"I might not," she shrugs. "And all alone out here without magic to feed us and keep us alive, we might starve anyway."

"It was a long way from the nearest civilization to here, but not so long that we couldn't walk it, even me as bad at walking as I am - I think. Of course, that assumes they'd feed us."

"I don't know if they would. And I might not die even if the door is still trapped when I try it. So I think it's worth it."

"If you didn't heal clean then even if it didn't kill you outright you could die of it after."

"Sure," she says. "But maybe one of us could learn how to fix it in between."

"Are healing spells the sort of thing that - well, I suppose they must be, my curse has one built in, so do you."

"Yeah," says Nona. "But I don't know how they work."

"Maybe they only come with unwelcome side effects."

"Maybe," shrugs Nona.

"Not that cold, I guess. The swans never seem to complain."

"Feathers are insulating. And I don't think they have a way to complain. I'm more worried about nighttime. I - would sooner not be chased indoors by the weather."

"That's good, then."

"Yeah."

"I hate him. I hate the castle," murmurs Etty.

"I know," she says. "Me too."

"You live there. I suppose he obliges you to."

"I could sleep in the orchard, but it wouldn't be far enough away to make a difference, and my bed's more comfortable."

Etty nods, shifts position, snuggles closer.

Snuggle snuggle.

"You're very cuddly."

"I like cuddling you. Cuddling you is nice," she says, cuddling her.

"That's good. It's -" Etty tries to think of words. "Feels safe." Because Nona's not going to hurt her, Nona's not going to treat her like he does, Nona only wants to hold her and is so concerned about not doing things Etty doesn't like that she extracted a promise on the subject.

...Nona beams.