"That's... a tree," she managed.
"Are you sure it's not a bush…?" Void yawned.
"..."
Lilith said nothing at all. While her comrades gawked upward, her eyes made one slow pass across the courtyard, over the pile of elves and children, over the girls, over the doorway of the mansion, hunting for the silhouette of a certain woman that wasn't among them. When she didn't find it, she turned back to the group.
"Do not climb the tree," Scar announced to the four of them, flat as a shipping manifest.
"Why would I climb the..." Bronnya started.
"The little lady dislikes strangers climbing her. You would be shaken out."
"...What? Little lady? Climb?"
Scar, with amused eyes, only nodded. "Yes."
The gate flared one final time, and the evening's strangest guest arrived.
