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Alice cracked some eggs and set them to frying before she looked back at Edgar. Then she considered him, her hands deftly continuing their work without the supervision of her eyes. This was not one of the Chosen who had landed on her doorstep when he had first been given the dubious privilege of his new lot in life. Those, she took in, cleaned up, and for all intents and purposes acted as a halfway house for - mostly free of charge. This man, she had still taken in and cleaned up, though he did not seem to need any time to acclimate to anything. He just needed time to heal after his latest mad venture.

Edgar clearly lacked common sense, but he did not seem a decent sort. Well, he would have to be, in order to be chosen.

Alice traded more than she sold her gifts, and right now she was not in any particular need of coin. All the components she needed to make a talisman, she collected from the forest. All it would cost her was a little time and magic. Fool he may be, but the hedge witch supposed that he was deserving of at least this bit of kindness from her.

"Very well," she agreed, and then looked him straight in the eyes. She was about to ask him for something that most Chosen would be completely unwilling to do. "If you let me work with your totem, I can give you the strongest protection available."

Alice ignored his strange little comment and instead waited for his response. She was not disappointed. He seemed willing to work with her. Of course, she would be having a few words with him after the charm was finished about the dangers of handing a totem to a hedge witch. Honestly. It was easier to break magic things with magic than through mundane means.

Regardless, she did not bother reassuring him, either. The words of a stranger were meaningless. It was his choice to trust her or distrust her as he pleased. Instead, she told him, "Because it is tied to him, it will offer some protection for your Dardanos, as well."

Turning around to toss the vegetables and chopped ham into the pan, Alice added, "You may hold onto it until after breakfast. I can start then."

Within minutes, two helpings of omelet, fruit, and juice was set on the table, ready to be eaten. Rather than stand on ceremony, the hedge witch simply sat down and instructed her guest to "Eat. You need to at least start repairing that abused body of yours."

Alice noted with approval that Edgar's appetite was healthy. Of course, between his hunger and her own reticence, breakfast was a very quiet affair. It was also rather quick, not that Alice minded. The less time was spent eating, the more time there was for other things - like her latest commission.

After a quick cleanup, she collected an assortment of herbs and miscellany and set them on the table. Somewhere in all of this, Hecate reappeared from wherever she had disappeared to, apparently aware that her services were soon to be required.

Once satisfied with her collection, Alice looked at Edgar. "The totem, if you please."

Once the small, stone-hard piece of magical wood was in her possession, the hedge witch set to work. As she had explained to Edgar, a personal wars was not a short process.

First, Alice examined the totem more closely, using her own power as well as Hecate's magic sense to glean the unique qualities of Dardanos's totem in particular. Then, she had to select the best herbs for blending the particular wards she wanted with Dardanos's magic and Edgar's person. Of course, the herbs had to be ground and mixed just so, pausing every now and again to pass a hand over them and mutter something under her breath. Finally, she poured the blend into a curious little pot and set it alight. She covered the pot with a porous, metal lid and hung the totem on a hook above where it was quickly surrounded by the fragrant smoke wafting through the lid.

Just when it seemed that there could not possibly be anything more to the process, Alice set her hands palm-down on either side of the little pot. Hecate sat on the table directly opposite her, tail curled elegantly around her paws. Nothing seemed to change at first, but soon the faint glow of Hecate's eyes intensified and the air itself seemed to tingle. It could not have lasted very long - no more than a minute or two - but the magic was palpable.

Then the grimalkin blinked, licked a paw, and ghosted off of the table. The moment was over and the feeling was gone. Alice withdrew her hands, but left the totem hanging in the smoke.

"Best let the it be until the smoke runs out," she explained to Edgar. "It helps the wards set. Then you may have your totem back."

Alice wore a faint smile - not a common expression for her - as she began cleaning up the excess herbs and tools. "Not many witness such blatant hedge craft preformed before their very eyes. Some surprise at the experience is not unexpected." His astonishment was admittedly gratifying, and perhaps she was feeling a little bit smug at his obvious appreciation of her skills, as well.

As she put everything in its proper place, Alice considered his questions. "With enough time, effort, and power, it is possible to break anything," she admitted. "But the beauty of using the totem is that the wards are now tied directly to Dardanos's own magic. So long as he lives, so shall they." If some of her self-satisfaction bled into her voice, well, who could blame her? It was a brilliant piece of magic, if she did say so herself.

Selfishly, perhaps, she allowed herself another moment to bask in her success before sitting back down and leveling a stern look at Edgar. "My intentions were honest," she informed him. "But you should not be so careless in the future. A strong hedge witch with ill intent could as easily have placed a curse upon your totem. I imagine she might even be able to break it, though that would be no mean feat."

She narrowed her eyes at him as though she suspected he might snatch the totem back right then and there. "Let the wards set, or they will be weak and fade. After that, I suggest you not let it leave your hands again."

Alice kept her expression carefully neutral at Edgar's profession. Live forever? Perhaps in the spirit world, they may, but a Guardian's fate in the mortal world was not so pretty. With luck, a Guardian and his Chosen would live a long and fulfilling life and together, they would die when the human had reached old age. If a Guardian was not so lucky, he would be linger on after his Chosen's death, running wild and perhaps half-mad before he slowly faded away. This all assumed, of course, that he did not die fighting in the wars for which he was created.

"Then he is wise," she said. "And you will never again be forced to take this leap of faith." Not to say that there would not be others, but few would be as precarious as this.

Allison settled back in her chair, content to sit and wait for the wards to set.

Her lips twisted into a complicated expression, a mockery of a smile that was bitter and wry and self-depreciating all at once. What of hedge witches, hmm? A question she had been asking herself for some time. Oh, Alice would do what she could, there was no doubt about that. It was expected of her, after all. The White Lady had been a sentinel all these centuries, but now that the wait was over, it was her duty to follow through with the vows her ancestors before her had made. The dubious honor of the call to arms had fallen to Alice.

However, things were never as simple as they seemed. In this instance, what troubled her the most was not the looming war itself, but the Queen. There had been no indication as to what use Her Majesty would find for her hedge witches. Assuming she had any. The Chosen - named Wardens, now - had a clear purpose. They were the warriors. But hedge witches? Those whose blood held traces of spirits? In this, the Queen had been silent. Still, Alice would do what she could.

"I will make use of my skills where I may," she told him. "I will give aid to any who are willing to accept it. Though not all will be so receptive as you have been." Hecate, of course, would accompany her. It did not need saying.

Such a blatant disregard for the well-being of fools and bigots startled a laugh out of Alice. It was a joyous sound, and surprisingly free for one who was often so brusque. "Now there's a fine way of looking at it," she said, clearly greatly amused at his philosophy. It was one she just might take to heart. Of course, as a healer, she did try to help people despite herself, but she could hardly stop someone who was determined to do himself harm.

At his compliment, the hedge witch bowed her head slightly, her features still lit by a quiet, but genuine, smile. "Then I have the comfort of knowing that at least two warriors will not be joining the fray without some protection," she told him with a nod to Dardanos. For indeed, it was gratifying to know that she could be of service in a more tangible sense than simply lending her home out a way-house for the newly-Chosen. Though she never said as much aloud, Alice worried sometimes if she was doing enough to help.