#rivervale_lodge

They are rewarded as the fan resumes, this time with a cold gust of oooo and a nice breeze of ahhhhh

Foosteps, grown...

"Amscray" May says

"Totally, but now a... " She shuts up and mooooooves.

By the time the Vice Principal is yelling "WHo did this?" They are clear of visuals and just another student in the hall!

the breeze blows through the school, and Zane's plan works ....at least for an hour

What a wonderful hour!

Oh sure, lots of students, Sam herself, are questioned on who knew or saw anything later trhough out the day... but really? they have no clue, and no one WITH a clue is talking

What are they even asking about? The AC? Why would hs eknow anything about that?

"nevermind.." And she's dismissed

And you know, asking questions isn't even lying!

Not even a smidge!

School ends, and Tove shows up to pick her daughter. Unfortunately, unlike Jaymes, she hasn't figured out she's not supposed to be right up front ..so Tove asks as she gets in "Why was everyone fist bumping and high fiving you?"

She collapses into the front seat. "Huh? No reason."

"Well, I'd have thought you'd won a play off or something like that" Tove says "Got all your books?"

"Yup! How was your day?"

"Productive" She answers "I finished a song, worked with some others I know..."

"The song for the Liam?"

"for a certain horse ranch hold yes" A smile

"Great! Thank you SO much!"

"I don't know how effective it will be" she warns, "But I will say the Chieftain was impressed when I told her your plan"

"And, you're welcome"

Dag beams. "She was?"

"Yes... I believe she said it was a sound strategy for a start. She nodded with approval. You know how sshe is, bit like your dad, says a lot while saying little"

"That's great, though. I still wish she could just get a good champion... seems dumb that she can't..."

"Hey, do you think COunt Jude could baronessify her?"

"He's a Liam..."

"I suppose he might, but the Duchess of Appalachia might frown on it. "

"Who is the Duchess? Maybe we could go to her?"

"For that matter, it seems like she may have a hard time getting a champion because they have to be OF Dame Hazel's hold, not just on loan or an errant"

"Yeah, that seems super dumb."

Tove blinks and has to remember to keep her eyes on the road "You just want to talk to the Duchess? Just like that?"

"Goes against all the stories. I mean, don't knights errant go where they are needed?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Because she's a Duchess.. it's almost like waltzing up to a queen. Sidhe are very fussy about things like that"

"At least, so I hear" She says

"Oh..."

"But, I mean - maybe she'd see the injustice of it?"

"mmmaaybe" She says "But... sometimes bad things happen to good people and despite best efforts, the bad guys win. I hate that, but itt does happen"

"Well, if everybody just throws up their hands and says there's no hope, of course the bad stuff will happen."

"Everybody always just goes 'that's how it is' and 'the world isn't fair' but we're not... we're not just people, we're stories, right? So stories should win."

"I understand you have to try. I get taht. It's just sometimes.. even when you do try" A sigh "Sometimes stories are sad"

"But..." Jaw-jut. "But why is everyone so sure THIS one is sad?"

"She's a jerk. She's mad because she was second in line. That's a dumb reason to be mad, and to destroy a nice place."

"So she's a baroness? So what? You don't get to just take someone's hold!"

"It happens a lot more than you think, and I am not SURE this one is sad, but I do worry you are SURE it won't be, and I don't want your heart broken if it turns out to be a sad tale. Okay? I want you to be you, to try hard... like I know you do, but for every romance there is a hearbreak, for every comedy a tragedy, and sometimes the part of the story you're in is the century where the dark lord rules. We can't pick the chapter we are in, we can only be true to our character"

Stories, those she can talk about

"But, like, isn't it something that we were there, to hear about it?"

"That means something, right?"

"Of course, like the song I'm spreading, it's a seed in hope that someone wil do the right thing CAN Do the right thing."