Einar and Mair travelled forth from the tavern leaving Ein wondering if the horses they were riding belonged to Mair and the Hag or if they had perchance rented them... does one Rent a horse here like they rent a car in the modern world where he is from? It would make sense he supposed. Regardless he was mostly hoping they did not steal these horses from someone, or, something that might eat them to get the horses back, as that seemed like a possibility in this world.
Suddenly Ein realized he has no idea what this place was, "um... Mair?"
She turns to look at him cocking her head to the left to show she was listening.
"What is this place?..."
She stares at him for a moment expressionless. He wonders if maybe she didn't understand the question.
" You know this world or reality... or whatever... what is it called?"
Mair looks like she is thinking about what to say and suddenly breaks a dry stick off a low hanging maple tree and points to a bush as if it is the answer.
"Its the... bush?"
She shakes her head no pointing at it again then slides the stick forward pointing at the row of bushes along the side of the dirt road.
"The...um... underbrush?"
She shakes her head looking a bit exasperated.
"The bushes?" He guesses.
She shakes her head and stops then nods and pantomime scissors.
"The trimmed bushes!" Ein says overly exaggerated as if he were a television infomercial announcer.
Her excitement dies and she rolled her eyes and let's out a long quiet sigh. A moment later they come to a path which crosses theirs and Mair points at it with the stick then makes a cross as if she is drawing the roads with the stick.
"The crossroads? What about them?"
She points at him and herself and at the ground.
"We are in the crossroads?...Crossroads?... wait... we are in the Hedge?! The fricken land of fairies and monsters?!"
She throws the stick in the air like it's confetti and nods relieved he finally figured it out.
"But I can't be in the Hedge! And I drank her wine and told you her my name... oh no... does she own my name now? Am I trapped here in this backwards place like Alice?! Is... is she selling me to a troll for dinner?!"
She shakes her head smiling and points at his left arm where the feathers are still sticking out and have become more pronounced since he first noticed them. They were beginning to look a bit like raven feathers with a beautiful green sheen on black plumes. he could barely see his skin beneath them.
"Wait?! No way! That's impossible! I'm human this has to be some crazy curse or something there's no way I wouldn't know for 37 years that I'm a freaking fairy!"