107. Charades

The motley attempt to find out more from the Cursed Selkie.

### Play of the Game:

Liz as Sophia, for reaching out to their captive in dreams, and learning of another prophecy.

***"You can wreck it for everyone else because you couldn't keep your yap shut. But what if you*** **can't *speak?"***

Braum takes off from the warehouse with an injured, furious Patches in the front seat, and Sophia in the back trying to keep their mysterious silent Selkie calm. The motley determine that it's impossible for him to communicate in any known language, and that the bands on his wrists and ankles are some sort of treasure designed for the purpose of binding him. Returning to the Spark, Patches' father Malcolm has arrived, and is making tea for everyone. When he gets a bit flippant about the supposed "danger" he was warned of, Patches tells him point-blank that her friends' loved ones had been kidnapped, and that he should stay out of trouble.

As Braum tries to help make the Selkie more comfortable, Sophia discovers a still-injured Sir Xaeron teaching Cog to shoot out in the garden. She's dismayed that he feels he needs to pick up a weapon ("He's only a child!") but Cog insists that he's "ready to help". Sophia asks Sir Xaeron to assist her in freeing the Selkie from his bonds, believing that the Treasure is powered by Sovereign. Once he has been freed, the motley try to assist the Selkie in writing, but that too seems to be under the effects of his ban. How severe is the geas to which he has been subjected?

As Patches is being embarrassed by her father casually mentioning how attractive Dr. Sayley is, Braum gets a call. The severe troll on the other end of the line wants to try to strike a deal: Halleah hopes to trade Cog's mother for their unknown Selkie captive. Braum tries to get information about Kyoko, but is stonewalled by Halleah. The troll is adamant about having tried to get through to both High King David and the new monarch, High Queen Lenore, about the coming Long Winter, but Broken Flight had been ignored repeatedly. "This is war," she tells him. When Braum hangs up on her, she tries to negotiate with the "more reasonable" Patches. The nocker determines that Halleah's bearing is military, like hers, and that while she definitely wouldn't lie in negotiations, it's impossible to determine how serious she is in carrying out her threats, since she's taking orders from someone else in Broken Flight, too. They are given some time to consider the trade, but the motley decide that they have to keep the Selkie captive, even if that means Cog's mother stays with the enemy. Halleah promises to keep her safe, if the motley agree to do the same: she "would not want to see the Geas triggered" on him.

The Selkie himself emerges into the garden, still unable to speak, but attempting to communicate with the motley nonetheless through mime. Halleah didn't put the Geas on him, he explains, because she loves him: they are siblings! He wants to try to help him, since he disagrees with her methods, and agrees to sleep so that the motley can enter his dreams.

The Selkie's dreamscape is of a valley surrounded by waterfalls, with bioluminescent creatures floating in the air, lighting the scene. He explains that this was the location in the Dreaming where he first emerged during his Chrysalis, and it morphs into the dream that he sees "every night". Halleah emerges from the darkness on a basketball court, holding Caliburn and a crown. As she raises Caliburn to destroy the crown, the sword begins to topple out of her hands, heading straight for her head…. He believes that his dream, the second prophecy, clearly shows that she will be undone if she pursues her goal of destroying the monarchy. Someone in Broken Flight believed that she should not be reminded of this second prophecy, and cast the Geas on the Selkie to prevent him from telling his sister. He tells them that the original prophecy, the one that Broken Flight originally interpreted as the coming of the Long Winter through the monarchy, could perhaps be found with Queen Laurel, the Queen of the Kingdom of Northern Ice.

Suddenly, a voice booms out in the dream: "You shouldn't have come here!" Halleah herself advances on the motley, telling them sadly that we should have spoken with her "when we had the chance". She is furious about having had her fate decided for her by Xaeron and the Red Branch, and that maybe death would have been preferable to the "exile" to which she was subjected. The motley tumble out of the Selkie's dream, only to hear a door slam down the hall: Halleah is inside the Spark! The motley rush down the hall to the room where Cog was resting, discovering that their entry is blocked by a cantrip. Braum uses Whisper to shatter the cantrip and they rush in, Patches tackling Cog while the others hold Halleah at bay. She looks at Cog and repeats "I swear I will protect her," before vanishing. Interrogating Cog, they discover that Halleah arrived in order to swear to him personally that she would protect his mother: Patches is convinced she must have an ulterior motive, but Braum begins to suspect that Halleah's honour runs deep… if maybe tainted.

Sophia asks Talus to find them a way to head to Lenore's freehold while Patches puts the Spark on lockdown. She calls Duke Granville just before doing so, making sure that he and Heart's Light are safe as well.

Out in the garden, Braum goes to fetch Sk4g for Cog, having admitted that he failed him as his protector. Behind the tree, suddenly Halleah appears, trapped by the force field around the Spark. She begs Braum to turn it off for a moment so that she can return to Cog's mother and keep her safe: she swore an oath, after all, and he of all people should know what that means. Braum asks her to consider the moment when they can talk to each other rather than shed blood, and Halleah whispers "She's safe," allaying Braum's fears about Kyoko. The troll sneaks back into the Exhaust in order to disengage the force field, letting Halleah go free….