I considered shooting at the Dukes as they fled (Patreon)

but it wasn't exactly Seelie to shoot a fleeing enemy in the back.  Besides, they were probably heavily warded against harm by the Duchess's magick.  That was most likely the reason why I had missed such an easy shot when I was aiming at Matholwch from just a few paces away.

I could at least console myself with the thought that the Duchess would probably deal with those boys harshly when they returned, having failed their mission.

Or did they fail?

I would probably need to remove that strange object they were attempting to bury, if it was indeed preventing me from scrying outside my stone circle.

I picked up the shovel and eyed it warily.  This was the entrenching tool which Matholwch had said was housebroken.  I expected it to sprout eyes and dance around in an irritatingly jolly manner, but it didn't do anything.  As far as I could tell, it was a normal shovel.

I carried it to the edge of the circle where the boy Dukes had been digging.

The strange object was there, plainly in view, but maddeningly out of reach.  It was powerfully warded against any form of tampering.  I tried to apport it but I couldn't get a good magickal grip.  Even though I was looking right at the thing, for some reason I couldn't focus on it; I couldn't see it clearly enough to tell what it was, how large, how heavy, what it was made of, or anything.

After staring (or at least attempting to stare) at the thing for a while, I realized that I didn't know absolutely for certain that it was preventing me from scrying.  Maybe I chased off the Dukes before they could finish the necessary ritual!

I pooked back to the scrying chamber with mounting excitement as I thought of Ethel.  Surely she would see that my intentions were good, and would help me get rid of Jerry in a more satisfactory & permanent manner .. but in the meantime I could charm her with music played on the shovel, and we could share a romantic picnic..

I realized how hungry I was, and it became doubly imperative to contact Ethel right away.

After three attempts I realized that the Duchess's horrible totem was indeed preventing me from scrying out of the circle.

The Dukes had not failed their mission after all - at least, not completely.

At this point I began to realize that the Duchess of Daisies was more likely to be angry at ME for shooting at her son-nephews than at them for bungling their assignment.  The idea of Duchess Catherine's active enmity was chilling at first, but I reminded myself that she had been my enemy all along; the only difference now was that I knew it.

But why this?  Why just prevent me from scrying?  I knew the O'Daisies had formidable weapons at their disposal.  Why not try to kill me?  Was that the next part of the plan?  Had I merely interrupted them before they could get around to an assassination attempt?  But in that case, why bother with the scry-blocker?

I had to conclude, for some reason, that the Duchess had not been intent on killing me, and only wanted to keep me trapped here.

Was it perhaps because she was bound by honor or some sort of geas, and would have to grant my request for aid, and was therefore going to great lengths to prevent that question from being asked?  This was exactly the sort of convoluted elf-logic which would have been the basis of a marvelous tale!

But alas, it was no longer the Long Ago, and I doubted that the Duchess of Daisies was bound by anything so old-fashioned as an honor geas.

The greater likelihood was that she wanted to keep me penned up so she could come and destroy me in a more satisfactory manner herself, in person, at her leisure.

Well, she would not find me sitting idle!  Albric Tor was a fortress, especially now that it was surrounded by toxic fields contaminated by the Plague of Battles.  I could establish a defensible position.  The Duchess would have a hard time getting to me here!

Unless the plan was to starve me to death .. but I had the feeling that the Duchess would want to play a more active role in my demise.

I needed to survey my domain!  I strode out onto the scrying tower porch and looked around.

The vista which presented itself was appalling in the extreme.  Decomposing bodies lay strewn everywhere, and the stench was nauseating.  Oddly there were no scavengers to be seen.  Even the horrible crows which had been assaulting me earlier must have succumbed to the Plague.  The field was eerily silent, and there was no sign of life on the city walls beyond.  About a mile distant, I saw a gray bank of fog which looked remarkably like a Gap.

I slowly rotated a full 360 degrees, noting the gray curtain above the horizon in all directions.

If I was completely surrounded by Gap, that meant an assault by land would be impossible - but also unneccessary, since I was trapped more effectively than any siege could accomplish.

Trapped, starving, with the mouldering remains of thousands of elves!  Elves who trusted me; elves I had once known and counted as friends, some even lovers .. they were all gone ..

"Ah here thou art, Sire," an Ixie interrupted my grim reverie.  "Dry thy eyes and cease thy royal blubbering.  Where hast thou been these past few days agone?"

"Scrying around Tulgeyside and Percysthorpe," I replied.  "Where have YOU been?"

"Gathering intelligence," the Ixie smirked.  "And indulging in a bit of sabotage.  Bonsai's troops shall find it difficult to pollinate this spring."

"Are they still massing at the Gate?" I asked nervously, having forgotten all about the Shrub army in my excitement at finding the Antgladers still alive & at large.

"Aye, but tis no concern of thine.  It seemeth that the Capital Precinct is closed off from Gate access except through the Lowfolk world, and in Faerie thou art surrounded by a Gap, which serveth to keep the Vengeful Forest at bay."

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