[open -- nest]

[new_inglewoodblues]

The nest Ragnelle has been building in the woods needed a few more blankets now that the temperature has dropped a few more degrees, so this morning she was in the mansion raiding cupboards. Now she's outside in the lee of Nightingale's summer house with a basket of comforters, cutting them into pieces with a little knife so they'll be easier to incorporate, like leaves in a squirrels' nest. The time indoors has warmed her up, and her hands move quickly with the knife.

Comments

[temnota]

The chill in the air was refreshing to Aleksander and after cajoling a heavy cloak from his closet, he ventured out on the grounds for a walk. During the course of his wanderings he came across a woman he had not seen before. He stopped out of curiosity and called out. "Hello! I apologize, I did not mean to bother you."

[new_inglewoodblues]

She looks up. "An thou hast bothered me, sirrah, I will be sure thou knowst it."

[temnota]

"I haven't seen you before. Have you been here long?"

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Long enough," she says, but as the wind blows from behind him she tenses, like a red deer downwind of a wolf, and narrows her eyes. "And thou wilt come no closer to me. I have teeth."

[temnota]

"I won't come closer," Aleksander said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I don't wish to be bitten today."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Nor shouldst thou. Thee with thy magic thou shouldst not have."

[temnota]

This was the response he had been expecting to get since he arrived here and Aleksander clenched his fingers. He forced them to relax - he was not under immediate threat, he did not need to summon his shadows.

As he looked at her, he felt a shiver go down his back. He could not have said how but he had the strongest feeling that it was not the shadows that was the problem, it was the merzost. He known the risk involved and done it anyway but since it hadn't left any visible marks, he didn't imagine anyone could tell. But things were different here and he had found that magic was different from the Small Sciences.

"I paid a heavy price for it," he said, not bothering to correct her that he didn't use magic. It wasn't worth the argument over the difference. "And I will not use it again¹."

¹ Not here, at least.

[new_inglewoodblues]

"See thou dost not." She glowers at him, and it's vaguely formidable even though she's a short fat woman with no obvious magical power of her own. "Thou shouldst be wary, Man."

[temnota]

Aleksander was afraid of few people but he was wary of her. He was not looking to start any trouble but he had the very real sense that if he did, there was a good chance he would not finish it.

"I am always wary," he said, trying to keep a hold on his temper. "But I will go and not trouble you further. You have nothing to fear from me."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"That's for me to decide, not thee."

[temnota]

No fights. No starting anything. He was not the monster in the woods. He could change. Hadn't he already just by being here?

He took a breath then gave her a formal, almost courtly bow. "You are right."

And with that, he turned and walked back the way he came.