Alfred rocked his hand back and forth for a moment, letting the fire flick from side to side as he tried to consider how to explain it. It really would have been better to show her than to try and describe them, but he was obviously missing the appropriate visual demonstration on his own chest for the combined symbol. Maybe he could have drawn one, from what he remembered of seeing them back at the tribe, but they were all so individual that just mimicking someone else’s symbol felt — wrong. Even if Zelda would never know, he didn’t like it. She’d need her own symbol, when he added her to his tattoos, but if he was going to do it in the same style as the ones he’d seen before — well, the symbols didn’t just come up out of nothing, they needed a bit of background work.

With a sudden idea, Alfred moved to climb off the bed, still holding the flame in one hand. “Do you have your wand handy?” he asked as he went to his desk. He was going to need both hands, for this, so unless she was going to learn how to light fires wandlessly in the next ten minutes they’d need it.