"You've never seen Faerie?" (Patreon)

I barked, even as I realized it was true. "This is a crime, a tragedy, a travesty which it is my duty to correct. Traditionally someone is supposed to fetch a Changeling when they are old enough, but you, my dear, have been old enough for far too long. As your teacher and mentor, it is my responsibility to bring you to Faerie and show you what it means to be an elf."

"Hey!" Burnside interjected. "I done tried showin her how to be an elf plenty o times!"

"I meant," I sighed, "the kind of elf who doesn’t flay people and wear their skins while making a marionette show with the defiled corpses."

"I ain't never mentioned the marionettes around you," Burnside muttered suspiciously. "How in tarnation did you know? You got Unseelie connections you ain't told me about?"

"It was a lucky guess. Let's get back to the subject."

"I'm going to Faerie for the first time!" Rebecca squeaked as the significance of it began to sink in. "By Fuma! This is even more exciting than when you first agreed to take me under your wing all those years ago, my lord! When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're able," I suggested. "It’s not an urgent matter, but it would be best not to postpone it any more than necessary. I will need your assistance breaking the ice with the school staff. I also had the idea of perhaps forming a partnership between your coven and what I hope will be a magickal University. Your practical field experience would bring perspective to the ivory-tower academics, and in return you would gain access to materials and a level of institutional prestige which you currently don’t have."

"That’s a great idea," Rebecca enthused. "Harriet would love being in a more scholarly setting. Actually seeing Faerie might help Fiona break free from her delusions, and Basil has been dying to learn some new potions. We've already reached the extent of what our books can teach us in that department. Should we bring the girls on this expedition or wait until formal ties are established with the school?"

"The University itself would probably be safe," I theorized. "But I don't know about Edessa. She has declared quite plainly that she is my enemy. I'm not sure if she would also attack a group associated with me. There might be danger."

"Pshaw!" Burnside snorted. "I’ll have that has-been’s horns for toothpicks afore she can even look at our gals."

"We can't know that for sure," I pointed out. "Rebecca, you know your students and their abilities, so I leave the choice to you."

----

Well folks, time to get up and stretch. Your butts have probably gone numb from sitting there like lumps for so long. While you're restoring circulation to your nether regions, why not make a guess: Did we take the girls with us or not?

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