#earthrunes

More than one book is gathered into a tidy box for delivery.

And, elsewhere, just outside the hold, a bloody but bandanaged Sir Earl DeBuke is being carried in by a strange sidhe

Even though he is not as bulky as most trolls, that's still not light

Outside the hold is close enough - whether it be spiders or a very particular Raven!

Indeed, something of a race. Both arrive at the library at the same time, the trueheart bird crying out in a fuss! And sister number 5, well, more articulate Earl is hurt. A strange sidhe has brought him in.

?

!

Zara is up in an instant, making haste - not even caring if she is seen.

And she finds a Gwydion Knight carrying her lover inside, talking to Oswald the thane "Oh he's healed up enough, just needs his rest. He was in quite a duel" Cheerily

The pale sluagh darts to the idiot troll's side, spidery hands reaching out and touching him, searching for injuries.

"Emma will be told and..." Oswald stops "And this is Miss Zara"

Earl is out cold, looks liike chimerical injuries along the right arm, and thigh.

He's wounded, but the wounds aren't bleeding and are partly healed.

"Duel?" She whispers, holding the injured arm.

"Ah yes, stout fellow ended up fighting me, it was not to the death. I don't DO those. Right of life and all is precious and even chimerical death deadens the soul" the Gwydion nods gamely "He's no warrior, but what a scrapper. He put in that quicksilver and was a BLUR. The fellow really knows his wayfare" The Gwydion is a blonde haired blue eyed god of eld, who has a sword at one side, a hand axe at the other. "He nicked me quite properly at my shoulder. " The fellow also has a bandage.

Her dark eyes narrow into slits.

"And why, pray, did you come to blows?"

"The oddest thing" The Gwydion admits "I insulted an author he was a fan of. He asked me to recant, but drivel IS drivel, though I did concede it was his right to favor oerweening syrupy romances too laden in prose purple to be taken seriously. I asked if he knew the author, he said he did. I told him I was sure she was quite nice but good people can, pon occasion, produce brain rot."

"I would not imagine you to be the type to have actually read the books in question."

"A book club has its highs and lows" The Gwydion shrugs

An imperious click of boot heels, and Coradel approaches in a trim black riding habit. "What has happened?" she demands.

"Our visitor hath opinions on literature."

She cradles Earl's head in her lap, petting his hair.

"What does that have to do with this," she says, indicating Earl prone before them all.

(The idiot)

The handsome (Aren't all sidhe fellows if they're not just flat out beautiful?) stranger bows to Coradel "Pardon, good lady. I was told this feisty knight lived here. And, after our duel was done, did the honorable thing, patched him up and brought him here"

"He defended the honor of the author from slander."

"Truth maybe abrasive, but by definition it cannot be slander" The Knight corrects gently "Never theless, this troll fought for the writer's honor and did this hold proud. "

"Tis a fine thing, to disparage what one cannot do."

Thane Oswald ahems. "Pardon, Sir Knight, but you failed to give a name? This is Baroness Coradel Truthbranch, savior of the siege, and holder here."

Coradel notes Zara's venom and says, "I trust I'm somewhat familiar with the author in question?"

"Twould be Earl's favorite, I presume."

"Hm. And...you, sir, do not approve?"

She levels her gaze at him in a manner that has been known to leave some people's knees shaking.

"Ah, " the knight is struck by Coradel's imperious beauty and sense of command. Even sidhe aren't always immune. He bows again "Sir Derwood Goldfont ap Gwydion, and I am, in point, a writer. Though I use a pen name. So I know of the trade. And sadly, Talia Amur, well, her work... lacks."

A sniff.

A slight gesture to Zara to bid her to hold off on retaliation for a moment, and then Coradel paces to face the Gwydion directly. "And yet, Amur's books inspire the dreams of many. Do you deny this?" Her voice has become lower, silkier.

"So do McDonald's jingles" he shrugs "And if she has inspired actual dreams that produce glamour, for I've not seen it, but I would take the word of such a lady as yourself on it"

"Oh, so very kind of you to do so." The ironic tone is not hard to detect. "And yet, here you are, claiming that your notion of 'truth' -- which in fact is little more than a matter of taste -- is more important than that which inspires dreamers." A tsk. "How terribly banal of you, sir."

The sluagh quietly bristles, fingers twined in the troll's hair.

Before the knight can reply, she demands, "Who is your liege, and where their hold?"

The Gwydion takes the rebuke, though it clearly struck home, he ahems "I see you too are a fan of the author in question, Baroness, to come to her defense so assertively. I am currently sworn to no ledge. I travel a great deal, as a writer. I find experience of travel a worthy muse. I hail originally from Pacifica."

"Well, then...far be it from me to keep you from your muse, good traveler. Thane, would you kindly escort this errant to the road?"

"Wait, a moment" he says "I pray you?"

She had already begun to turn away, but she pauses, and her anger is now clearly evident. "You, sir, have mistaken your opinion for absolute truth, seriously wounded a member of household over this mistake of yours, and have brought him here hoping I would say, 'What a good boy you are!' I see no reason to wait."

Zara's shoulders quietly curl inwards.

"Baroness, I expected no such thing. I brought him here because it was the honorable thing to do. I had hoped when we recovered to have a drink with the fellow. I thought, like myself, he was an Errant. Could you please pass onto him that it was a most enjoyable bout, and he did his authoress proud? "

A blink. "And now you crow about your honorable nature, and in the next breath make a mere messenger of me?" She looks to Oswald again. "Thane."

"This way, SIR" Oswald says cooly but perfectly politely

Coradel's attention is now focused on Earl and Zara, her back to the Gwydion.