It was strange stepping from the warmth of her own garden space into snow. Kaitlyn wore her new cloak, boots, and gloves. She had set her traps and now hoped to gather more meat for herself. Fapallo was willing to hunt, but since Kaitlyn had no idea how long he might decide to stay, she had determined she wanted to know how to catch her own meat.

She had another goal as well. Apparently the white feathers of an owl were used in a potion of silence, something she wanted to try to make. It would allow her to move through the forest with a bit more confidence if she knew no one could hear her. Finding an abandoned nest or burrow was her plan. She also wanted to get out of the hut for a time. She was tired of looking at the same walls, the same trees, and the same books.

She tromped through the snow and looked for any signs of owls. She knew this might end up being just a cold walk in the woods, but she had to try. It was a beautiful day really, the weather just warm enough to be comfortable but cold enough to keep the snow light and fluffy. The landscape was truly beautiful with the snow making everything glitter.

As she was walking she occasionally stopped to look at a plant to try to identify if it was one of the herbs her potion book said she needed but was not already in her garden. She found two and took careful note of their locations to look at digging them up in the near future.

One of her traps had been sprung without catching anything, the other had caught a fox. She summoned her magical blade and carefully removed the major organs. The kidneys she tossed into the trap, hopefully she could catch something else like the fox. She was finishing her field dressing when an arrow blossomed next to her head.

“You trespass human,” a voice said. Kaitlyn slowly turned to see an elf.

This elf was not like her previous guest. This elf looked like snow and ice itself, pale to the point of albino. Kaitlyn looked to the trees and said, “I was told that the silver elves only controlled among the aspens. I do not see aspens here.”

“We range these forests as we please,” the elf sniffed disdainfully, “and humans are entirely unwelcome.”

“Well, you do not control this area of the forest and my home is in this part of the wood,” Kaitlyn said. “If you would like to come with me back to my home, you will see that I will not trespass on the silver elven lands, it is a goodly distance.”

“If you lie to seek to draw me into a trap, I shall not miss your heart,” the silver elf said.

Kaitlyn led the beautiful female elf back to the witch’s hut. The elf frowned and said more respectfully, “Forgive me, I did not know you were a witch. I thought all witches were older.”

“They usually are,” Kaitlyn said calmly. “May I offer you some tea before you leave? As I told you, it is a goodly distance from where you found me, much less to the aspen groves.”

“Why would you be kind after I threatened your life?” the elf asked suspiciously.

Kaitlyn looked at her frankly and said, “It is rather lonely living in a hut in the middle of a wood. I would appreciate hearing anything of the outside world. I also would like to be able to trade with your people for things I cannot build here.”

Master Garthis had given Kaitlyn some pointers when dealing with some of the races of the woods. The dryad and dark elves were more relaxed, and could bear a bit of mystery. The silver elves were sticklers for the rules and blunt to the point of rude. They believed that speaking any intentional untruth damaged some part of the soul. The other two species of elves were crafters by nature, one leaning towards products of the earth including porcelain and silk. The others were gentle pranksters who tended towards a semi-nomadic lifestyle following the herds of reindeer which came in and out of the forests. They hadn’t been seen in years, so she may or may not ever run into them.

The satyrs were a hunter-gather kind of people. They hunted for furs to trade with humans occasionally, but generally lived a subsistence life in some kind of harmony with the forest. There were a few other groups in the forest, but none had large groups or settlements of any kind.

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With this knowledge, when Kaitlyn saw a silver elf, she knew she could be blunt. She also had not feared the bow once she knew the elf wa present. Her spell to weave scissors was so fast now she could have snapped the string before the elf had finished drawing. At least, Kaitlyn felt pretty confident in her own speed.

“Very well, I shall stay and give you some news of the parts of the world I know of,” the silver elf said.

“My name is Kaitlyn, can I know your name?”

“I am called Hyacinth by acquaintances,” the elf said.

Kaitlyn brought the tea kettle and her herbs back out front. The elf looked at the comfortable garden and said, “How do you maintain a temperature if you are not a witch?”

Kaitlyn sighed and said, “Your people would probably call me a witch because there is not a better name for what I am. I am not old, I am not evil. Master Garthis is teaching me to control what magic I have.”

“But you do not call yourself a witch,” Hyacinth said, clearly trying to catch Kaitlyn in some kind of lie.

“I don’t,” Kaitlyn said firmly, “I don’t like the title. But as I said, there is not a better name for what I do. I have magic. I use it to maintain a certain warmth in my home.”

“I would not happily leave if I had such warmth,” Hyacinth said, “I dislike the winter.”

Kaitlyn cast her fire spell next to the kettle to begin heating the water and began combining her herbs in her pestle. She started with a little lavender and mint. She ground them carefully, not turning them into fine grounds, but breaking apart the leaves. She then carefully put them into her little sack of linen. Hyacinth had watched her and asked, “What is this you are doing?”

“I use it to make my teas,” Kaitlyn said. “It simulates something most witches and wizards do, but it doesn’t use magic.”

“What does it do?” Hyacinth half-rose, looking quite aggressive.

“Holds the leaves in the water to allow them to steep without contaminating the quality of the water,” Kaitlyn said. “It isn’t as good as doing it with magic, magic keeps all the parts of the herbs contained, but it is good enough for normal tea. Better than if you just put the leaves in the water.”

“It is a simple solution,” Hyacinth observed.

“Sometimes the best solutions are simple,” Kaitlyn said. The water was now warm and she put her little tea bag in the water. “I am sorry I can not offer much in the way of food, I don’t have much beyond the vegetables from my garden and the occasional hunting Fapallo provides.”

“You were retrieving a fox from a trap today,” Hyacinth said, frowning again.

“I apologize, today was the first time I caught anything,” Kaitlyn said. “I would not feel like a good host if I offered you a raw fox.”

Hyacinth laughed then, and said, “You are trying to speak the way my people do, aren’t you.”

“Master Garthis told me silver elves are insulted by even accidental untruths,” Kaitlyn said, “I don’t want to offend you. So yes, I suppose I am trying to match the way you speak.”

“I will note your efforts,” Hyacinth said. “I will not be offended if you make slight errors. May I ask something of you?”

“You can ask,” Kaitlyn said, “Once I know the request, I’ll let you know if I can do it.”

Hyacinth nodded and said, “My people do not like the cold, could our scouts stop here on their routes to recuperate for a few hours or overnight?”

“I don’t have a lot of extra space…” Kaitlyn began but Hyacinth held up a hand and continued, “We would stay outside if needed. Simply sleeping in a warmer area for a night would be a major boon.”

Kaitlyn thought about it a long time and then asked, “What will your people provide for this service?”

Hyacinth nodded slightly and said, “Each of us will bring you supplies not easily found in the forest.”

Kaitlyn thought about it and said, “The general standard will be two pounds of grains.”

Considering how little Kaitlyn was offering, she knew this offer was high. Hyacinth launched into a spirited haggling, offering no more than a tea cup’s worth. Kaitlyn countered and eventually they reached about three quarters of a pound of grain. Kaitlyn then stood and said, “I will consider our bargain set, and since you were not prepared, next time you are on patrol and choose to stay here, you will need to bring double.”

“That is reasonable, thank you,” Hyacinth said.

“Would you like some stew? It’s venison and vegetables,” Kaitlyn said.

“Thank you, how much will that cost?” Hyacinth asked.

“It is included,” Kaitlyn said. “As is water. Anything else might be extra unless offered freely.”

“So the tea?”

“A gift,” Kaitlyn replied. “We could hardly come to agreeable terms with cold and empty stomachs.”

Kaitlyn stayed outside with Hyacinth until Fapallo came home. She explained to the dragon-kin the deal she had struck, explaining he was not to attack the silver elves when they came to camp in Kaitlyn’s front yard. He looked Hyacinth up and down once and then nodded and climbed on the roof. Later that evening when the two of them went inside he had her translate his whistles from her book, “Good job. This was smart.”