Village in the Mountains

Chapter Twelve

Turning her head, a grey and white blur swung into her field of vision as she looked to confront the source of the sound coming from behind her. Neci stared wide eyed and confused at the doll levitating in front of her, completely obscuring whatever it was.

"Neci!!! We HAVE to stop meeting like this!!" Angie shrieked happily; whatever unknown spectre that had been there had vanished. Neci distantly registered the sound of stumbling, retreating footsteps, and the next second, she was alone with only Lady Beneviento and Angie.

Neci tilted her head to the side of the doll, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever had been lurking behind her, only to have Angie move in front of her line of sight once again, copying her movements perfectly.

"Helloooo?! I'm talking to you!"

Neci startled and snapped her attention to the puppet in front of her. She quickly turned back to face the puppeteer, still standing tall and looking down on her from where she'd almost landed on top of the other woman. The imposing woman's figure left her no clues as to how she was feeling.

Angie was right, they had to stop meeting like this.

A nervous smile made its way onto her face as she glanced up at the lord in front of her, before hastily scrambling to her feet, unsure if this would make her look better in the other woman's eyes or if she should remain on the ground at her feet.

"Pardon me, Lord Beneviento, I did not see you there when I was..." She paused, "Sliding... down this hill." There really was no other word for it, "It was an accident, I'm very sorry. Still klutzy as ever!"

Donna said nothing in return.

Angie the doll moved herself back to settle in the taller lord's arms, the dollmaker's hands coming up to cradle the doll protectively, surrounding the puppet in a protective wall of thick black cloth that allowed her to still watch Neci with her beady little eyes.

Neci realized with a start that it had been at least two years since she had seen the other woman.

Most of that time had been spent hunting and working for the Duke; since the lord's promise to call on her one day, Neci hadn't seen the other woman up close again, and she discovered in the interim that she was now finally approaching the other woman's height, though the tall woman still had at least a half a foot on her. Neci's face was now a bit leaner than the last time they had spoken, a good portion of baby fat melting off in the years it had taken her to become an adult, and her hair had grown since the impromptu haircut she'd been given by the puppeteer. Her arms and legs had broadened in particular, thickening throughout the years from hard, manual labor. Standing before the lord now, she no longer looked like the tiny, unassuming waife from so long ago.

On the other hand, Lord Beneviento looked the same as ever, though that was no surprise, considering there wasn't much of the lord that could be seen at all. She was still garbed in the same stiff, black dress she'd met her in, and her face was obscured by the same black cloth. Angie, obviously, didn't look any different either.

Neci furrowed her eyebrows, however, when she noticed that the other woman was wearing a fur shawl; the exact one that Neci had made her two years prior.

Dark eyes snapped back up to look into the lord's mask, "My sincerest apologies, Lady Beneviento, I hope I did not startle you or cause you too big a disturbance."

Standing before her, the pair of them were as dangerous as they had been when she'd been younger, but Neci felt steadier in their presence than she ever had. She'd been through a lot in the realm of the lords, and though her stomach twisted, she didn't think she was in any danger of crying like she had the last time they met.