#scarsdale

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In her room, Zara taps away at her phone and lets out a soft sigh.

A tap at her door, super-quiet.

Zara opens the door, greeting him with a sad smile.

There's an instant where August would have stepped in, rushed forward.... he stops himself. "I'm sorry." He says softly.

She steps back, letting him enter. "Sorry? You have naught to apologize for. I think I might."

He pauses at the door, but then steps in. "No, I... I was blind. And now..." A deep breath. "... Well. My loss." Seriously.

"No, no... sit." She gestures at Earl's chair.

He shakes his head, stays standing. "Thank you, no."

"Please? Or are you not staying?"

"I'll stay, just... I don't mind standing."

"My chair? The bed?"

He swallows, "No, I... I don't want to take your seat, or Earl's, or the ... I'm fine, really."

"I want to help you. You're my friend. I don't think Count Jude meant to hurt you."

"And I want to stop the threat to you, and your family."

"But... But I guess what I want is not.... it's more important what you want."

"He didn't. He's just..." A frown. "I am not sidhe."

"And I..." She frowns. "I do not want to hurt you. And I want to protect another. And the best way I know is with secrets."

A soft grin. "Of course." Fondly.

"And... in truth, I knew not if a sapling be an oak, or any other thing. I... mayhaps it IS, based on evidence and omen..."

"I know not. Not for sure. But I know the sapling is safe and hidden."

August frowns, puzzled.

"And I must needs keep it safe, and thee safe..."

"And I do not wish to hurt thee."

He sighs, sad, but trying. "I... I don't understand."

"A daughter plucked a pearl, unseen. And it may well be an acorn, but not yet an Oak."

He tries... he really does... he's thinking...

He shakes his head. "That sounds almost like the omen that Count Jude read to me but...."

"I... did not know if Jude could... he's a stranger...."

"And if you knew not, you could not be faulted..." miserable.

He takes a step forward. "Zara, don't be sad. I'm sorry. Tell me how I can fix it?"

"It was not a lie..."

"I knew not. Not for certain."

"...Still not for certain, in truth..."

"Zara." Carefully. "I don't understand. You're smarter than I am... please help me understand."

"A daughter stole aught from her fell father. A ghost, a raven, a spider, a witch..."

He blinks. "The ... omen? About the Liam?"

A nod, shoulders slumped.

"The fledge is safe, I swear to you."

"How can you know? I mean... " Puzzled.

"I did not know he was a Liam. Still do not know, not for certain. But he may well be."

Another pause.... August's expression goes from baffled to hurt. "Oh. Ah. You... you... you knew. About one that... you ... guessed."

"I... I did not know. But... I still don't know... but.. but I suspect, aye. Mayhaps."

"And I can't..." She tangles her fingers together, looking away. "It wasn't a lie, but it feels..."

"I am sorry."

August's expression goes from hurt to a smooth blankness. "Zara, where is my new brother?"

Zara sinks to sit on the bed. "He's my brother." Her whisper is soft, even by sluagh standards.

August's expression holds.

"I can't tell you. He's safe."

"Please tell me Zara."