Honestly, Jochy had never been to Ebhot before. Not in person. He'd only heard stories. And yet, once the house came over the hill it looked even smaller than he had guessed. Hell, the grey cottage had been luxurious in comparison, or maybe it was just that the houses melded together so much with the surrounding nature that they seemed smaller.

Morgana was not tall.

But this was the right place, hell it had to be. He could literally taste the wards, from the outlying trickles to the intense tangles once they approached closer. Morgana would know they were coming alright... no way she was missing this.

He didn't try to sneak past them this time around.

"You alright there Cara?"

"Of course I am," Cara replied, still a little wobbly with her paper-bird-directed sight. "It's just all these mud clods," she told him, with a grin, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Or do you want an excuse to carry me?"

"Think mud might be one of the main exports of the Erins this time of the year. Dunno what Aquitaine want with them really." Jochy grinned and steadied her a bit. "And I ain't that much of a gentleman, I'd just trip, fall over and get us both all muddy, what with my bad foot and all." He paused a moment for effect, then laughed and swept her up in his arms.

"Except I don't have a bad foot anymore, do I?"

Cara laughed and slung her arms around his neck. "No," she answered, dropping a kiss onto his cheek. "No, you don't. You sound so proud of yourself. You're just glad you didn't have to get metal bones."

"I am glad, mostly because you sounded so awfully happy to make me one of yer experiments. But yer still a big girl, so please walk on your own." He grinned and kissed her, then frowned a little. "So... we're gonna go through the same awkward bits again, what are we to one another? Lovers? Assistant and boss?"

The air around Morgana's cottage was misty, even for a moor in Erin in the first days of Samon, and smelled very strongly and moistly of mint. Which could be due to the fact that Morgana had been boiling down a kettle of mint in the front garden since early this morning. She hoped the neighbours didn't complain. Granted, the nearest neighbours were a good fifteen-minutes' walk away . . . but at this rate, they might still complain.

She dropped back to her feet, and flicked at his hair. "Scientist and experiment?" she teased. "You pick. You know her be---" She sniffed the air. "Why is everything so...minty?"

"Can't blame Seth for once..." The smell of mint was making him homesick. "She's probably cooking up something, it's the season for it I suppose. And it's better to stick to the truth with her, I was working for you, we ended up in bed together. She knows me." Sadly enough that was very true.

"Morgana", he called, then raised his voice a little. "Anybody here in the mists?"

There was a little scampering. Morgana rounded the cauldron and squinted through the mists. "Jochy?" She moved quickly to the fence. "Don't come any nearer! You'll set off the wards."

Cara, in the middle of taking a step, backed up. "Is that her?" she whispered to Jochy.