Under a little awning out in the dark garden, Niabheara saw with a lapful of flowers--a tangles of stems ending in a mass of petals in her lap. She pinched one between her fingers, held it up before her face, and passed her other hand across the flower’s head. Fire passed over it--not as it would a flower, wilting and smouldering--a bright, immediate, fast-burning flame that died in a few seconds. She let it drop, then plucked up another.

"Now I'm depressed," came a voice in accented Tuathalli as its owner, a pale tallfolk with a pronounced nose, stepped a bit closer to Niabheara. "That was always my trick."

The youth had been out getting used to the castle--for the first time being here without his parents--and the fire had certainly caught his attention. And, now that he saw the woman at the fire, that had his attention, too.

Not Mabhe. But what a resemblance. He liked to think that meant she'd had a child eventually. A proper one. Who didn't leave her.

Niabheara stood up, flowers spilling from her lap. "Who are you?" she demanded, and without waiting, said, "Go away." She shook out her skirts, where a few last flowers clung, and hurried off, head down.

"I'm called Seth..." he began as she stood up. He bit his lip a little and shrugged. "Sorry. Just. Sorry." He shrugged some and stood. "You can stay. I'll go!"

She paused only because of his name and because he sounded vaguely familiar. Angrily, she fished in her pocket for her bit of iron chain. "Touch that," she said, and held it out to him.

The youth nodded and reached out, touching the iron with a sheepish smile, "I fear I won't have the burn for it. Tallfolk, you know?" He laughed anxiously, his other hand rubbing at the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just don't know very many people here yet."

Niabheara had given herself a good blister handling the chain bare-handed. She ignored it. "Seth, you . . . " She took a step nearer to him. "You don't remember me anymore."

"Um." The youth blinked a couple times, eyes flitting about a little before he smiled and shrugged, "No. I'm sorry. It's been about seven years for me since I was here last..." he rubbed at the back of his neck a couple times before shrugging, "But time stuff is weird like that, I guess. Did we meet when I was here before?" He tilted his head a little.

It had been quite a whirlwind. Odds were good he wouldn't remember.

"How should I call you?"

"I'm called Niabheara." She tipped her head, curious. "Why haven't they changed you back, then? I thought you were trapped away."

"Changed me back into what?" He asked, arching an eyebrow. "I can't go back to being a child, sadly." He smiled a bit before continuing, "I mean, I was trapped away. Sort of. I guess you could call it that." Seeming to think on it, he could only smile, "At least from everyone's perspective here. It was pretty nice for me."

He leaned in again before pulling back, "And. Just out of curiosity. You're from Cnoch na Niall, right?"