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Everyone knows that mysterious old ladies are kind of a big deal.
Yes, anyone who is female (or wraps up in sufficiently mysterious shawls) and old enough could pretend to be a mysterious old lady, but the actual category of the creatures is a different matter, and one can often tell (though it's better to be on the safe side, when identifying them).
Mysterious old ladies can, in a certain sense, do magic - or help you do magic. Sure, if you decide to take the first milking of your new cow and leave it out in a bowl in the backyard with a garland of roses floating on the surface and then drink it all first thing in the morning without stopping to put on your shoes or comb your hair, nothing will happen. But if you do it because a mysterious old lady told you to, and it was a real mysterious old lady, and you followed all of her instructions? Then you will find that you will get whatever result she advertised.
But if you step into your slippers first or tug a knot out of your ponytail or drink the milk early or late or use daisies for the garland, you will get something else.
It's very important to be exact and careful about these things.
Compared to what happens if you disobey a real mysterious old lady, being occasionally made a fool of by some pretender to the title because your eyesight is going or you were too sleepy to note her lack of a proper mysterious aura is nothing.
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spell_eternity
mydarkness
"It's much less of a mess. Still sort of untidy but not covered in blood and milk anymore."
spell_eternity
"Well, that will have to do. Thank you."
She goes up to her room.
She goes up to her room.
spell_eternity
"Walking's tricky. I'm barely qualified to do it, let alone teach it, unfortunately."
spell_eternity
"And when you've got that down you can figure out how to swim again."
spell_eternity
"Some people like it." Pause. "So we're married and your father is dead and I think you're generally acknowledged to be the elder brother."
"Apparently that makes me the king of Mahlirou," he says. "I'm not sure what I think of that."
spell_eternity
"Well, what things might you think of it if you could be sure which one it was?"
"I think I don't want to be king of Mahlirou. I'd rather live in a swamp and eat fish and have a long lovely coily tail. But it seems like I don't get to do that."
spell_eternity
"Well, people do sometimes eat fish. Otherwise... yes, that line of work is a bit inaccessible now."
"So if I've turned from a lindworm into the king of Mahlirou and I can't turn back then I guess I'd better learn how to be the king of Mahlirou. Apparently walking is involved."
spell_eternity
"It's not strictly necessary. You could be king and carried around all the time in a chair. But yes, walking helps."
"I wouldn't like to make someone carry me around all the time in a chair if they'd rather be doing other things."
spell_eternity
"You could pay them. Some people would probably rather carry you in a chair and receive money than not do it and not receive money. But you haven't been trying to walk for very long so you may yet manage it."
"It just doesn't work very well. It's completely different from how I moved around before, and balancing is hard."
spell_eternity
"Well, maybe you could lean on walls until you get the hang of it."
spell_eternity
"Do you want to show me? I might think about how I walk more than most people, maybe I am qualified to teach you."