters.... all kinds of things."

That has all the kids excited to show off at once... "Sparrow told me how to... " "I did a butterfly..." "I can't tell if this is blue or purple..."

"Ohhh, these are lovely...." She glances at her phone when it buzzes, smiles, and sends another message. "So....that looks like a very bluish purple to me."

Sparrow sits back, smiling now. Glitter in her feathers AND her hair. Pernicious stuff.

Coradel smiles. "You're all sparkling."

"I miss Olgi" "Silly, the trolls took her away, she's fine. "

"It's okay to miss those who aren't with us. It's a sign of love."