Intro to chapter 10 of "the deal"
I finally made an intro that I actually like, it just took me like five months, haha...
“You haven’t answered Cassius’ letter yet,” Eloise said as they strolled over the frozen grass.
They were heading for the small lake house just at the edge of the grounds, it was outside the walls by the river, but still technically part of the estate. It was rarely used apparently, far too drafty and damp, but they were bored and Eloise had suggested they try ice-fishing to entertain themselves.
The river had frozen solid after a few days of cold weather.
“No, not yet,” he said vaguely.
“Is there a reason you do not wish lord Grindelwald to know about your correspondence?" Eloise asked, looking up at him with a concerned frown on her round face. Her cheeks were red from the biting cold and her face still held enough baby-fat to make her resemble something almost like a cherub.
He smiled down at her. “He would put an end to it, no doubt,” he answered easily.
She snorted at that and shifted her grip on the large bucket she was carrying with all of her fishing equipment, it made quite a lot of scrambling noises as she walked.
“Why is it that you are not allowed to work like the others?” she asked, “I mean, why would he bring you here if you are just spending time with me? Is that your job? To keep an eye on me?”
It was a reasonable concern yet Albus couldn't help but laugh.
They didn’t often speak about Gellert, not more than they had to. Eloise found him intimidating.
“I was brought because his lordship wished to keep an eye on me,” he said softly, trying to reassure her that he was not ordered to spy on her.
Her grip on the bucket tightened slightly, and her lips pursed as if she was considering this. The grass crunching underneath their feet.
“He likes you more than the others,” she said then. “He enjoys your company.”
It surprised him to hear her say this. It was not something he himself was that confident in and to think that Eloise had observed it made him feel slightly uneasy.
He supposed that Gellert were spending more time with him than the others, at least if you did not count work, but Albus had just brushed it off as Gellert trying to entertain him, not that he actually favored his company.
Not that he thought that Gellert found him boring, of course not. He wasn’t boring, generally he was good at amusing people, but still—to hear Eloise say it so plainly was a bit concerning.
“Perhaps,” he mumbled, turning his face toward the weak winter sun.
They walked a few steps in silence. The lake house in view, looking quite small at the side of the large river.
“It is dangerous to be liked by powerful men,” Eloise said then.
It was very out of the blue, said casually, as if it wasn’t a statement directed straight at him. She seemed to be in a quite serious mood today.
“Yes,” he replied after a moment. “Yes, it is.”
“And it is dangerous to lie to them.”
He looked down on her, and she met his gaze with confidence, as if to drive her point home.
“I know,” he said softly.
She stopped walking then, forcing him to do the same. The wind lifted a strand of her dark hair across her face.
“You need to be careful, Albus.”
It was funny, he thought. She was so young and so sheltered, she had hardly known true struggle in her life, yet here she was, seemingly thinking that Albus did not understand how dangerous a game he was playing, and she was worried about him.
“I promise you, I will be,” he said, trying to inspire confidence. He did not wish for her to worry.
