Zelda bristled at his tone, a visible twist of her lips, but was deferred by his question - she was actually quite pleased by the magic she'd put into this, and she really wanted to share.

She plucked the earring out of her pocket and walked over, holding it in the palm of her hand. She had been thinking of the explanation for a while; part of selling Alfred on her idea meant explaining why it was a good one.

"It's a container," Zelda said, "Made of the same sandstone material as the curse's original house, and the hook is silver, which they also worked with. Essentially I'm building the curse a house - it wants to be in similar materials, rather than in your body, and by having this attached to your body you can give it that home."

She paused, took a breath. "And once it's in this solid, unchanging environment - rather than your body - you won't be at risk."

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