#earthrunes

Zara pulls out a chair for the fledge, and goes to pour two fresh cups.

"My mastery has much to do with extensive travel in the Dreaming itself. Once you are Sained, the silver shall open to you."

She sets the tray before the EIluned. "Sugar or cream?"

"A bit of both if you please" She sighs "Saining seems so damnably far away, if you don'tt object to me saying so"

"I sympathize. But it is always thus with wilder fledges. I was a child when I chrysalized, and it seemed less pressing - but one is more restricted at six than sixteen." One lump and a splash of fresh cream.

"And perhaps more tolerant of the restriction"

She notes the tea prepared "My thanks, Miss Zara"

Zara prepares her own - but it seems she has her own little silver pitcher, tightly lidded. The cream is... lumpy...

She pays that no mind, "So you are extensively traveled in the Dreaming? that must be both frustrating and delightful. The mists."

"Aye, tis! To know that you know aught, but it eludes your grasp..."

"But it is also a thrill, especially when you go from the near realms to the far... the rush of memories, to become closer to your pure self, and all of your past selves."

"I have only one past self. In some ways I think I envy your multitude of lives"

Zara smiles. "Tis my own private rogue's gallery."

A bit of a laugh at that

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Oh! Hm."

She sips her tea, considering.

"I once was a spy, embedded in a French court. I posed as a maid, for who notices the servants? Twas a time of intrigues, and also insurgency..."

"ooo intrigue is..appealing to the Houseo f Secrets I'm told."

"I would think. Human nobility, of course - but, truthfully, still complex."

"Well, human monarchy is flawed" She sips as if agreeing

"All monarchy is flawed." A shrug.

"And there we might disagree," A pause "though obviously a bias is at play, at least on my side" She taps a pointed ear the side of her head

She nods. "But see - I believe, in another system, the sidhe's natural gifts would certainly serve them well. Your kith is charismatic, to say the least."

"What other system would you reccomend?"

"Democracies have their own problems, certainly - different ones - but they rest on a presumption of equality, and not one of elites and mudsills."

She raises a brow "Given..real life troubles, it seems to me democratic dreams are not too sturdy"

"Ah, the trouble has stemmed from those who would have a king - wishing to subvert the will of the many, to rend apart the foundations of that republic."

"But the best leader is not always a sidhe. Look at troll lodges, look at nocker guild halls."

"And there must be a peaceful means to remove a corrupt, malignant, or incompetent one."

"For if there are no peaceful means, you are left only with force."

"I don't know many other holds" She says

"Which I should rectify"

She nods. "You will, in time."

"You may note, while I am a modernist - I do recognize Coradel's ability and character, nu?"

"She does not abuse the power she holds. But that is a matter of her nature, and Earth Runes' good fortune in having her."

"True. Baroness Coradel has a passion for her people which serves her. "

"She listens to their concerns, she is fair in her dealings. But naught obliges her to be so. She could be a tyrant, and what recourse would her subjects have?"

"Look to Sparrow - what if she had not been there to slay the Balor?"

"Mmm and yet , Sparrow was able to seize it partly because of the feudal system. One might say the best failsafe against a corrupt noble is a heroic one"

"And that is a poor failsafe. Exactly."

"But it worked well"

"That time."

"After years of suffering, and barest chance."

"And Da'an chose to free them.. with a sidhe noble to the rescue."

"With a troll knight, a sluagh commoner, several boggans, and one balor's hubris."

"And that troll knight instinctively sought out a sidhe to rule" She smiles a bit "Doesn't that tell us something?"

"That Siv has been raised in a monarchist system, sought a title herself, and perpetuated her own values."

"No 'instinct' about it."

A impish smile slips