#elsewhere

And she beholds the scene in the dreaming... an autumn chariot made of leaves... the leaves twining out like chains... and chimera bound to them... and among them? Her Bronte!

There is a sound, not unlike coins hitting a collection plate.

Hiss!

"CHAINED?!"

WHere is this? Dreamihng... near dreaming thouggh, fading into and out of the autumn world!

Earl raises a brow, alarmed. Rarely has he seen his lady this outraged. Not even when they visited the South and she tried what they call 'tea' down there

"She has been stolen! Imprisoned!"

Now Earl feels his own anger rise "not for long..."

The image continues...

"We must go. We must get her..."

The imaginary friend to the boy is a bear. A blue bear with fur, clearly inspired by some toy...

the chariot appears in the room... the bear rises and says "You ain't gonna hurt Larry. Grrr growl and..."

But the chariot isn't here for the boy... through the image the leaves lashes out in an almost vine like chain and grip the bear..oh how the imaginary friend struggles. A voice says to the bear "The tithe is... here."

"Tithe?" Hisssssss.

"Theft."

The bear fights... and Bronte tries to bite the chain while it's focused on the bear, not the one on herself, but the one grabbing the bear "“I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre" but then she is YANKED back with another gag

Zara tugs on Earl's arm. "NOW!"

"We must go now!"

Earl says "Share the vision with me so I might see"

A mix of shadows and fuddle - a nightmare vision of the scene, colored by her own emotions.

Earl says "Afraid to lose control
Caught up in this world
I've wasted time, I've wasted breath
I think I've thought myself to death
I was born without this fear
Now only this seems clearI need to move, I need to fight, I need to lose myself tonight! Woah, Come with me now!" And grabbing her hand invoking the magic and..

Earl spent more glamour than usual on that, not a great deal, but enough to hasten...

and a good thing as they find themselves in a boy's bedroom, the bear now being pulled into a rath

Zara bolts, diving into the rath before it can close.

And she does

She finds herself before the Autumn Chariot, the near dozen chimera chained and entwined

The rides looks at her, a wide brim hat like a western preacher "The Tithe cannot be denied" the figure says

Zara hisses at the chariot, shadows growing and swaying around her - a living shroud of darkness. "It can. And I do."

"You are not one with the land. You have no say" The driver says and raises a whip, which comes down cracking just missing her in the shadow

"I will not tithe. Release my friend."

_You would fight a bargain of Da'an? _

"You may not have her. Release her."

"Kneel" The driver says as a dictum washes over her.

Zara attacks the cantrip, fuddling it to think its target is the dirt five feet to her left.

"No." Chin lifted, proud and defiant.

Zara deflects the brunt of it.. and the rest? Weakened.. she defies

"Run now, bronte" a voice hisses. Jacob? With a sharp knife, crafted for nocker work! The vine snaps.

And distracted by Zara, the driver only now turns upon the boy. Bronte flies towards Zara. The Driver raises the whip.

The Eshu girl swings from a vine of a different sort yelling "Amistad!

"If you strike him, you will bring harm three times more grievous upon yourself." She intones - the weight of da'an on her words.

Zara catches and cradles the tiny dragon.

The curse goes wide, but the ride is distracted further and the little eshu knocks the whip loose.

The little sluagh boy now on his back winces and holds the knife.

the driver hisses and the whip flies back ot his hand "You can delay, but you cannot deny...the tithe will have it's due. Dreams collected for services rendered!" And.. a burst of brown leaves... and the chariot is gone.

Along with most chimera... but not Bronte who holds against Zara SHIVERING with fear.

Her eyes narrow. "Sounds like a bad bargain to me." Then she looks at Bronte. "Shhh... shh, darling, you're safe."

"she's okay?" a whisper.

"Scared, aye..." Pet pet pet.

"What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.-Mary Shelly" Bronte pants, but is quoting again. A good sign

"Lady Sluagh," Chaldea says "We meet again. Your brother was very brave... which suprises me, for as you know, he is a boy. Who ever heard of an Action BOY?" Baffled