#earthrunes

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The garden has gone wild, this is not entirely a bad thing, many love the forested look, but it's all over, and with the talk of some statues being put out here, well... mm. The steward goes to seek out the healer /gardener to trim her work by half

Emma is sitting on a stack of burlap bags, staring forlornly at the barren flower beds.

"Emma, I wanted to talk to … oh" She says then "Look on the bright side, your herbal section is an immense hit"

"Oh! Bonjour, Lady of Tears!" She smiles, even if her ears are droopy.

"Oh my..." She realizes it would be wrong to pat the girl or for that matter patronize her

"What is, how you say, up? I am nearly done laying out the annuals!"

Delores says kindly, "Dear, it's about the garden. " how to word this, "I think your best calling his healer."

"And two jobs might be distracting so.. assuming you kept some medicinal herb area... would you be offended if I hired a gardener and had you dedicate yourself to our healer as far as jobs went?"

A nervous grin and she tugs at her collar.

"I haven't done a good job?"

"You're a fantastic healer"

She fidgets.

"And your gardening has shown a clear love of nature in it's most natural and unmeddled state" Coming up with that one took a moment longer

"But not..." She gestures, tongue tied.

"But lately the snapdragons and tigerlilies are bordering on feral" She says matter of factly, "It's run a bit wild."

"...oui..."

"On the other hand , you held back the flu epidemic almost single handedly! You fixed broken bones from wounded warriors. And we won't even go into the pimple popping day which was, to my surprise, a big hit"

"I've really been lazing about... "

"Youv'e been working your ass off, The baroness noticed"

"I could keep my herb garden?"

"Of course"

"...and the snapdragons?"

"If you treat them right, they'll become real dragons you know..."

She stares for a moment then "WHat I think we can do is section off an area to be more forested, and another area to be more... cultivated"

"Oui?" A little clap.

"I could be queen of the forest!"

"You and Vince could sing together" a smile "But at least half of it will be more French Estate Garden I think"

She blows a rasberry.

"Mmmph" Delores says, "Maybe you and the new Gardener will become friends?"

"Oui! Quelle surprise!"

"Admittedly, most folks who know you like you. Oswald is quite protective you, and not in the usual troll way."

"Oh, Oswald is my lucky rabbit. I stole his foot."

A smile "Well, well earned. Oh.. how is that sweet lady related to you? does she need more hold time?"

"My second cousin's auntie Ermegarde? Oh, well, her hip fell out, and they had to go looking for the bone..."

The boggan's eyes go wide

She nods, earnest - utterly so.

"I .. mm well , if she needs space by the fire, let us know."

"When it's Green, Greener, Greening?"

"The Greening? I'm not sure of our full plans, but yes, of course she's welcome. I'll make sure a room is reseved"

"I'm sure she'll never leave!"

"If she needs a full week that's fine. Longer than that? still possible but we'll have to consider" The boggan says

"Oh, then she'd be Aunt Batty and not Aunt Erma. Which, while entertaining..."

She says "I'm sorry dear, I know it must be frustrating for you, but I'm just going to give up and translating that one and move on. Anyway, you are no longer healer gardener.. you are now THE Healer of the Hold, and mistress of medical herbs"

"But not the witch. She's the shush-er."

"I don't think we want a garden of night shade and hemlock only" The boggan agrees

Her eyes widen and she nods.

She pats her hand, and rises to go "Oh. Before I forget. This was Oswald's suggestion, he's more into star wars, but..." She reaches into a bag and pulls out "This is a Star Trek Uniform, I think the shirt top at least should fit, it has the markings and the badge that identifies you as Chief Medical Officer"

"you are not required to wear it, but he thought it only fair we formally recognize all you have done and said 'you gotta' enough times that it was either do it, or throttle him so hard you'd have to heal him up"

She squeaks, delighted, and holds up the shirt against her chest.