"Ah, no," Morgana said wistfully. "I suppose everyone dreams of flying." She hesitated, then admitted, "When I was a little girl I used to take home poor dead birds and bats. Take them apart to see if I could figure it out."

Cara grinned. "Really?" she asked. "You-- we have more in common than I would have expected. I had a collection of skeletal remains until my Auntie found them and took them away."

"I used to keep one or two different ones around. I knew I had to marry my husband when he brought me a crow he'd boiled down and wired for me himself." She let out a small sigh. "Unfortunately, small children tend to regard them as interesting puzzles."

"Unfortunately?" Cara asked. "Didn't you just say that's how you learned?" She smiled. "And that's very romantic. I don't think I've ever had a man bring me a dead animal before. It sort of makes me think of a cat."

"These ones were too small not to put pieces in their mouths," Morgana said. "Or twist wires around their fingers until the tips turned purple, or try to make necklaces of the backbones." She smiled to herself. "To this day, I don't think Bram knew what I was doing with dead animals back then. He only knew I collected them." She shrugged lightly. "Some men bring flowers."

"Yes, but flowers are a bit cliched," Cara pointed out. "Bringing a carcass means he really knows you."

"Jochy's not brought you a carcass yet?" she asked, interested.

Cara burst out laughing. "Jochy hasn't brought me anything except into trouble," she answered cheerily.

"That, as you have pointed out, comes with Jochy." Morgana cupped her little butterfly in her hands and took it out of existence. "Did he make your little bird?"

Cara nodded and touched the bird. "My spectacles were left back in Mercer," she explained. "It was more convenient for me to be able to see here, since I don't know my way around yet. It is a bit of an annoyance, but for now..." she shrugged. "I'm not completely blind; I just have very, very poor vision. Usually with my spectacles, I can see very well. But I don't need them; I do just fine even when I can't see."