Dullahan

7 - Middle Ground - 2

Ness returned a while later, Eldred having already retreated back to the middle of the bed, legs pulled up against his chest, staring at the flames within the fire. He startled at the sound of the door opening, so entranced by the fire that he had not heard Ness's approach. Immediately, he was on edge once more, attention refocused on the dullahan that had reentered the room.

She held a plate and mug in her hands, the plate stacked with food, the mug filled with clear water, and she offered them to the boy.

Eldred hadn't realised how hungry he was. The last time he had eaten was mid-way through their ride up to the castle, after he'd mentioned it to Ness. The dullahan had found a small piece of bread, which the boy had eaten as he stared at the sights they had ridden past. So hungry was he now that he only hesitated for a moment before reaching to accept the offered food, fingers closing slowly around the plate. Ness released it, and he shuffled a little further from her, closer to the fire. He wasted no time starting to eat, sipping from the mug.

She watched him for a moment, and then, seemingly satisfied that he was eating, turned her attention back to herself. She unbuckled her gambeson, shrugging off the padded coat to leave her in a simple white shirt, greyed with age. The trousers beneath the gambeson she'd worn on her legs were dark, the knees starting to look a little threadbare. She looked smaller without all of her armour, her simple clothes no longer padding out her form. Thin wrists poked out of the cuffs of her shirt, and her collarbones were evident within the neckline. She hesitated again when she had finished, considering, before she pulled out the wooden chair from the desk and sat down.

Eldred watched all of this as he ate, cautious not to look away from her too long. She leaned forward, pulling out a desk draw and retrieving a cloth from it, and then stated tending to her armour, polishing and oiling the plate and her blade.

The food was good and filling. It wasn't fresh, but it hadn't gone completely cold, either. When his hunger started to abide, his mind started to wander from the food just before.

It took him a few moments to muster the courage to finally speak. "How come your ears aren't pointed?" he asked, voice almost inaudible despite the quiet of the room.

Ness didn't seem to startle at his sudden question, although her eyes snapped up to him, surprise plain on her face. She blinked a few times, processing what he had asked, and then shook her head, slowly. "This is a glamour- an illusion made from magic. These-" she reached up and touched the rounded edge of her ear, pushing a stray strand of hair back. "-are not my actual ears. This glamour was made for use in the human realm, so that I could walk among humans without drawing attention. It would defeat the point to have such evidently fae features as pointed ears."

"You don't need it here?" he asked after a pause, feeling a little bolder.

"No," she said gently, "I do not need to wear a glamour here. People are... uncomfortable... but it is not unexpected."

The fire snapped as one of the logs collapsed in on itself, a small puff of ash accenting the movement.

"How- how come you don't have a head?" he said to the room, losing confidence in his question as the words came out. He was already regretting it by the time he finished it, dropping his gaze to the small amount of food that remained on his plate, and busying himself with eating it.

Ness took a moment to answer, although Eldred did not know if that was because she was angry or just surprised he had asked it.

Eventually, she responded. "I do have a head," she said, a little defensively. "It's just... no longer attached to my body. I don't know... where exactly it is, but I know it is somewhere in this castle, locked in a box. All I see with its eyes is darkness."