#elsewhere

"it was a rescue... that failed"

"And Harvald is dead."

"Yes" A nod "Has been for a bit"

She taps on her chin. "Aye. Emmitt would protect him, even now."

"Are you saying that my grandpop... violated .." He looks utterly ill

"I... cannot say, not with certainty."

"I can say that this was a tragedy, which fueled more tragedy."

"if was Harvald then, that would explain why ... does Agnes even know?"

"She might not."

"So... what do we do from here?"

"They did not tell her, not in what I saw."

"He is dead."

"I.... cannot force Emmitt to tell the truth. He has sworn to hold that secret."

"And.. pray, forgive, I cannot imagine the DeBukes treating a troll sidhe-born as a welcome guest."

"For all that she IS DeBuke. They know not DeVere, nu? Not the truth of him, and that was an act of love..."

"You're right," He says "We can't tell Clem, she'd break the farmhold apart trying to make it right"

"God, I'm an asshole"

"It cannot be undone."

"What if she .. talks to other DeBukes and tells them?"

"I mean, she'd have a right too"

"Does she truly know?"

"She knows the act, but thinks Wildheart was the actor."

"No, she apparently thinmks her mother was ...seized, by Emmit yeah"

"And he allowed this, for Trolls are bound by Oaths as surely as any chain."

"If that's what happened, it's .. a dead son, an angry troll out of his mind with grief... honor lost... and then another years later taking the... damn it, Emmit"

"Harvald was a hero, up to the very end. This is like learning that Jefferson owned slaves..suddenly.. you don't know what a good man is" Earl paces

"We all have our sins, Earl."

"Yeah, but she's the one paying the price for it now, her and Emmit"

Zara nods.

"The man is dead. He went unpunished."

She frowns. "It... understand, love, that I am a sluagh."

A nod "And you know when punishment is... justified"

She nods.

earl tries to calm himself, but he looks shaken still

"Rage and grief do not excuse that."

"Explain? Aye. But not excuse."

"Twas an honor of reputation, the false honor, that took sway over honor of action."

"When winter calls honor a lie... " A gentle gesture.

"Aye," a sigh "He saved lives, but he never made restitution to the one he wronged. ..two he wronged. Maybe I can help this new Wildheart, covertly. I doubt she'd appreciate it openly. Try to repay the debt."

Of course, that is what Emmit taught her... to repay.. to make amends

She frowns.

"And he taught her Naming, to make payment."

"But.. it is a wound unhealed."

"And the cover-up is like a skein of flesh, with the injury still festering beneath."

"It cannot heal without light and air."

"I thought you just said we had to keep this secret?" Confusion

"I did not."

"The man is dead. The mother, too. But she - Banneath - still lives."

"Yes, she does," he says "But, if Clem learns about this, she's going to risk the farmhold unity to try to fix it"

"What honor is there in protecting a Name over a living soul?"