Lotte had asked him, and also remembered quite well that he hadn't answered her. Still, she wasn't likely to get him to bed without a satisfactory response.

"Just when I need to give things a boost." Lotte explained, watching him. "Spells, hexes, sigils for the storms... protection."

She followed him back to the entrance of the cellar and sat heavily at the top of the stairs. "Never worked on plants, though. Not sure why."

The cellar wasn't particularly large or deep, and even in the dark the shallow stone walls were visible. Alastor's head might still have peeked out the opening, were he to stand at the bottom of it. There were a few handmade talismans, crafted with sticks and horse hair, animal bones and herbs that hung, along with a few pelts and half a dozen or so additional jars.

"You know, when I first called you up, I used it to paint a sigil on the ceiling of the cellar, under the floor boards. In case whatever showed up wasn't friendly... I left part of the circle open, so I'd have had to get down there to finish it." She leaned back on her hands, staring down into the darkness. The thrill of the not knowing, that night remained with her, even now.

"Not the most practical solution. I don't rightly know if it would have worked, either, but I figured it was better than nothing. That sickle always scared off any men who came sniffing around well enough, but I didn't know how it'd fare against a demon."

Things would be different now, wouldn't they. No more having to scare drunk men off her land, threatening to gut them with that sickle. Holding up afterward and praying they didn't come and burn the place down around her.

"Figured I'd bring them both. Proof of the past once this place is long behind me."