Right… well, they were now stuck waiting for a door, and it wasn't like her skillset could contribute much there. What was she going to do, go stab around at the air until she found a spot that felt a bit strange? Eh, that was probably what one mage or other would try, but if she did it and somehow had any luck, they'd be announcing their entrance by force of battering ram. You couldn't get much more embarrassing than accidentally declaring an invasion.

So she left them to it, poking around the remains of the snake instead. Mmm, this spot seemed pretty mossy and nicely curved.

…

It seemed the vampire had decided now was a good opportunity for a nap. Fiadh seemed the only person immediately interested, hher head swivelling between Fionn, Gertrude, and the former snake.

"Haaah?" Gertrude shot at Fionn as her scowl grew with the dumb bastard's smile. This guy just would not stop pissing her off, and when he mentioned hugging, her scowl grew into an expression of abject disgust.

"Has the mana melted your brain? Made you go completely daft? I'm not at all concerned with your wellbeing. I had seriously considered just glassing the whole place and being done with it."

Her gaze turned to Renar, who had rudely interjected like the smug bastard he was. Gertrude rolled her eyes, fuming further at the additional disrespect this scoundrel was showing her.

"Well, I do suppose I should thank you for doing your sodding job, m'lord. My praise knows no bounds, truly. But to the matter of finding other fey..."

She turned to Fanilly, with decidedly less venom.

"Yes, I should be able to assist with that. I'll need a few moments to attune here, and finding a different presence should be easier. That said, mistress, you know what they say about assuming. I was quite taken aback by your immodest grappling," Gertrude lied, her only real issue with Fanilly's action being her own insecurity regarding her weak body, "so of course, I think a proper apology is in order. Throw in a few compliments about my performance, and I think I shall forgive you!"

She hoped Fionn wouldn't ruin this for her, as he was wont to do.

Rolan could feel the mental tension slowly building in the back of his head, waiting moment by moment for the fae lady's response to their combined words, though the lion's share of the work was all Ser Gerard's doing. What broke the silence, tense as it was, was the woman's laughter, quite literally bent over from how much she was laughing. That was not the expected response, though he supposed it was not a bad one, given he had to suppress the recognition of her already impressive beauty being amplified by the charm that came with her laughing fit. It brought an otherwise aloof being's stature just a bit closer, however slight, and he could not afford to allow himself to be distracted by a beautiful fae lady and her enchanting laughter. Fortunately he was not the one doing the negotiation, and would continue doing what little he could to support in that endeavor.

Largesse was probably one of the more eloquent words Rolan had heard from any of the knights in recent memory, and Ser Gerard was putting in a good effort in keeping himself eloquent in the face of the laughter, though it seemed to be good news all around currently. From scouting for the border of Fae territory, to hunting down a wretched thing he did not keenly recall, to now currying favor from the sister of the likely culprit of the Duke's madness, it seemed that they had lucked into the right approach to solving the matter of the Duke's condition. At least that was how it appeared so far, it seemed to be going far too well, but he wasn't going to say that out loud and invite things get complicated. All that being considered, Ser Gerard seemed more capable than the rest of them combined in continuing to navigate the negotiations with the Fae lady seated before them, continuing onto what was likely inevitable.

Repayment for this act of seeming kindness. Part of Rolan would not have wanted to bring it up, and simply hoped that aiding the Aessyr carried enough weight to cover assistance and meeting, but coasting on hope alone wouldn't have gotten them this far, let alone further still. Ser Gerard did bring up a good point, however, is that none of them had authority to make agreements on behalf of the Order, but they could at least speak for themselves. Depending on the request they need not involve the entire Order and its resources, assuming one was to be made at all, and simply fulfill the terms of their own capabilities and volition. Also worth considering were the two Aessyr he still held, who had been silent after the initial confirmation of their efforts in saving Enfys, and how it would not exactly be fitting to bring them along as well.

"Something else to consider, as an aside, but given the condition of the Aessyr's home when we found it, these two will likely need some help with a new place to call home. I would not want to unwittingly carry them into more trouble than they already found, I suspect they have had enough for one day."

@HereComesTheSnow@VitaVitaAR

"You would be correct, child of man," the smirking fae lady replied as she steepled her fingers, "While interfering with my elder sister's affairs is amusing in and of itself, I would like her to suffer a little more than that."

A thoughtful expression crossed her face for a few moments, as she crossed her long, shapely, pale legs once again, bare foot swaying gently back and forth.

"Hmmm..."

The silence was once again complete, aside from the sound of the fae lady's musing, and of Aithne managing to cuddle up to the still-somewhat-dazed Enfys even more closely.

It would be easy to mistake the other fae for statues, at this point.

"I believe... ah, yes, that will do nicely," the fae lady nodded to herself, before leaning forward once again.

"My elder sister collects things, you see," she began, "Things of little true value, that she treasures as a symbol of her personal power."

The fae lady's smirk only managed to grow wider.

"Take one from her. It matters very little what it is, simply that you give it to me. How you do it is also unimportant. In fact, it's unlikely you would have to commit theft. For you see---"

The fae lady gave a flourish with her right hand.

"---My elder sister is quite fond of wagers. The higher the stakes, the better. Defeat her, obtain your duke's wits and my prize, and you will have accomplished your mission."

She paused for a moment, blue eyes drifting from the Knights to the aessyr currently in Sir Rolan's care.

"As for our little sisters, they will remain here for now, until a suitable tree is found for them."

@HereComesTheSnow@Eisenhorn

Renar took Gertie's words with all the praise they weren't intended with, mockingly preening for a moment just to be an ass to the annoying witch. Then cut it off as he returned right back to business.

It was true. Most of them were utterly lost in this situation, himself included. Horrifyingly enough, Fionn might be a better authority on the fae than the kingdom's Court Mage. Still, if the only avenue was to lean on their specialist advisory, then there was little more to it than to do so.

"Right, now that the fun's over, thoughts on this, Fionn? You, Fiadh, and the Lord Arken are arguably our only sources of information going forward."

Out of the corner of his eye, he both saw and heard the ongoing byplay between Gertrude and the captain. Oh for the love of...

Renar caught Fanilly's eye behind Gertrude's back, silently shaking his head and pantomiming "no" a few times to make sure the message sunk in before turning back to Fionn expectantly, as if he hadn't just done that.

---

Fionn's grin only grew wider as Gertrude's scowl deepened. He, of course, didn't believe her for a second—if she were truly so unconcerned, after all, she wouldn't have bothered trying to help him or yelling at him, after all. But if she needed it to feel a little better about everything, he was willing to let her tire herself out. Not that she stayed focused on him for long, between Renar and Fanilly jumping in.

Renar even started trying to warn Fanilly away from playing the witch-apprentice's game before him.

He pulled his gauntlets off, shaking them to make sure there was no dirt or bark stuck in them. "I don't rightly think there's too much else we can do right now, unless we want to go wandering off into the forest," he mused. He started to walk towards the overlarge tree that they'd just been fighting, though not without casually reaching out and ruffling Gertrude's hair as he walked past.

Just a small reminder that he was still there, and wasn't going to fall for her games or protestations.

"Gerard and the others left to try and find this realm we're looking for ahead of us, or at least as much of a general-Fae-territory as they could, and I don't have any way to call them in. They shouldn't have too much trouble seeing what we've found, and Arken and Fiadh are pretty well convinced this is the right spot. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll have found some help to get in, but no matter what we're probably better off setting a watch and taking the moment to relax while we can like Tyaethe is doing."

He suddenly faced the taller knight with another grin.

"Unless you fancy running off through the woods in search of them with Fleuri?"

There was what Rolan could say was expected from a fae, even one that had proven to be overtly amicable and willing to be helpful to the assembled knights currently present. Wanting to make the Moonlit Queen suffer a bit extra, minor as it might appear on the surface of things, for possible transgressions already made fit the stereotype of the dangers in dealing with Fae. The silence itself was practically deafening, no natural place should be completely and utterly devoid of noise, but devoid it was while Fae Lady mused and considered what she would ultimately ask of them. Rather than let instinct get the better of him and follow the only motion in his field of view, that being the swaying of the Lady as she shifted her posture once again, he made sure the two Aessyr were as comfortable as they could be given the circumstances. Finally, the Lady began to speak her terms, having finally decided on them.

Add a trinket of perceived personal power to the eventual wager to return the Duke's mind, and hand it over to her. Deceptively simple to say out loud, but from the sounds of this Moonlit Queen and her demeanor it would not be the most dangerous task to perform. Adding a trinket of personal power to what would be, if his suspicion was correct, an already dangerous gamble was not something that struck him as unreasonable. Even if, arguably speaking, it was petty to acquire something of little applicable power for the sake of chipping away at the Moonlit Queen's perceived power and, by extension, authority. Small steps on the road to overthrowing her, perhaps, or simple sibling bickering. He wouldn't speculate out loud either way, instead breaking the silence before it hung too long after the Lady spoke her terms.

"Very well, ensuring your prize is won will be part of my mission." Rolan knew agreeing bound him to seeing it through, but he specifically made sure that his agreement was his alone. The others could speak up if they so desired, but he would not bind them through his own words, he was in no position to do so even if he wanted to. If they chose not to speak up, at the very least it would be on him and him alone that such failure would be punished. While theft was unlikely to be necessary, he didn't discount it as an option. Better a thief than an oath breaker, in this particular circumstance, though the mention of the 'little sisters' staying here until a suitable tree could be found focused him again.

"A relief to hear, may fortune find them a suitable tree in good time." Rolan had little else to add currently, though he made no moves to set the Aessyr aside or otherwise try to hand them off. When it was time to depart such would likely occur, but until then he would not unduly jostle them by simply passing them off at the earliest convenience. Losing one's home was bad enough, let alone to a wretched abomination that personified famine and dire hunger. It had been far too long a day for them, no need to make it any more uncomfortable than it already was.

@VitaVitaAR@HereComesTheSnow

Gerard Segremors

@Eisenhorn@VitaVitaAR

They really were nice legs.

Gerard, as previously, simply endured the long silence with an attentive eye and a stilled bearing, allowing her ample space and silence to ruminate— if nothing else, it was good practice to follow the lead of the whole rest of court. Her guards were all but carved of stone, to the point where he wasn't even sure whether or not they'd truly registered the Roses' presence.

Point was, he knew grinning and bearing it was the best option on the board. The last thing he needed to be doing was showing impatience, annoying her by saying to hurry the hell up, and scuttling the good work they had done thus far. It was a windfall already to have earned this much favor from any such fae as the Lady before them, let alone on his first outing doing anything but keeping his damned distance. It'd be poor form to let greed take him now.

So, he watched, he listened, and he even leaned in as she did from below in his kneeling posture, as though indulging in a conspiratorial whisper. Nodding along as she spoke, he allowed his mind to run through possibilities for a moment, weighing her words as they were due. Valueless symbols of power... perhaps some form of trophy taken from those would-be usurpers? Trinkets she declared signatures of her title, which she truly was guarding jealously?

Hard to say at the outset. Eventually, it would be made doubtlessly clear— The next question would be what he would offer in return as collateral. High stakes.

His first thought was his loyalty, that sudden and impossible being of an Iron Rose that he treasured deepest.

Next, his life. An easily understood gamble for man or myth. Hard to find more universal proof than that, though... he was still breaking bad habits with gambling it to begin with.

Still, that'd make it a simple matter of earning his way to the table. Keep the thought in his back pocket until more was clear.

Third... perhaps his sword, his helm? Far from valueless as she'd intimated, but in a way every bit as symbolic of his power. Maybe something more arcane, if that was the direction. Maybe his name.

...In any event, his posture rose again, as a daring expression crossed his face, and his golden gaze refused to doubt.

"A wager, you say? I should be happy, then— I've built this entire life on the back of long-odd gambles. I, at least, ought to have the home field advantage." he declared, placing a gauntlet over his cuirass, atop the heart beneath the steel. "I expect to return soon, with your prize well in hand, milady. All we would ask now is how we might enter her domain to make this challenge— in the admittedly unlikely event the rest of our Order hasn't already pieced it together themselves in our absence."

He inclined his head, after taking a moment to turn his eyes over to the two aessyr one more time.

"Beyond that, all I can say is I share my companion's wishes of good fortune to these two. I can hardly imagine safer hands to leave them in than yours."

A wave of the hand, indicating the unmoving ranks of spears around them.

"We should trouble you no further than this."