Roland, as planned, rode out of Klain and into the rolling hills. Finding a private place to change into his Rhone garb, he headed due South until he came to the point at which he was to meet up with the coming troops.
He wished he had more information that would help prevent the war. As it was, he would need to rely primarily on his skills of persuasion to convince Duncan to defy Titania and delay the war. Something might be found in the tunnels, or the information he reported about the sorcerers from Klain's books could spark some memory from Rhone's history that would provide more clarity around the prophecy.
What he needed most of all was to delay the attack at least until Gwen returned and Finn could get the protective barrier up around the city. It would give his home a fighting chance to adequately defend against whatever Titania had in store.
Reaching the designated location, he looked around and saw nothing at all. He swallowed and concentrated, snapping his fingers to make a doorway to the Darkness. If the Rhone had arrived, they might be waiting there, out of sight, until the attack.
Stepping into the Darkness, he felt a sense of fear and foreboding envelope him as the door closed behind him. The utter blackness, save for his softly glowing necklace, was oppressive. He squinted into the inky black for any sign of a distant bonfire, which would constitute the Rhone camp. Seeing none, he hurriedly went back out, returning to his own world.
He had gotten the distinct and unnerving impression that something out in the Darkness was watching him.
That was likely paranoia. The Rhone history book he had read did not contain anything about monsters in the Darkness. Then again, with no light or sound in the blackness, how would one gather evidence of a monster?
He shook off the feeling and decided to make camp where he was. It might well be a day, even two or three, before the Rhone arrived. At least, that was his hope.
_________
Finn returned to the library yet again, without Roland. She was confident she'd exhausted all the resources here, but didn't know where else to turn until Gwen came back.
It was a frustrating, fruitless time of feeling completely useless. She spent hours looking through various texts and finding nothing.
She sighed, closing yet another book that had given her no useful information, and laid her forehead on the cover, hitting it there twice as if that would knock the pieces of the puzzle together inside her mind. Lifting her face and rubbing the heels of her hands against her closed eyelids, Finn concentrated on organizing the information she had accumulated.
First, there was what she'd found in the library, which she had already gone over at least a dozen times. There was nothing new she'd be able to interpret there without more clues.
Then, what little information she'd gotten from Jimmy before Gwen had told him not to reveal anymore. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything particularly useful as she picked through her memories of what he'd shared regarding sorcerers, except something about them being human, but also not?
Then again, he'd known relatively little about Fae and had never met one before Gwen, and sorcerers, if there was more than one, were rarer still. Perhaps Jimmy's knowledge on the topic was not complete enough to be reliable. What was it he'd said about Gwen, "she already gave you what you need to know?"
That was perplexing, as Finn didn't feel like Gwen had shared all that much, and what she did share caused more questions. Something about family, and seeking the Sorcerer's will, and not interfering with it by changing world events, but being as helpful as they could.
If one of the Fae's main goals was to be 'helpful', and another was to seek the Sorcerer's will, surely being helpful was something he wanted them to do.
Finn yawned with the mental fatigue of her studying. Maybe she ought to take a break. She looked toward the window and realized it must be late in the afternoon, pushing towards evening. She took stock of her options that might help at all.
She shouldn't bother the General without an appointment. The man was heinously busy preparing for the attack, and had enough weight on his shoulders. She briefly considered asking to speak to the fake Provider, now a prisoner of war, but that would likely be denied, as would any request to speak to the prisoner halflings.
Maybe she could ask for an appointment with one of the lesser officials, but that seemed unlikely.
She faced the stark reality that outside of her connections, she was nobody of importance. That was humbling.
Her mind moved back to the former Provider, and then to Ashley. Suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over her. Finn hadn't visited her friend since getting out of jail, and that was a terrible oversight. She likely had many things to discuss, and maybe even some insight to share.
Nodding in decision, Finn put away the books she'd gathered and set off to her friend's home. She would be glad to see Dierdre again too. The woman had been cut off from people for far too long and deserved all the visitors she could ask for.
She felt even worse for not considering them sooner. She'd been so wrapped up in being released from jail and then doing her best to help Roland before he had to leave... She supposed that maybe there hadn't been time to visit them earlier, but she could have thought of it anyway.
Finn frowned, thinking there was no room for regrets in a time of coming war, decided to make the best of the time now. Coming in front of the residence, she rapped lightly at the door.
The same butler as before answered the summons, and Finn shrank back as he frowned at her. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
"Good Afternoon," She tried to keep a bright tone, "I'm here to see Ashley and Dierdre."
He stiffened his already rigid posture and narrowed his eyes.
"Whom should I say is calling?" He asked in a deep, professional tone.
"Finn--Serafina" She switched to her full name in an attempt to seem more elegant. The man clearly remembered her from before and knew she'd been banned from the house previously. She wondered briefly what his thoughts were on the fact that his supposed master turned out to be a foreign spy.
Perhaps he was now suspicious of everyone. She swallowed her trepidation and projected a confident air.
"This way," He opened the door wider and allowed her entry, showing her into the parlor as before. While she waited, she went over to Dierdre's painting, enjoying the detail and emotion put into the artwork.
"Finn!" Came a delighted squeal from the door, and she was suddenly enveloped in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"I'm glad to--" Finn pulled back and looked at the woman hugging her. Ashley looked like a completely different person! She remembered being jealous of the woman's beauty when she first saw her accidentally fall into Roland's arms that day at the camp, and that had been when she was covered in grime and in an ill-fitting uniform.
"Ashley! You're... beautiful!" Finn exclaimed at last. "What a transformation! Not that you weren't pretty before, but goodness!" She held her at arm's length to observe the fine embroidery on her gown, the jewelry adorning her neck and earlobes, and the intricate hairstyle which perfectly framed her face.
"How very sweet of you to say!" Ashley pushed the compliment back onto her guest. "Dressing like a soldier had its moments, but I'm much more comfortable like this."
"Because you can enchant every man within eyesight and have whatever you want?" Finn teased.
"I'm working on that," Ashley admitted. "Riley's been to visit twice now since I left the army, and has promised to come again this evening after he's done searching the mountain tunnels."
"Oh? And how do you feel about that?" Finn remembered Riley's admission that he might have feelings for Ashley.
Ashley bit her lip and eyed Finn as if judging whether she was worthy to impart a secret to.
"I feel very nicely about it, thank you."
"What did his face look like the first time he saw you like... this?" Finn gestured to Ashley's lovely gown and alluring hairstyle.
Ashley burst into giggles. "Like a stunned rabbit! He could hardly speak! I had to pretend not to understand the issue for fear of running him off!"
Finn joined her in peals of laughter. "Poor Riley! He never stood a chance, did he?"
Ashley calmed and studied her friend seriously for a moment. There was a question she really needed to ask, and needed courage to do it.
"You've known him a long time, haven't you? Can you tell me whether this is a good idea?"