Chapter 28: Storybrooke Prepares for another Curse
For the next several days, Elsa searched for her sister, but she at least gave an hour of her time a day to helping Shiara. It was always just the two of them in the middle of the woods. The first day she told Shiara, "It's time to see what you can do. Test the limits, then break through." Shiara tried, but she wasn't able to do much. So Elsa understood pretty quickly that Shiara's biggest problem was with confidence. So she started with an exercise she thought would be easy. She used her powers to create her closest friend.
"Wow! Look this place! It's so . . . green!" He turned around and around to look at his new surroundings.
"What's this, Little Marshmallow?" Shiara said derisively.
He turned to her. "Oh! I haven't met you! Hi, my name is Olaf, and I like warm hugs."
"Okaaaaay." Shiara came closer to Olaf, and he immediately started to melt.
"Maybe not that warm," he said with a nervous giggle.
Elsa got on his level. "Now, Olaf, we're gonna play a little game. I don't want you to get scared; I won't let anything happen to you. What I want you to do is run as fast as you can through the woods."
"Hey, I can do that!" He waddled away before she could explain anything else to him.
"What's the game?" Shiara said.
"Target Practice."
"Oh." She formed a small ball of fire in her hands and hurled it toward the snowman.
"Wow! Good throw!" he called at her.
"Keep running, Olaf!" Elsa called.
The exercise was more difficult. Olaf was either too quick for Shiara, or she just had poor aim. Whatever the reason, she kept throwing her fire, and she kept missing. Finally, her hair set on fire and she yelled, "HOLD STILL, YOU STUPID SNOWMAN!" She threw a slightly larger ball of fire and got him, and burned two or three trees down. Elsa quickly used her ice powers to contain the flames while Shiara tried to catch her breath.
Elsa finally looked at her after Shiara had a moment to collect herself. "You know, I was once told fear is my enemy. It makes my powers go haywire. Perhaps with you, your enemy is your anger."
"I can't help my temper. All firewitches have a temper."
"Well, maybe you should work on at least toning it down. I learned to recognize those feelings and feel something else."
"How do you do that?"
"It's hard, I admit, but it's worth it. You know, your fiancé will help you, like my sister helped me."
Then Elsa got distracted because she thought she saw Anna in the distance. As she went toward her, she passed by a puddle that became Olaf again. "Hey, I finally caught one!" he said gleefully.
Elsa progressively made her exercises more difficult. Sometimes, Shiara was able to figure out on her own on how to do what she asked, and sometimes she gave it her best shot. But when Elsa made a huge block of ice and told Shiara to make it a huge prism without melting it, Shiara completely balked. "I can't."
Elsa knew she was going to say those words eventually, and she knew exactly what to say. "Don't say you can't. Believe you can."
"But it's too hard!"
"You have the power in you. You can do it. I believe in you." And Shiara then figured it out. Elsa knew that she never heard that from her family.
After that moment, Shiara started to have some confidence and was able to do the tasks a little easier. Yet there was another time that she paused. She started by saying, "My father would—"
But Elsa immediately stopped her by touching her arm. "Don't ever look back. The past is in the past." That gave her more confidence.
Finally, one morning, Elsa asked Shiara to simply accept her powers, embrace them. Shiara closed her eyes and felt the flame inside her heart, and she felt good. Suddenly, her clothes changed into an orange and red dress that sparkled just like Elsa's. "Wow. I wonder if . . ." She started twirling around, and flames circled the hem of her skirt. Elsa laughed in amazement. "Wow! It's like that movie!"
"Movie? What's a movie?"
"It's like a play that comes on this magic mirror called a television. Daystar showed it to me a week ago. It's about an archer named Katniss, which is a really stupid name, but there's a man who's named Cinna who I think might be a firewitch, and he made her a dress just like this. I gotta wear this to the wedding! Wait, I can't. I have to wear white for some reason."
"Well, maybe you can wear it at the reception."
"Yeah, that's an idea. Oh, that reminds me." She cleared her throat. "Will you be in my wedding?"
"Huh? I'm sorry?"
"Well, I've been reading up on weddings. I'm supposed to have this group of women called bridesmaids to get me dressed and made up and just help me get ready, and the head of those bridesmaids is called the Maid of Honor, and it's supposed to be my closest friend in my life. I don't really any friends, but you've been really kind and helpful these past few days, so I would like for you to be my Maid of Honor."
"Well . . . thank you for asking me. I'm very honored that you think of me that way. You know, I can't make any promises. I really need to find Anna first, and then I must get back to Arandelle as soon as I can. I am the queen, and I'm the Maid of Honor at her wedding, too."
"That's alright. Daystar seems pretty anxious to do it quickly, so maybe we'll do the wedding before you have to leave."
"Maybe I could do that then." She sat down on the ground. "Shiara, how long have you known Daystar?"
"Years! We met when he was seventeen, then he went away to school for a year, and then there was about thirty years when he was cursed and in this world and I was in the Enchanted Forest."
"That's not a whole lot of time, when you think about it."
"Yeah. Well, you know what they say, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.' We just missed each other with all that time, and Daystar said he doesn't want to be another day without me."
"But are you sure he's right for you?"
"I've been angry at him for a long time, but he's nicer to me than anyone else I've ever met."
Elsa grinned. "Sounds like my sister's fiancé. Sorry about all the questions. She almost . . . well, I just wanted to make sure you weren't making a mistake. Daystar seems nice enough, but so did Hans."
"Who's Hans?"
Elsa got up. "I wonder what Emma's up to."
It wasn't long after that conversation that Daystar caught up with Elsa. "You know, I was thinking I might know someone who can help you find Anna."
"Excellent! Who's that?"
"My father."
"Your father? Wait, that would mean he's—"
"—the King of the Enchanted Forest. You said one of the last things you remember of your sister is her going to the Enchanted Forest to find out why your parents visited there before they were lost at sea, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, maybe Anna or your parents went to see him. I bet your parents came seeking an alliance."
"Well, my mother's diary suggested they were going because of me."
"Still, since my father is the king of a magical kingdom, magic is kinda his specialty. If they wanted to talk about you, he would probably the guy they wanted to see. You know, it's worth a try, and even if they didn't see him, it wouldn't hurt to start an alliance. How about you come over and join us for dinner?"
"Don't you think that would be a little awkward, inviting a woman to your home for dinner who's not your fiancée?"
"Oh, Shiara will be there too."
So a few days later, she sat at their table while they all bowed their hands. "We thank You, oh Lord, for all that You have provided us," Mendanbar prayed. "You have blessed us over and over again, and may we never take it for granted. We thank You for this time to spend with our guest, and we pray that You bless her and protect her in all of her endeavors. We pray all this in the name of Your Son, amen," and the others repeated "amen."
"That was a . . . lovely prayer," Elsa said. "My father prayed every day for wisdom and patience. Sometimes I wondered if I was praying to the right god because I made the same prayers and got no answer."
"We believe in one God, so you can pray to Him for anything. He may not answer in the way you expect, though."
"Well, actually—"
Cimorene interrupted, anxious to change the subject. "So, Shiara, dear, have anymore thoughts about the wedding?"
"Uh, yeah, a few," she answered.
"We decided on a venue and an officiator," Daystar said.
"Excellent! What are they?" Cimorene asked.
"Well, the docks. We'll rent a nice, big boat."
"And the minister?" Mendanbar asked.
"Uh, that's not really the right word, Father. It's . . . Captain Hook."
"You want to be married by . . . a pirate?"
"Just like in The Pirates of the Caribbean."
"But that's a movie, son. Are you sure that's wise? He's not even a man of God."
"Father, I already asked you to be my Best Man; you're not going to pull double duty."
"I had wondered about that, but son—"
"Father, our marriage is Scriptural, and the Bible doesn't give any specific guidelines about weddings. Besides, didn't you want to elope when you married Mother?"
Mendanbar sighed. "You make a good point. Very well, I will consider this arrangement, but I approve, I want to talk to this pirate before the rehearsal."
"Of course, Father."
Elsa tried to think of anything to say to cut through the tension, and she mindlessly took a bit of her dinner. "Oh, this is really good! Is this pheasant?"
"Roasted chicken," Cimorene answered.
"Mother is an excellent cook," Daystar said.
"You cooked this?" Elsa said. "I never learned how to cook."
"Well, of course, dear," Cimorene replied. "You were a princess, and fine cooking is not proper behavior for a princess to learn and even less proper for a queen to do."
"Then, how did you-?"
"I've never been proper, dear. I made the cook teach me because when I was your age, I was bored of a princess's life. Actually, when I was your age, I ran away and volunteered to get captured by a dragon."
Elsa giggled. "Maybe I should've thought of that. It's not really proper for a princess to have ice powers either."
"So, Elsa, what do you need of us?" Mendanbar asked.
"My parents and my sister came to the Enchanted Forest some time ago, and I wanted to know if they came to see you."
"Maybe. I have entertained royalty numerous times in my reign. What kingdom did you say you were from?"
"Arandelle."
"Arandelle. That does sound familiar. I think I probably did speak to someone from there. But I can't quite recall our conversation." He snapped his fingers. "Don't worry, dear, I know someone who would know." He twisted his finger in the air, and the next thing Elsa knew, they were standing on the porch of another house. Elsa saw a mailbox by the door that read "Alexander Lloyd."
Mendanbar knocked on the door, and a short man with a balding head and big eyes came out. "Oh, your majesty! How may I serve you at this hour?" he asked with a bow.
"Elsa, this is Willin, my advisor. Willin, this is Queen Elsa of Arandelle, and she wants to know if her relatives have sought conference from me."
"Certainly, your majesties. Come in."
Elsa whispered as they went in, "I'm sorry, if his name is Willin, why does his house say 'Alexander Lloyd?'"
"We had different names under the curse. Some people prefer to keep them. I think Willin uses his for business purposes. He's the principal at the high school, and he thinks if students learned his name or the fact that he's an elf, they'll lose the respect and terror they have of him."
Willin lead them into the living room and opened a file cabinet there. "After the last curse, I found some of the documents I kept at the Enchanted Forest here. Let's see, Arandelle, Arandelle—here we are!" He pulled out a file. "Yes, your majesty, you held audience for the king and queen of Arandelle the second year after your return."
Mendanbar took a look at the file. "That's right. That was the year Daystar was away at Hogwarts."
"What does it say?" Elsa asked.
"Say? These records usually come with a visual component if they need to be easily recalled." He touched a seal at the bottom, and a memory crystal was released. They all saw Elsa's parents standing by Mendanbar in the castle's parlor.
"We love our daughter," the King of Arandelle said, "but we don't love her powers."
"But they are part of her," Mendanbar said in the memory, "and I would not recommend taking them away."
"We have to do something, Mendanbar. She's dangerous."
"She's only dangerous as long as she doesn't know how to control her abilities."
"She has been trying since she was a child, and she is no closer now than she was then."
"That's because you put her in isolation! How is she going to learn anything if she's all by herself? There are others who have powers from whom she could learn. I know a snowwitch she could talk to, and I believe he could introduce her to others."
"We don't think that would be a good idea."
"Oh, like what you've been doing has been so effective."
"Please, your majesty," the queen spoke up, "I don't think you understand our predicament. We do know another like her, and she would not be a help—my sister."
"Gerda, we agreed never to speak of her," the Arandelle king said.
"Darling, he needs to know," she replied softly. Then she explained, "I had two sisters, and the eldest of them developed ice powers, and she killed my other sister with them. She said it was an accident, but even if it was, that shows how dangerous she is. Elsa nearly did the same with Anna when they were little, and we thank our lucky stars every day that she did not hit the heart."
Mendanbar looked like he was thinking, but he replied, "I'm sorry, but I repeat, it is not a good idea to take her powers away. Here, I will give you the name of my snowwitch contact, and I encourage that you reach out to him. And work on your attitudes toward. When you say things like, 'We love her but we don't love her powers,' what she hears you saying is, 'We wish she was different. We wish we had a daughter that was normal,' and that doesn't send the right message."
The Arandelle king took a deep breath. "Thank you, King Mendanbar. We will consider what you have told us." They bowed and took their leave, but on the way out, he gave the queen a look like that was a complete waste of time, and the memory ended.
"So they did want to get rid of my powers," Elsa said softly.
"I'm very sorry about that, Elsa," Mendanbar answered. "I'm afraid I didn't see them after that."
"Well, sadly, that's because they died. Their boat went under on the way back."
"Ah, my condolences, dear one."
"Well, does it say anything about Anna coming to see you?"
Mendanbar flipped through the file. "No, I don't see anything. She must have gone somewhere else."
Elsa nodded. "Alright then. Well, thank you for sharing that, and thank you for standing up for me. In fact," she stood, "as queen of Arandelle, I wish to seek an alliance with your kingdom."
"Oh, an alliance!" Willin said. "Hang on, I must record this."
"Hold your horses, Willin. Elsa, I would be honored to ally my kingdom with yours, but we'll wait to make it official when or if we ever make it back."
"Very well," Elsa curtseyed. "I will look forward to that day."
Meanwhile, just about everybody knew about Ingrid's other identity as another snowwitch, except for Lewis. If he did know, he didn't care. He came back to the ice cream parlor every day, even when Ingrid was absent. When she was there, he would chat with her and have some ice cream. He even started to get a little pudgy. And just like with Regina, he started to fall for her and believe she was falling for him. Sometimes she did play the temptress to conceal from him what she was doing as a snowwitch. Once they had a conversation that turned out to be a lot like a verse from "Baby, It's Cold Outside." But, of course, just like Regina, she had no interest in him and had completely ulterior motives.
Also, Rumpelstiltskin was being a little bit more evasive and secretive. He was up to something, but he refused to tell Telemain about it. Then Henry asked to work in the pawn shop. The Dark One seemed rather eager and even suggested they call Henry their apprentice. Yet, Henry had no interest in learning magic. He mostly seemed to wander around the store, and Telemain was very concerned that he would find something that he wasn't meant to find, something that could lead him great harm, but it didn't happen. Yet.
Then, Emma started having problems with her powers. She came to the pawnshop when she feared the worse, when her powers hurt Henry. "The frequency may be turned up too high, perhaps due to biochemical reactions," Telemain told her. "If you'll allow me, I'll research a potion to tone it down."
"No, I don't want to take a chance that it will hurt anyone again," she said. "I'm want them stopped."
"I would not recommend that, Ms. Swan. Your powers have served you well in the past. Who knows? We might need them again."
"You so sure about that? As I recall, you defeated the witch, and you made the book into a relic. I think you're the new savior."
"I think she has a point," Rumpelstiltskin spoke up. "There does come a time where one with magic has a choice whether or not to continue. If she wants to give it up, we should not deny her the right."
"But it's part of who she is," Telemain argued. "I mean, while you're at it, Ms. Swan, do you want to change the color of your eyes?"
"If they can hurt Henry, absolutely," she replied.
"I know a way to remove your powers for good," the Dark One said, "if that truly is what you want to do."
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Very well. There's a spell I can use, but be warned, it causes a blast that will destroy everything within a fifty-foot radius."
"Fine. Take me out of the town where I can't do any damage."
"I know just the place, an abandon mansion." He wrote down the directions on a piece of paper. "Meet me here at sunset."
"I will, thank you." She promptly left.
Telemain looked at the Dark One once the door shut. "Are you going to use the staff on her?"
"I'm not going to use the staff. I'm not stupid," he answered. "Don't worry about this. Go home to your wife and son. I've got it handled."
"How could you? You broke your oath, remember? You don't have powers."
"I can still read. I know the spell and the book it's in. It's called Prospero's Incantation. Surely you remember Prospero?"
"Oh, yes, another mage who decided to strip himself of his magic. That's recorded?"
"Of course it is, and I got it taken care of. Now, go! We'll close up shop early. I have to make preparations."
Telemain sighed. "Very well. Good luck."
He did not like this at all, but he decided to enjoy his extra time with his family. Little did he know that the extra time would give him the first glimpses of what was to come.
He sat on the couch in the living room, and Bae came in carrying the storybook. "Papa, book!"
"Well, it's not bedtime, but I could tell you a story now." He picked the boy up and put him in his lap. Bae lay his head on Telemain's shoulder as he opened the book. The book opened to a story he had never seen before. "The Trolden Glass?" The illustration was of a man wearing a crown sitting at a circular mirror with his head buried on the counter before it, but the reflection showed a woman blazing like the sun sitting on a black Pegasus passing by a girl wearing a crown. Something told him the story was dark, but something else told him there was a reason he found this story at this particular moment. So, he began to read:
"In a land far away, there lived a king who had one child, a daughter, who was very beautiful. The king loved her with all his heart and soul. She loved her father, too, but she didn't understand why he loved her so. Every night she prayed to heaven to help her to understand what made her so special. The king heard her prayer, and he wanted to help make it come true, but he did not want her to be vain or to lose her innocence.
"Then, on the morning of the princess's tenth birthday, the king discovered a merchant selling an enchanted mirror, called the Trolden Glass, which showed not the face but the beauty within. When the king looked into the mirror, he saw all the happy memories of his daughter. He knew this gift was perfect, so he bought it quickly.
"Later, the princess ran to his throne room with a big smile on her face. 'My, you look happy,' he said. 'I'm glad. Wait until you see the present I got for you.'
"'Father, today is a perfect day!' she said. 'You won't believe what I saw!'
"'What did you see?'
"'I was in the courtyard when I saw a beautiful woman with long, golden hair and shiny clothes, as bright as the sun, and she rode on a gorgeous black horse with wings! She didn't say anything, but she looked right at me and smiled.'
"The king's heart sank at these gracious words, for he knew that the heavens have answered her prayers. The woman was a Valkyrie, a messenger from heaven, and those who have seen a Valkyrie are destined to join Valhalla. True enough, the girl tripped down the stone stairs and died before sundown.
"For days, the king wept over the princess's death. He had the Trolden Glass brought up to his room because it was the last memory he had of her. At first, he continued to saw the happy memories he had of his daughter, but they only made him sadder, and the sadder he became, the more he became angry, and over time the mirror reflected more of his grief and anger than his happiness.
"The servants begged him to give up his grief and serve as a king again, but that only made him angrier. He didn't understand why anyone wouldn't grieve for his daughter the way he did. So he cast a spell on the mirror, broke it, and scattered the pieces in the wind. Yet the spell didn't work the way he thought it would. Everyone in the kingdom saw the worst of each other, and they began to argue, and they fought until they destroyed each other."
He stopped there and looked up. He concentrated on the magic around him. "There's a reason why you're showing me this story," he said aloud. "What are you saying? Is this wicked—no, tortured—soul among us? Is he wishing to cast the same spell?"
He turned to the back of the book and saw a pictured of a woman wearing white sitting in front of a similar mirror. "Scree-scree," Bae said pointing at her.
"Yes, the ice cream lady. That's the same mirror. She's going to cast the spell. What am I going to do?" He started to shut the book to think when as he turned back, he saw another unusual illustration. He turned to it to look more closely.
"Bump-pah!"
"Yes, so it is. What is he doing?"
Elsa found Emma just before she had her powers removed, and she shared some of the things she learned from training Shiara, how confidence and accepting the magic powers were the true keys of controlling them. Emma believed her and took her hand, and she left behind what Rumpelstiltskin had in store for her. Then at some time, yellow ribbons were tied to their wrists. The next day, a large cloud loomed overhead. Most of the group came to Telemain's house to discuss the threat.
"Belle told us about a curse called the Spell of Shattered Sight. Is that what this is?" Emma asked.
"Yes," he answered. "I've been researching it. It's derived from a Norse legend called the Trolden Glass, and I also think evidence of it are available in a tale by Hans Christian Anderson. They both describe a magic mirror that reflects the inward appearance rather than the exterior, much like a mirror I had previously encountered called the Mirror of Erised."
"Like in Harry Potter?"
"Uh, yes. The way Anderson describes it, the mirror magnifies flaws, and that actually reminded me of a High-Definition Television. In both tales, though, the mirror is broken, the shards are airborne, they strike people in the hearts, and make them only able to see the flaws in one another. This drives those who are affected to hatred, violence, and eventual self-destruction."
"Alright. So, the formula, powerful magic plus the counter-emotion—"
"Unfortunately, I don't think that will work this time."
"Why not?" Regina asked.
"Every curse we have encountered to this point has been apathetic. The one who curses is indifferent to the emotions of the cursed. The nature of this curse is empathetic. The one who curses desired the cursed to experience her emotions. These curses are a plea to be heard, the proverbial 'cry for help.' The only way to stop them is to heal the emotions. Fortunately, I do believe I have come up with a solution. Based on the research I conducted, I developed a potion to momentarily create feelings of elation and joy, perhaps long enough for the snowwitch to rescind her curse."
"So, if we give her this potion and she feels those feelings, she'll leave Emma and me alone?" Elsa said.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, she's been pestering both of us. We have reason to believe she's trying to make us replacements for her sisters—my mother, and an aunt I never knew."
"Is that it? Oh dear."
"What's the matter?" Emma said.
"If I understand what she's saying, the nature of this curse is different from the curses in the stories. Those were based on grief, but if this snowwitch is not grieving but seeking a replacement, this curse is based on loneliness."
"Why is that a problem?" Regina asked.
"You should know, Regina. There is no magical cure for loneliness. It is one of the first lessons I learned in my apprentice years. It is one emotion that cannot be easily remedied."
"Is that so?" Morwen said from the hallway.
"Yes, Darling, unfortunately so. Now, there are some ways to numb the pain of loneliness. Unfortunately, most people turn to vices such as alcohol, but sometimes an enjoyable hobby might accomplish this—playing games, solving puzzles, reading fiction, those kinds of things. Long-term projects, such as intense focus on study (which, incidentally, was my remedy) might cause loneliness to go into remission, making one forget that he or she has it for a while only to have it reappear at the most inopportune circumstance. However, the only cure for loneliness that exists in the world, the only thing that truly makes it go away, is companionship, which unfortunately magic does not typically readily provide. One must receive companionship, as they say, 'the hard way.'"
"So, what you're saying is she has to achieve her endgame," Emma said. "Elsa and I have to become her sisters."
"Well, there is time yet. Shiara, as a firewitch, you are immune to her magic. Perhaps you can talk to her, reason with her, and she will call off the curse."
"Reason?" Shiara said. "No, firewitches aren't known for being wise."
"I'm aware of that. I can make a potion to make you temporarily wise. It will also help you keep a cool-head, so to speak."
"Alright. It's the least I can do for Elsa."
Word about the curse spread through the town shortly after that. When Mendanbar heard of it, he suggested they fight the curse by "fixing our eyes on the cross." So he and his family and some members of the church met at the clock tower to sing hymns and pray. The fairies in the convent searched for another way to combat the curse. Emma and Elsa went on one last search for Anna, and this time found her, as well as Kristoff. When Lewis heard of it, he went to the ice parlor, but Ingrid wasn't there. He found her refuge, but she wasn't there. So he took a walk in the woods, until he saw a woman in a white dress holding her hands up to the sky.
"Ingrid?" he called. She turned, and his heart skipped a beat. "Mercy! You look like a dream."
"Lewis? What are you doing here?"
"I've been hearing things. I heard that you're responsible for that." He pointed to the sky.
"I am."
"I heard you did it because you're lonely."
"Yes. I told you, I've been searching for my sisters, and that's the only thing that will bring them to me."
"You know, I'm lonely too. I hear loneliness is better to bear when you're feeling lonely with someone else."
"I told you, I'm not interested."
"Surely you've figured out that I don't just come to your ice cream parlor for your ice cream! I like you, Ingrid. I enjoy your company, and I think . . . I think you're beautiful."
"You'll never accept the way that I am."
"I'M A GARGOYLE! NO ONE ACCEPTS ME THE WAY THAT I AM!"
She came up to him and smiled sadly as she stroked his face. "No. You're a sweet man."
Lewis smiled and laughed softly.
"I'm doing this for your own good." Ice came out of her hands, and she froze him. "Now, no one will tear you apart when the curse comes at sundown. I will release you when I am reunited with my sisters and let you on your way. You will find someone, Lewis. I know you will." Then she turned back to the sky.
Despite everyone's best efforts, the curse was not hindered, so everyone prepared for the worst. Mary Margaret and David locked themselves in a cell. Regina hid herself in her vault and hid away her son. Telemain told Morwen of his preparations. "I gave Beowulf a potion to keep him asleep during the tumult, and I put a strong protection spell on his room so no one can get to him. I suggest you cast a similar protection spell on the front door. If you rage and wish to break anything of mine, have at it. There is nothing I own that cannot be repaired."
"What about you?" she asked.
He looked away. "I wish to keep my wrath."
She was actually fearful as she looked into his eyes. "You welcome the curse? Why?"
"Because someone needs to be punished. Now, I know you and I will undoubtedly forget in just a few moments, but," he kissed her very gently on the lips and whispered, "I love you, Morwen." And he left.
But she thought about what he said, and whispered just after he walked out the door, "Do you?"
