The mage looked her over in a single, cutting glance.
His eyes went from her staff to her clothes to her face, and his mouth twisted into a sneer.
He snorted once.
Before Sonder could even open her mouth to speak, the mage stepped back and slammed the door shut in her face.
The impact sent a dull thud through the wood, and the wind chimes above shivered, clinking softly.
Sonder stood there, a bit stunned.
For a moment, she simply stared at the closed door.
And then she frowned.
She raised her hand and knocked again.
A few seconds passed. Then the door flew open once more.
The mage leaned forward, his torso bending down, irritation written plainly across his face. Two of his four eyes narrowed, the others watching her openly.
"Leave," he said flatly. "Or tell me what I need to do to make you leave."
"I just want to ask a few questions," Sonder said.
He stared at her as if she had just insulted him.
"No," he said, and closed the door again.
Sonder looked at the closed door.
"Please," she called, raising her voice so that it carried through the door. "Just a few questions and I'll leave."
When no answer came and she got frustrated, she yelled, "I won't leave until you talk to me."
And after that got no response, she thought about what she could do.
She didn't want to do any actual harm or destroy anything in the mage's house.
"I can do many annoying things," she called out.
Sonder crossed her arms and waited.
She paced a little, then stopped near the window again, peering inside.
She caught the movements of the mage again, but then the curtains were snapped shut.
There was a thought in her head. Something that Vell would have done, no matter if it was the truth or a bluff.
She could threaten the mage. It was an option she didn't like much, but if he plainly refused to engage with Sonder, what else could she have done?
"I am a great sorceress," she yelled, and she hated the next words she was going to say. "With great powers of destruction. And I have the power to… burn down your house, or blow it into pieces. Just answer my questions, and I won't be forced to."
"Shove it!" The mage yelled from inside his house.
Sonder almost stamped her feet.
She conjured fire in one hand and raised the other, and a breeze came.
But she lowered them both.
She wouldn't do anything like that.
…But there was something else that would clearly be annoying. Not entirely harmful, but not completely safe.
She stretched out her senses to feel where the mage was.
He was sitting in the same chair she had seen before the curtains were closed.
She focused, then released a single, controlled pulse of force.
She could feel that he was lifted out of his seat and fell to the ground.
She could also hear the thump of him hitting the floor.
"Alright!" he yelled out.
The door opened for a third time.
The mage stood there with his four arms crossed, and his expression was a reluctant surrender.
"Fine," he said. "Fine. I'll answer whatever strange nonsense you've got rattling around in your head."
He raised a finger sharply.
"But only for a short while. Then you leave."
Sonder inclined her head.
"That's all I need," she said.