Pieces fall into place, and Pen discovers that there is more reason than past for Crevan to have come to the Court of thorns.

The Aen Elle Lord's face then next morning said just how good Rhiannon was at her job. He looked very content and had high praise for the evening he'd spent in her company. It still amazed Pen that Rhiannon could go from Wench to Courtesan as the need arose. She would get the report once the Lord and his retinue left after breakfast. The visit to her court thankfully brief.

Both Rhiannon and Aethen stood in Pen's study, their reports on the night before setting on her desk as she read them. Rhi looked like she wanted to be dismissed so she could go home to her life partner. Aethen also looked antsy.

"...I don't anything amiss in your reports." Pen said. "Why are you both antsy?"

"Aiden wants to have breakfast with me..." Rhi said.

That was not new and said the other half-elf wished to discuss their next...adventure. Rhiannon could pass for human if she dressed in a certain way. She had a feeling she knew why Aethen was antsy, it was almost he and Tindel's anniversary and the night elf was very conscious of his partner's needs.

"...the Aen Elle Lord." Pen said so she could release them.

"He is of the Elder Blood, and a quarter human," Rhi said. "Though that would track considering his lineage. He doesn't quite fit into the skin he lives, his house doesn't fit the mold so to speak."

Pen raised an eyebrow, "So the house of the Swallow does not quite fit, I would suspect that as the Elder blood came from a human source..."

"It's not just that, The other royal houses do not like them. Though I suspect it is because they have a human source, looked upon as "tainted" in some way."

"So they were looking for Kindred to find a place to settle outside the Aen Elle court?"

"I would say so, and actually having that house in our court would quell a lot of wagging tongues.."

"And cause more problems." Pen said. "If they come asking, we vet every one of the house."

Rhi nodded, "Aiden will help..."

Pen smiled. "I would expect no less.." She waved her hand. "Go the both of you, I'll see you in a few hours..."

Both bowed and departed.

Lunch found Pen returning the tome that had set her on the track of faint thread and more secrets. Regis held it for a few moments before ghosting int the shelves. He returned with a bottle of his famous hooch. She knew he brought it out when some hard truth needed to be said, or confession made.

"...I knew Ciri." He said. "And the hunt. Geralt went on to find her." he uncorked the bottle as two glasses set on the table. "I and Detlef helped..." He poured two measures, one in each glass. "we would see each other on our rare visits to Corvo Blanco...Mostly for me to deliver herbs to Yennifer." He downed one glass and nudged the other toward her. "...I knew of Avallac'h, I knew exactly which book you would need when you came to ask."

"Regis..."She said.

He held up a hand to quiet her.

"...I went to the healing rooms, looked upon him. Time has worn upon him, as it has upon me. I saw much of the man I met..."

"...I take you knew him not well."

"Ciri would come to Corvo Blancho alone, I suspect because Geralt did not see Avallac'h as a friend. He had spent some time there, according to Yen, I never got more than that." He poured another measure into his glass. "...I happened to meet them on the road, going between the summer fields and my shop in town. It was clear they shared some connection, beyond mentor and student. We talked only briefly...I never saw Avallac'h after that." He downed the glass again. "Ciri would change the subject, after when I asked."

"...A falling out?"

"No, I never got that impression." He said. "More like a distance, much like you and himself..."

"I do not change the subject when someone mentions Nuada..." She said.

Regis laughed, "No, you grew up around the Aen Sidhe. You know them better than the average human can. Ciri had no such reference, She knew the ways of Witchers, but for all their mutations they were still humans."

Pen downed her glass, tasting the burn on her tongue. She could think of a thousand reasons Ciri would have to not talk about herself and her Elven lover, especially if he was the only male she loved enough to bed. Relationships between human and Sidhe could be complicated.

"...I would be careful," He said. "Your research has gotten some odd questions from the Aen Saevherne...some of them pointed too." He corked the bottle. "...I spoke to one of them this morning, it appears the young Lord Cirdan isn't the only one looked upon as "Tainted"."

She heard the message in his words, The Sage, Crevan, was looked at the same way.

"I will have care, and set aside the subject." She said. "For now..."

Regis nodded, some secrets would remain so a bit longer.

#

The Healers finally allowed the Sage to be awake, though he did not seem keen on thanking them for the privilege. He spent much time in the gardens, and conservatory as if remembering them. Pen came across him admiring one of the bushes of "lady Sara" Roses.

"...Crevan..." She said, coming up beside him.

"Lady Thorn..." He said. "I should apologize for the trouble I have caused, I should have not spoken to Ge'els of my knowledge of you."

She watched his profile, the tic pulling back his lips as the nerves misfired.

"It is no secret among the High Court, but I am curious as to where you got that knowledge."

"We have met before, though I suspect my past and your future." He said. "I was a fool then, not realizing what I had been given...twice over."

"You speak of Ciri?"

"Not only her..." He said reaching out to one of the amber blooms, then pulled his hand away."I have learned many lessons in the time between the banishment and the return." he changed the subject. "These are most unusual roses..."

She tilted her head, acknowledging his discomfort.

"They were a gift when I wed my husband." Pen said. "They are hybrid from a stain called "Golden Goblin" She touched one of the blooms. "Lord Jareth bred this strain for his lady, Sara, thus the name. He wanted a Fey rose to give her that was not deadly but held the illusion of such. The Goblin strain is deadly and tends to bite, so it is around the private courtyard, to keep intruders out."

"...Beautiful none the less." He said, watching one of the blooms move to snap at her fingers.

"and they bite less..." She said, stroking the offending bloom. "come there are other things in the garden to see."

He followed her, for the first time since awakening feeling at peace.

The few hours spent in the gardens told much of Crevan, his movements and hesitations. She watched his fingers twitch, another sign of the damage done. She had looked into his eyes, the same blue as Lochain, brighter even. The pull she felt when he held out his hand to her to aid her in rising from a bench they had paused at gave her a jolt. It confused her, she should not have felt this...bond to this male. She tried to ignore it, but something of him.

She burried herself in another search, hoping it was just a fluke of being close to him for those few hours. The thought of what his kiss would taste like if she gave him a honey sweet brushed across her mind, making it hard to think of anything else. She knew he belonged, but more than that belonged to her. She avoided him, trying to sort out how she was going to handle this.

It was the dream of him standing before her holding out a flawed ruby to her. His voice saying he was giving her his heart, and she was its song sent her bolt awake. It left her weeping, unable to act and unable not to. She spent a few days in the Orb-weaver, trying to sort it out before she tossed the trade chits on the table and returned to the manse.

#

It was all too soon, Pen was sitting in the window seat in the Castle solar. Not knowing how to deal with her feelings about Crevan. She had felt others, and they slid into where they belonged without a hitch. The sage was different, he would need the Ceremony of binding to find his place and she remembered when she last performed it. There was also the other bond she was beginning to feel.

"...What made you ride the few hours to me this time." Nuada teased. "...I know you have not gone hunting threads, what is it..."

He did not expect her answer, and it conveyed her confusion.

"Crevan..." She said. "He belongs to...me..."

He frowned as he positioned himself behind her. The last she had said that was of Aethen, and without Lochain's explanation he would have gutted the Night elf rather than make him a member of the royal house. He knew why she'd be conflicted, the Ceremony was not to be performed or taken lightly. He knew he'd be the first she'd tell, for many reasons.

"...and you do not desire me to feel the Cuckold again." He said. "...I am a jealous one."

She sighed, "Part of it..." She said. "but there is the oath. If he takes the Loyalty oath to the High Court, as all of the Court of thorns do, you are his king."

"...binding would be Cuckolding and betraying me, at least to him..." He said softly. "We do not have to deal with this until he decides to take the oath." He felt her tremble, there was something more. "...it won't wait for his oath, will it."

"...That is what I fear, and it makes the choice hard." She said. "The thorns are willing..."

He put his arms around her, their love had been tested by much more.

"Shush..." He said. "...You cannot push time."

He would often say that to her when she was troubled by something she could not solve readily. It appeared The Sage would be one of them.