She does want to just make him think she's his sister again.  Oh so very much.

But the spell's now bubbling too close to both of them for her to control it anymore.  It's enmeshing more than he knows, binding their magics together - not that she's going to mention that part.  She could weave the whole spell stronger - not that she's going to mention that part either - but nothing more.

"I can't control anymore how it comes and goes over your memories.  And if I could, I could do it just as well here."

Well, she's not wrong there.

"All right, let's go...  But why'd you do this?"

Because she really wanted to.

And also, because the Hungry Ones are about to swallow -- 

She shivers.

Ian notices her trying to lean into him for comfort like his little cousins do, and sidles away.  Not yet, at least.

He points a finger at her, trying to read her mind just in case he can see what she's (at least pretending to be) scared of -

(Nope, that spell isn't going to get anywhere near her mind, thankyouverymuch.)

(Don't most human sisters have secrets from their big brothers, after all?)

She smiles, pretending she hasn't noticed.

"So, you'll really want to see the pub.  It's called the Bull's Head - over this way.  Debra'll let us both in, don't worry.  And the library's right next door..."

After a little while of leading down the street and pointing out the different people and houses they pass, she's almost skipping.

Ian notices that Lily seems to not just know every single person in the village, but every single cat and dog and house too...

... Does she usually put up a better front of being a little girl who just arrived here a week ago?

Her face suddenly blanches as she catches sight of three teenagers leaning up against an old stone wall talking and laughing.

"- and that's Robin.  The one with red hair.  ^{He's Hungry.}"

Ian flashes his aura-sight.

The guy with red hair glances up and nods slowly to acknowledge their presence.

He doesn't have a human aura at all.  It's almost as far from human as that time Ian was looking at a kelpie.

Ian nods back, grips Lily's hand tighter, and turns away.  

("Always be polite with the spirits and fay-folk," Father had said.  "Even if you're fighting them.  Doesn't cost you anything, and they'll usually mind if you aren't.")

Back towards the pub and library and church, if the map in his head is right.  No need to challenge this Robin just yet, at least until he's surer whether he and Lily are on the same side.

Speaking about which - he taps her hand, trying to look into her mind...

No, he's still not getting to do that.

Even if he's acting like a good big brother at the moment, saving her from Robin.

That didn't feel like a spell failing, so much as its not being cast in the first place.  Maybe his mind's still too full of fear and excitement for his magic to work?

He doesn't think so... but oh well.

The back of his mind still wants to just trust her anyway.

Robin glances after the kid and teen who'd just left, with the hollow expression of someone who might be missing someone walking over his grave.  He doesn't know them, and he doesn't really like that.  She looked scared of him.  Nobody's scared of him - no one in Bridgbury, not even the few outsiders who somehow find their way here.

The kid doesn't even look old enough to be at the Maypole.

"Who're they?" he asks his friend Liam.

Liam shrugs.  "Think I saw the girl a few days ago, coming out o' the Bull's Head.  Haven't seen the guy before.  What's up?"

Robin frowns.  "She looked scared.  Guess we must've reminded her of someone?  Like to look her up and see what's up."

Or she's got enough magic to see me for what I am...

Liam shakes his head.  "Why're you so curious 'bout a little girl?"

Robin shrugs.  "New kids in town.  Don't get 'em often."

Liam laughs.

Ian is gently but firmly steering Lily back past the pub (his memory of the streets had indeed been right) to the church.

He knows one way to test her oath and intentions - at least, he thinks he knows it.

It's called St. George's Church.

The polished wooden doors look centuries more modern than the moss-covered stone of the rest of the church; it looks like nobody has been able to wash the building for the last few decades.

There're no churchbells visible.

To Ian now, remembering stories of how the sound of churchbells drives away evil spirits, that looks ominous.

But still - it's a church.  He doesn't need churchbells for this test, and it'll be a surer one anyway.

He doesn't pray much, but it feels like the thing to do when he's going to be borrowing a church for a test, so he whispers a prayer now.

Lily balks, staring at the statue above the doors.  Was that - the humans she'd asked hadn't been clear on just what that saint was killing, but it sounded like some sort of spirit.

Ian squeezes Lily's hand, and makes an effort to speak impassively.  "Are you able to enter?"

Somehow it's harder to form words with her human mouth now.  "Wh-what if I don't want to?"

"Then I'll guess you can't.  Which means..."

How much do spirits and fay-folk know about the magical properties of churches, anyway?

(He glances around and lowers his voice so the people across the street won't hear.)

"... Which means I'll assume your oath earlier didn't mean anything more than if you were a wild fay."

(And what would he do then?  Well, it'll start with a whole lot more wards against her and her magic.)

She isn't a Flittering One, like her brother's guessing.

She isn't a Hungry One, either.  If she really thinks about what Ms. Cooper and the others had said about the "dragon" the saint's killing up there in the statue... it does sound more like a Hungry One than like her.

(And rescuing people from Hungry Ones who want to devour them is exactly the problem here...)

... but all her habits and all the stories she's heard are screaming this isn't a place for her.

She takes a deep breath - she doesn't want to forget to breathe - and turns to her brother.  "We'll just go in the building together?  Tell me truly."

(And she laces the last words with a tug on the spell she'd cast earlier.)

Ian's mouth is open before he realizes it.

"And I'll bless you with the holy water, if they have any, and ask you to swear whatever you're willing to swear - and I still won't be sure of everything; I'd need to ask Father to really know, or at least wait for the morning Eucharist - but I'll know your mind works something like humans' and your oath means something -"