Cicely blinked. On one hand, she ought to have expected that the earl could have been so surreptitious, but on the other, wasn’t it a bit extreme? Had he honestly been plotting and watching her since she’d arrived in the country? The present situation said, ‘obviously, yes!' but she still had trouble believing it. Fae creatures were scapegoats for many troubles, but incidents severe enough to gain attention were rare enough that they were often considered superstition. In a way, perhaps, it was like a looming shadow, something visible enough to be frightening, yet too incorporeal to be grasped.

This Gideon, though, he was taking the matter so seriously it really did feel like he was declaring war. On some level, he [i]knew[/i] there were things darting beyond his vision, so was it fear that made him so stubborn now? The palpable tension in the air informed her that nothing good would come of refusing him, but even so, she took her time mulling his proposal over.

“To be quite honest, your lordship, I do not appreciate your tone. Up until now, I considered you to be quite a civil person, but you’ve been barring my work with the intention of holding some power over me. That alone is reason for me to outright refuse you—I have no fear of obtaining your ill opinion of me.” Well, she was bluffing a bit there, but she saw no reason to quake in her boots. He was an influential man and had the air of a predator, but she was no criminal and he had no real evidence of her even being a fairy doctor. Well, at least she hoped he didn’t.

Cicely took a deep breath, already imagining that the earl’s frustration was at its brink. “But… given the situation, I am also not inclined to refuse you outright. I do not consider the use of maps and the allowance of doctoring a fair exchange—I [i]am[/i] qualified for the practice and that alone should have been considered in the first place. If I am to assist you, I expect compensation for the time I dedicate to your cause, and if it does end up interfering with my contract, you will bear the expenses as a result of its termination. Whether you allow me into your personal library of maps is up to you, but I will not chalk up a few personal favors as being acceptable terms of employment.”