Oh good!

Etty gets to the arranging.

Pleasedness continues to be the idea.

This sort of pleasedness becomes a more frequent feature of Etty's breaks from research.

The research, meanwhile, progresses. Etty copies Baronly notes into more atomic, more easily legible parts, and strews the pages around the library, rearranging them, adding extra bits, connecting them with bits of string and paperweights, writing and rewriting.

She doesn't get to the point of coming up with anything to resurrect Carl, but eventually she thinks she has a form of immortality with much mitigated side effects. Two, actually, one for her, one for Nona: Etty's age will re-set every time she changes between swan and human, so as long as she does this regularly, she won't get any older. (Defenses against other mishap will have to be handled separately.) Nona's is more complicated, and she can't draw on captive swangirls or a reasonable facsimile as a sacrifice for the spell any more, so -

"I could probably think of something else, but you might think this one is fine - um -" And she shows Nona the spell summary, which will allow Nona's age to re-set if she skins one of her hands. "As long as it's a steel knife we can heal it after just fine."

Kisses!

They have this whole castle to themselves, there is really no reason they have to go all the way up the stairs for. Things.

Later, Etty puts the finishing touches on the spells, helps Nona set up to cast them - the maintenance for hers is gentle and easy but she didn't have as much incentive or ability to mitigate the casting - and turns into a swan to see if it worked. There's no visible difference when she changes back; she really is the age she resets to, but she can feel it work.

Nona, of course, tests hers soon afterward.

And when she has healed her hand, there can be kisses! She feels like kisses.

Time goes by.

Etty continues working on her resurrection project.

She doesn't get much of anywhere, but there isn't a lot else to do. (She'd go around disseminating the immortality spell that doesn't require turning into a swan if she thought anybody in the world but Nona would eagerly skin their hand for the result in question, but she does not think so. She'd try offering the spell to call up meals to people who don't have enough, but she is somewhat concerned someone would attempt to burn her or Nona or both at the stake.)

She flies for fun. She has other fun with her girlfriend. She studies. She eats, she sleeps.

(Lots of that second thing.)

Nona does occasional magic, and eats, and sleeps, and has plenty of Other Fun.

It's lovely.

One morning, in the midst of some Other Fun, there is a sound from downstairs - one of the heavy doors opening, and voices murmuring to each other.

Etty stops what she is doing and lifts her head to listen, puzzled.

"Mm?" says Nona.

Then she hears it too.