#rivervale_lodge

"I do not kneel I will not be bound, no. I have no liege."

"Then don't shoot the messenger even when she's you" Siv says with a smile

"Alliances need not be matters of kneeling. But...you are welcome here." A look to Siv.

"I... I may have misperceived."

A look of gratitude to her mom

"It was not my wish to cause upset."

"Well, the bullets cause me greater upset."

That might have been a joke.

A chuckle so at least the daughter gets it

"Yeah, gave me baby skin spots. Moms" Siv says in a stage whisper to Zara

A sigh. "I have patrol." She finishes her coffee. "You should wash, Siv, before you sleep. Kerri, please make sure that Zara is provided for." She rests a hand on her daughter's shoulder for a moment.

"...Thank you, Chieftain."

"Thanks, Mom. I will... Honestly, I think I've got enough surprises so just girl talk with Zara will be fine... and .." A gogg look "I have a car! I have a car! I remember I have a car!"

THen "And it's BURIED in snow"

"Mm. That memory returned to me as well before you got back. And you will not be driving it on icy roads, so it will stay buried right now."

"Ohhhh, driving in snow is the worst, aye..."

"Yes, mother" A wistful sigh, but she is obediient. Mom needs a win she figures

"Safe patrol" Siv says and gives her mom one last hug before letting her go

Siv watches her mom go, even as Kerri vanishes to make arrangements for Zara, then Siv looks at Zara "So... Earl huh? Is he a good kisser? Or is that too blunt?"

Zara turns VERY pink. "Ah..."

She curls up with tea and a blanket by the fire, well-apportioned with stale cookies - oh, this one has a lovely lacey mold, perfect to dip in tea and nibble...

"Right, perhaps too blunt" she says "Okay... how about, Bronte? wherever did you find her? I mean, a real life bookwyrm, they normally grace only the greatest libraries."

Siv sets up her own cot carefully. She will shower before going to bed.

"That is a story, aye - and I have Earl to thank, truthfully... he is a most gracious suitor, creative, generous... why, once he found for me a monkey's paw..."

"Isn't that a ..bad thing?"

"Only if you use it..."

"You like living near the edge, Zara" Approval "Go on. Earl lead you to Bronte?"

"Earl won himself an egg... alas, twas on Samhain, so the details are fuzzy... but I do remember he took me to England. The ghosts there, on that night of nights! The Tower!"

"your paramour got you a genuine bookwyrm egg?" Siv decides then and there Bancroft is going to need to up his game "Oh The tower, I hear stories of a giant's head, Bran in there"

A sigh. "He did, aye. Is he not wonderful?" Oh, Zara can kvell on Her Artist, even if her praises always stay firmly within the bounds of polite ocnversation.

Siv seems to be the sort of girl who reads Sweet Valley High without shame and just delights at the stories told. She mentions Bancroft eventually, perhaps not sure why she does. THe word Lump comes up a lot, but she smiles when she says it.

And out of respect to Zara, she doesn't go out of those same bounds, thjough she has to focus a bit

Talk of their lads. But also cars. And quests! And hopes for their futures might even come up.

(End Scene)