Awkward Conversation (Sunrise, Songbird)

Sunrise leads Luther and Tree to the kitchen. Once they're well away from the room and everyone else, she gives them both a small sheepish smile. "So."

Luther moves to wrap her in another warm hug. "Are you all right?"

"No," she confesses, her voice muffled as she buries her face in his shoulder. "I was scared for you."

"At the temple?" He hugs her tighter and strokes her hair. "You did an excellent job protecting me. Thank you."

She melts against him, tension leaving her. For a moment she just rests there. Then, with a small laugh, she adds, "So. I like your daughter."

Luther chuckles and then goes rigid, his back stiffening. "Speaking of, ah. Gwyn, I understand you've met Sunrise?"

She shifts her weight on her feet. "Ummmmm, yes. I kinda threatened to kill her, but I guess we got past that."

"Water under the bridge," Sunrise agrees with a smile. "Really, there wasn't any way to get to you that wasn't going to result in someone threatening to kill us."

Tree can't help but laugh. "Well. You're not wrong there. Oh! And um!" She fumbles, self-conscious and speaking faster now. "Korogur wouldn't have hurt you. He's a good guy, really. I mean. If he has to kill someone, he makes sure it's clean. I mean."

She grins. "Well, don't spread that around! It'll ruin his fearsome reputation!"

Shaking her head, she adds more gently, "So I assume you've noticed your dad and I are close."

Tree blushes and toes the ground. "Yeah, uhh. That's... new?" She glances at Luther for confirmation and he smiles.

"Met her when your mother hired her," he admits. "But don't make me thank her, ha."

"I wouldn't ever," Tree promises immediately.

"I was fully prepared to hate him," Sunrise adds, rolling her eyes. "Not even going to tell you what he did when we first met."

Tree's eyes widen. "Oh, Luther, were you rude?" she scolds.

He reddens and chuckles. "Only a little! I wanted your mother to think I hated her, I- I was worried about you, Gwyn."

"A little?" Her eyes dance as she teases. A moment later she softens, looking at him with fond affection. "But he's too sweet to keep up the act for long."

Tree blushes again but smiles. "I like him too," she tells Sunrise. "He works really hard to make people not like him. I'm glad you saw through that."

"Me too."

She smiles, but a moment later her expression grows more serious. "But. I didn't just ask you two to step out for that conversation - or to get food, although we really should do that," she says, rummaging around as she speaks. "We need to talk about strategy. Specifically, we need to talk about the amulet, and we may need to do so away from Korogur."

Tree's expression falls a little. "He's not being reasonable about this, I know. I'm sorry."

She shrugs. "I can't blame him; in his shoes I'd do the same thing." She finds two large loaves of bread and a crock of butter, and keeps rummaging. "But there's a lot of unanswered questions around that amulet, and we can't even start looking for the answers while Laerdya keeps it tucked away."

"Yeah..." Tree sighs and looks away, hugging her arms to her chest. "She's not going to just hand it over," she observes quietly.

"No, she's not," she agrees. "Although I would point out that if you're going to meet with her, that means we'll know a time when she won't be home. And perhaps the Commissioner of the Feytower would be willing to slip someone a spare key and get them inside the tower in preparation for that?" She gives Luther a small smile. "But then the question becomes: who do we know that's magically skilled enough to meaningfully examine the amulet, and immune to its effects, and trustworthy enough not to just smash the damn thing before we have a chance to explore other options?" She raises an eyebrow. "I don't suppose Mokoz has ever been raised?"

Luther sucks in a deep breath and considers this. "I do not know, but if she's been studying the plague then I shouldn't wonder at it if she were. But you know the problem with Laerdya's rooms isn't just locks, right? If I ask her to turn off her protection wards before she leaves, she'll be highly suspicious."

She hesitates. "What if someone came into Laerdya's rooms with you... and didn't leave?" She looks at him. "Someone invisible, say."

Luther hesitates but Tree nods her head. "That could work," she offers. "The wards only check for things coming and going, not for anything already there."

"And if you escorted her back," Sunrise says with a shrug, "whoever it is could leave with you and they wouldn't activate the ward that way either. Although we might need to tweak that depending on how long invisibility lasts."

Luther puffs out his cheeks, looking troubled. "I...can't think of better idea," he admits. "Do you have a caster in mind to accompany you?"

"Thimb can do invisibility." She shrugs. "And Ka'Ri already picked one lock in Laerdya's rooms; she's the obvious choice to do further investigation."

She hesitates then. "And then... what I'm about to suggest... it isn't kind," she says, looking guilty. "But. We need Laerdya's cooperation. She claims she's made significant progress looking for a cure; part of why we were so upset with Korogur's family is because according to her, she might have it already if her supply chain didn't keep getting interrupted. We need that research for Mokoz to build on. But even more than that? We need information about that amulet." She sighs. "How it was made. What went into it. What exactly it does, how far its reach is, what options exist to alter it, if the magics that help you could be recreated without the plague effect... and I don't think she's going to be willing to give it. She won't want to take any chance that you might be hurt."

She winces and gives both of them an apologetic look. "But... once we have the amulet... if we could convince her that if she doesn't tell us everything about it we'll just destroy the thing and risk the consequences..."