#rivervale_lodge

She laughs "I mean, if I went around calling myself emperor"

"You would need a magic sword, obviously"

"Not many magic cutlasses, not legendary ones"

"We should work on that, obviously..."

"Maybe write a sea-chanty?"

"OH I need to introduce you to tove"

"She's a skald"

"A... bard, aye?"

"Well, not sure it's quite the same, but she and her da, can both sing amazingly. And they do know a lot. I know a few Sea chanties and they've taught me to sing, nothing professional mind"

"Well, I'm sure you do it better than I. Sluagh do not sing."

"Well, that's not your fault" She says "It's likee expecting a troll to win a limbo contest. We're just too tall"

"Truth. I am quite good at limbo."

"I've seen sluagh wiggle through the most amazing things once or twice. It's like, do you guys even neeed doors?

"

Clearly a bit in awe of that particular gift

"Well... it's certainly easier."

"But we are difficult to cage. It may be impossible to shackle us without iron. I've never tested it..."

"Well, it won't be tested here. Mom hates slavery with such a passion. She's called Shacklebreaker or a reason"

Brekke is here? We're gonna need a bigger coffee mug

Zara's expression darkens. "I think, a'times, slavery is a worse sin than death."

"You'll find a lot of Amens in THAT particular chorus"

"At least around here" She says

"Mayhaps."

A tilt of her head "You've seen it, haven't you? Slavery, I mean"

Her grey lisp draw into a thin line and she nods. "Aye."

"The sidhe are fond of it."

"I'm sorry" She says "you or..well , who is not my business. But I'm sorry it exists. "

"Not me, no. But... I've seen it, yes. Seen what it does."

"Mom doesn't talk abouti t much, but i hear stories. It's not just the sidhe, ashamed to say. I know of troll lands that had it for a time" A sigh "but some sidhe are really bad. "

"Any kith may do evil... but here, in my life..."

"They're both our great heroes and our worse villains." He says "And one can find a seeming angel on the throne and then find out she's delighted to rule hell and drag you down with her, or stumble onto a broken old man and realize he's a knight who no tarnish can take the shine off. Weird lot, Sidhe"

She sniffs. "They are not grander tales than we are, for all their sparkle."

"Tales of giants, of strength, of Atlas and Hercules and Paul Bunyan and John Henry..."

A grin slips "And tails of River hags, witches in the bogs, and ghost whisperers?"

"Every boogieman, every whisper in the dark, every set of baleful eyes watching from the shadows..."

"You, my new friend, are a touch of a poet"

"Earl has rubbed off."

"I don't know Earl so well" She admits "But I like his artwork. Oh want me to show you the paintings and sketches he did? We have more than one in the lodge!"

"Oh, yes!"

It turns out, some Zara may not have seen. A few are from before Siv arrived, others only recently with family encounters.

"Oh, this is from Clem's ceremony!"

"mm hhmm" She says "Earl's a wiley one... got us interested in all three."

"Well - he's good, of course you'd want all three."

"You know what I mean, he made each one touch a different theme so it had to appeal thrice oveer... he's sneaky, great artist, but he knows how to show the customers what they didn't even know they wanted"

"I think he might not admit to that..."

"Can't blame him. " A smile then she ponders "Maybe I should get a commission from him"

"Oh? What were you thinking?"

"Not sure... I've a crazy idea, but ... ah, it might be more of a landsape thing"

"Like how?"

"my mother's from Norway" A slight smile