The Butcher of Gadobhra

Chapter 184: Diplomacy

Lord Hound watched as the Summer Lord levitated down to the ground. If it had been up to him, the Fey Portal would not have been placed high in the massive tree but in a nice hole in the ground where it was easy to get to. But they hadn't asked his opinion, and now Lord Alwyn was going to have to construct a treehouse of some sort as his embassy, and a long spiral staircase down to the ground below. The hound didn't look forward to all those steps up and down just to come visit this place. But he had kept his opinion to himself. It was such a small complaint compared to finally getting rid of the silly unicorns. They already seemed to be making new friends here and hopefully never wanted to go back to Alwyn's realm. The local population seemed to be dryads, treants, and wood sprites, with some humans wandering around. Most seemed to stay a few miles away in a village. But one of them had ventured out this far and was playing tag with the silly ponies.

Alwyn obviously wanted to go talk to her, so the hound decided that play time was over. He ran at the unicorns, barking at them, chasing them away and breaking up their game. He started to herd the human back to his Lord. Since she liked playing tag, he'd use that tactic. He ran around her, touching her and making her chase him. It would be easy to lead her over to his Lord. But after only three steps, the human girl stopped and sat down at the ground. "Sorry, I'm not playing that game with you. So, either run off to the fancy guy walking this way, or come over here and let me scritch your ears."

This wasn't a hard decision for the hound. Ear scritches overrode most everything else. His Lord would understand.

Suzette examined the fancy leatherwork of the hound’s collar, inlaid with silver and gems. A giant tree grows out of nothing overnight in a fairy meadow overrun by unicorns. Not hard to figure out who was walking over this way. She tried to remember the rules for dealing with the Fey. They were highly intelligent and loved puzzles and twisted speech. She shouldn't ask questions, as she'd owe them for the answers. She shouldn't ever apologize, that meant she owed them as well. Make statements, but not direct ones. Answer the 'not questions' as they were stated. Don't offer offense to them, they had a lot of pride. She wished Ben were here to help, but she could do this.

Alwyn trudged across the unicorn meadow in the direction his hound had taken. The dog was laying with his head in a young female's lap, one hand scratching his ears, and the other petting his soft coat. His hound must have thoroughly charmed her by now. That would make her easier to talk to. Many human peasants were skittish when confronted by the pure physical beauty and magical presence of the Fey. And when the noble presence of a Lord was added to that, many humans could only stand and nod stupidly, completely losing their voices. It made communication with them difficult.

"Fair greetings young lady upon this sunny afternoon. I see that you have made friends with my hound. Please take no fear of me. I will do you no harm." So far so good. She didn't seem to be freezing up. The reason for that became apparent as she looked up at him and he saw the pointed ears, fair skin and lovely eyes of his own race. With one last pat on the head, the hound stood up, his tail wagging and his tongue out.

"A good hound is a friend to most everyone. This one has such a gentle nature, that I expect he is friends with many. No maid would ever fear a Lord with such a gentle hound." She stood up and he saw that she hadn’t inherited the height of her fey ancestors, which was a pity. Alwyn himself was only two hands shy of seven feet tall. Most summer fey were at least six. This lass was a couple of hands above five feet. Her dark hair also showed her human heritage, but her skin and eyes glowed with wild magic.

He brought himself to his full height. "I am Lord Alwyn, Ruler of the Valley of Amber Vale in Underhill, Knight of the Summer Court and representative of King Oberon, Hight King of the Summer Fae." He felt silly announcing himself, and to such a lowly personage, but he'd sent off Twitterberry and needed information, even if it was from a part-fae peasant girl.

She nodded her head to him and did a small curtsy. "Greetings, M'lord. I live nearby and came out this way looking for a sunny spot to place my barrels and let them ripen. I am thankful for the chance to meet you so soon after your arrival here."

Alwyn let his head incline imperceptivity, to acknowledge her words. She was obviously of the peasant class, despite her heritage. He wondered which of his people had lived here in times past, and scattered around their magic and their children. The area was quite heavy with mana and in many flavors. The unicorns had spread their own wild magic all about, of course. It was further transforming the area as they spoke. His portal also was leaking some Fey mana into the area. But he could feel the natural mana of the nearby groves, the radiant mana of sun and flowers, and underlying it all, the heavy feel of dark mana, as if the very ground was suffused with it. And was that a bit of Druidic spell craft he could smell? Quite a lot going on in this area.

Alwyn tried to remember his lessons in talking with humans. His father had told him to speak slowly, and use simple words. They tended to ask questions and not think it rude. They would start sentences with 'I’m sorry, but' and then not acknowledge a debt. They would also thank you for no reason, then ignore their own words. He would have to be careful here, and not scare this girl off. She could point him in the direction of the mayor who had five daughters she had never met.

"I wonder if you could help me, child."

She spoke slowly. "Well, when you have come to a conclusion on that, I'd be happy to try and help you, if that is your wish, or to not help where I cannot."

Alwyn had been expecting a simpler answer such as "Yes!" or "Anything for you!" He had to go back over what she had said.

"I have decided. I believe that you can be of help to me."

The girl clapped her hands twice. "I am happy that you have decided that I can help you." The hound was rubbing at her leg and she bent to scratch his ears.

Alwyn carried on with the conversation. "It is my hope that you can direct me to the human village near here where I will find the mayor of said village."

The girl thought on that one. "I can direct you to the nearest village, in fact, I will point out that if you walk past my wagon and continue for two miles, you will see the village..."

That was good enough for Alwyn, he started walking that way and whistled for his hound. He had no more time for long-winded peasant girls.

"...but since I'm being helpful, I also should tell you that she isn't there."

Alwyn stopped in mid-stride and turned around, letting out a long breath. "That is good and helpful information. It would be even more useful if you could tell me when she will be returning."

The girl crossed her arms, and put one hand under her chin, as if in deep thought. "I suppose that she will return at some point, being that she often lays her head on her pillow at night, and her pillow is in that village. Also, she has responsibilities not only of mayor, but of running the local tavern. She has been quite busy today, and it is rumored by some that she had plans to spend the afternoon brewing cider, and the evening with the Baron. So, there is a good chance you might find her roaming about the area."

The hound was trying to get his attention, tugging him in the direction of the wagon and the village. He wished he had learned the canine language, but Twitterberry was always around to translate. No matter, he could handle this on his own.

"Ah, I now understand what you are saying. This 'mayor' is also a tavern wench who will be warming the Baron's bed tonight. No need to use flowery words child, I understand the sordid ways of mortal folk." His hound quit tugging at his sleeve, and lay down on the ground, whining and covering his eyes with his paws. "I can see that it wouldn't be worth my time to speak with her today. I will have my herald send a message, and the girl can come running to see me tomorrow."

He turned to the peasant girl. She was bright red, obviously from the embarrassment of explaining why he wasn't going to find the 'mayor' easily. She seemed to be upset for some reason. Ah, of course! Jealousy! Here she was, obviously smitten with him, and he was ignoring her. His father had always warned him about mortal women and their infatuation with handsome Fey Lords. He'd told Alwyn many stories of his journeys through the mortal world. This lass, despite her small fey heritage, must have already fallen for his innate charm.

"Despair not, since the wench that I need to talk to is with the Baron, perhaps I should shower you with attention tonight and seek her out in the morning. I'm sure we both think that is a wonderful idea." She was really quite a pretty little thing, even if her hair was regrettably dark. His hound let out a long and mournful howl from where he was now perched on top of the wagon load of barrels. Alwyn could smell the fermenting apple wine from here. Something that was made for the local tavern? Perhaps he would sample it after he finished his dealings with the Lonely Tavern Keeper.

The girl spoke up, her tone much different than before. "Not interested. Not tonight, and not ever. I prefer my men to be taller and a considerably smarter."

Alwyn was astounded. No on turned down his advances so quickly! Well, except Lady Blossomfeather this last Winterfest, to be honest. But not a peasant girl! And how could she refuse him? Just his natural glamour alone should have her half in love with him. His beauty should overwhelm her senses. He needed to explain a few things to her, obviously. "That is no way to talk to a Lord of the Summer Fey. There are consequences for such rudeness."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "And you should know that insulting the Mayor of Sedgewick has consequences. Your tree is on land claimed and protected by the Village of Sedgewick, and the City of Gadobhra. I'll mention your rudeness to the Baron tonight as we do our nightly slaughter. Get that tree off my land by tomorrow, or I'll chop it down by the next morning with axes of iron."

She turned on her heel and marched away. The hound noted that in her anger she was walking across the tops of the foot-high meadow grass.

"Have a wonderful day, your Lordship."

Alwyn stared after the girl as she took her cart and easily pulled it behind her. The hound leaped to the top of a keg and barked happily at the fun of getting a ride. Twitterberry found his despondent Lord sitting in a meadow, ignored by the unicorns.

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