She looked up at him, surprised he had asked. “Suffocation,” she said after a moment. “During the winter, we didn’t have crops to sell, obviously, and...” She paused before shaking her head. “Papa was soft. The cattle we have are just dairy, not meat, and he couldn’t bring himself to slaughter any of them, even though some of them weren’t producing milk anymore. He went into the mines instead to make money, and...” She trailed off, falling silent before she cleared her throat. “Well... you know.”
She laughed a little, but it was awkward and uncertain. "It's okay. He was a good man, and I..." She shook her head, shame crossing her features. "I have no reason to complain. I'm happy."
Her face brightened when he mentioned her mother and she took his arm, grateful for the comfort. “She’s wonderful,” she replied. “She’s infinitely braver than I am.”
She looked up at him, emboldened by his words. "One time, when I was pretty young, Papa and I went to the market. Mama was there too, but she went off to go buy groceries. We were walking, and this man came up to us and started begging for money. He told us his child was starving and needed money for medicine. Papa barely waited 10 seconds before he was reaching into his coinpurse. But Mama came up to us and asked us what we were doing. I explained, and she turned to the man with this look she gets in her eye and hit him with a turnip. She told us that she had seen him stuffing his face with scones while gambling down on the pier, and either he was a swindler or a terrible parent."
She laughed a little, looking up at him affectionately. "She's a little... abrupt. You two are similar, I think, and I don't think your personalities would..." She linked her fingers together. "...mesh well."
She laughed a little, glancing up at him. "I think we could disguise you," she mused, considering him. "The real question is in what circumstance will you be meeting my mother?"
He shrugged. "Well you did bring up me helping on the farm. Besides, how would you manage to disguise me?"
"Scarf," she suggested playfully. "Plus, once you get your hearthstone back, I bet you could do some magic."
