Hmpf. Then they can read together for a while.

At least until one of the nuns come calling for Ellynhark to attend her parents.

"...See you later." She tries not to make it sound like a question. 

"Maybe." Ellyn does the same.

Things are relatively cordial between the girls for the next few months, at least. Which is to say, no one picks a fight on purpose or intentionally draws blood. There are brief spats and small scuffles, but nothing that outlasts the day.

Some time after Ellyn's tenth birthday (marked chiefly by a longer prayer service than usual), Gideon will notice that it's getting harder to find Ellyn, that she disappears for long stretches and seems more tired than usual during the days.

She tries to follow Ellyn of course - as sneakily as possible. 

She doesn't make it easy- But ultimately Gideon has had a lot more practice. She manages to track her down to the bottommost pit of Drearburh, where the locked tomb all their prayers are addressed to resides. And not even to the outer alcoves, where the most fervent of the penitents will kneel to beg forgiveness, but to the shaft itself, with the stone that must not be rolled away and all the many many traps and wards preceding it.

...This seems like trouble. Like, real trouble. The kind of trouble that could get Ellyn hurt if she isn't careful. 

Gideon trails her for a few days, makes sure no one else sees where Ellyn's going - makes sure Ellyn's doing what Gideon thinks she's doing. 

And then, while Ellyn isn't actively occupied with anything - shortly after she's arrived - Gideon steps out behind her and says - simply, lightly, for all that she's been wracking her brain for the best things to say, instead of just shooting off like Aiglamene is always telling her - "Ellyn."

She whirls around-

-"You shouldn't be here!"

"You're here, so."

"This isn't a joke, Griddle!"

"I'm not joking!" Her faint smile drops into a scowl. "I mean it. I followed you here 'cause you've been acting weird." She barely resists the urge to bite Ellyn over that stupid nickname - she absolutely would've, if she wasn't already concerned.

"Just let me be weird on my own, then."

"I want to help you, stupid-head! Whatever's going on, whatever you're doing."

"You- but-"

"Why."

She hadn't prepared an answer to that one. But... There's something Aiglamene keeps telling her to just say. 

"'Cause you're my friend - even when you're being stupid."

Ellyn visibly has no idea what to do with that.

"And the thing you do with friends is let them help you." At least in her comics, it is. 

"You don't- You shouldn't want to help me. With this."

"Don't care."

"...I care about you. Everything else can rot."

What is she even supposed to say to that. What is she even supposed to do with that.

"Fine," she says, abruptly turning back around. "Stop standing there and follow me, or you'll get caught."

"I wasn't the one who got followed. No one else has noticed, though." Still, she falls in with Ellyn.

It turns out she's been slowly making her way down the corridor, identifying and disarming traps as she goes.

She's pretty solid at that! Especially the 'identifying' part - makes progress a little faster, at least. 

Maybe that'll turn this into a multi-week endeavor instead of a multi-month one.