"I'll have you know,"

Rebecca declared to the Ixies, "that witchy fashion is the absolute height of sophistication!"

"Thou lookest like some dead thing that just crawled from its grave."

"Precisely!"

I could not keep up with their argument as I became more fixated on the scrying orb.  Why wasn't it working?  Vernier was a very clever and insightful femme.  Surely when she saw her orb go blank at the edge of the forest, she would have turned right around and headed back.  Right?  So why wasn't I picking her up?  Something must have happened!  Something TERRIBLE!

"SHUT UP EVERYONE!!" I yelled, as Rebecca was in the midst of explaining how black was the new tartan.  "I can't concentrate with all that racket!  I think some misfortune has befallen Vernier.  Ixies, go find her and bring her back."

"But Sire, what if the raccoon monster awakens whilst we are away?"

"GO FIND VERNIER," I bellowed.  "That's an order!"

I clutched the orb and concentrated as hard as I could, trying to see through it.  Could Vernier be lost?  No, I had ordered the trees to conduct her along the easiest route.  Could she be hurt?  I realized with dismay that I had specified the easiest route, not the safest.  She could be lying in a gully somewhere with a broken leg!  Or what if ... what if there were rabbits patrolling the edge of the woods, and they captured her?  I hoped that she had the presence of mind to quickly tuck the orb into her blouse, as she said she would.  Maybe she did that in any case -

"Oh, there you are," she said as the orb suddenly came to life again.

"Are you all right?  Are you hurt?  Have you been taken prisoner?  Tell me where you are and we will mount a rescue!" I blurted.

"I'm fine," she stated.  "What are you talking about?  I have not been taken prisoner and am on my way back to your location."

"What happened?  Why were you off the orb for so long?"

"It wasn't that long, was it?" she asked.  "I reached the edge of the forest and the orb went blank, so I was going to turn around and head back ... but Ash Marten was there."

"That fiend!" I groaned.  "That scoundrel!  What did he do?"

"He was very polite.  He said that he had anticipated this move, and he gave me something to bring back for you."

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