Chapter 20: The crow of chaos

Koth had gone into the village after breakfast, leaving Irin at the house. She stood in the kitchen, up to her elbows in dough. A thud made her freeze, listening. Silence. Irin shrugged and continued to knead. Another thud, this time she thought it came from above the fireplace. She frowned; was someone on the roof? She began to scrape the sticky mass from her hands, and slowly walked to the fireplace, holding her hands up to avoid getting dough everywhere. Another thud, and Irin saw soot dancing down from the chimney. Bending to look up it, ready with a prayer and her magic, there was a loud thud followed by a loud caw. A crow had landed in the fireplace. It stared up at Irin, who stared back, both equally surprised to find themselves face to face. Then the crow cawed again and took flight, stirring up a cloud of soot and ashes. Irin instinctively crouched down and covered her head with her arms.

“By the goddess!” she exclaimed, realising her mistake. Dough was now stuck in her hair, and she was covered in soot and ashes that melded with the sticky dough on her arms. The crow flew around the kitchen, trying to find a way out. Irin used magic to open all the windows, then summoned the image of a hand to chase the crow out. But the stupid bird refused to be herded. Instead, it flapped around the kitchen, threatening to knock things over and being as big a nuisance as it could be. It tried to land on the counter where Irin had been kneading the dough.

“No!” Irin shouted, rushing towards it as the bird knocked over the bag of flour. Irin reached the bag just as it landed heavily in her arms, sending a puff of flour into her face. “I am getting tired of you being an uninvited guest,” she told the bird, which had settled on top of the display cabinet. It looked at her as she placed the bag of flour securely on the floor. Irin could swear it was laughing at her. “Laugh all you want, I’m going to get you out of this house even if it kills us both,” she told it. The bird apparently took offence, as it took flight again. Irin grabbed the broom and chased it. It headed into the living room and towards the front door. Irin smiled, using her magic to swing the door open, and swooped the broom at the bird to keep it going. That's when Koth appeared in the doorway, met by a flying crow which collided with his face. There was a moment of flailing arms and flapping wings battling it out. Then Koth landed a hit and the crow was swept away, flying off and crowing, sounding highly offended by the ordeal. Koth watched the bird fly away, then turned to stare at Irin. “Hello,” she said with a smile, feeling pretty good after getting rid of the bird.

“Hi,” he said, sounding shocked.

“Did things go okay in the village?” she asked, leaning against the broom.

“Sure,” he said, eyeing her.

“I had an uninvited guest,” she explained.

“I see.”

“You should probably stay outside while I tidy up inside,” she offered. Koth craned his neck to look into the kitchen. He paled slightly.

“Probably,” he agreed.

“It will only take a minute or two, then I will need a bath,” she said, looking at her arm. She didn’t even want to think about what her hair looked like.

“Sure.”

“Koth, are you okay?” she asked.

“I was attacked by a crow, then greeted by something that looks like a melting dough monster covered in soot and flour. I don’t really know,” he said.

“And ash,” Irin added.

“Ah, yes, I can see that now you mention it.” Koth nodded. Their eyes met and they both started laughing. They laughed for a good, long while, Irin having to lean against the broom to stay upright. It felt good to lighten the mood after the last week.

“I’ll fill the tub for you,” Koth offered, having composed himself.

“Thank you,” Irin told him, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes without getting dough in them.

“Here,” Koth said, using his thumb to wipe them off her face, along with a mixture of flour and ash.

“Thank you.” Irin was glad her face was covered in all sorts of things, hiding the blush from the simple touch. He stood really close, she realised. “I should get started on the kitchen,” she said.

“You do that,” he told her, turning to start carrying in water. Irin sighed and turned around as well. At least he didn’t seem as repulsed by touching her as he had been. That was a positive, she thought. She used her magic to clean the kitchen, sighing when she realised she needed to throw out the dough, covered in soot and ashes. She could hear Koth walking back and forth, carrying water. She knew he could fill the tub magically, as could she, but sometimes you needed to do things manually. A while later he came into the kitchen.

“The water is filled and warming,” he told her.

“Thank you.” He shrugged and walked out again. Irin spent almost an hour getting clean and enjoying a long soak. The bath was one of the places where she usually did her deep thinking and detangled her emotions. She needed both.