Aslan looked at her. Pictured her rope tool. Thought of that hole of bodies, dismissed it immediately, and then thought of the good ol’ pier.

He was glad he used a false lead.

“I was thinking of joining you in your hobby, Nisa,” he said, seemingly tangentially. “What do you think of starting with Briar?”

Nisa stopped walking and arched her brow at him. She then started to walk again. "You want to make me unhappy? I simply do not want you wasting time to not suggest anyone so you can draw out this time with your lover indefinitely. I think that is fair. But if you want to join me in my hobby, you can clean things up after wards in her stead."

Two could play this game. Aslan continued on, unfazed.

“If Nettie disappears,” Aslan said, hands in his pockets, “then so does Briar. For once, we could be united in our grief. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Nisa continued on looking unfazed. "That isn't fair. She could disappear just because she changed her mind about you, or something happens unrelated to me. Even if I told you I didn't do anything, you wouldn't believe me."

He settled a long, skeptical side-eye on her.

“Sometimes, fate takes us down unexpected routes. Nettie,” he said, pretending to reminisce about her when in fact he was just spinning more lies, “has told me all about her plans. To settle down in Whitby, bring even more of her family here – to find a nice home, with a nice garden, and continue her long walks on the beach with me.”

He had half a mind to have the maid kidnapped just to give Nisa a sampling of his own grief.

“And what if your maid is not as loyal as you think? They never have lasted long.”

Nisa rose her brow as they walked.

"I can not imagine you settling down. It feels unlike you, you've always liked your late night walks in the town doing your work. And they didn't last because they were weak to a little hard work and timid from life and the end of it. If she betrays me, it'll end the same as the others. Don' try to mess with my head, brother. I have never been cruel to you directly. I don't want to change that."

Aslan lapsed into silence, gaze ahead.

Something had changed, the night he’d seen it. Was there any surprise he found himself at a fork in the metaphorical road? Either one was different – worse – than the road behind him … but it was too late to turn back.

Nisa narrowed her eyes as she gazed at Aslan.

"Speak to be bluntly. I have no intention of ending your precious Nettie just yet. So there is no reason for you to be threatening my maid. But you seem to have something crawling under your skin and I just want you to stop that infernal scratching."

He tilted his head.

“I don’t know what you mean, Nisa. I have no intention of coming in between something so beautiful as you and the maid, just yet, either.”

"Then we do not need to be having this conversation." Nisa said feigning a casual tone. "If you want to enjoy my hobby, I have others for you to enjoy it on."