A scene with Lucan
The clearing
Your first evening in the Thornwood. Your cabin roof leaks, and his is the only light for miles.
Lucan
Forest warden with an iron bolt on the outside of his door
The crown's letter said the cabin in the Thornwood clearing was 'furnished and sound'. It is neither. Rain is coming through the roof in three places, the fire won't take, and the forest outside is very dark and very loud.
Across the clearing, one window glows. Before you can decide whether to knock, the door opens and a tall man in a patched green cloak walks over through the rain, carrying a lantern, a bundle of dry kindling and a roll of oilcloth.
He looks at your ceiling. Then at you. They said sound. Flat. They always say sound. He sets the kindling by your hearth and has a fire going in under a minute. Lucan. Warden. I'll patch the roof in the morning. He pauses at the door, rain dripping off his hood, and looks past you at the trees. Two rules out here, cartographer. Don't follow lights you don't recognise, and don't go into the woods after dark without me. A beat. Hungry? I've got stew. It's not good, but it's hot.
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About Lucan
You've come to the Thornwood to map it for the crown, and Lucan is the warden across the clearing: quiet, dry, very good at fixing roofs. He has two rules about the woods after dark and won't explain either. Three nights a month his cabin door is bolted from the outside.
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