Listening to Ash talk (Patreon)

reminded me how much I disliked him.  It would have done no good to say so aloud (and he already knew, anyway) so I just gritted my teeth and let him talk.

"To return to the pending issue," he continued,  "it would be much easier to throw Didelphis to the mob and be done with it.  The wicked witch gets burned alive, the public's bloodlust is sated, and the innocent baker is saved.  You can pat yourself on the back for a Seelie job well done.  As a monarch your decisions will seldom work out so cleanly, so I'd advise you to take the easy win."

"The easy win," I repeated.  "That's just it.  Easy.  Lazy.  Would it really take that much extra effort to save everybody?"

"As a former scholar of the Seelie mindset and its inherent follies, I can understand why you want to save Oonagh, the so-called 'innocent' bystander caught up in all this.  Frankly though, you should have thought more carefully before sending a deranged witch to her doorstep.  What puzzles me even more than that is why on earth you would want to save someone who is actively working against you, and is unhinged enough to keep doing it regardless of the consequences."

"How odd," I quipped, "to hear you, of all people, wondering why I would employ someone I don't trust."

"That's not at all what I said," Ash responded drily.

"You did say that Oonagh was a 'so-called innocent.'  What do you mean by that?"

"Innocence is a loaded concept.  No one is truly innocent."

"She's innocent in this context because the situation is not her fault."

"I don't have time to discuss philosophy right now," Ash sniffed.  "Granted that Oonagh is contextually 'innocent,' still Didelphis most certainly is not.  Why so concerned for her?"

"Because I put her in this situation," I insisted.  "And ... well ... I believed, and I still believe that I can teach her a lesson and steer her onto a more Seelie path."

Ash was silent for several seconds.  I was just about to ask if he was still there, when suddenly he burst into laughter.

"Really?" he cackled.  "You think you can reform that egotistical, embittered, stubborn, viciously mean-spirited, brain-dead old hag?  Oh ho ho ho!  I'd pay money to see that!  Oooh hee hee, thank you, my lord, I needed a good laugh.  Now then, let's see ... you know what, I'm confident enough in the resources I've set up, and in Lana's effectiveness, I think we can afford to let you fail at yet another project.  So sure, why not, I'm willing to save both, if for nothing more than the entertainment value.  Perhaps playing with your little coven will keep you occupied so the adults can get some work done."

I ignored Ash's insults to cut to the crucial tidbit he had just dropped.  "Wait, you've spoken to Lana?"

"Oh indeed," Ash smirked audibly.  "Charming femme; delightfully Unseelie.  Under other circumstances, I might consider courting her.  I really have to admire the Sisterhood's way of conducting business."

"When did you meet her?" I demanded.  "What did you talk about?"

"No time for chit-chat," Ash reminded me smugly.  "We're both on a strict time table now.  We can debate and exposit to your heart's content AFTER the trial is over.  Now then, since you are determined to save them both ... I shudder to ask, but ... do you have any idea how to accomplish this?  I can lean on O'Hoppity in regards to the trial, but he will need a plausible reason to explain his change of heart."

"I do in fact have a plan," I declared confidently.  "Transmogrification got us into this mess and transmogrification will get us out of it.  I will transmogrify someone into the exact likeness of Didelphis and have her claim that child Didelphis is an unruly relative having an out of control tantrum."

"Well then," Ash stated thoughtfully.  Was he impressed?  It was hard to tell.  "It's a novel solution, I'll grant you that, but there are a few practical concerns.  Does anyone in town know Didelphis well enough to be able to say that she does or does not have a young niece who uncannily resembles her?  Also, do you actually have somebody who knows her well enough to do a convincing imitation?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," I stated triumphantly.  "I have someone here who's spent a great deal of time with Didelphis.  There's just one problem."

"Of course there is," Ash sighed.  "Go on."

"Telling untruths would not be good for her since I am 99.9% sure she is a Changeling."

Then I heard Ash gasp in the way I thought he would when I spilled the beans about Reverend O'Hoppity.

"Run that by me again," he muttered quietly.

PREV http://www.patreon.com/posts/84240803

NEXT http://www.patreon.com/posts/84936300