Snamish

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli stood, nodded curtly and left the chamber without a word. The atmosphere had grown too serious for empty dialogue. He journeyed at a brisk pace towards the residence where the councilman's daughter-in-law breakfasted, sparing a vague troubled thought on the way for the mental block which hadn't shifted since he'd woken up.

[Sareth]

"Yes," Lillith replied, smiling. She started to rise, then paused. "Now my ears are burning." She turned and looked at Sister Rose. "Maybe you're contagious?"

[Drusia]

Desiree waved briefly to Eli as he passed by her. She wondered if he remembered the previous night - he was fairly drunk at the time.

Desiree waited for the council to return its attention to her, but the matter seemed to have moved on to broader necessity. Bowing, she asked for leave to move to the audience tiers, which the council granted. Masha excused herself to return to Kera and see if she needed anything - and likely to update her on the situation. Desiree took a seat next to her mother.

"That was very well done today," Drusia told her. As soft and calm as her voice was, there was pride in it. Mother was normally more chatty, but today she was acting at the Matriarch, so she had to behave with a certain air. Desiree understood - her mother had yesterday to play, but today was business.

Desiree smiled at her mother's praise. "I wasn't sure you approved," she replied.

"Of what Kera asked you to do?" Drusia replied, "No, I'm rather disappointed in Kera. But you handled it with care, poise, and above all, kindness. Someday it might be you up there, sitting with the council. It's good you can handle yourself here."

Desiree blushed. "I don't really like politics," she temporized. "I'd rather stay with the church. I like providing the blessing of Anilis for people."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Drusia pointed out. Desiree made a face. Shaking her head, her mother relented. "Fine. well, whatever you do with yourself, you showed courage and empathy today. You made me proud."

"Thanks," Desiree murmured, blushing slightly. She waited a moment, but that seemed to be all her mother had to say. Desiree wanted to ask her about her new lover, but this was far from the time or place for girl-talk. She'd just have to wait until later.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Gonna be a little sporadic for the next few days, after a blizzard-induced break in a water pipe in our house. We'll be spending evenings with my wife's family, to take advantage of them having running water. If we turned ours back on, it would be running, but not where we want it to ... So prime Errant-Road-writing time will be spent away from the computer. I'll still be able to contribute during the day, though, so I'd say let's act as though nothing had happened. For anyone not in the middle of the United States from New Mexico, where we are, on northeast, this was an INCREDIBLY hideous storm ... and if you are also in the blast zone, I hope you came through all right. So anyway:]

I guess I can always hope for the best, Sister Rose thought, her mind full of doubt as she smiled noncommittally at Lillith. Somehow something about this balloon-retrieval mission just didn't sound quite right. Then again, what could go wrong? Wilbur Hamael was dead, they'd poked around at the balloon yesterday without incident, and Brad's plan actually sounded pretty good ... in the abstract.

Well, there wasn't much to do but get ready to do it. "I don't know that I'd have much to contribute up there," she said to her cousin, "but I'd really think that you, Argus, Maduin, Bryce, and a couple of the militia should be able to bring the balloon down. Maybe Alia and Eli could go with you, if we can get in touch with -- ah, look who's here."

Eli was coming through the door, all right, but Rose didn't need her capacity for empathy, just a look at his face, to get the distinct impression that something was brewing ... and she had one guess as to what. "Let me guess -- the council wants to talk to me, right?"

----------

Meanwhile, the scruffy man was waking, with the distinct, and distinctly uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. For a Gewehr Wraith, that was not a good thing ... and an uncomfortable Gewehr Wraith was not such a good thing for the watchers, either.

[Jack Rothwell]

"Let me guess -- the council wants to talk to me, right?"

Eli smiled despite himself. "Benedict requested your presense in the council chamber... so yes." He looked around the room. "My apologies for the interrupted breakfast."

[Graybeard]

"My apologies for the interrupted breakfast."

Sister Rose smiled with a bonhomie that she did not completely feel. "Not to worry, I was expecting this summons." And the funny thing is, I truly was, although I couldn't begin to say why. "I know where it is, I've been there before. I'll walk myself over there, Eli; why don't you stay around and help retrieve the balloon?" She knew the militiaman had been chafing at the routine; that should at least give him something to do to break the monotony a little.

If only she knew.

-----------

Out at the farm, Kim was becoming aware of an intruder. However, she didn't know his significance ... yet. She melted quietly into the background as the scruffy man fixed breakfast.

-----------

"Thank you for coming, Rose," Benedict said. Until Rose came through the door, he'd been debating whether to call her "Sister Rose" or "Major Nuria-Lucas" or "Mrs. Lucas." In the end, he settled for simple familiarity; everyone on the council knew the father-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, after all. "We would value your wisdom and insight in dealing with an important -- matter that arose overnight." He turned to the other pair in the room that were having a family moment. "Drusia? Desiree? Could one of you please explain the situation we're considering here?"

[Drusia]

"Thank you for coming, Rose," Benedict said. Until Rose came through the door, he'd been debating whether to call her "Sister Rose" or "Major Nuria-Lucas" or "Mrs. Lucas." In the end, he settled for simple familiarity; everyone on the council knew the father-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, after all. "We would value your wisdom and insight in dealing with an important -- matter that arose overnight." He turned to the other pair in the room that were having a family moment. "Drusia? Desiree? Could one of you please explain the situation we're considering here?"

Desiree nodded and stood up. "A child was born last night with certain... deformities. It is uncertain whether they were caused by the birth, or by a defect in the child that indicates he was born an Errant. It has been suggested - that is, councilman Benedict thought that you might, um... be able to tell if the deformities were caused by childbirth. Or not."

To be honest, she wasn't really sure what they hoped Rose might accomplish. Masha might be inexperienced compared to the former midwife, but she had several years of experience, and had been the town's main midwife for nearly a year. She hadn't determined an Errant before, but she'd been taught how. Desiree was sure that Rose was a skilled and competent healer, but what did she know, really, about birth defects? Desiree wondered why Benedict would drag an outsider like her into such a personal and difficult situation. It didn't seem fair, to Masha, Kera, or to Rose for that matter.

But such things weren't for Desiree to decide. Thank Anilis. Having said her piece, Desiree sat back down.

-- Desiree

[Jack Rothwell]

"I know where it is, I've been there before. I'll walk myself over there, Eli; why don't you stay around and help retrieve the balloon?"

'Finally, something interesting to do...' Eli turned the to rest of the group after Rose made her exit.

"Sounds like more fun than standing in front of a gate all day. Did we establish a plan or are we just going to head up and see what works best?"

[Drannin]

Argus shrugged at Eli's question. "I don't think there's a working plan. Perhaps we should just and up and scout things out, see if we can't figure out a good plan on spot. I mean, how hard could it really be?" He winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Sorry. I just tempted fate there, didn't I?"

[Sareth]

Lillith put her face into the palm of her hand. "Yes, pretty much. We're doomed now." She turned in her seat and rested a hand on one of Brad's hands. "Shall we go meet our impending doom, then?"