There had always been people coming and going through the house in Iceland. Even as a child, Svea could remember the smell of food in the oven mingling with the sterile smells of bleach and ammonia as everything was prepared for whatever guest might visit. Most commonly it was a neighbor or villager come to talk with the priest about the religions. Occasionally a family would show up to better understand what would be required of them at feasts. Whoever it was, Svea had learned how to make a home look presentable and keep it that way. After all, she wasn’t cut out for more prestigious careers: her brothers had more important things to be doing with their time.
However, Svea had felt wholly unworthy when the local doctor on Shaman had asked her to help take care of and house another local. Her. She was new to the world here and still the doctor had come to find her for aid. Of course, Svea had no idea who she’d been working for, or why she needed to be care for in this way, but it was hardly her place to ask those sorts of questions. Perhaps in time, if the guest found Svea’s humble home nice enough, the information would come out. In any case, the floors needed to be swept and the laundry put out to dry in the sun.
The white ball of fluff that was Nana bounded around, nearly shattering several fragile items, though no amount of complaining from the fairy seemed to calm the puppy down. Svea had given up hope of training what was, apparently, her familiar. At least, she supposed, the coat acted as a feather duster.
As the afternoon ticked away, hour by hour, Svea continued to scrub, pausing only to put a pan of bread in the oven to bake.
Nana was the first to notice when Dr. Gupta and his lady friend arrived at the door of the cottage, and she alerted her fairy to the presence of the strangers with loud barking and a few choice words. Svea pulled the bread from the oven just as the knock sounded at the door, and she rushed to pull off her mitts and open it before anyone saw whoever it was that the doctor had brought. Whoever it was, he had told Svea that she would need to be discrete about it, not talking to anyone about the woman or child she would be hosting for a time. Of course, knowing no one in the world of Shaman, that had not been a difficult term to meet.
In her haste, Svea brushed her finger against the hot pan and hissed, sticking the offending digit in her mouth before pulling the handle to allow the pair in.
She smiled at the doctor, and as the other woman bustled through the door, Svea smiled at her as well. Nana, young as she was, was quick to jump up on both of the visitors, attempting to get the attention that was being paid to the two female fairies. Svea reached with her burnt hand to pull the Samoyed familiar away as the doctor began the introduction.
It was a bit of a shock when he gave the other woman a title, “Lady,” though Svea supposed that would make sense. On Earth at least, a noble woman getting pregnant could very well have a major need to go into seclusion so that no one would find out some shameful behavior or other. It would certainly make sense if that were also an issue on Shaman. Her free, uninjured hand extended toward the red-haired woman.
“Nice to meet you and I’m happy to help.”
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