I really need a new title.
From the way he was frowning at the skittish snakes now, Rex had an answer, and it was one she wouldn’t like: “So. Is it magic crap, Hey-You?”
“Yeah,” he responded, still staring at the somewhat pathetic-looking serpentine horde now gathered before them. “Somebody’s put a no-vermin spell around Purty.” For one moment, Tabetha was downright incensed at how anybody – even the enemy! – could think of snakes as ‘vermin.’ “They’ve been ignoring it as best they could, but it’s just getting stronger, the closer we get.”
Dallin had squatted to look at one snake. “They don’t look hurt, at least. Guess that means it’s just a spell to keep critters away? Purty don’t know we’re here?”
“Good questions, Dallin.” Rex quirked his mouth.“Yes to both, I think. If they knew, we’d know that they knew, and we’d be fighting right now.”