"Milord, have you a courtly mage? Perhaps a wizard from the town as well, to offer independent eyes."
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Birne turns to Klaytal. "And what of your dear friend, brave elf?"
Birne rather presumptuously puts his hand on Valta's forearm. "Milord, why not allow yourself a moment's pause. Your daughter's back and safe. She loves you so. And now your son, so many years both near yet missing still." He produces a handkerchief, prepared for tears if the older man does take his advice.
"Milord, to slander would require a falsity. And yet we've spoken true, as you can see before your eyes. As we did state, your daughter, Lady Lumi woke when joined with her lost brother, Lumikko. I beg indulgence as we prove the balance of our claims." He looks around the room. "And that is this, may all the gods now curse me if my word is false: Attendant Queen Haijyin consorted with the Ragamuffins and a fiend most foul to poison, kidnap, and this very day to kill milady, whom the people love. The Lord Prince and the worthy councilwoman did declare it just that we pursue our case. I ask that you permit us to explore her chambers, and that she be brought before a council of her peers."
Birne gives Gate a look that implies punishment later. "You have me yet as friend, milady dove. And Samen, too, my brother ere I met the Rabbit Prince." He takes a heavy breath and shifts to less pleasant matters. "The one who lay a curse upon your brow has fled for now. Alas, I fear they’ll stay a threat if we don’t seek them out."
Birne, standing beside Lumi, remains silent as Volta starts his response. He places his Rabbit Prince doll in her free hand, giving her a kindly wink.
Birne takes back his lips and says, "Come, Lumikko. Your sister waits." He goes to the mantlepiece and puts his hand on the boy's shoulder.
He guides his ward's brother to her side, putting her hand in his. "Milady, wake. Your brother's here."
With a sad smirk, Birne walks over to Gate. He looks up at the taller man, brushes his hair back with a hand. He continues singing. "For true love waits—does not abate—when men take time for decency. To touch those lips while others bleed...? No, give a kiss like this instead." He leans up and plants a kiss on Gate's bloody lip. And lingers in spite of the taste of raspberry pie.
Faced with the choice of making the prince feel as small as he is or saving his brother, Birne busies his mouth with song. "Let true hearts mend. In faith I beg, let brothers mend while true live waits another day." He completes his verse by scooping a fist full of treacle and applying it to Samen’s wounds like a salve.
Birne appears, looking a bit alarmed at the faceless creature standing before him. He looks at the small folk caught in the queen's clutches and mouths, I'm sorry.
Undeterred by the tangling vines, he reaches for his belt pouch and winks out of sight again.
Invisible hands reach out, and reality warps. Suddenly, Lumi, Gate, Samen, Klaytal, and Birne are standing on velvet carpets. No doubt, Lord Valta will fine the party for bleeding on his exotic flooring.
"The alpha wolf must join his pack!" calls a disembodied voice.
Before he teleported, Birne called out, "We face a spawn of hell! Let’s grab our lass and run!"
Gate don't look: Birne becomes visible (though still well-hidden) and a gout of faerie dust shoots from his finger tips.
"Remove her from the glowing sphere!" He disappears again.
Samen feels a gentle poke from within the entanglement.
Samen don't look: Once Samen makes his move, Birne changes his tune. He then stops, letting the effects of his dity linger as he disappears.
"You ought to aim your step through space outside that strange blue field." Birne waits for his companions to move before going forward.
Birne sings of dreams fulfilled and enemies vanquished. Of quicksilver and rushing river rapids. He rushes forth, singing, singing, singing.
"As Samen says, he’s kept the beast in check, through vanity alone, I’d guess. But never fear, should his will fail, my own shall not."
"You need not bid us do a thing we gladly do, but which you dare not do yourself. My lord. We do it for Morsain. We do it for her grace." Birne makes no pretense as he turns to Inguna. "Two scrolls to carry us to her and bring her back at once. And please, please guard poor Lumikko. He is the key to Lumi’s waking self." He breathes. "I thank you for your help. These nobles, they..." He leaves his curse unsaid as he goes to collect his spell components.
"If we may take our leave, perhaps it’s time to fetch your daughter back to good Morsain. No doubt her father and her will rejoice. The people, at the very least, feel urgency to see their favorite daughter woken from her sleep." Birne meets Inguna’s eyes, attempting to convey the urgency of keeping the boy safe, as well as his frustration at Valta’s stupidity.
"Milord, tis true my brave friend Gate did soar above Morsain — but carried by a beast whose master called it home. Twas not my comrades wish. If guilt he had, it's pride in staving off a threat to Morsain's pride and joy." Birne rubs his bruised bottom as he goes on, sending a bit of a coded message to Inguna. His lordship's airs are a pain in my bum, for sure.
"Alas, our latest tumble through your airs was also not our deed. That foul, foul, faerie prince performed some trickery, preventing us from smiting his bewhiskered face. I'm grateful that no noble hair was harmed by that unseelie hare."
"It's true, fey magicks had me cursed. A doll or, if I chose, my younger self. The faerie lord who made me so entered a pact, that I should guard milady Lumi's life, while Lumikko was taken from his kin. I was a lad, trapped in a plot. And yet I found some gratitude in knowing she who was my ward." Birne looks to Valta. "I grew to love milady Lumi, who's the very best of good Morsain. For these eleven years or more I've been her friend and confidante. Along with these good sirs I sought to shield her from all threats. We searched with thoroughness for traps — alas, who knew the Queen had set one of her own." He turns his attention to the Prince. "And you, who claim to love my friend? You kept us from our task. Let 'noble' protocols impede our work. And when she fell upon a curse of sleep? Was taken from these halls? You sought to blame us, even while you sat behind yon battlements. Does true love favor blame and safety over fighting for one's heart? Do you, whose blade stayed sheathed, deserve her love, should she awake from sleep's soft grip?"
Birne happily complies. "If you’ve a courtly mage or two, methinks they’ll be of help. I know our tale is strange. The bailiwick of those who know such things."
"Forgive me sirs and ladies both. You know me as the boy who served milady Lumi as her childhood friend. Just like her brother, whom you see before your eyes, I was enslaved by arts most fey. An imp named Puck, or Rabbit Prince, or Phocce. He it was the queen did seek, to put this poor sweet child within her sway. And now she’d do the same with our beloved miss. I beg you, free them both, as these good lads have done for me."
He lets the song linger a moment, addressing the assembled court. "Milord’s of this beloved land, I ask you: Summon Lady Lumi’s sire. Lord Valta will confirm our claim that this is his long list male heir."
Birne begins to sing his words. The tenor that emerges lights the heart afire. "Twas good of you to keep the boy. My lad, your true name’s Lumikko. You’re brother to the future queen. She’ll see it in a little while when we retrieve the Prince’s bride, your sister lost. No magic sleep can last when siblings parted do unite. Do you agree, my Queen? You’ll have her beauty smiling true. The fairest in the land, as any mirror will confirm."
The newly mortal Birne rises to his feet, realizing his wish came with the promise of more future bruises. "I’m told you mean to wed your squire’s true sis, my prince. Oh treachery, that led the queen to take dear Lumi’s long lost kin as hostage in her court. What made you hate the Volta so, your majesty? To poison Prince Rhutin’s betrothed. To make a deal with Phocce, king of hares? He declares his case and looks hopefully at those gathered.
The slender man on the ground stirs. Slowly, he crawls to his feet. "Your word is true, I'll give you that." He looks up into his brother's eyes, much nearer now. "Let's see this rescue through." |