Fell inclined his head in something that was not quite a bow but not not a bow.
"Your grace in this situation is most appreciated, Archon. I truly meant no offense. Things are quite different here than in Oxentide, and I appreciate your giving me the benefit of the doubt."
With Andros mollified, it turned to more general questions about how Sven was finding his time in the village. The ferry was coming in the next day, and Fell surmised that Andros was trying to determine if Sven would be departing permanently to get to Evrotai or if he would remain behind longer. So he spun a bit of a yarn about his intention to write to the man he was supposed to study for his Masterworks under and tell him that he had lost his money when he'd gone overboard, and that he would therefore be staying put for a bit longer until he had the funds available to travel there and present the man a proper host gift.
It was Fell's favorite kind of lie, because it didn't actually tie him down to anything. He could just as easily say that he'd changed his mind and would make his way to the nonexistent Master with no gift in hand, simply begging forgiveness for his tardiness. Or he could make a great number of ceramics for sale and then take the ferry to the mainland, make a bit of coin, and then be on his way. The thought of selling his wares like some kind of common peddler did not exactly excite but it was not so separated from selling sculptures as an artist as he liked to pretend when he was going to his artist's soirees and trying to imagining a life beyond the Tower.
Now that he had one, he found that he was willing to do a surprising amount of things he would have deemed beneath him to keep it. He'd slept in a stable. He was consorting with peasants. He was actively contemplating staying on an island where no one could read or write. Desperate measure for desperate times, he thought as he concluded his outline of his plan to Andros.
With the Archon satisfied and off to make his rounds around the village doing whatever it is he did all day, Fell took his cart and shovel and went in search of a good clay deposit. If it just so happened that it would be where Dorothea had indicated she might be later, well, what an entirely strange and surprising coincidence.
