Alfred was in no way qualified to contest any of the information she was offering on the nature of curses, which made her explanation all the more frustrating. He wanted to be right — or at the very least, he wanted someone from the Ministry to acknowledge that they were not exactly handling this very efficiently. He'd been stuck in port nearly two months past his expected departure date, and each day he lingered here the chances of his ever making good on this voyage smaller and smaller. Not to mention that it was increasingly expensive — journeys by ship were planned at the times they were for a reason, taking into account weather patterns and winds over the whole world, and leaving in a different season threw everything off. And then there was the whole issue of maintaining the ship and paying the crew... none of which anyone seemed inclined to acknowledge. In fact, every interaction he had with someone from the Ministry seemed to be framed on the assumption that he and his ship were being a nuisance — including this one.

And this was Zelda. This was a girl he had asked to court — a girl he had at least pondered the idea of having a future with — and this was the first time they had talked in months, and she was explaining, with clear irritation in her voice, some mumbo jumbo about curses that he couldn't hope to argue with. It was frustrating, mostly because he felt so unexpectedly impotent. Well, no; mostly because it was Zelda. But the whole situation and the powerlessness that had been forced on him by the Ministry certainly didn't help.

Her last comment struck him in a particular way, partly because of the way it was said. He wasn't sure if this was still on the subject of curses (and therefore something he ought to be concerned about) or whether, as her tone sort of suggested to his ears, this was some sort of implied insult attacking sailors, and therefore his profession. If that was the case, it wouldn't be the first such comment he'd heard, but it would certainly be the first from Zelda, and it stung more than he would have expected. "And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked irritably.