Zelda leaned back on her calves and frowned up at him, mirroring his expression. "Some curses are easier than others," she said. She had wanted to return to the bland, professional tone, but found she could not manage it. There was a hint of irritation she could not shave off.
"That curse dated to - early 1800s, probably," she said, "Familiar magic. Easy work. This is over a thousand years old and has aged and warped in countless ways since the spellcaster died." Zelda's wand, unnoticed, began to move a little faster and a little more erratically in her hand.
She did not owe him an explanation. She did not often want to give people explanations when she was solving their problems, finding it more distracting than anything. But - Alfred had always been sort of impressed by her, or at least had never doubted her. That he apparently did now - well. It pushed on that same swell of hurt. Alfred was supposed to be in India, but he wasn't, and he no longer believed that she was competent. So. Everything was great.
"And I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that there could be any manner of things wrong with your crew that just haven't shown themselves yet," Zelda added, a bitter afterthought.
"That curse dated to - early 1800s, probably," she said, "Familiar magic. Easy work. This is over a thousand years old and has aged and warped in countless ways since the spellcaster died." Zelda's wand, unnoticed, began to move a little faster and a little more erratically in her hand.
She did not owe him an explanation. She did not often want to give people explanations when she was solving their problems, finding it more distracting than anything. But - Alfred had always been sort of impressed by her, or at least had never doubted her. That he apparently did now - well. It pushed on that same swell of hurt. Alfred was supposed to be in India, but he wasn't, and he no longer believed that she was competent. So. Everything was great.
"And I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that there could be any manner of things wrong with your crew that just haven't shown themselves yet," Zelda added, a bitter afterthought.
![[Image: xXXD462.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xXXD462.png)
AMAZING set by MJ