#rivervale_lodge

"Dad?" Siv looks around for her father

"Mmm?" Frank looks up from his desk, and lifts the half-moon spectacles off his nose.

"I swear some days you blend like a chameleon" his crimson clad daughter moves to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek

"I do? Not on purpose. I was just reading some dispatches. Is something wrong?"

"Nope, pretty good in fact, but I need you to plot with me against mom" A wink and she hands over a scroll.

The scroll is an invitation, for free ranging camping over a baron and baroness's fief in Nova Scotia. Red Spruce Roaring? Guide or privacy will be provided as wished, for up to two weeks as honored guests of the land itself.

"It's near the kejimuk..keij..." Siv sighs and checks her phone, as young folks often do "Kejimkujik park in Canada."

An eyebrow.

"Interesting."

"You and mom would love it, I think... so when a boon for a quest was insisted upon by a lord, and invitation to the two of you is what I asked for. But you know how mom thinks, how to get her to accept such and.. I don't know,, put her heels up so to speak. SO i am hoping you'll help coax her to just accept it"

"A boon for a quest?"

"True love reunited" SHe beams

Frank clears his throat. "Sounds like there's a story there."

"Well, there is... but the focus is getting mom and you to take a vacation or honey moon sort of thing here. You two have given me so much, I want to be able to say I sometimes give back a bit of joy" Siv shrugs

"And I'm sure we'll thank you for that." Frank nods and sets the scroll down. "Tell me the story."

"Well, Not sure where to start... I'd found some wreckage, treasure. I also found a shark and got bit on the leg and got in a fight. That's where those Shark steaks came in that Kerri served? Tasty right? ANyway... I returned, and discovered the treasures there were a bridal dowry! Now, I took them here to try to figure out who to return them too... and Sylvi helped whisper them and such..."

"And we got some answers, but we also triggered some trap, and found ourselves whsiked away to the dungeon of this noble lord who was out of his mind with grief for his lost bride. The trap figured we were in on her abduction, so we had to puzzle solve and fight a bit and the like"

She goes into a few examples... "We got to the main hold and met the man. Baron Alanbari. blood of Bran. a Troll."

Frank listens stoically.

"He had sworn to wait for her arrival.. and so was trapped when his bride was kidnapped. We searched for her.. found her, and released her." Siv is leaving out a lot. Like.. WHO did the kidnapping, and where the lady Gwydion was found, "Twas touch and go but was all worth it when they were rejoined back in Red Spruce Roaring"

He clears his throat. "And... you want Brekke and I to go there."

"To the parks around it, to see the trails and maybe kayak and... what, you don't think mom would like it?"

"It sounds exactly like the kind of thing she would enjoy."

Siv brightens "Well then. Would you like it?"

He nods. "It sounds like I would."

"Good!" She beams "I'm not sure how long that invitation boon is open so mom shouldn't just sit on it and you know she might be tempted to. I promise no coups of the lodge while you two are gone, at least not from me"

Frank nods. "I will address it with her. Unless you would rather? It comes from you."

"I figure you make a better pitch" She says "obviously it may wait till after Pennons and such"

Frank nods. "Will you be here for Pennons?"

"Of course" She says surprised he asked then realizes "OH, you thought I might want to go to Earth Runes instead?"

"Or roam." He agrees.

"Oh, I'm a Lady Captain Errant to be sure, but for holidays? I can hang here." A smile "This is my home port" A lower voice "Also Nadeen is ready to threaten people if they don't show up to support Dagmar in the Joust"

A soft grunt. "Good point."

"Yeah, snitty varichs are annoying. Still, Dagmar seems a good influence on her and I like my cousin anyway" she says "Oh, have you seen CJ recently? I swear that kid is getting big for his age"

His beard moves. "He is."

"You've got to talk to Jonas. He got suckered into babysitting him twice. I love the man, but there's such a thing as being too eager to report for duty"

Eyebrow.

"What?" A pause "Dad. If someone asks him for help, unless he has another duty, he says.. yes. Hes' got no sense of work life balance."

"he's so... " A frustrated look "Trollish!"

"What did you expect?" nonplussed.

She sighs "I don't... I worry he's burning himself out is all. Do you know what else he might be dragged into? Teaching childlings at the DeBuke school. He's qualified to teach the younger age groups. Soon as Chief Clem found out she did that 'awwshucks I'm just a plain iowan chieftain but let me pull at your heart strings' thing. and now he could be working like three jobs"

"Trolls are built to carry large workloads." but he does look thoughtful.

"Do you know what it's like to have someone who you admire for their sense of duty, love for their big heart, and at the same time want to bounce something solid off their skulls to get them to take care of themselves? It's exasperating"

BOTH eyebrows. "I'm familiar with the feeling, yes."

"Well, how do you handle it?"

"I take her sailing."

A grin at that

"Mmm. Yes, you usually respond well to that ."

She sticks her tongue out, then says "Fine. So you're saying Jonas and I are a lot a like?"

"Not on the surface but in some ways, yes."