Open The Market The Mysterious Vixen. Witch, Fortune-Teller, or Fraud?

[Madame Lorelei]

Content Warning: Suggestive Scenario, Violent Imagery.
Time: 50 years ago
Location: An unknown swamp​

A group of hares was trekking deep through the marshy and sticky lands of the swamp. There were about 20 of them in total, led by a young male named Heath, who had brown fur and sharp blue eyes. All of the hares were dressed in royal red combat uniforms. They all looked exhausted.

"We've been marching for hours! We've got to give it a rest, Colonel!" One of them in the back complained.

Usually, Heath would not have stood for such whining from his platoon, but he was exhausted. He couldn't show weakness, though. "Just a bit farther, lads. Just as soon as we find solid land, we'll make camp!"

Leading the crew further through the marsh, they eventually came upon a patch of ground elevated above the wetlands. It was a decent-sized clearing.

"Right! Let's make camp here!" Heath said.

The group of hares pitched their tents and then settled in for the night, leaving a few of them to keep watch while the others slept.

Heath immediately fell into a deep sleep; the trek into the swamp had been arduous, and he was much more tired than he initially thought.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he was jolted awake by a sharp prick in his neck. He tried to sit up, but there was a heavy weight on his chest. A paw clamped down on his chest, and Ajax found himself staring into the amber eyes of a vixen, who was straddling his chest. She was wearing a grey dress spotted with stars and moons, and had a sash wrapped around her neck.

"No words, my dear Colonel." She tutted, her voice sultry and smooth, yet laced with venom. "I've just pricked you with this knife." She held up a dagger, he could barely see it in the darkness. "Laced with a special poison. Not enough to kill you, though you will be paralyzed for the rest of the night... if you try to scream or struggle, I'll have no choice but to finish you off. Do you understand?"

Ajax wasn't sure how this vixen had managed to sneak in. He tried to move his arms and legs, but he felt them going numb. It seemed she was telling the truth about the poison. He could barely nod his head in response to her question.

Satisfied, Lorelei moved her paw from his mouth and stashed her knife.

"Who are you, what do you want? What do you want?" Heath asked, his voice straining.

"I am Madame Lorelei. I simply talk to you... Ajax." She leaned down, practically lying on top of him, while she ran a finger along his jawline. "The fates informed me of your arrival, and I've been simply dying to meet you~"

Ajax grimaced. "So, you're a seer, then?"

She nodded, batting her eyelashes. "Yes, I am, though I don't need to use my abilities to know your after the star that fell from the sky. Beasts from all over have been flocking to my swamp to try and claim it."

Ajax shook his head. "I don't want it... I'm claiming it for Lord Vernon."

Lorelei giggled a bit, and she started to unbutton Ajax's shirt. "It doesn't matter. Those who enter my swamp don't leave alive. You needn't worry yourself though, Ajax. For I have looked into the future and have a prophecy just for you~"

She leaned down, gingerly kissing his neck as she whispered in his ear.
"Deep down, you hide a reason for shame.
Deep down, you know that we are the same~"
She nipped his neck, using her paw to stroke his chest.

Heath was unable to move his body, no matter how much he willed it to. "We aren't the same, you sicken me."

She brought her head up, her lips only inches from his own as she continued to rub his chest, running her paw down the side of his leg.
"Leaving them feeling betrayed,
Breaking the bonds that you've made,
There is no price you won't pay,
We both know what it takes to survive~"

Ajax turned his head. He felt a burning shame in his chest. She was right. But how did she know these things about him? Before he could think for longer, she grasped his chin and made him look at her.

"Deep down, we only care for ourselves.
Deep down, we're lonely demons from hell~"

Lorelei leaned in and kissed him, and Ajax didn't remember much of what else happened after that, because he blacked out.

When the morning came, Ajax woke up. He reached for his sword, and he was surprised to find that he could still move. His shirt was back on, as if nothing had happened the night before. Standing up, he rubbed the back of his neck. The wound was still fresh, so it had happened the night before.

"Colonel!" One of his subordinates approached him. "We're ready to move out when you're, Sir!"

"Right...." He nodded. He wanted to call the whole thing off and try to leave the swamp, but he knew the expedition was doomed. If they were all going to perish, they might as well get a glimpse at the fallen star.

Once their tents were repacked, the platoon moved forward. It was another full day's march, and they had to light torches to see. It wasn't long after sunset before the platoon came across a clearing. There was a massive crater in the marsh, and the hares saw a strange-looking boulder. It was somehow earthen and metallic at the same time.

"Is this the star that fell from the sky?" Heath asked aloud.

"Colonel!" One of the others walked forward. "Something approaches..."

A pair of glowing amber eyes appeared in the darkness, and Ajax's blood ran cold. Walking out from the foliage was Madame Lorelei.

"Hello~" She smiled at him, before snapping her fingers. Suddenly, a second pair of eyes appeared in the darkness. Then a third, a fourth, dozens if not a hundred or more. But these were more reptilian. Approaching from behind Lorelei was a veritable army of toads, frogs, salamanders and lizards. The thing that shook Ajax to his core, and shook the morale of his platoon, was a massive snake that towered over the vixen and stared hungrily at the hares. How was it possible she had the whole swamp under her command?

Ajax turned to his platoon! "Run for your lives!"

But it was too late. Lorelei pointed at the hares, and the army of reptilians swarmed at them, the snake rushing forward and wrapping up Ajax in its coils.

The platoon tried to fight, but they were outnumbered. Their screams were drowned out by the cacophony of the reptiles, mixed with Lorelei's eerie chanting.

"Drown in your sorrow and fears!
Choke on your blood and your tears!
Bleed 'til you've run out of years!
We must do what it takes to survive!"

One by one the hares were defeated, some of them being impaled by sword and trident, some of them beaten with cudgels, others dragged down and drowned in the marsh. Ajax struggled in the coils of the snake, waiting for death to come, but the beast did not bite him; it only kept him restrained in its grip. Meanwhile Lorelei was reveling in the massacre, her arms raised as she continued to sing her dire hymn.

"Give up your order and faith!
Live up your life as a wraith!
Die in the blood where you bathe!
We must do what it takes to survive!"

Lorelei walked up to Ajax, once again trailing her finger along his jawline. "We are the same, you and I..."

Present Day​

Time had not been kind to Madame Lorelei. She still wore the same old outfit from seasons prior. It was all she had. But now she was old. Her fur was no longer silky smooth, instead matted and ragged. She was greying in some places, and even the fringes of her tail were beginning to turn white. She had lost an eye sometime in her youth. When exactly and where eluded her memory, but now she had a glass eye. When she yawned, she revealed a big golden canine in her mouth. Her back ached, even as she sat in the padded chair, an elaborare stall set up in the bustling marketplace. It was by no means a small stall. There was enough room for two people to stand outside at a time, and it was decorated with a purple table cloth adorned with stars and moons. Not to mention the big sign that said 'Fortunes'. She was currently selling her services as a fortune-teller, but very few beasts seemed to be interested. Apparently civilized beasts had no need for such things Chokra told her to stay here while he looked for Silvertongue, but that had been days ago, and he had yet to return, so she had to rent out a room at the inn.

"Tch, how hard could it be to find the stupid Songfox..." She muttered. "He dresses like a damned clown." She tapped her fingers, a bored expression on her face as she played with the crystal ball she had set up on the stand.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna didn't believe in fortune tellers, ghosts, or anything supernatural. Not only was belief in such things against the axioms of rationality as postulated by the Alkamarian philosopher Renny Deezcartes*, but, having tested such things repeatedly in the months following Vito Furotazzi's death, she was convinced that it was all quackery, a method to part the gullible from their gilders.

That had been the part that, after everything else, remained to intrigue her.

The red-haired vixen eyed up the stand and the shabby occupant thereof. She certainly had the stereotype of the cackling old witch down; she looked as if she might very well have a bad case of mange, and she seemed to have mastered the 'crazy eyed' look that made most beasts cross to the other side of the street. Indeed, that might explain why so many were crossing to the other side of the street to avoid her stall. It was a good act, Marianna decided, except that it was working too well, convincing her prospective clientele that there was truly something wrong about the vixen.

Well, she decided, if she was going to expand her portfolio, she might as well start with the small stuff - cons that couldn't be proven to be scams in a court of law, and, while not the most profitable, were at least safe investments. Besides, who could say for sure where this could go? Charlatans made for excellent criminals, with the right training, and Marianna was certain she could see to that. She raised her chin and, walking with the poise and confidence of a rich young woman about town, approached the table. "I would very much like my fortune told, Madame," she addressed the fortune teller with a brusque, businesslike confidence. "My husband, that faithless cur, is sleeping with someone on the staff, I'm sure of it! I just need to know their name. You will be paid well for your time." She set her clutch down on the table and opened it, letting the glitter of gold coins shine while she took out a silver ha' gilder. The silver and lower currency were all genuine, but the gilders were fakes, ones which her foolish brother had credulously accepted in receipt of a smuggling operation. She'd chewed him out for that before taking them for herself. One or two at a time and mixed in with other coins, she could pass them off slowly, and in the event that she was robbed, she could give up the clutch and only be out a few gilders at most. If the Fogeys stopped and searched her, she could always claim ignorance, or at worst explain that they were a distraction in the event of robbery, allowing her to escape with her real wallet, which was concealed somewhere that any thief would have to look very hard to find. If this fortune teller was shrewd enough to recognize the fakes at a distance, then perhaps there was some chance for her to be of use to the Furotazzis - or, at least, so Marianna hoped.

*Born 1596, died 1650; noted for the phrase "I think I want another sandwich, therefore I have another sandwich." Died in a restaurant from asphyxiation during a sandwich-eating competition.

 

[Madame Lorelei]

As Madame Lorelei saw Marianna approaching, she sat up, taking her paws off the crystal ball and smiling warmly at the vixen. "Hello, dearie! " she said cheerfully before listening intently to her request. "Oh, you poor dear. Of course, the illustrious Madame Lorelei will get to the bottom of this!"

The old vixen's glass eye shined in the sunlight as she stared almost hungrily at the gilders. "Mmmhh, this will only take a moment, my dear."

Madame Lorelei reached a paw under her table and turned a nob, which activated a flame. This flame was inside the crystal ball, which made it seem as if the crystal ball was glowing. Madame Lorelei put both her paws on the crystal ball, almost massaging it as she did so. "Hmm, yes, yes... the spirits- they are communing with me. The truth- the secrets that have been hidden from you... shall never be known."

The smile on the old vixens face was replaced by a snarl. "Do you think because I am old, that I am a fool? My dear, when you were in nappies, I had already been in this business for forty years. I may not be from this country, but I can still tell a fake coin from a genuine one."

She leaned down and switched the nob under her table, dousing the flame and dulling the light inside the crystal ball. "I'm afraid my services are unavailable for those who would try and swindle me for them." She put up a little sign that read 'Closed', before leaning back in her padded chair. "Now, if you have no other business with me- I belive it's time for my midday nap."

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna nodded in satisfaction, glad to see that the woman was sharp. "Good," she noted. "I apologize for the test; I had to be certain your observational skills were up to par." She glanced around before noting, "If you put a chair down here, you might get more business. Of course, it might also get stolen.

"In any case, my name is Marianna Furotazzi. I have a business venture to propose - though perhaps one that shouldn't be spoken of out in the street. May we speak somewhere more private?"

 

[Madame Lorelei]

The old vixen opened her eyes. With a heavy sigh, she stood up, taking hold of a cane and leaning on it. "As I said, I am Madame Lorelei." She said.

"If you wish to do business with me, we can talk in the room I am staying at." She leaned over the table and she unscrewed the crystal ball from its secured area, stuffing it into her satchel. "Only if you don't mind me asking you a few questions in turn."

As she walked, it seemed she was reliant on the cane. She had a nasty limp she carried herself with, but her face didn't show any signs of pain. Just how much of this was an act for the elderly vixen would remain a mystery to Marianna.

"I'm looking for a young fox, about yay tall." She motioned with her free paw. "He's younger than you, very foppish looking- well dressed I mean. Goes by the name Silvertongue. Does that ring any bells?"

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna frowned, the name indeed ringing a bell. Her brother had come back from another of his drunken brawls at the Bilge talking about a Silvertongue... mostly what he'd like that tongue to do for him. The vixen had mostly tuned that part out. "The name sounds familiar," she allowed. "If you need him... brought to you, I have associates who specialize in that sort of work. We can certainly discuss an arrangement, given what I have to offer."

Her mind was already spinning with opportunities that could arise with this vixen in the Furotazzi's network. There were numerous ways in which a good psychic could come in useful during a con, and Marianna had a few of those brewing at the moment. If things panned out with the Cravat Crew and this detective she'd heard mentioned, she might just have enough for a truly brilliant heist.

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"Hmm." Madame Lorelei rubbed her chin a bit. She suspected that Marianna was part of some illicit organization, and she didn't want Silvertongue to be involved with it. As much as the young Songfox annoyed her, she did care about him. "Perhaps. We can worry about that later."

The old vixen eventually led Marianna to the inn she was staying at, taking her into her room. "We will have some privacy here." She locked the door and hobbled over to a chair, lowering herself down on it. "Now, let's here about this proposal of yours."

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the way the whole bed creaked ominously. She'd been in these Bully Harbor inns a few times in her life, and regardless of cost, she'd found their quality to be abysmal. If she didn't share a smallish residence with her brother, she'd rather not have visited them at all, but, well, sometimes privacy was a luxury worth paying for. "I and my brother are il Fratello and la Sorella of the Furotazzi Mafia," she introduced herself. "I have been on the lookout for beasts with unique and innovative skills, ones skilled in crafts of deception, misdirection, obfuscation... In short, the bread and butter of your trade. I believe that, working with a larger team, we can give you work that will present a greater challenge than merely reading palms and tea leaves, convincing rich widows that their departed husbands must have buried a stash of gold somewhere on the estate, if only they would give you a little more time and ten more gilders to keep divining." She didn't speak contemptuously of the trade; if anything, she seemed to admire the hustle involved.

"If your goal is to locate this Silvertongue, whether for his protection or punishment, then I'm quite certain it will be easier to do so with more money and resources at your disposal than just a crystal ball. We can provide you with greater security and support, a network of skilled beasts to call upon, and, best of all," she added, "legitimate income. Believe me, I am well familiar with Ministry of Commerce accounting practices and I can ensure that the taxbeast doesn't touch your income." Being raised by a mafioso who had also been Minister of Commerce had given her quite the education, one she was eager to put into practice. She kept her chin raised, trying to mask the tic in her jaw muscles. She was slowly convincing beasts of significant talent to take a risk on her leadership, but she knew what a precarious tower she was building for herself. If she couldn't deliver a significant score for the organization, then the Furotazzi name would be dead and buried forever.

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Madame Lorelei leaned back. "Seeing as how I have no contacts here, I suppose I have no choice but to accept the first offer that comes to me."

She frowned and looked at Marianna. "My goal is to be able to live comfortably for what little time I have left in my mortal coil, young lady. If I am to be working for you, I want to keep at least fifty percent of my earnings."

She reached into her purse, looking for something. "As for Silvertongue- as much as that little bugger annoys me... I am his godmother. I made a promise, a stupid promise, and I'll be damned if I don't keep it."

She pulled out a flimsly looking piece of parchment, and handed it to Marianna. "Here's a sketch of what the boy looks like. He shouldn't be hard to find. Not only does he tend to stick out in a crowd, but he loves to perform. And he's loud." Her ear twitched in annoyance.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna nodded, trying to keep her panic purely internal. Well, she had promised the Cravat Crew fifty-one percent return, with the potential for fifty-five. It was going to be tight, but right now she desperately needed competent beasts. "Fifty-one," she proposed, "scaling up to fifty-five percent with larger hauls. For some large heists requiring an interdisciplinary team, special rates may need to be negotiated, but I can assure you when scores of such magnitude are considered, no beast will be leaving unsatisfied." She desperately needed a big score; if she was promising over fifty percent return on swiped rings and cold-reading pensioners, Marianna wouldn't be able to keep a roof over her own head for long.

Marianna accepted the sketch, looking over it carefully. A handsome enough lad, if a bit foppish. He certainly looked the part of what her brother had described. "I believe one of our family may have already encountered this todd," she noted. "I will have him follow up on his lead and confirm the his identity and whereabouts. It should take no more than twenty-four hours, I would say. Would you prefer that we make contact and inform him that you are searching for him, or return to report his location promptly?"

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Madame Lorelei raised an eyebrow. "My dear- Marianna, was it? Are you... aware of how negotiating works? Usually you are supposed to try and get me to go lower. If you are truly in such a need of my services that you'd hire me for more than I asked... maybe I could be convinced to take a smaller share. I'm not so heartless after all."

She shifted a bit in the chair. "If you do find him, just let him know where I am staying. He will come to me in due time. Now, how soon can you have work for me? You know the old saying, don't you, dear? Idle paws are Vulpuz' playthings."

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna blushed a bit as Madame Lorelei called her out on her negotiating tactics. "I like for those working with me to understand that they are valued," she stated, "and pay them accordingly. As for work, I have a few jobs you might call 'groundwork' to a latter operation. As you are new in town, we need to get you established quickly as a reputable psychic, one to whom the wealthy can turn for information and predictions, including of a... sensitive nature. For example, the scenario I approached you with, or even a few questions by competing entrepreneurs seeking an edge over each other. Simple readings, nothing more complicated than a cold read, I'm sure, but still enough to build your reputation in high society. By the time that we bring you before our real target, we want the upper crust eating from the pad of your paw. I'll arrange all the meetings and do all the work of spreading word of your talents.

"That being said," she looked around the small room, noting the lack of any significant accoutrement, "we may need to procure a venue from which you can operate. A table in the market may suffice for the average workaday, but to attract the wealthy, we will need a shop in the Trenches, someplace shaded and private to create an illusion of discretion. I can take you to a few potential shopfronts if you would like to join me in picking your new abode, or I can handle all of the real estate myself, whatever you prefer."

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Madame Lorelei sighed, and she got to her feet. "You'd better show me around, dear. If I am going to be working with you, I want this shop of mine to be designed exactly how I want it. I've always wanted to have my own business. Especially after living in a swamp for twenty or so odd years. Oh, but that's a story for another time."

She leaned on her cane. "Swindling rich suckers, eh... reminds me of my youth... You know, I served under a squirrel king for about ten years or so, the fool ate up everything I told him, right until his own subjects came crashing through the palace doors with pitchforks and torches!" She cackled.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna smiled at Lorelei's recollection, considering offering her arm to her for support before deciding that might be ill received. The vixen still seemed quite mobile, cane notwithstanding; unless there seemed to be any risk of a fall, she would defer to the elder vixen's own strength. "Excellent," she remarked. "You'll do quite well then. The wealthy of Bully Harbor, I've noticed, appear to be exceptionally gullible in that same fashion. It was what allowed my f... former mentor to build his own little empire, after all." And then squander all of it trying to go legitimate, she thought ruefully. If only that fancy hadn't took hold of him, or if he'd survived just a little while longer... His own family had come out just fine; Vito had of course seen to that. His Family, on the other hand, had not been so lucky.

"I'm sure you have your own mementos and memorabilia you will wish to decorate with," Marianna remarked as they walked. "If you have anything you need transported, I have a strong, able-bodied fox on call who can do the heavy lifting." Falun would grumble the whole time, but he'd get it done if it was for Family business. He might be a sluggard in his personal time, but he could pull himself together when it counted. "The mindset of the Bully Harbor elite tends to expect a maximalist aesthetic, so we'll want to fill the space as much as possible. Luckily I know of a warehouse where all of the past costumes and decor for the Bully Harbor Opera are stored under minimal security. With a brief, unsupervised visit, I'm sure we can secure enough items to furnish your abode."

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"I have a lot of my... decorations, stored somewhere nearby." Madame Lorelei tapped her chin. "I'm sure it will be enough to decorate whatever little shop you set me up in. I'd also like to get out of this crummy inn. It stinks." She said within earshot of the owner of said inn.

As the two of them walked out of the inn, a group of young beasts suddenly set upon them, all looking maybe 10 years old or younger, a mix of vermin and woodlanders.

"Madame Lorelei! Madame Lorelei!" They all exclaimed as they surrounded her and tugged at her dress.

"Oh, come now, behave!" Madame Lorelei tutted, the elderly vixen reaching into her purse. She pulled out a pawful of little caramel candies and passed one to each child. "Now, go on and shoo! Madame Lorelei has business to attend to." She waved them away with her cane.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna felt a small amount of relief that the vixen could provide her own decor. She could have worked with Falun to plan a theft from the opera warehouse, but he'd have wanted a cut of the proceeds, or more likely would have stolen some nightmarish prop to hang up in The Lilting Lily to satisfy his warped sense of humor. The last thing that Marianna needed was to be taking her breakfast under the mounted head of Asmodeus the Serpent, as rendered in felt and paper maché.

A small smile came to her face as Lorelei distributed sweets to a group of youngsters, ones who, Marianna noted, comprised vermin and woodlanders both. She'd often thought that hatred had to be taught and learned, and was not the natural state of beasts. Seeing these kits and pups together seemed to validate that viewpoint. "You're very good with the kits," she remarked to the elder vixen as they resumed their journey. "I know you mentioned your godson; do you have any other family of your own?"

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"No." Madame Lorelei shook her head in response. "I never married, and I certainly never had children. My line of work did not allow me to settle down for too long. Even if I did, I would end up putting any potential family in danger. Even considering all that, it just never appealed to me."

Madame Lorelei thought back on the many years of her life. She had never wanted to have children of her own, and she wouldn't start regretting it now.

"I suppose the only family I have here is Silvertongue." She told Marianna. "I had a... brief relationship with his grandfather. I was quite the stunning vixen in my younger days." She chuckled a bit. "But since then, I've always been welcomed into their family. As part of their own."

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna listened with interest to the tidbit about the vixen's past relationship. Her ear for gossip detected the hints of a deliciously salacious story there, but she declined to press the matter. It didn't sound like the kind of story one shared with a complete stranger in the middle of the street.

As for not having kits, Marianna found herself sympathizing with that. She'd always considered the proposition to be a 'someday' matter, a duty to be put off until a mythical 'right time'. She'd considered the possibility that Vito might arrange her marriage to one of his grandkids and make her a true Furotazzi by marriage, and had even convinced herself of the soundness of such a scheme that, when he abruptly died and his will made no such provision or request, Marianna had found herself surprisingly miffed. Vito's family had cut off all contact with her and Falun thereafter, which Marianna couldn't truly fault them for; she was sure that Vito had never told his family the truth about their origins, and they had come to assume that the pair were illegitimate offspring who their late patriarch had tastelessly foisted upon the family. Now, at 33, with all her plans for her life crumbled into dust, Marianna had to wonder just who she'd been living for to date, and whose vision she had sought for her future.

"Family can be more than blood," Marianna confirmed at last, shaking herself from her reverie. "The todd who raised me wasn't blood, but I'm certain he did a better job than the one whose blood I carry would have done. I'm quite certain that Silvertongue appreciates the role you've had in his family - though, perhaps," she added, "he needs a reminder to be more demonstrative. I'll certainly make sure that he gets one."

 

[Madame Lorelei]

Madame Lorelei raised an eyebrow at this. She was well aware that this vixen didn't know the whole story. Still, part of her thought he would probably benefit from being a bit scared. Or even roughed up. He was much too soft, too naive. This could do him a bit of good.

"No, no, you don't need to do that-" Madame Lorelei tutted. "He's a good lad really- it just..." She shook her head, stopping in the street and gripping her chest. "It hurts my heart so, all I have done for him. I helped raise him when he was but a babe, watched him as a kit. I taught him the ways of spiritualism." She sniffled. "And now he's run off to go on his adventures, and doesn't think of his poor godmother. All alone and struggling to make ends meet." She wiped a tear from her eye. "They grow up so fast, I just-" She pulled out a handkerchief from her bag and blew her nose dramatically. "Oh- I can't bear to speak about it anymore!" She lamented.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna had to work hard to master her facial expressions and keep her skepticism from controlling her expressions. Nothing she'd heard from this vixen so far seemed to indicate that she was a particularly sentimental beast, least of all the type to cry out her heart to a stranger. Still, Marianna had been raised to respect her elders, and even if this vixen's emotional display was exaggerated, that didn't invalidate the underlying sentiments.

"Of course," Marianna assured the femme, offering her an arm for support. "Why, you are just as deserving of his support and care now as he was as a pup - if not more so, for you have already demonstrated your devotion. It is the least he could do to visit, and to ensure that his beloved godmother is well provided for. In both regards," Marianna promised, "we will seek appropriate restitution on your behalf." There was undoubtedly more to this story, but it was in Marianna's best interest to play along with the vixen's claims. Lorelei was a very clever and dangerous beast, exactly the kind who would be instrumental in resurrecting the Furotazzi family from the ditch in which Vito had left them, one that, if Marianna failed, might well become their grave.