She observes, her presence slow and gentle to his frenetic panic, and the forest about them tilts and warps, like the trees are laughing. Like the sky is breaking. There is thunder like that of a heartbeat that thrums between the three of them - master, servant, interloper.
Arduinna walks, her bare feet taking her in a slow circle around to where the fox kneels, allowing her to clasp his shoulders in a maternal gesture of love - and Remi would see, already, that the collar has returned to where it disappeared only a moment before.
"Sweet child, you speak but you do not understand," she says, smiling up at him. "The wagon is arbitrary nonsense - a means of achieving a desire. No, Ianto promised me his life in return for... well, his life. The debt ends when he ends."
As they speak her fingers have lengthened to talons, and spots of dark red are already appearing where she grips Ianto's shoulders. Still, her expression is serene. "It would be foolish to alter terms to something less agreeable, as I'm sure you can understand."
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown
