Chapter 2: Sometimes Diversion Is Easier

Somehow, Charlotte never expected to have a guest from someplace other than the island at her kitchen table. Farryn Lemorne, however, looked like there was no other place she would rather be. Her eyes zipped around the room and Charlotte recalled her first moments in Essellon, reluctantly recognizing the same wonder she had possessed back then.

"Lovely place."

"Is it?" Charlotte balked.

"I wouldn't insult your home, especially not after you were kind enough to invite me in."

"I'm starting to regret it," she muttered to herself. "So are you serious about learning from me?"

Farryn beamed. "Yes!"

"Fascinating."

Charlotte leaned back in her chair, already exhausted at the prospect of a student before even accepting one. On one hand, though she would hardly admit it out loud, it would be nice to have someone who understood her magic and could talk to her about it. On the other hand, Charlotte couldn't stand the thought of setting her own fate on another's shoulders. Worst of all, if she told Farryn any of this, Farryn would certainly have some kind of rebuttal. No, Charlotte decided, she could not be kind about refusing a student. She would have to make sure Farryn didn't even want to become a student anymore.

"I refuse."

"What?" Farryn's shoulder's slumped. "Why?"

"I have no use for an apprentice so much weaker than I am."

There was a long moment of silence and Charlotte stared into the table, hoping Farryn would just give up after that. She refocused her gaze on the condensation dripping down the outside of the glass of ice water she had offered the young woman. Eventually Farryn would leave. Then Charlotte could return to her own tasks.

"Very well. I shall return when I am stronger."

Farryn stood with a new determination in her eyes and Charlotte groaned to herself. It seemed she had only encouraged her new acquaintance. For the moment, to Charlotte's dread and relief, Farryn seemed satisfied with her interim mission to become more skilled.

"Thank you for hosting. I'm sure I'll meet your expectations someday."

"Wishful thinking," mumbled Charlotte, mostly to herself.

"Please tell your darling cat I love her."

Farryn waved a cheerful goodbye as she left, and when the door finally clicked closed behind her, Charlotte let her head fall forward onto the table. A solid, sandpaper rough nose poked at her hand and Charlotte knew it was Pepper Jack even without seeing her. She reached out a hand to her cat, getting a bony nuzzle in return.

"What do I do now?"

Pepper Jack beeped softly.

"Do you like her?"

Pepper Jack purred.

"Traitor."

Charlotte looked up and fervently wished, for the first time in many years, that she could bury her face in her cat's fur again. Pepper Jack clattered up against Charlotte's arm and she kissed her cat on the forehead anyway. The two of them sat in silence for some time with only the clattering of Pepper Jack's bones to accompany them as Charlotte contemplated the impending disruption to her daily routine.

"Pepper Jack, what have I gotten myself into?"

Pepper Jack just let out another gravely meow and flopped onto her back. Charlotte laughed, though there was no real mirth in it, and ran her fingers down her cat's spine.

"Yeah. That's what I thought anyway."

Oddly though, despite her promises, Farryn was nowhere to be seen in the weeks after her initial visit. Charlotte started each day anticipating another appearance, but each knock on her door revealed just her neighbors and friends bringing her food and materials or collecting items she had promised them. Celadon, the local blacksmith, stopped by with a small cloth bundle and Charlotte raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"What's this?"

Celadon barked out a laugh. "You asked for some nicer silverware. I finally finished them."

"Oh. Oh!" Charlotte took the bundle. "Oh, I had forgotten!"

"I hope the handle design is to your liking. I did my best, but they're not perfect."

Charlotte couldn't wait and unrolled the cloth, revealing a set of matching forks, knives, and spoons, all with an agile darling cat carved into the wooden handles, and a ladle with the same cat in its handle batting at the small loop of twine tied into the end. She stared at Celadon, who laughed deep in his chest, and resisted the urge to hug him.

"Thank you," she just barely managed to whisper.

"My pleasure. Please bring them to me if they break, alright?"

Charlotte nodded firmly and took another affectionate glance at the cat on the handles, then put the silverware down and returned to the kitchen to root around in the drawers. She sifted her way through a couple of places before finally happening upon a woven bag that sounded remarkably like Pepper Jack rolling around on the floor.

"Aha."

Charlotte shoved the bag into Celadon's hands with a triumphant smile. Months ago, when he had offered to make her a custom set of silverware, she had offered to find him a bag of bones that nobody would miss so he could make knives and other tools with bone handles. Initially, Celadon was skeptical of her methods, but there came a day when she provided him with the antlers from a deer she had hunted for winter food rations and he seemed to understand what she meant.

"Here. They're all from deep in the woods, I made sure they weren't human, and I didn't kill anything for them unless I was also going to eat it."

"Wow." Celadon hefted the bag in his hand. "You really found a lot of them."

"I got really good at looking for them," said Charlotte, grimacing.

"Hey."

"Yeah."

"I appreciate it. For real. A lot of us aren't willing to go that far into the forest, so this really helps." He patted her gently on the shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm glad I can assist."

As Celadon walked away back toward the town, Charlotte watched him and felt, for the first time in some time, that she finally truly was starting to belong. Necromancers were few in Essellon, few enough that they were known as the Eight Undying and identified by region. Charlotte had very quickly embraced her station as the Necromancer of the Whalebone seas, and in fact the whale bones for which the ocean was named became her main transportation across water. But she didn't know the other necromancers, or at least Charlotte Cole didn't. 

Perhaps the previous mental inhabitant of Charlotte Connor was more connected to the other necromancers. It had taken Charlotte longer than necessary to discover that Charlotte Connor's own full name was Charlotte Abelius Lidithyn Connor; who was to say what else she still didn't know about her fellow Eight. But without revealing her status as the new resident of Charlotte Connor's body, she had no way of gathering info that she knew of yet.

As long as she was still being left alone in her lighthouse and the rest of the Otterdown Island residents were willing to trade with her, however, Charlotte was satisfied. Indeed, momentarily she had forgotten all about the enthusiastic prospective student determined to find a teacher in Charlotte.

Funny, that, because Farryn chose exactly that moment to appear in Charlotte's field of vision and give her a hesitant wave.