I looked at the eleven Fair in front of me, and then to Bilby, I trusted these beings a lot, and didn't know much about their culture, but I felt like I could trust them with what I was about to do.

"Lilly, can you set that on the table, please?" I asked as I walked over to the door, and out looked at the five humans who came back with me. "Could the permit holder for your group come in here, please?" The woman left the wall, seeming apprehensive about my request, but came into the room anyway, I closed the door behind her.

"Bilby, is there a way to check her for deception while I ask her a few questions?"

"Yes, but she would have to touch our wings to do so."

"Is there one among you willing to allow this, I will not force it, and if you all deny it, then I will just forget about what I am thinking."

"I'll allow it, I've seen her enough to trust her with this." it was Evelyn Viridian.

"Thank you Evelyn." I said. she approached the woman and floated in front of her.

"I am the Eastern Gate Marshall, Evelyn viridian. I grant you permission to use my familiar name." she gave a short curtsey in the air in front of her, and then lighted on the table behind her.

"Miss, you now need to give her your name, at least first and last, as well as any official titles you hold. doing otherwise would be rude." Bilby stated to her.

"I am a commoner, and hold no titles, My name is Jennifer Morris." she said seeming nervous.

"Now say that you give her permission to use your familiar name." Lilly added.

"I give you, and all those present, permission to use my familiar name." she said. a couple gasps could be heard from the other table where the remaining Fair were.

"Thank you." Evelyn started. "once you have touched my wings, it will be rude to call me by anything other than my familiar name, and I will show you the same respect. and since I am doing this to find deception, do not let go until Ayla has asked her questions, and you have answered.

Jennifer simply nodded, and reached forward with her index finger, and gently touched the side of Evelyn's green wings, the lower half of which fluttered quickly, and she got a large smile on her face. so I started to ask my questions.

"Have you ever taken anything else from the room you showed me today?"

"No." she answered.

"Truth." Evelyn stated, still grinning.

"Do you promise to never reveal its location, or what is inside to anyone else."

"Yes."

"truth."

"Did you hold back your findings in hope of a higher payout."

"Yes." she answered nervously.

"Truth."

"Would you be willing to assist me in negotiations with your people?"

Jennifer looked at my doll-face for a moment before replying.

"Yes."

"Truth."

"Last question, are you, at this moment, a free person, and not indentured or owned by anyone else."

"Yes."

"Lie." Evelyn covered her mouth quickly when she said it. and stepped away from Jennifer; the choir of Fair on the other table also covered their mouths and surprise showed on their faces.

"I didn't Lie!" Jennifer insisted, appearing frightened.

"You didn't mean to, Jennifer." Evelyn said. "you owe money to the bank, you have a loan on your house. your spirit considers it the same as indenturment." I looked from Evelyn to Jennifer, and then back.

"Evelyn. thank you." I looked toward Jennifer. "Jennifer, I will not hold a mortgage over you as indenturment, thank you for your honesty, and troubling me in this way, but as of right now, you are no longer a commoner, but rather my personal Ambassador to your people. I want you to speak on my behalf to your race's Ambassadors, and look out for the interests of this city." I turned from her to Bilby. "What amount would be a fair wage, that I could afford, to give her for this?"

"Ayla, an Ambassador is expected a minimum of one hundred thousand Credits a month, you could easily afford to pay her three times that, and still not make much of a dent in your personal income, the reward for finding your family was a mere hour's wage for you."

I turned and faced my new Ambassador, her eyes were bulging with surprise.

"Will this amount suffice for you Jennifer?" I asked. her mouth didn't move, she simply nodded. "I am unaware of your people's customs, I know some of them. I will hold you responsible, not only for being my voice, but also teaching me what is proper. I know you were a commoner, I would rather learn from you than someone like Ambassador Tincan." she looked puzzled at who I mentioned.

"Ambassador Green, he said some rather unpleasant things to Ayla at their first meeting, and has yet to properly introduce himself to her, so she refers to him in that manner." Bilby explained to her. she seemed to understand and a smile began to form on her still surprised face.

"Now that that is taken care of, you all have allowed me to share your sprits, as such, I wish to repay that kindness by giving you the highest honor I could think of giving you, allowing you to hold onto the crown of the Andronis, until such time as I am ready for it."

the group present all started smiling, and their wings fluttered in excitement. The two youngest ones were even letting some of their magic loose and it was forming dust on the ground behind them.

"Crystalized Fairy Dust." I heard Jennifer say. I turned to her, as did Bilby.

"You know what that is?" Bilby asked.

"Yes, Sir, but I only know its value, I don't know its purpose."

"I do." I replied. "well at least one purpose, if enough of that is gathered, it can be added to the materials to protect me from a device like the gnomish bomb, and make it ineffective. as of right now, I am still vulnerable to it." everyone in the room looked toward me at saying this. I felt kind of nervous about saying it out loud.

"Your mother's casing was made with this?" Evelyn asked. I just nodded. "How much?"

"The information I got when I inspected the pieces all said that the material was 5% Crystalized Fairy Dust, and 5% Crystalized Fair Mana." Evelyn's demeanor changed, and she no longer seemed happy.

"Crystalized Fair Mana can only be given by a fair who is of venerable age, and on the verge of dying. its literally our last wings. in order for that amount, just to use in the pieces you have on you; your talking about the death of close to three hundred Fair of that age. that is some expensive plating, just to protect your self from a bomb."

"I don't think that I would need that much, I would see that as a misuse, and I don't think that I will be making any anytime soon."

"What color were the pieces?" Evelyn asked

"They were gloss white, it looked like even the dust in the room wanted to stay away." Jennifer said nervously.

"Then whoever made those pieces was no friend of the Fair, and the Mana was taken from unwilling fair, not freely given. if it had been freely given, the result would have been a glossless green." one of the male Fair at the table said. "My apologies, Ayla, I am Gilbert Brenan, my Clan's Historian."

"The Brenan Clan were the original Keyholders, and the first ones to try and open the gates when no Andronis had not come out for ten days, they had always come out at least once every three days, since then, there has always been a Brenan Fair on staff at the north gate, regardless of the race holding the city." Bilby told me

"Then you would be the best to tell me where that could be stored?" I asked pointing to the chip on the table.

"I do, Ayla. would you mind your little one come with me, so it may be safely stored?" Gilbert asked me. I simply nodded, and Lilly picked it up, and disappeared with Gilbert. they came back a few seconds later, empty handed. "Your Crown-Bearer and myself are the only ones who know its location, so if it is lost, you will know it is either her, or myself at fault."

"Thank you, Gilbert. say, I know you all know I built Lilly, but would you mind teaching her your ways? I know that you don't take kindly to half-Fair, but I can't teach her how her magic works, I know she knows some of it, but I figured she could teach me about your culture, to lower the risk of offending you." a couple of the Fair seemed to agree with this.

"We would be happy to honor your request, but why would you say we shy away from Half-Fair?" Bilby asked.

I explained to them about Angela's situation, and being raised without a Fair mother to teach her. and all the other things that I had been told.

"There are only two clans that are like that," Gilbert stated. My own, Brenan clan, and the Toran clan, the ones who told the Gnomes about the Andronis' weakens to electronic waves in the air."

"Electro-Magnetic Pulse." I said, Jennifer and Bilby looked toward me. "Jennifer, you are to never repeat this." she nodded quickly. "Our weakness isn't Electronic waves, I can probably produce some that wouldn't pose a problem. the problem is when those waves have a magnetic resonance with them. that's what Danielle's plating was meant to guard against, and it worked, but its a bit excessive. by making a few changes to my wiring, I wont need anywhere near the amount used on her, only on the inner lining of whatever I use for my head."

"Is it really that simple to prevent the bomb from being used again?" Bilby asked.

"I doubt it to be simple, but its possible. I'm already working on a new frame, and have the wiring ran, I can add the changes when I get back to the workshop, so a shield against Electromagnetic radiation can be retrofitted, when I can safely make the plating. I doubt I will actually need the crystalized fairy Mana, and after seeing her plating, I think I can make something that works better, without the issues of causing your people pain, or having to wait for your elder's to pass on." at this everyone seemed to shift into a lighter, and more festive mood.

"Lilly, are you able to take me back home?"

"Yes, Ayla. but, could we wait about a half hour more? I want to make sure I have enough, and not pass out as soon as we get back." she said. she looked contemplative for a moment. "I wonder how Angie will feel when she finds out that her ancestors were the ones who told the gnomes?"

"I don't Know, but lets keep that between us for now?" Lilly nodded at my request.