#earthrunes

She blinks at him. "That long." A bigger sip of wine. Then she shakes her head. "Why hasn't she tried to get something done sooner?"

A deep, DEEP sigh. "I don't know." with feeling. "She's gentle and kind, she hates the idea of conflict, or anyone being hurt. Even him."

"Him? She's protecting him? A Balor who has threatened her and...well, I don't know who Rudy is, but it sounds as though he ended badly." Another drink.

"It did." Quietly.

"Tell me. Who was he?"

"Her half-brother by Paler. A satyr. Paler sent him to ... ah, interfere with her parent's marriage. He failed." A pause. "Paler... dismembered him. And sent her.... a piece."

A sigh and she shakes her head. "If you tell me it was his penis, my suspicions about this ass will be somewhat reinforced."

August's look speaks volumes. "It was."

"Oh, for Dreaming's sake...he's a prurient twelve-year-old in a grown man's body, I suppose. But with enough power and followers to cause real damage." She drains the glass and pours another. "Why doesn't she want him dead? Please tell me she's not hoping for his reformation."

"I don't think she hopes for that, not anymore. She just wants him to leave her and hers alone."

"I don't think she's got much hope of that happening either, though."

She turns to look at him, quietly for a moment.

"So...what options are you entertaining?"

He takes a deep breath and rakes his fingers though his hair. Hampered by the hair-tie, he pulls it loose. "Well. If we can get that plan to work..."

"I'll distract him while she casts her magics on him and then Earl and I will, ah, jump him."

She watches him loosen his hair with interest, then when he pauses, she coaxes, "And then...?"

"Well. Like with Tantalus? Take custody of him and take him to Count Jude. House Liam can keep him contained. He's earned it a hundred times over."

A dubious look. "He's earned far worse than containment, August."

"The Escheat."

A bland blink. "Fine. Then I will fight him. If he falls to my blade in combat, then it is still within Escheat."

August's jaw drops, his fingers freezing. "Coradel... no. Just... no, I mean... where... -how- would.... no!"

She narrows her eyes at him. "I do not think that approach is having the effect you would like it to have." A warning.

He stops, and turns away to pace tightly across the room, back and forth. "Sorry."

She tosses back some more of the wine. "Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't? One that involves words other than 'no'?"

"Because the idea of it scares me."

"The idea of you being anywhere near that... person."

"August, honestly...if you think I'm just as much at risk from him as Zara would be? In a fight? I might be insulted."

Pacing. "I'm not sure what his combat skills are. He seems to have lived by wits and subterfuge, mostly."

"A good likelihood he's not much of a challenge with a weapon, then. So far I'm not hearing anything to dissuade me."

She watches him pacing.

He marches in silence a few turns. "Because... it's her fight. Her decision. Zara's."

"And she has not resolved it in two years, and it is now a problem for EarthRunes."

A sip. "She had her chance. Her ways didn't work. She has told me, now. Now it's my turn."

August drags his fingers through his hair again. "I wish you wouldn't. I understand, it's effecting EarthRunes and yes, yes, I ... but...."

Pursed lips, head tilt, arms folded, wine glass tilted just so between perfectly manicured fingers...she waits for what follows but.

He takes a deep breath, bringing himself under tight control. ".... but I wish you wouldn't."

She watches him a long quiet moment, deliberating.

"I'm sorry. I've spend a couple years protecting and defending Zara's privacy. Her secrets, the ones I'm privy to anyway. This has been one of them. Her story to tell."

"Hmph." Annoyed, she finishes the wine, sets down her glass. "Then here it is: You don't get to do this without me. I have a part in it. You don't keep me from it. And if plans go south, then I get to do what I feel needs to be done. AND...if Jude releases him later, or if he escapes? He's mine."

August looks up at her, arms around his chest. He pauses in his pacing. After a moment, he nods. "Ok. Yes." A beat. "Thank you."

A gracious gesture, a bit of a nod...then a hint of a grin. "You are unfairly handsome when you're being stubborn."

He gives her a puzzled look, as if she has four pencils and 7 apples, and wants to know how many pancakes will fit on the roof.

She approaches him slowly. "Hair loose, arms tense, pacing and focused and so stern...." She's teasing him a bit as she comes within arm's reach.

His expression eases not a whit. "I think I'm scared of a lot but... this really scares me. You and he meeting, even.... "

She frowns, her humor not winning him over. "Why? Honestly, August, you think he's that much of a threat?"

Dead-level gaze. "Yes."

She returns it, frowning. "You think I am weak, then."

"-No.-" Firmly. "Coradel, he's -insane.- Fully, unqualified, insane. He won't do anything that makes sense. He's not -rational-."

She shrugs easily. "Challenging, but no more than that."

"From what I understand, he's spent the last... maybe 20 years trying to... to -breed- a prophesied weapon for world domination. And he thinks Zara's it."