Standard disclaimer: Except for Jehan, none of the characters, places, etc. in this story are mine, but are instead the property of Bethesda Game Studios. No copyright infringement is intended by their use in this story.
Author's note: I was always intrigued by the dark wizard down at the altar near where you build Lakeview Manor in Hearthfire, so this is my attempt to use the character in a story.
This story is completely finished, but I'll be posting it in chapters because my long-suffering beta has too much on her plate to beta it all in one go. Thanks for your help, LadyKate1 - I really appreciate it!
The immedate reason Sofie went down the forbidden path that day was a simple one: she was looking for her pet rabbit, Cotton, who had wandered away from the yard of Lakeview Manor. But there was also another reason: Sofie's adopted mother, Ingrid, had returned after several months' absence and thrown the entire hall into confusion. Sofie's adopted sister, Lucia, had escaped by the simple expedient of asking the manor's cart man, Gunjar, to take her along as he drove into Falkreath to get the list of supplies the stedding's steward, Uthgerd the Unbroken, had requested; Sofie, who had missed her chance to go along due to chores, simply intended on staying outside and away from the main house as much as possible.
She'd hoped Ingrid's housecarl, Rayya, would let her come along as she walked the stedding's borders, looking for signs of bandit activity, keeping an eye out for an elk or a deer that might make an excellent dinner. But Rayya had been in a bad mood for some reason or other; the Redguard woman had responded with a curt "No" when Sofie asked her after breakfast. So Sofie had been left to play disconsolately alone outside, petting her rabbit's soft fur and wishing she'd been quick enough finishing her chores to go with Gunjar this morning.
The sun was hot overhead, making her feel sleepy, and a slight breeze stirred the branches of the stands of pine trees that pressed close around the manor's high, wattle-and-daub walls. From the woven willow livestock pen came the clucking of chickens and now and then the mooing of Thistle, the stedding's shaggy, long-haired cow. Having grown up on the streets of Windhelm, Sofie was a city girl; she had been afraid of Thistle when Uthgerd had first brought her home. But over time she had learned the cow was a gentle giant, who loved being petted and scratched between her long, spreading horns.
Cotton squirmed in her lap; the rabbit felt as restless and nervous as she did. Sofie stroked the doe's fur, trying to comfort her - then, inside the house, a door slammed, hard. Sofie started - and Cotton was off.
"Cotton! Come back!" Sofie cried, bolting to her feet; it was no use. The rabbit was across the yard in a flash. In another moment, she disappeared into the clearing in the brush that led to the forbidden path - the one every adult in the settlement had warned her and Lucia never to go down.
"Cotton!" Sofie called again, helplessly, almost in tears. Her beautiful rabbit whose fur was so soft to pet, who cuddled with her under the covers at night when she cried because she was sad about losing her first mother, who kept her company when she was lonely, was gone. Sofie could have kicked herself in anger. How could she be so stupid? Her adopted father, Marcurio, had told her time and again to keep Cotton on a leash when she was outside, or only to play with her in the livestock pen, and she hadn't listened ….
She glanced back irresolutely over her shoulder at the manor. She could almost hear what her new mother would say if she asked for help getting her rabbit back: Ingrid's brows would draw together in that sharp scowl and she would say, "No. Quit bothering me. I've just gotten home and I want to rest." Aunt Borgakh might have gone with her - Sofie had been wary of the towering green Orsimer woman at first, but she'd learned Aunt Borgakh had an uproarious laugh and all the best stories - but for some reason Borgakh hadn't come back with Ingrid this time. Instead Ingrid had brought a strange Dunmer man named Teldryn Sero, who wore weird armor with a mask covering his face; Sofie was afraid of him and tried to avoid him as much as possible. Uthgerd would say she was too busy, Sofie knew, while Rayya had already rebuffed her once that day. Her father might go with her … but the thought of going back inside with only the bard Llewellyn to cushion her from Marcurio and Ingrid and Teldryn filled her with unease. She shifted from foot to foot, staring indecisively at the path in front of her.
Maybe … maybe she hasn't gone too far, Sofie thought hopefully. And besides, everybody's really busy right now. If I go down there and come back really quickly, maybe nobody will notice I'm gone.
She knew why she wasn't supposed to go down the path: they said a dark wizard lived at the other end of it. Sofie was sensibly wary of strange wizards, in her own mind at least; she'd already been living on the streets of Windhelm, surviving as best she could, when the Butcher had been plying his trade, and they had said afterward that he was a wizard. She'd learned from the streets how to take care of herself. She knew how to avoid being seen; how to talk her way out of trouble or failing that, how fast to run; and she was fairly confident she knew how to spot danger. The thought of some supposed dark wizard was less daunting than going back in the house to ask for help; the thought of holding her sweet bunny in her arms again was a powerful draw. After one last look at the house Sofie slipped across the lawn and down the path.
The path led down around the northern slope of the rocky outcropping on which Lakeview Manor was built; its steep surface was overgrown with thistles and clumps of the blue, red and purple mountain flowers that grew everywhere in Skyrim. It was obvious no one had been down this way for quite some time. Sofie slid down carefully, avoiding dead branches and spiky thistle leaves. She called for Cotton every so often, keeping an eye out for anywhere the rabbit might have gone, but she saw nothing.
The day was hot, the air oppressively still and humid this close to Lake Ilinalta, the lake that had given Lakeview Manor its name. Sweat trickled down Sofie's face, soaking the red wool of her dress, and she began to feel somewhat faint. The sounds of the settlement receded into the distance behind her, leaving a silence as oppressive as the heat. Her scrambling footsteps seemed tremendously loud in the stillness, filling her with an awkward fear. As she went further and further down the disused trail, she began to wish she hadn't come. Only the thought of her rabbit kept her moving onward.
"Cotton?" She winced at the sound of her own voice; it was so loud in the quiet. "Are you there? Cot - "
The trail ended so abruptly that Sofie stumbled and almost fell, as she stepped off the steep downward slope onto ground that was almost level. She caught her balance with a gasp and looked in wonder at her surroundings.
She had emerged from the path onto a flat surface of rock lightly covered with a dusting of windblown sand and soil. A high, irregular bulwark of raw stone circled the rock platform to the south and west; this was the base of the huge outcropping around which the trail had led her. Over the lip of the stony bluff, she could just see the roof and tower of Lakeview Manor, perched securely on its commanding heights. The encircling arm of the stone height gave way to trees on the west and east ends; to the south, the platform descended in a gentle slope to a low, cobbled road. Sofie thought it might be the road to Falkreath. The worn cobbles ran along the lakeshore; sunlight glinted off the surface of the moving water. On the other side of the lake, the mountains began: a jagged peak wreathed at the top with clouds reached up to the sky, with tall pine trees climbing its slopes.
The flat rock on which she stood bore nine tall, weathered stone pillars standing in an irregular circle around its edges; two of them flanked the mouth of the trail from where Sofie had stepped off. The ring's center was dominated by an altar shaped like a flat table of stone and iron. It was elaborately carved, but the carvings were worn with age. The top of the altar held melted, unlit candles in iron stands, and - Sofie gulped - a pile of bones.
Cow bones, she thought. They've got to be cow bones, or goat bones. Remember, in your history lessons Llewellyn told you some of the ancient Nord rituals involved sacrificing animals. That's probably what they're from, just leftovers from centuries ago ….
But somehow she wasn't convinced.
Human, a deeper voice whispered.
The profound hush hung over the clearing. It seemed to have intensified, as if it were an actual weight pressing down on her. Sofie felt she could barely breathe. Yet along with that weight, a sudden, intense curiosity filled her.
Were those bones really human? What did human bones look like, anyway? What else was on that altar? She could see other objects on it, but she couldn't make out what they were. Those carvings that danced along the edges - what were they?
Could she tell what they were if she got nearer?
One of Sofie's feet moved, then the other, sliding along the ground seemingly of their own volition. She took one trembling step into the clearing. Then a second. A third.
Her rabbit was forgotten. The place, with its air of mystery, drew her onward. Why had everyone forbidden her to come down here, anyway? What was so special about this place?
The sun shone dully off places on the iron and stone altar that had worn smooth with time; it glinted off the water seen through the trees, winked off grains of sand on the flat rock. The altar stood before her, open and inviting. Come on, it seemed to say. Don't you want to see? Come closer. Come closer, little girl ….
She had made it almost to the altar when a noise startled her.
With a cry, Sofie whirled, pressing her back against the carved stone, her hand going to her waist. Shortly after she had adopted them, Ingrid had given both her and Lucia enchanted glass daggers for protection, and Rayya had been giving the two girls regular lessons on how to use them; now, Sofie yanked her dagger free, her heart racing in her chest. Her breath came too loud as she scanned her surroundings wildly, searching for any threat.
She almost missed him; he was in the shadows of the bluff, where they lay the thickest. He was a young, slender, human man; probably a Breton, to judge by his warm-hued complexion, russet-brown eyes and hair, and somewhat delicate facial bone structure. He was standing stock-still, three hawk feathers dangling uselessly from the fingers of one hand; the other was upraised and surrounded with a purplish-black glow that Sofie recognized from her lessons with Marcurio as Conjuration. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes wide in shock.
Why - I startled him! Sofie thought.
All of a sudden, she felt foolish. She sheathed her dagger, and straightened from the side of the altar.
"Hi," she said, offering a smile.
The young man stared at her for a moment longer - perhaps trying to determine if she were really there - then slowly lowered his hand. The glow around his fingers died out.
"Hello," he replied.
His voice was low, soft; there was a hesitant quality about it, as if he had not spoken to anyone for a long time.
"My name is Sofie," she said. "What's yours?"
"Jehan," he replied after a moment. Slowly, a little wary, he came a couple of steps nearer, emerging from the shadows. In the better light, Sofie could see he was dressed in soft, flowing black robes, belted around his slim waist with a cord. His hair was a warm reddish-brown, shoulder-length and parted in the middle. He was very thin, almost gaunt; he was pale despite his warm-hued complexion, and there were shadows under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't been sleeping much.
Seeing him in the light, what remained of Sofie's fears evaporated. He did not look dangerous. As her fear left her, she stepped forward boldly.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for my pet rabbit, Cotton. Have you seen her? We come from up there - " she pointed over the cliff toward Lakeview Manor. "I was playing with her in the yard, but she ran away. I thought she came this way. Have you seen her?"
"Your … rabbit?" he asked slowly, then, "Yes. Yes, I think I have. Here, one moment." He turned and went back under the shadows; looking closely, Sofie could now see there was a small opening back there: a cave entrance. The young man - Jehan, she reminded herself - disappeared back there for a moment; he was carrying Cotton safely in his thin hands.
"Is this her?" he asked, stooping to set the rabbit down.
"Cotton!" Sofie cried. The rabbit hopped over to her and she scooped it up into her arms. "Oh, thank you! I'm so glad you found her."
"She came hopping down the path and came right up to me," Jehan said. "She seemed very friendly. I - I was thinking that I might keep her," he admitted, a trace of red staining his cheeks. "But … since she's yours …. "
He trailed off, that red hue deepening. In a flash it hit Sofie: He's lonely.
She considered for a moment, holding Cotton in her arms, taking in the young man. He doesn't seem so bad, she thought. Why did everyone say to stay away? He looked like he could use a friend, Sofie thought — and she knew very well what it was like to need a friend.
In a sudden burst of expansiveness, she offered, "Well, maybe I could bring her back to see you sometimes and then you could play with her. Would that be all right?"
A shy smile touched his lips. "Yes," he said. "I'd like that."
"Great!" Sofie smiled. "How about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow … ?" A frown marred his forehead; he counted on his fingers for a moment, then glanced at the sky. "I suppose tomorrow would be all right. Yes," he said more strongly. "Tomorrow."
"All right then, I will." Sofie glanced at the sky herself, estimating how low the sun was above the horizon. "I really should be getting back," she said with a grimace, hoisting Cotton in her arms. "If I'm gone too much longer, they'll miss me. But I'll bring Cotton to see you tomorrow morning as soon as I'm done with my chores, I promise. All right?"
"All right," Jehan replied with that shy smile. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said the words as if he wasn't quite sure of their meaning.
"Okay, bye!"
"Goodbye." He lifted one hand awkwardly in a wave. Sofie waved back and with Cotton safely in her arms, dashed back up the path.
It was early evening by the time Sofie got back to the house; she might have made it back sooner, but she hadn't exactly been in a hurry. Her steps began to drag as she neared the settlement, and when she reached the top of the trail, she paused for a long moment. She told herself it was to make sure no one was around to witness her coming back from the forbidden path.
She stopped by the livestock pen to say hello to Thistle and to scratch the shaggy cow behind her ears, then went to the stable to pet Ingrid's horse Frost and feed her a carrot. She lingered there until the sky darkened and the air grew chill; when Sofie began to shiver she knew she would have to go inside.
The heavy wooden doors were huge, but when Ingrid had built the house she had hung them so well that they didn't even squeak on their hinges. She pulled them open and stepped into the small front room that had originally been the first cottage Ingrid built on the site.
Rayya was there, stirring a pot of what smelled like venison stew at the square stone hearth in the middle of the floor. This was Rayya's room; she slept in the large bed that Ingrid had originally occupied with Marcurio when they had first come here. Rayya had the room because it had the main door to the outside and as the housecarl, it was her job to be the first line of defense if the house were ever attacked. When she slept, her double swords hung over the bed, within easy reach. Sofie waited for Rayya to tell her she'd missed dinner, but the housecarl simply handed her a bowl of stew and a bottle of ale.
"Here, child," was all she said. "Bolt the doors behind you."
Sofie put Cotton down and turned to secure the doors, then took the food.
"Your mother informed me she won't be dining tonight," Rayya said, answering her unspoken question.
"Where is she?" Sofie asked.
"She's in the basement working at her forge with her new follower, that Teldryn man." Teldryn Sero had laid himself a bedroll down in the basement; he said as a Dunmer from Raven Rock, he never felt entirely comfortable sleeping above ground. Sofie was glad; there weren't enough beds for everyone anyway, with Uthgerd and Llewellyn both sleeping on the floor in the storage area in back and Gunjar joining them when the weather was bad enough he couldn't sleep out in the stables with Frost. "The two of them took some bread and cheese down there. Your father won't be dining either; he's in the library tower doing some research." She nodded to the dishes she'd given Sofie. "Eat up, child, before it gets cold."
"Oh. Okay. Thank you, Rayya."
Llewellyn the Nightingale was in the main hall, idly strumming his lute with a troubled look on his face; he nodded to Sofie, and told her Uthgerd was in the greenhouse and Lucia was upstairs in their room already, but otherwise said little. So Sofie ate her dinner by herself at the long table, somehow feeling chilled despite the huge blazing fire at the far end. The empty clink of her spoon against the bowl seemed the loudest sound in that echoing hall, even louder than Llewellyn's softly-strummed lute music. At last the lonely supper was over with and Sofie was able to take Cotton and escape upstairs to the room she shared with Lucia.
It was warmer up in their room; both her and her sister's beds backed up to the chimney, as did Ingrid's and Marcurio's bed on the other side of the gallery. Despite the warmth, Lucia was already in her bed under the covers, reading Kolb and the Dragon. She looked up as Sofie came in, holding Cotton.
"Gunjar and me got you something in town," she said, indicating the nightstand; Sofie saw The Yellow Book of Riddles lying on the night stand. "He said we should after I got this. Said it was only fair."
"Thanks," Sofie said. She didn't feel much like reading right then, but it was nice they had remembered her, she supposed. She climbed into bed, picking up Cotton and putting the bunny next to her under the covers. "Did Marcurio and Ingrid have a fight?"
Lucia shook her head slowly. "Not that I saw. Maybe while I was gone … when I got back, Ingrid was already in the basement. And then Marcurio said he was going to be in the library the rest of the night and not to bother him. I think he's in their room now though."
"Oh. Okay." Sofie bit her lip. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep now."
"Me too. I'll put out the light." Lucia reached out and snuffed the candle, and darkness descended on the room.
For a long time, Sofie lay with her arms wrapped around Cotton, not sleeping, staring into the dark. She could tell by Lucia's breathing that her sister was not sleeping either. Slivers of light shone through the cracks between the boards that separated their room from their parents. Sometime, much later, she heard footsteps ascending the stairs on the opposite side of the gallery from their room; it was Ingrid, she could tell by the tread. Emanating from her parents' room, she could hear muffled, sharp words exchanged. At last, the light winked out. She held Cotton closer and stared into the darkness. Sometime toward dawn, she slept.
Ingrid was gone when Sofie got up the next morning. She had gotten Gunjar to drive her into Falkreath; Marcurio said she had some business with the Jarl there. That would have been a relief, except that she had left Teldryn behind; he was out on the upper deck above the storage room practicing archery with Rayya. Marcurio told her that too; he looked cross and out of sorts. When she asked if she and Lucia were going to have a magic lesson that day he frowned.
"No, not today. I'm too tired. Go do your chores."
Sofie's and Lucia's chores consisted of making their beds, sweeping and tidying their room, and feeding the chickens; she finished them in a flash, and then stuck her head into the greenhouse to tell Uthgerd she was going for a walk. Uthgerd, who was collecting alchemy ingredients, hardly looked up.
"All right, be back before dark," was all she said.
Holding Cotton in her arms, Sofie went hurrying down the path with a light heart.
Jehan was at the altar when she reached the bottom; his back was to her and he looked as if he were investigating some of the scroll-like carvings on its side. When Sofie called, "Hi, Jehan!" he jumped, visibly startled, dropping a stick of charcoal and a red leather journal.
He turned in alarm and saw her. Again, that hesitant smile came to his lips. "Hello, Sofie," he said. "I wasn't sure you would come again today."
"I said I would, didn't I?"
"Yes," he agreed. "But sometimes people say they'll do things and then they don't." His face shadowed. Sofie felt her own expression darken.
"I know," she said. "But I'm not like that. Here, I brought Cotton!" she said, holding the rabbit out to him.
Jehan smiled again and took the rabbit, holding it and gently stroking its fur. "She's very pretty," he said. "Friendly too."
"I know," Sofie said. "I've had her since she was a kitten. I think a fox must have gotten her mother. There was no one else to take care of her, so I decided I would do it."
"That was very nice of you." Jehan held Cotton up to look at her. "I have some carrots back in the cave. Does she like carrots?"
"She likes everything."
"All right." He started toward the cave, still holding Cotton, then stopped. He looked back at Sofie awkwardly as if in confusion. "Would you … like to come in?"
The invitation was offered as if he knew it would be polite to ask, even though he couldn't quite remember why. Sofie hesitated for a moment; her time on Windhelm's streets had taught her to be wary of going anywhere with strange adults. Yet again, her instincts told her Jehan wasn't dangerous; he wasn't like those adults — and there were some in Windhelm, some in every town, she thought — who preyed on children.
(Once in Windhelm, as she wandered the alleyways late at night, heading south toward Candlehearth Hall where she hoped to beg a bed by the fire for the night, she had heard a scuffle and then a child-like cry. Heart in her throat, she had started to run, when she saw a long low shape: one of Windhelm's most dangerous predators, motionless on the ground, and stooping over him, a smaller shadow. The shadow had straightened to reveal itself as a girl who looked to be about her age, with dark blonde hair and wearing a red dress. "Don't worry," she'd said calmly. "He won't trouble you, ever again." And she'd smiled, revealing — but Sofie had seen enough; she'd turned and fled. All the same, since that day forward, she'd felt a little safer wandering Windhelm's streets at night.)
"All right," she said, and followed Jehan into the cave.
Inside it was cool and damp; she waited till her eyes adjusted, and then looked around. The cave was small, not really much more than a crack in the rock bulwark. Against one wall was a bedroll on a pile of straw, with a trunk next to it; a splintery set of shelves had been pounded into the wall and held a collection of books. There were a table and chair with a candlestick, another trunk and set of shelves, and flanking the entrance, an alchemy lab and a small enchanter. A heap of sacks and barrels lay against the back wall — Sofie saw what looked like an alcove, possibly a storage area — and there was a small fire ring in the center of the floor with a tripod and pot standing over it. The fire was smoldering gently. Racks with smoked meat hung from the ceiling.
Jehan saw her looking around. "I found it like this," he explained. "Someone had been living here before."
He set Cotton down on the floor — Sofie watched her but she showed no desire to make a run for it, sniffing the ground underneath her cautiously. Jehan went to the boxes and barrels in the back of the cave and came back holding a couple of carrots. He knelt down and laid one on the floor in front of Cotton. Cotton sniffed at it a moment, and then began to nibble on it.
"She likes it," he said, pleased.
"Carrots are one of her favorite things," Sofie replied, smiling.
"I thought she would like them. I used to have a pet rabbit once, and he loved carrots."
"Oh yeah? What was its name?"
"I — " Jehan frowned, and raised one hand to his forehead. "I don't remember. It was a long time ago."
He looked so sad Sofie felt an answering pang in her own heart; she scooped up Cotton again — the bunny squirmed in protest at being taken away from her snack — and said, "Well, here, you can cuddle Cotton if you want. If that will make you feel better. I cuddle her sometimes when I'm sad and she always helps."
Jehan gave that hesitant smile again, reaching out and petting Cotton's head. "Thank you. But I really shouldn't. I — " He looked over toward his alchemy lab and ran one hand through his hair distractedly. "I really need to get back to work."
"Oh." Sofie bit her lip. She recognized a dismissal when she heard one, but the thought of going back up the hill to Lakeview Manor felt like a cold cloud passing before the sun. Playing for time, she asked, "What are you doing?"
Jehan shook his head. "It's complicated. I don't think I could explain it easily."
In other words, Go away. Sofie swallowed, holding Cotton close. "Well, maybe I could watch you. I could even help you a little, if you'd let me. Please?"
Jehan turned to look at her, as if seeing her for the first time. The shadows under his eyes looked darker, deeper than they had been the other day. He seemed to be wavering, indecisive; in an intuitive leap, Sofie guessed that he really wanted to let her stay.
It's been a long time since he's spoken to anyone, she thought again.
"I will be very quiet and I won't be in the way," she promised.
"Well … all right. But sit over there." He pointed to the chair, which was located on the opposite side of the room from the alchemy lab. "And don't interrupt me. It could be — " He paused and gave the lab another one of those quick, distracted glances. "Dangerous."
Sofie sat quietly and watched Jehan as the morning slid into afternoon. She knew a little about alchemy — sometimes when her new parents were in a good mood, they would let Sofie watch them work in the alchemy lab; occasionally they would even explain things. Judging by the ingredients he was using, Sofie guessed Jehan was making a potion that had something to do with Health, but one that looked much stronger than anything she'd seen Ingrid or Marcurio make: he used several ingredients that she didn't recognize, distilling them over and over in the beaker and retort set into the alchemy lab. As he bent over his work, his face was pale and drawn in the light from the small burner, his lips moving silently. Sofie suspected he had forgotten she was there.
After a while, he straightened from the lab table and cast around himself in confusion, clearly searching for something. Sofie, who could guess what he was looking for, jumped down from the chair and silently handed him some juniper berries she had seen him set aside earlier. He looked at her in surprise.
"Thank you," he murmured as an afterthought, and quickly began to crush them in his mortar and pestle.
"Are you making a Restore Health potion?" she asked him.
"Sort of." Jehan frowned into the mortar and pestle, then glanced up with that abstract air. Sofie was ready and held out the hawk feathers to him. He took them and began grinding them silently as well.
"I could help you, if you told me what to do."
He turned and studied her, as if considering. "You could help me," he said after a moment. "Could you please chop those Chaurus Hunter Antennae?" He indicated a pile of the things lying on the table next to them. "Use this." He handed her a silver knife. "It's important they not touch iron." He paused as if thinking of something. "You're not afraid, are you?"
"Of Chaurus Hunter Antennae?" Sofie smiled. "Chauruses are just big ugly bugs."
Jehan looked at her closely, as if he hadn't expected her to say that; then that shy smile graced his lips again. The smile filled Sofie with warmth as she took up the silver dagger and began to cut.
The time went so quickly, between Sofie getting things for Jehan and preparing ingredients as he directed her, that she was surprised to look up and find the sun low on the horizon; Jehan had cast a Magelight on the cave ceiling a while back to help him see, but somehow Sofie hadn't registered it. She put the knife down and slid the pile of Hagraven Feathers she'd been trimming over to Jehan.
"Thanks for letting me stay, but I've got to get going — they'll be expecting me back home," she told him.
Jehan twitched a little and looked around at her with those shadowed eyes. "Thank you for helping me," he said in that soft voice. "I wouldn't have guessed you knew any Alchemy at all."
"I only know a little bit," Sofie explained. "But I could learn more if you would teach me." She had never had much interest in learning alchemy before, but it would give her a chance to get out of Lakeview Manor, and to spend more time with Jehan.
He smiled. "I don't know very much myself — just what I need to for my work — but I can show you what I know. If you will come back." He paused, somewhat uncertainly. "Will you come back?"
"Yes, I'll be back tomorrow," she said, smiling. She scooped up Cotton and gave a little curtsey. "See you!"
"See you," he echoed, and she darted off. This time, the approach to Lakeview Manor did not fill her with dread.
Tomorrow, she thought, I can see Jehan again.