"Sure an' what precoisely (Patreon)

is the nature o' the geas that holds ye here, lad?" Estvan inquired.

"Edessa cursed me to remain in Albric Tor," I replied.

"Tsk tsk, ochone," Estvan tutted.  "Tis a royal curse.  Sure an' the only solution is to become king yer own self, an' overroide it with a counter-geas."

"Well, let's make our way to the Coronation Chamber then," I suggested.

"Begorrah lad, tis not that simple at all, at all.  The crown can only be handled by nobility or a priest.  Sure an oi'm neither o' those, an ye can't crown yerself .. so that only leaves Sam.  An Adoyret is a class o' priest isn't it?"

"Ordained in the Mephitist Church I am not," Sam explained.  "Not sure I am that work it would.  Besides, not yet ready Adler is.  More training and experience he needs, before High King he is worthy to be."

"Listen, Samuel me boyo," Estvan whispered (not so quietly that I couldn't hear) as he leaned close to the Gnostermonger monk.  "How much longer can we afford to wait, bedad?  Sure an thinkin' o' the Duchess puts me in moind o' certain distarbin' parallels to Adler's situation.  A failed rebellion, followed by isolation, exoile, an' disgrace."

"Important it is for all of Faerie that Seelie he remains," Sam muttered meaningfully.

"I can hear you," I snapped.  "And don't worry - I won't become the Duchess of Daisies.  Though honestly I don't see how being Seelie has benefited me so far."

"Cushlamochree!  Tis worse than we thought!" Estvan exclaimed.

"In anger, quick to speak be not," Sam admonished me.  "Mean that, you surely did not."

"Why do you care?" I retorted.  "Vulpitania is Unseelie, isn't it?"

"In its official policy only," Sam replied.  "Feel it in our hearts, many of us do not.  Besides, without an Empire to plot against, no fun it is."

"Well, to have an Empire again, I guess I need to get myself crowned somehow," I sighed.  "You say it requires a priest or a noble?  The only elvish nobility I know of around here would be the O'Daisies."

"Begorrah, yer mad!" Estvan gasped.  "Sure an the Duchess'd never crown you."

"She might, if the price was right," I mused.  "But I'm thinking her son-nephews are probably nobility enough to do the job, and they would be much easier to dupe, er, persuade."

"Ye'll never get 'em far enough away from her for safety, at all at all."

"Maybe..." I mumbled, as an idea began to form.

"Follow my lead," I thought at Estvan with Elfmind, then turned toward the surrounding forest.  "BRAVE TREES!" I shouted.  "I know you have sworn to guard and keep me here, and never would you stir a leaf from your duty, but consider!  The Duchess poses a grave danger to all your kind!  Anywhere she goes she will chop and hew and saw to feed this obscene 'industry' she has concocted.  Your bretheren will be turned into timber to build her unholy factories, or burned to power her loathsome machines!"

Estvan pantomimed the action of chopping down trees to illustrate my point.

"We are well familiar with the Duchess' operations," the forest rustled.  "We destroyed them and sent her packing just a year ago."

"Ah yes, but where is she NOW?" I exclaimed.  "She could be carrying out her Unseelie depredations on another forest."

"That's their problem," the trees rustled callously.

"But another forest, unapprised of the danger, might fall before her axes - thereby lending her the complete strength of its wood, which would eventually enable her to return here and enact her vengeance for the defeat she suffered at your branches!"

"Would she do that?" the trees rustled uncertainly.

"We know absolutely that the Duchess of Daisies bears a grudge for a LONG time!  Plus, she knows that I am alive, and that I pose a threat to her plans .. so she must inevitably make her way here to deal with me, sooner or later!"

The forest stood in shocked silence.

"The first thing we need to do," I continued, before they had a chance to think, "is find out where the Duchess is, currently.  Ixies!  Can you handle this?"

"Gathering information is our specialty, Sire," Typantronn exclaimed, with a snappy salute.  "If the Duchess of Daisies is anywhere in Eire, we'll find her!"

"What's Eire?" I asked.

"That's the name of the lowfolk country we are in," she explained.  "It's an island.  We can cover Eire with relative ease .. but the ocean is too wide to fly across, and with Faerie all broken up with Gaps it is difficult to find Gate links to access the continent."

"Well, search the island, by all means," I ordered.  The Ixies saluted and buzzed away.

I was on an island, surrounded by water?  For some reason this information made me feel more apprehensive.

"I'm going to need more lowfolk agents to do my bidding," I sighed.  "How can I get ones that are impressionable but not complete idiots?"

"Hudalaleigh, lad, oi've a great deal of experience in this particular field," Estvan chuckled.  "Sure an ye could start a cult, or ye could set yerself up in the business o' grantin' wishes.  Oi could teach ye the foive secrets to bein' a lowfolk deity, AN the most effective ways to manipulate toime skips to yer advantage .. all in exchange fer a wee, wee favor."

PREV http://www.patreon.com/posts/31181525

NEXT http://www.patreon.com/posts/31553970