It was morning when the witch returned to her cottage. After entering she let out an undignified exclamation of surprise. The boy jumped, and then twisted about to look at her. He loosed a hard breath, and leaned on his broom.
"What have thou done?!" she demanded.
"Is organized," he explained.
"Organized? Where is everything!?" she scolded, stalking about the chamber.
"The cupboards, the shelves, the bins, the racks," he listed; "Alphabetical, likes with likes."
She appraised one of her vial racks, which had indeed been reorganized such that only the largest flasks were on the bottom, the smallest were exclusively on the top, the names for each set were alphabetized, and the rack contained only essences and oils. A second rack contained extracts and liquors.
The witch turned and fixed the boy with a stern glare. "What possessed thee to do this thing?" she required immediate explanation.
"You said to 'clean.' I wanted to make easier to find everything-"
"Easier for thou or for me?" she glowered. "I knew exactly where each object was! Now thou hast moved everything!"
He swallowed and looked down. She watched him critically a moment. Then she looked up into the rafters. He had left the gourds, which were large and unweildy, and frequently used objects such as cloths, tools, and utensils. Suprisingly, he had also left the garlic, rue, and several other spices she'd left pinned and strung up along the rafters.
"So why not 'clean up' and 'organize' these as well?" she asked, gesturing angrily at the ceiling. "Why be inconsistent in moving around things that do not belong to thee? Need I remind you that you are barely even tolerated here?!"
He flinched. "Their positioning seemed deliberate," he whispered quickly. "They was spread out. I reasoned they was protective."
"'Were'," she corrected his grammar unconsciously, and then turned a thoughtful look onto him. "Protective how?"
He shifted, as if not knowing what to say. "Perhaps the smell discourage termites," he offered at last. He glanced up to see she was still glowering. He looked down again, seeming very uncomfortable. "Some things did not look stored or forgotten; they looked deliberately placed. Under mats... in window and threshold... in pillows, on mantle... Some in sachets; others tied up, presented. I did not clean these.
I do not know or question the reason for their witch placing them, except to see they were intentional, so that I should not disturb them."
She straightened a little, and crossed her arms over her chest. "And you presume to know when what I am doing is intentional? You are a Wychlaran now? Tell me, did you clean up my kettle, boy?"
The young man looked miserable; his knuckles were white around the broom. "The one you took out... before seeing the lack of herbs? You filled it with flask water, not well water. I supposed that might be significant, so I poured it back into the flask."
His response was incredibly observant, and gave the Dusk Dragon pause. She studied the Mulan child with fresh eyes, a thoughtful frown crinkling her brow. After a moment, she began taking inventory of her home, she paid attention to where each and every item had been placed. A few materials she had left to cure in the sun had been placed on a rack and neatly tilted to absorb heat and light. The flask he'd refilled with her forgotten moonwater had been settled neatly against the back of her counter top. He had dusted everything.
This was unexpected, and the Wychlaran placed her hands upon her hips and turned a curious expression back to the downcast child. She had suffered through ethrans twice his age- and significantly older than herself!- destroying rare and delicate ingredients in an effort to 'help' her. And here it appeared the Thayvian had damaged nothing at all. Not a thing.
In fact, he'd most likely saved the moonwater. She'd been chastising herself the whole trip back to the cottage for leaving it out. There was nothing whatsoever in his behavior to find flaw with.
She frowned. Then she lifted a hand to rub her face. "Start a fire," she told him, her tone subdued. He scrambled to obey instantaneously.
