The stranger seemed just as fascinated with her as she was with him...and that surprised her. No one cared about the raven keeper, she was just there to care for the birds and send the messages. Entirely nonplussed, Shae dropped her eyes and fidgeted slightly, peeking up at the tinkerer every few moments curiously.
Evidently uncaring just what Artemis had chosen to work with to show his skills, Barkus finished scratching out his message and held it out with a gruff, "Here." Shae sprang forward to take the bit of paper, rolling it up and quickly tying it to Lyla-- her raven's-- leg. She cooed softly to the bird, a dry, rasping sound barely louder than a whisper, and stroked her feathers as she moved toward the window to set her flying with the message.
"Good." The merchant huffed out an irritated breath and rubbed a hand over his head, then moved toward the door of the workshop. He laid a hand on Shae's shoulder as she passed, and the young woman flinched, looking up at him with wide eyes.
"Thank you, girl," her master muttered, patting her shoulder awkwardly before moving away. "You stay here. Come fetch me when the tinkerer is done."
Shae nodded quickly, relieved his foul mood seemed to be passing, and signed a short, Yes, my lord.
Eli, hanging back by the door, waited until the older man had left before he bounced forward to the window, craning his neck to watch Lyla fly away with the letter. "You're stuck babysitting then, huh?" he teased the raven keeper. Shae rolled her eyes and crinkled her nose at him.
"Oh, uh--" Eli quickly whipped around and shot Artemis a sheepish grin. "Not that you need babysittin' or anything, sir. Just a joke. I'll just..."
Shae gestured to get his attention, then signed something, glancing sidelong at Artemis as she did so. Eli watched her hands, relaying her words to the tinkerer every few seconds.
"Right, ah, this is Shae. She says hello, and she hopes you don't mind her staying here while you work." Looking away from her hands, he added quickly, "Oh, um, she won't speak. I mean, she can't speak, she's-- anyway." He looked back to Shae's flickering fingers. "She says she'll try to keep out of your way, and if you want her to get rid of Eli she can because he tends to chatter and-- oi!"
Laughing silently, Shae ducked away from Eli's indignant shove, sticking her tongue out at him. The barest hint of a chuckle scraped through her ruined throat, almost sounding like the ragged croak of a raven when it finally made it passed her lips.