* * *
Maliar glanced up from the forge, setting the hammer on the anvil to give her aching arms some rest. Her scrying stone vibrated insistantly on the bench a few feet away.
She shrugged and returned to her hinge-making. She had put it over there for a reason. Whoever sought her would go away given time.
A few minutes later, a thump came. The scrying stone had vibrated itself off the bench and still vibrated in the grass.
She scowled and summoned it to her. It didn't appear to be cracked, fortunately.
The voice of Lady Magnoliah issued from her scrystone. "Greetings, Lady Maliar. Might I have a few moments of yer time?"
She raised the scrystone to her face. "Indeed."
"Something has come up and I am requesting yer assistance."
"Oh?" The O'Suilebhain girl really had an atrocious accent. Must come from all that time around Celts.
"One of my clan, a very innocent lass, Khairra, has taken a rather foolish mission into her head, to go to Queen Cliodna to speak with her, I am very concerned for her safety at the moment."
I suppose you should be. The Queen is not someone to trifle with. Now which one is Khairra.... Oh, yes, the underhill. Well, that one would have no trouble with the Queen. "I see. The underhill?"
"Many in my clan are considering going to rescue her, but I do not wish to make battle with the siabra, can you help in any way?"
Slow down, girl-child. More than one sentence works quite nicely. Definitely too much time among the Celts in her formative years. "I'll ask the border guard to hold her until I get there, should they find her."
"I do not know how long I can keep my clan from going after her, I am trying to avert the conflict that is surely to take place."
"She went of her own free will, didn't she?"
"Yes, she did, but she is under the clan's protection, and is not wise in the ways of the world."
Then why are you charging off to rescue her? Let her wake up and see the world. Let her gain wisdom. Your coddling will do the girl no good at all. "You have to let people fly free someday. If you always save her, what will she do when there is no one around to save her?" Maliar considered the question thoughtfully. Of course, letting Aboreal fly free had woken black undercurrents to his moods. Perhaps that wasn't the best method of teaching. "But I grow melancholy. This is a simple matter. The Queen knows of her existence. She will not come to harm."
"How can you be so certain in these troubled times?"
"What's troubled about them? They are the same as always, minus a few score siabra." Hm. A trifle bitter there, she thought. She'd really have to do something about Zath. It would certainly make her feel better.
Then again, so might seducing the old firbolg, so that he turned his art to her and her alone.
"I thank you for whatever help you can give us, it will not be forgotten. May I be in touch about how we shall get Khairra back without bloodshed?"
Maliar nodded. She seemed to have scared the girl. Ah, well. She sent the still scry-stone floating back to the bench and returned to her hinge-making. Ambaratodil slipped out the door, gone to deliver her request.