#earthrunes

She appreciates these. A little taste of spring until the true season arrives. She gently raps on the library door.

"Aye?"

She enters. "Miss Zara, good morning. I trust you enjoyed Carnivale?"

"Miss Coradel." Hand to her chest, gesture at the other chair. "It went well enough. Earl and I escaped ere it grew too loud."

"Wise of you, both. I hope you were able to wager a bit as well, and to your advantage."

"We danced, too. After the trash was taken out."

"Mm, yes. About that..." She moves to claim a chair. "If you have a moment, that is."

"Aye?" Brows raised.

"What can you tell me about our Very Special Guests," she says with a slightly bitter tone. "And I don't mean the monarchs."

Nose-wrinkle.

"I understand they come from Alabaster Hollow."

And she takes a moment to pour Coradel a cup of tea. "Aye. I remember them."

She regards the tea being poured with appropriate attention, and nods her thanks when she is served.

"So, apparently, does August. It doesn't seem to be a pleasant memory."

"Seneca ap Dougal and Mirwin ap Fiona. They are unpleasant people."

"So last night was not an exception."

"Not even the ringleaders, but snarfling, obsequious hangers-on to the more obvious bullies."

Coradel smiles as she listens, enjoying Zara's venom.

"But then, the Heathers and their Chads were... ah... humbled... some years back."

A sip. "It sounds like there's a story in that."

"I may know a bit of it, but I'd like to hear the tale as you know it, if you're willing."

"Well. An untitled Liam would not be treated gently in a Dougal hold."

"Of course," she nods once, frowning.

"But you know August - he would bend his head, and take it, and ne'er complain."

The frown turning into pursed lips. Temper brewing just slightly.

"The Armsmaster would encourage it - pit August against fresh foes, when he was exhausted. Fault his arm for lagging after five bouts, while his opponent was on his first."

She shakes her head. "Abuse...to what end? Whom does it serve?"

"And, for his 'failings,' make August do the scutwork - cleaning, repair, and the like - as the favored students could watch him made low."

"It shows that they are superior to a Liam. That they may humiliate him. And, in putting down another, their own status is elevated."

"Why else strike at one beneath you?"

"Cowards," she decides.

"Tell me of how they were humbled?"

Sip.

"Aye. Petty, and without their own worth."

"Ah..." A touch of pink.

She tilts her head curiously at the sign of blush.

"There... pardon... the girls... they..." She frowns.

"Rumors spread, concerning my reputation. August defended my honor, and was punished for fighting them."

A bit of a smile. "That's August," she says proudly.

"And so... August knows this not... I... well, found my own rumors to spread. And in such a way that their own repute fell."

Oh, her smile grows. "I should have suspected. And I won't tell August. But that's lovely."

"Hmmm..." A pause. "Such a thing can lead one to seek revenge, eventually. Do you think that's what brought those to here last night? A chance at revenge?"

"I... that, I am not certain. They remembered August as weak and inferior. And here, they spoke of how he hadn't 'earned' his title - that he had... pardon... attained such through the bedchamber."

"They sought to cause mischief and humiliation."

Coradel's eyes narrow. "They said that, did they?"

The fingers not holding the cup tap thoughtfully on the table.

Zara nods. "So I followed them. Forgive, I could only do so much within Carnival's rules..." A little lip twitch. "They were not harmed by the fall..."

"The fall...." Puzzled, then the grin is back. "With the shoelaces?"

Big eyes, a look of exaggerated innocence.

Her teacup raised in a toast.