Elise was patiently waiting for Jacobina. The two animals were playing tag in the garden, revealing their true nature, that of a predator. The young girl still wondered why they had not run away. Perhaps they had an innate understanding of what the right course of action was, perhaps their instincts simply told them that it was better here than in the forest.

The young girl yawned, she was quite tired. Her whole body ached, almost as if a horse-drawn carriage had run her over. But it was only afternoon, and there was still a long way to go before sunset. Perhaps her young body was not made for fighting. Well, a child's body clearly wasn't made for fighting, although the bear cub's body didn't seem to agree. Elise knew she would get stronger as she got older. However, she was desperate to know what her two nodes were doing.

Elise had waited patiently for Gustav to accompany her into the forest so that she could fight stronger enemies without fear of dying. It seemed, however, that he was preoccupied with a handful of matters, most of which he did not want to divulge, others she simply could not understand. Fortunately, he had promised to help her within a week, otherwise her little patience would have run out about a few days ago.

It took another five minutes of lying lazily in the lush grass before Jacobina left the manor. When she caught sight of the two animals, her petite figure seemed to have been gifted with the energy of a god, for she began to run faster than one would expect from a girl her age.

Elise didn't know much about Jacobina's nodes, except for the fact that she could talk to animals. But when the young girl approached the two animals that were still playing tag, they stopped and looked at her, curiosity in their little eyes. Jacobina cautiously touched their heads and then stopped moving.

Elise wondered how Jacobina would speak to the animals, as no sound came from her throat, perhaps some kind of telepathy or was it only possible to speak when she touched an animal?

Nothing happened for a few minutes before Jacobina began to smile. She turned to Elise and said, "I ... I really have to thank you for helping these poor animals. You ... You have my eternal gratitude."

Elise stood up and awkwardly tried to start a conversation. But she rarely talked to the young girl in front of her, so she simply said, "No problem. I hope you ... like them?"

Jacobina nodded, "Yes, I do. They are both lovely. They were quite eager to accept my contract. There hadn't been anything bigger than a bird before that was willing to accept a contract. So, thank you very much, really, is there anything I can do for you?"

Elise shrugged, "Be a friend? I dunno."

The other girl giggled, "Sure, let's be friends."

Jacobina paused, a frown etched on her face. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm really sorry that .... You must know that I never had a real friend. The only friends I had were birds and a few animals. So I'm really sorry for the way I acted when we met or studied. It must have seemed like I was a stuck-up aristocratic daughter."

Elise grinned, "Well, I never had a friend either. My friends, if that's even the right term here, were people at least twice my age. That means the two of us have some work to do when it comes to building a ... friendship, I suppose?"

"Wise words," the young girl replied, adding mischievously, "So, do you want to see something interesting?"

Elise had reluctantly agreed to Jacobina's suggestion of a rather unorthodox adventure in her own house. Jacobina had promised that the long walk through the rather spacious mansion would be worthwhile. But so far Elise had only found out that she would certainly not be able to find her way back to her room or even the entrance to the mansion.

Her own little forays had not taken place in the mansion. She rarely visited other rooms besides the room she called home, the spacious room where she studied, or the servants' dining area. It was a stark contrast to her knowledge of the forest or the city. It was, to be honest, not something most people would consider normal.

A few stairs and floors later, the duo reached a rather mundane looking door. It was made of ordinary wood, appeared to be quite old and hardly looked befitting a nobleman's residence.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone we were here," Jacobina whispered, "okay?"

"Sure," Elise said softly, "but why?"

"You'll see," the other girl replied and touched the door. The door disappeared, revealing a dimly lit staircase that seemed to lead down. Elise frowned and turned around.

"Where does this lead?" she asked, "To a wine cellar?"

"No," said the young girl, "it leads to my mother's study. But she doesn't like anyone entering it without her permission."

"That doesn't sound ... well, good, I suppose. Are you sure we should go there?" Elise asked.

"Don't worry, it's just her study, she's not hiding any skele..." the young girl said. She stopped speaking abruptly and her eyes widened.

"Let's hide," Jacobina said simply and disappeared behind a red curtain big enough to hide an adult human. Elise's eyes quickly searched for another hiding place and found another curtain next to a large marble statue depicting some kind of old mage in a robe.

Elise made it just in time before she heard someone's footsteps echoing on the wooden floor. The person was either quite heavy or tall, perhaps a mixture of both. The person stopped a few feet from Elise's curtain, right next to Jacobina's curtain.

"Sweetheart," the voice said, "I know you're there. And your little friend probably shouldn't have been hiding almost next to you."

Elise heard a loud sigh that probably came from Jacobina's mouth before the other girl said, "Mum, you're such a killjoy."

Elise sighed and left her not-so-wisely chosen hiding place. One of the tallest people she had ever seen was looking down at her. The woman was two, no, probably three times her height, which meant that the woman was at least a head or two taller than the average adult. Jacobina's mother wore rather ordinary looking clothes, which Elise found rather strange. As far as she knew, most nobles liked to flaunt themselves, or at least wanted to show they were of high rank by dressing extravagantly.

"So," the woman asked, "what were you doing here?"

Jacobina pouted and crossed her arms, "Nothing, we were playing hide and seek."

"Hide and seek? You were hiding, so who is the seeker? One of your beloved birds? I suppose they're smart enough, but I highly doubt there's anyone else down here besides you two."

The young girl sighed, "Mum ... I ... promise not to be angry ... okay?"

The woman didn't falter and Jacobina stammered, "I wanted to show my friend your study .... I should have asked you ... But ..."

"You didn't," Jacobina's mother added, "which I think is rather rude."

"I'm sorry, Mummy, but I really wanted to show her your paintings," the little girl said quietly.

Jacobina's mother frowned. "Darling, why didn't you just ask me? Why were you so ... so secretive?"

Staring at the wooden floor, the young girl replied, "I wanted to start our friendship with a secret we could both share..."