Page 42 of Raven in Midwinter

“Tell me about the clothes this Ilara wanted you to wear.”

“She had her servants deliver them to me, and when I tried to carry them in, I felt a push in my chest. I must have said no to a hundred pieces of clothing before she finally gave up and brought me items purchased in town.”

“Do you have a theory?”

“I do, and it’s a good one,” he assured me.

“I’m aging here.”

His husky laugh then that I loved. “Okay, so I think this room, and only this room, is a part of the cottage. And I know that sounds crazy, but I feel like some piece of it remains, and that sliver knows me and is working really hard to protect me.”

“That doesn’t sound crazy at all,” I said as he let go of my hand and squatted down to check the temperature of the water. “Something similar happened to me in the kitchen earlier.”

“Which means…we’re being cared for because this whole mansion is the cottage.”

“How?”

“It must have something to do with making Corvus, and our home, bigger. By expanding them, by having both take up more space, neither the land nor our home is able to focus intention like normal.”

“But why would he do that? For what purpose?”

“I don’t know. Ostensibly, he wanted to be a wealthy landowner, so he increased the acreage of Corvus, basically making certain that in our time, the neighbors on either side of us will never be there.”

“Which is awful.”

“It is, but also, your ancestors warded not solely Corvus, but those properties on both sides because they were your neighbors, and that was done to protect them.”

“Yes. And he made our sweet cottage a monstrosity because he wanted to live in a gigantic mansion—at least that’s what he would have us, and everyone else, believe.”

“But by altering both, he’s taken the power from both.”

“Not all of it, though,” I pointed out. “You have a safe space, and I willed a talisman into existence for a maid. The cottage is still interfering on our behalf.”

He nodded and then, after a moment, said, “Which maid?”

“What?”

“Which maid did you create a talisman for?”

“Oh, Constance.”

“That’s good, she’s a sweetheart, and I was fairly certain I was going to need to tangle with Giles sooner than later over her.”

“Not anymore. He’ll be repelled by her, but he won’t know why.”

“That’s good work, Xan.”

“I try,” I said with a sharp exhale. “All right, so what now?”

“You’re asking me for the answer?”

“I am.”

He laughed then. “I’ll get back to you.”

The tears were instant.

“Oh, honey, I’m sure we will⁠—”