Her beak parted as she gently guided the horse into the stable. A stable hand - Jeremy, was his name - shouted out a, "Hello, Madam Stare, thank you," before taking their steeds to a warmer place.

Stare, after a brief look at Jeremy, turned back to Nosdyn, her heart racing still after his outburst. Help him? After he had helped her and Vitruvion ruin Thesus Heysan? Did he even have a right to ask such a thing? Was it even possible after the spell he had been placed under?

But then he had apologised. And Stare felt torn. Lost between wanting to be kind to him, and knowing she would need to wait for Vitruvion's own permission. Why would be even want her, after all, to chase after a shadow. What interests were it for him?

But Stare felt her heart soften. After all, her and Nosdyn right now were in a bit of a similar situation. They both had been caught up in magical rituals, and bound to another being in some way. They both came from a place so far from here, and were aliens in truth. They both had no say, yet both would be rewarded greatly for this. Truly, she wanted to say yes, but she knew she could not promise anything. Therefore she started up to the house, going around the back to the servant's entrance where she honestly found it easier these days. It meant they could go straight to the kitchen where Mrs Deerling, the cook, could give them fresh food.

"You don't need to apologise, Nosdyn," she replied, turning to point at his mask again. "You could take that off if you wanted by the way ... I would help you if I could. But I can't promise anything. The way I see you ..." Carefully she eyed him, and paused as she tried to grasp a tight hold of the swirling colours about people. The way that a person lit up in a certain light when she watched them that particular way, with a hue that gave her clue to their personality ...

"We are very similar," she said, coming out of that silence and that sight, seeing the same shades of dark colours that swirled around them both. He was a pretty dark blue-purple and she was closer to a brown, but they were similar enough.

She opened the door, and immediately the fine smells of a kitchen burst in. A short corridor was before them, alongside a large common area filled with a long table and many chairs, the entrance to a very full pantry, and a steamy kitchen. Stare gestured, leading the demon straight down to the billowing water vapour, where they were seen by a huge-bosomed woman.

"My dear!"

Stare held up a clawed hand and waved. "Chance of food?" She asked, black eyes piercing the slowly place. The bosomed woman nodded and pointed back down, green eyes momentarily dancing intrigued on Nosdyn.

"Of course, dear. Common room, please. And tea?"

Stare nodded, "Tea," and she led Nosdyn back out ... To head back to the room with the long table where she sat.

"What did this Jake steal from you anyway?"