“Oh!” Alcuin skipped back a step with his palm pressed to chest in fright, almost as startled by the sudden movement as she had been when he spoke. He shook his head with a giddy chuckle at her apologies and replied, “Pardon me; I did not mean to give us both a fright!”
Having been trained to keep his step light as a feather from childhood, he often forgot how quietly he moved for his size until he frightened the life out of someone (and they frightened him in turn.) He would need to be more mindful of that from now on. “No,” he smiled warmly. “You did not bother me in the slightest, miss. It is in my nature to be curious, you see, and when I heard you singing I thought to seek it out, that is all. You sing beautifully.”