#elsewhere

A soft knock at the door of the house. Velvet has wrapped herself in warm clothes.

Zara answers. She has a shabby velvet robe on over her clothes, and is wearing slippers. "Ah! Velvet! You must be freezing, come in!"

"thank you kindly, miss zara" She walks in "I am so dreadfully sorry to be intruding upon your abode with no warning."

"Is there an emergency?"

"i suppose it depends on my liege's actions," she says "I doubt he will be so foolish as to focus on the willworker who bespelled him, ah, but I get a head of myself. I was hoping for a bit of lore regarding willworkers, and as you are so much more traveled than I, I thought who better?"

"Ah. I have met a few, and read some... they are a mysterious lot. Would you care for tea?"

1122 scuttles around Velvet's toes.

"always," She says, then smiles a bit to see 1122, and she wiggles her toes a bit as he crosses over them. "And thank you"

"Follow me. This is Miriam's kitchen - ours is upstairs."

And she follows "Lovely home, the design is wickedly wondrous"

"Aye. I am fond of it."

As they head up, it grows dustier, more macabre, "Oh. "

"I believe Earl is painting, so we shall not be disturbed."

Zara floats to the kitchen, for cup and kettle.

As a good guest, Velvet offers "Is there a manner in which I can assist?"

"By making yourself comfortable!"

She does, sitting like a lady.

Some bustling - to a sluagh, Zara's boggan influences are quite obvious.

Soon enough, a tea is set out. Clumpy cream, stale cookies and moldy jam... a feast!

"oh my, I shall swell to obscenity" she says as tea is set, "You shall be pleased to know that the library continues to thrive. Sadly, there are more visitors, but such is the price of success."

"Aye. A shame, in some ways. Be mindful of strange Eiluned."

"is there another kind?" she inquires

"Well - familiar ones, if still odd."

"Ah, I see," Concern "is some daughter or son of the house of secrets overstepping ?"

"One is mad for a book that she mayn't have. It is not in Earth Runes library."

"I see, shall I feign ignorance then? or leave crumbs to a false trail should a strange eiluned show?"

"I trust your discretion."

"Trust not her spiders. She rules them with a treasure."

"Does she?" Intrigued

"Aye, a black crown."

"my. " She says "The shining host do save the best things for themselves, don't they?"

"So it often seems."

"Well , with my liege facing off agaisnt a mortal will worker, I must needs focus on that instead. Can you imagine? One of his will, made to forget?"

"With their magic? Aye. They can alter reality on a whim - what else do you know?"

"There were three students under the spell, my liege, and two mortals... each had their mind tampered with. To what reason I cannot be sure. I fear Baron August's nature is now known, and if the magus is a fae hunter? " She takes a breath and spreads jam "He might be in some dire danger I cannot shield him from. I am too ignorant"

"Tis hard to shield against them - but they are bound by their own laws."

"Play up your nature. Most respect the fae."

"i see. yes, well, good. i might trust mroe in my liege's own capablities, but lately he has been most sullen, boardering on the forlorn"

"Perhaps he forgets all he has."

"Perhaps," she says "perhaps it is guilt gnawing at him."

"Guilt?"

An elegant shrug and then a sip of tea

"i suspect he misses someone, and fears he has driven him, or her, away."

A huff.

"Did he send you, too?"

"He?" A sip "Do you mean my liege?"

"Who else?"

"he did not send me, I came here to ask for knowledge about will wokers because I am ignorant, and cannot be of aid to him unless I remedy that, or get him add from another"

a blush at the admission of ignorance

"You are a good squire."