#rivervale_lodge

Zane waits for her, and when Kerri joins her, he says "Now, before you glare... you should know I'm .. well, okay I probably WOULD get scared but I'm going to try to tough this out and ask some questions"

"Oh, I bet you are," Kerri mutters, folding her arms uncomfortably. "Go ahead," she adds with some degree of resignation.

"You know Sovereign" he says.

A wry look. "That's not a question."

"No, but.. it's the lead in? How did you learn this? Who taught you? how long have you known? "

"Ah. There are the questions. Okay, so..." She considers for a moment. "I cannot give you the name of my source, but I'm absolutely certain it's nobody you know or will ever have the opportunity to meet. As for how...it started out accidentally. And...It's been about six months, I think. Maybe a bit more? And you, young man, are not to share any of this knowledge, do you understand?"

"I understand" He ssays then blinks "Wait, at the Blot... you TOLD something or someone no"

A pause. "And...?"

"And... a treasure.. great power.. a test...and you told it be Still or something.. you ORDERED it.. or used an on order.. okay, was it in the form of the one ring or something?" Zane says "It wasn't someone who taught you, it was something"

The boy's wheels of thought spin scarily . Zane always feel stupid compared to his father, but it would appear the apple isn't that far from the tree

Kerri narrows her eyes at him...then gives a short nod of confirmation.

"You are one of the few.. oh right, sometimes I forget you're NOT a commoner" He realizes "So.. why hide it? You're a knight"

"Well, that wasn't exactly something I asked for, Zane, and it's not as though sidhe are terribly pleased with commoners learning sovereign, even if they are ennobled. And...honestly? I like having an ace up my sleeve."

"Clever." he says then "So.. do you teach ? the basics?"

"Zane...no. I don't think....I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's not like..." She shakes her head.

"Well, you've taught other arts right?"

"I have..." she says slowly.

"Then.. you could teach this. However it got to you, the knoweldge is in your head now." Zane says "Besides, wouldn't you like to get back at hemlock in a perfectly legal fair way? He made you a knight without much say or so the story goes... so... you have the right to tutor certain arts"

A smirk. "Zane, your father would ground you for that dubious and manipulative leap in logic."

"No, he'd shoot holes in it, THEN Ground me" Then he smiles and crosses his arms "Then when he was alone he'd chuckle and be juuust a bit impressed. Can you blame me for trying? Soveriegn. I mean.. I have no authority so it won't work as well, but I still would love to learn it"

"And some day, when you have some measure of authority, it would kick right in." A sigh. "Zane, even if I wanted to teach it, which I don't...I can't imagine that would be well received by just about ANY of the nobility. There would be repercussions."

"Maybe, but... " he paces, "I think you have an obligation to pursue it on hyour own, and then eventually teach it. You said it yourself, ace up your sleeve, useful weapon, so on...I'm thinking part of what drives you... all of you, is you want the Hold to be better when you finally move onto your next life than it was during it. You want it stronger, better protected.. and.. that doesn't mix well with not passing knowledge and skills on"

"I'm selfish, I'd like you to teach me, but please, don't let this go to waste even if you decide it's NOT for me specifically? Okay?"

She frowns. "Zane...what makes you think this would make the Lodge stronger? Honestly, it's an art with an enormous potential for corruption and abuse."

"It's how power is used, not power itself that leads to corruption... and too much ignorance is worse than too much knowledge. I.. Sorry. "

He looks sheepish "This sort of thing is my passion. To me, it's like... someone finds this great work of literature from a far away land like marco polo... but instead of sharing it... they never do..and when they die... part of the world remains ignorant"

Kerri's jaw tightens. "We don't know how often the not-sharing of information has saved the world."

"I..don't mean it as insult. I just I wish I were better at Debate like my father . All I can say is, please continue to learn and then one day consider passing it on" A nod "Sorry. I should ah, go now. The Mountain has already put in the birth notes I put down.. I also threw in some things regarding Greek Zodiac, little chinese, but I'm weak on Norse Astrological lore so I leave that to him. Thanks for hearing me out. I take it you wnt me not to talk too much about the soveriegn stuff?"

"If by 'not to talk too much' you mean 'forget you ever knew'? Then, yes."

Zane has a woebegone face at that "I'll PRETEND I forgot I gues. I can't really.. actually forget and wouldn't want to if could" he says

"Well, do your best, then. Go on." Kerri waves him off...but looks troubled.

Zane heads off.. his own brow a bit troubled.

Kerri takes a deep breath and returns to the kitchen, cleaning up and puttering.

Gerd looks up, "Something bad? You're wiping down the silver.. that's usually a frustration move"

"Just..." A sigh. "Sorry, Gerd, it's something I'd rather not talk about right now. Perhaps tomorrow."

"Sure, no worries. Would you like help? or would you like some solitude? I'm good with either" She offeers

"I think...I think I just need to think a bit, Gerd. I'm sorry. I'm glad you liked the soup," she adds with a grin.

"Loved it" she says "I don't know if you put a bit more bay or less but it worked out great" She brings the empty bowl to put it away and clean it.. or turn it over

Kerri accepts the bowl and starts to wash it. "I'm really not sure. That's one of the things about soup...it's hard to replicate amounts exactly. Either way, I'm glad you liked." A grin, but she's clearly preoccupied.

"I did.. easy on the belly. Huh...oh... before I forget... it's at The Gardener House, but do you like Goat meat? I visited Fenix and talked to the cooks there and... well, they had too much goat meat."

"Goat? Oh, I haven't cooked goat in a while. Sure, if they don't want it, that's great, thank you."

"Cool I'll have it here tonight . Wait, you've cooked it before?" She lowers her voice "Do we use it rarely so we don't offend the Wayburtons?"

"Well, I haven't brought it up in so many words, but I can't deny that...oh...oh, dear. Jack." She sighs. "Perhaps we'd better not."

"Not a problem.. I'll bring it to you, you cook while he's at Torins later."

"Myrttle Anne is cooking for Torin, invited the boys"

"Oh? How's that going, she and he?" And yes, if Gerd's goal was to distract Kerri from her troubles, she's succeeded a bit.

"I think they're good together... she seems to see through Torin's bullshit but she enjoys the effort? And when she does yank torin up by his beard hairs, instead of getting huffy, he smiles at it.. that's a good sign right?"

"Oh, I think it's an excellent sign." Kerri nods.

"M.A. has confessed that she MELTS when Torin hits those golden tones," A smirk "Not sure I want to know what makes grumps melty..yuck. but glad for her. As for him, he's kind of in awe of how much she knows about herbs. Hearth.. if she wanted people dead I think she knows about a dozen all natural ways to do it"

"Ahem. Speaking as a grump, we melt just fine with the right motivation, thank you. And yes, she strikes me as somebody whose good side you want to stay on." A wink.