She was right.

As Maura left the Chieftain’s wagon and struggled with her new dress on her way to meet Eric’s family for breakfast she thought back on the night before.

Amelia had descended on her with a pile of clothing that Maura would have been just as happy to never see. Unfortunately, she would have to get over it. Amelia had explained that they were going to try to blend her into the tribe in general once they neared the city, so she would have to get used to wearing dresses like children her age were expected to.

Ser Ethan had already attempted to question Maura, but the paperwork held him at bay for now. If Maura didn’t learn to blend in at least superficially she would end up drawing too much attention.

She currently had her boots and leggings on, as she had adamantly refused to wear the silly ‘underthings’ that Amelia had tried to get her into, and her hair was still the way she liked it, but that would probably all change in the coming days.

She currently had a dark blue dress made from a thick wool of some kind with a faded red headscarf covering most of her hair and her ears and a brown shawl around her shoulders. She felt ridiculous, but Amelia had assured her she looked quite nice.

As she made her way across the camp, she drew a few gazes, but it seemed like she didn’t stand out nearly so much now, which was nice. It had taken about a half hour for Amelia to show her how to dress last night. Afterward she had just enough time to work the leather with her magic to process it so it wouldn’t go rancid. She had a lot more to do for her presents, but was hoping to make a good deal of progress today.

Eric’s wagon was two away from the Chieftain’s and Maura lost her patience with the dress and just bunched it up a bit and hopped up to the wagon from the ground instead of attempting to tackle the stairs. She was nervous, but she knew Eric and had met Shannon and she seemed nice. She straightened her dress a bit and made sure her little pouch in her pocket held the two carved animals as presents for their kids.

Nervously, she walked to the little post next to the flap and knocked on it a few times.

After ten seconds without an answer but hearing people moving around inside, she decided that her light taps were probably insufficient. After a quick check of the skies and with a little huff she forced herself to knock on the post harder.

She winced at the loud noise but it was only moments before she heard Shannon call, “Come in!”

Maura braced herself with a deep breath before she entered the new tent. She slipped to the side along the pile of firewood that all tents seemed to have and scanned around a bit while she removed her headscarf and held it in her hands in front of her stomach.

Eric and Shannon’s wagon needed some small repairs and paint and such like most of the wagons did, but inside it had a very warm and homey feeling. It was a bit of a mess in one corner where the children were playing, but reminded Maura of the Chieftain’s tent just without as many nice things. She guessed they had to get those things over time.

Eric wasn’t in the tent, but Shannon was setting up the table and keeping a weather eye on the children. The kids were cute, Maura thought. The younger girl had brilliant red hair like Eric, and the boy had shorter brown hair with gentle curls like Shannon.

Maura managed to force out, “Hello, thank you for having me for breakfast.” past her nervousness.

Shannon looked up with a happy smile and said, “Of course, Maura! Come sit down, Eric should be back with breakfast in a moment. Kids! Come meet Maura!”

Maura moved towards the table and watched as the kids bounced up and ran over to meet her. She was pretty happy to finally meet people that were smaller than her. They both had blue eyes and happy expressions.

The older boy held the girl back who looked like she wanted to run to her mother, and he said, “Nice to meet you! I’m Joseph and this is Amy!”

Maura waved a little awkwardly at them and tried to give a little smile and then Amy said, “You have pretty hair!” before hiding behind Joseph.

Shannon chuckled and said, “Well done, kids. Now, take your seats! It’s time for breakfast.”

As she said that Maura heard large footsteps before Eric entered the tent with a large pot and basket of bread.

He called, “Maura! Glad you could make it. It took a while to work through our haul last night but it’s looking mighty fine. Leto wanted to thank you and curse you at the same time for bringing in so many valuable materials, hah!”

Maura had stood to see if she could help, but they clearly had everything in hand so she sat back down, feeling awkward and strange, as Eric placed the pot and basket on the table. Shannon ladled the stew into the bowls and Maura remembered to take a roll this time as everyone sat.

She said, “Should I go and talk to Leto, later? Or did you manage to figure it all out?”

Eric had plopped a bit of bread into his mouth so he shook his head as he chewed and swallowed. Once he was done he waved his hand a bit and said, “No, he’s an old hand at butchering beast parts. We’re going to have much more trouble trying to find buyers for some of the items, though. Torrine isn’t a bad place to sell, but there aren't as many good craftspeople there as we could find in other places. I need to talk to Perry later - he’s the real trader of the family. I’m sure he’ll want to see if we can attract a few of the larger tribe’s craftspeople so they can process the materials into better items to raise the price.”

As everyone turned to the meal Maura studied them. The kids were making a bit of a mess, but Shannon was expertly working to get the food in their mouths instead of everywhere else. The meal was really tasty and Maura thoroughly enjoyed it. Eric had a second large helping, and they talked about small things while they ate.

When they were done, Shannon cleaned up the kids while Maura helped to stack dishes in the little tub.

Once the kids were all clean Maura went up to Eric and Shannon and said, “I have some little animals I carved from wood. Would it be okay to give them to Amy and Joseph?”

Shannon beamed a smile at Maura and said, “Oh certainly! They’ll love them, I’m sure. Kids! Come, Maura brought you something!”

Amy tripped on her dress a little trying to get up, but Joseph helped her and they were soon standing with curious excitement. Maura knelt down and pulled the little pouch out of her pocket.

She explained, “I spent a lot of time in the wilderness and I carved these while I was out there. This one is a mighty bear” she handed the smooth carving to Joseph, “and this one is a great eagle I saw.” which she handed to Amy, “They’re really strong and mighty, so they will help you grow up strong, too!”

Amy grabbed her carving and held it to her chest with a squeal, while Joseph studied his and said, “Thank you, Maura!”

Maura felt really warm in her chest at the obvious joy her little presents gave the children and stood up with a little smile on her face. It felt really good to give presents, especially to kids. She couldn’t wait to finish working on her other presents. It made her feel nice to give something to someone.

Eric chuckled and said, “Thanks, Maura. It was nice having you for breakfast. What are your plans for today?”

Maura almost blurted out that she was going to be working on presents before she looked at Shannon and blushed a little and shyly said, “I’m going to work on a few things in the Chieftain’s tent and maybe have some lessons from Amelia, I think.”

Eric gave a blatant wink from behind Shannon as she said, “Well, don’t be a stranger! Thank you for the gifts.”

Maura nodded a few times then replaced her head covering and waved goodbye as she left the tent. That had been nice, if a little out of her comfort zone. That was probably the point, though. She needed to meet more of the tribe and become more comfortable around other people and she thought she was doing pretty well.

On her way back to the main tent she saw Ser Ethan standing near the center of camp and looking around, so she ducked between two wagons and wove her way back to the tent before hopping up the side and quickly entering.

Chief Carter and Amelia were just finishing up their own breakfast so Maura helped Amelia with the dishes before she asked if it would be okay to work on some things in her spot.

Amelia said, “Certainly. I have a little work to do but I can come back and we can each do our own things while I tell you some more about our culture. Let me know if you need anything!”

Maura nodded happily and soon enough was sitting behind her curtain and stripped out of her clothing. They were a bit itchy and uncomfortable, which was probably one reason for wearing those silly looking undergarments, but Maura always felt the most comfortable without anything on.

She decided to work on the boots first as they would be the easiest. Maura had measured Amber’s feet from her tracks during the hunt and, while boots could be tricky, the way she made them so that they were secured by straps left room for small mistakes.

She had been working for about an hour and was just finishing up layering and securing the soles to the hide when Amelia returned and she sat down at the desk to do paperwork. Shortly after she entered the wagon began to lurch slightly and began to move.

She called, “Maura, how goes your work? Do you need any tools or anything?”

Maura called out, “Um… good! I have everything I need. I have lots of nice tools that I mostly found from ruins or made. Thank you, though.”

Amelia responded, “Oh? I’d love to see what you have later if you don’t mind. There can be interesting things found in ruins, though not so much anymore. Any ruins that are safe to get to have been picked pretty much clean around here. Every now and then something new will be unearthed, but it’s rare.”

Maura agreed and got back to work. This set the pattern for the next few days. She avoided Ser Ethan, met with different people for each meal to get to know everyone, surreptitiously healed people sent to her, and worked on her presents. While she and Amelia were together they would chat about different subjects and she tried to teach Maura more about their culture. She was absolutely horrified to learn that while the Khersi took meticulous financial records, they generally disdained the written word and had a strong tradition of an oral history.

How could she live in a society that didn’t read?! Well, they read, but they didn’t read anything other than simple information. No legends, no history, no culture, no fantasy… Maura was devastated.

It would be up to her to bring that into the tribe, if she were to stay. Literature was the hallmark of civilization and, despite their reluctance, she would have to bring them to the light.

Amelia gently scolded Maura for sitting around naked and worked with her to get her more used to ‘normal’ clothing. There were a few times that she was called for a meal and slithered out from behind the curtain without clothing on, and Amelia made sure to scold her every time, though Maura didn’t truly see it as a bad thing.

Eventually Amelia found a light and comfy robe that she could pull on and forced Maura to wear it when she was inside the tent. It wasn’t really proper either, but Amelia decided to try small steps. Maura forced herself to wear the clothes when she was out and about, but while she was working on her presents she would remove them for comfort.

The Guri couple Leto and Dlinna were very energetic and fun. Leto had been with the tribe for years, but Dlinna had just met him the previous summer and they were happy about the large haul. Maura had asked and received some wood from him that she could use to make a case for the knives.

Celia was a bundle of energy that obviously was bored without many other children her age in the tribe. They talked a few times and Maura found it exhausting trying to keep up with her.

Maura learned that the Frozen River Tribe had a few bad years. Generally there would be around ten people per wagon and the average tribe would have twenty or so wagons, not counting the communal ones owned by the entire tribe. The Frozen River Tribe only had fifty-four people at the moment but, with their good haul and the possibilities Maura brought to them, they expected to at least double in size once they reached Torrine from singles or even wagonmasters that might like to join them for at least a season.

Amelia tried to teach her a lot of the customs and such and helped her understand the writing better in the evenings, but there was simply too much information for her mind to make sense of everything. She constantly found herself tripping over small words when speaking or reading as they were close to what she knew before, but the letters or meaning had shifted over time.

On the fourth day after the hunt they were only a few days out from the city and Maura was finally finished with all of her presents. The knives had taken the longest to complete. She had carved different beasts and designs into the sides of the handles and she had saved all of the shavings because the materials could be used in smelting or smithing. She lined the inside of the wooden case for the knives with some tough but soft fur so that they wouldn’t jostle around or get scratched. She had just used a bit of varnish on the case as she wasn’t very good at carving large thin flat surfaces but also had a folded up leather strop tucked in in case they needed to sharpen the knives.

The boots had been the easiest for Maura, but the waterproofing did take a little time as the oils and wax needed to seep into the leather with different heating and cooling cycles. Maura had snuck a few more measurements from Amber without her noticing, so the boots should fit her perfectly and come up to just under her knees.

She had taken special care with the polishing and waxing of the carved hair sticks for Shannon. She was proud of the pretty flowers on one and the geometric designs on the other. They had an almost translucent silvery sheen to them and looked great.

She noticed the lack of monster attacks and general relaxing of everyone as they entered what was commonly known as that ‘outer perimeter’ of the army’s patrols. Maura just felt happy that she was able to work on her presents without being forced to train new hunters.

She did enjoy the sneaky healing and such she did during the trip. She was calling herself The Bandit Mender in her head which would always make her giggle a bit as she imagined herself the secret hero of some play. Most of the problems were improper diet and exercise, but there were three pregnant women that she checked up on and a few more serious cases, especially some dental work.

Once all of her presents were ready, Maura asked Amelia what to do. She tried her best to keep secret that she had made something for them as well, but she decided that her new… benefactors?... Chiefs? Whatever they were, Amelia was far too sharp.

She obviously knew that Maura had been working hard, but didn’t know exactly what she had been working on. She decided it would be a great excuse for a family meal, however. Maura was just getting used to new people, but the whole family at once would stretch her new social skills.

Amelia, in what Maura assumed was either a stroke of genius or insanity decided to also invite Captain Logan and Sgt Eileen to the family dinner. She had felt multiple times that Amelia liked them a good deal. The soldiers had been at the furthest outpost when the tribe had called for help and the standard procedure would be for their squad to move out to assist as a new squad was rotated into their spot so as not to leave a gap in the defense in case the first squad didn’t return. They would follow the tribe all the way back to the city and do lots of paperwork, but the soldiers were happy because it cut their rotation a few weeks shorter.

It was probably political, but Maura now felt terrible. She had wanted to make them presents, also, but she had decided to focus on Amelia’s family first. Unfortunately, she was too shy to tell Amelia that as she planned the dinner.

If Maura had had the chance, she would have made Captain Logan a pretty belt to hold his short sword and water flask. For Sgt Eileen she would have either made boots or a nice cloak… unfortunately she didn’t have that opportunity.

She had an entire day to do something so she decided to carve some charms that they might like. She carved them out of bone, and they weren’t overly complex, as she just carved them into reliefs instead of full structures, but she felt… alright? about them. The bone was pretty when polished, and the charms themselves were small enough to keep in a pouch or could easily be turned into a necklace or something.

As the time came close she was brought out of her corner wearing her thin robe to help set up the large table outside of the tent. There were two benches that had a thin wooden seat and surface to sit on and enjoy, but Amelia moved some pegs and showed Maura how they could all be reconfigured into a large table. There were a few slabs of wood that needed to be brought from hidden areas, and lots of foldable chairs to make up all of the seats.

Once the tables were set up Amelia dragged her unwillingly back to her corner and put her into more layers of clothing. She also had Maura take everything out of her hair and she brushed it smooth before braiding it back up and only allowing Maura to put some of the trinkets and straps back in. At the end, she wore her pretty blue dress, red sash, red head scarf, and greenish shawl.

Maura, knowing that the soldiers would be at the table, latched her sword onto her sash and hid her knife in her boot. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them, but she was still very uncomfortable out in the open and the situation wouldn’t help that feeling at all.

She was distracted from her worries as she helped set the table. From the large cloth to cover it to the plates and bowls she was successfully distracted until she was surprised by Captain Logan talking right next to her.

He said, “Maura, you look very pretty with your new clothes! Thank you for having us to dinner with your family, Mrs. Carter.”

Maura jumped a few feet as she spun towards the sneaky army man. How can that man move so silently when he is so big? She then cursed herself as she scanned the skies reflexively and said, “You are sneaky! And also, how do you all eat in the open? Are the skies not dangerous?!”

Captain Logan huffed amusedly before saying, “Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know. There is a large defensive array of towers that spread out from the city that are connected to the central spire of Torrine. Anything that flies gets blasted down quite regularly the closer we get to the city. We’re only a day away, so we need not worry about such things.”

Maura’s mind blanked out for a moment when she considered anything that would be able to deal with those things but she decided to ignore it for now. As she always did.

She was finally able to meet Perry. She had seen him around a few times but had never actually had a conversation with him. He looked to be around twenty with brown hair and a slim body. His hazel eyes were framed with expensive looking spectacles and he had a sharp mind. He talked to Maura for a few minutes about everything that she had brought in and how much he expected to make from it all. Maura decided she liked him, as he was much quieter than most people she had met so far.

A large meal of expertly grilled and seasoned meats plus vegetables and potatoes were brought to the table. Maura had to defend herself from an excited Celia as she dropped some things off, but eventually there was a large pile of food in the middle of the table with the Chieftain’s full family and the only outliers being the two soldiers and Maura. There was probably some obscure rule for seating that Maura didn’t know yet, but she ended up sitting to Cpt. Logan’s right and across from Sgt. Eileen. The Captain was at one end and Chief Carter at the other.

Maura had been growing increasingly flustered by the whole situation but was trying her best to stay calm. She forgot the normal rules of hospitality as she was so shaken by the situation and her lackluster gifts echoing through her mind. Cpt Logan poked her shoulder gently to remind her to grab a piece of bread, which made Maura jump a bit and blush. Only the tea and bread had been sent around, as it was customary for larger meals like this to start with some conversation but the breaking of bread was a tradition to show hospitality and friendship at the beginning.

Maura was fighting against a burgeoning panic attack when Chief Carter said, “Welcome all. We are happy to have important guests and my own family here for a good meal before we reach the city. We are but a day away, but your soldiers helped us past the soul wisp plague until our own mage could recover and we wished to thank you, Captain. Before we begin, Maura has asked for a moment of everyone’s time.”

Everyone turned to Maura and her mind froze in fear. She had forgotten that she had asked Amelia that! Luckily, Maura was staring at Eric when she froze and he gave her a dashing nod and wink. It helped her mind start working again.

She suddenly jumped up from her chair and yelped, “Yes! I mean… Yes! Er… Uh, so…”

Maura got very nervous but forced herself through it and said, “Well. I wanted to make some things. For the people that were important to me, or important to those I found… important. Uh…”

Amelia came to her rescue. She probably had a good idea of what Maura had been working on, so she said, “Maura, dear. Why don’t you pass everything around first, and then you can sit back down and describe everything?”

Maura looked at Amelia and then nodded her head rapidly as she dashed into the tent to bring out a little sack. She took out the five bundles that were loosely wrapped in some spare cloth and passed them out before she retook her seat. She knew there was probably some other rule she didn’t know about how to do all of this properly, but she decided to start with the soldiers.

She looked at Cpt. Logan and said, “Um… I wanted to make presents for people. I, uh… well, I was going to make a belt maybe? Anyway, that is a little charm that reminds me of you. And you too, Sgt. Eileen!”

Maura tried to hide behind her hair, which her headwrap didn’t allow, as she heard the rumbling chuckle from the Captain. He said, “Normally, I would have to refuse a gift as I am technically on duty and have not yet reported. A belt probably would have been too much, but I can see that you didn’t mean anything like that.”

He unwrapped the little charm and studied it as his expression changed from wry amusement to surprised appreciation. She had carved her impression of meeting Cpt. Logan for the first time. A mountain with a war maul breaking the summit stood highlighted from behind by sunlight. Maura felt that it described the captain well. He grunted a thanks at Maura before showing it to the table.

Sgt. Eileen also unwrapped her gift and made a curious noise. Her charm was Maura’s memory of the hilltop. She had carved the mountains and the moon over a sleepy forest and placed a small sparkly stone where she had seen the light between two hills. Sgt. Eileen looked at Maura with a question on her face.

She blushed a little and explained, “I have been looking for people for a long time, that’s when I found them. It’s from a hilltop to the northwest. You said you were a scout, so I thought a picture from the wilderness would be nice?”

Sgt. Eileen looked strangely touched and she showed the people sitting near her. Maura looked at Amber with a worried look on her face. Amber gave her a smirk before she uncovered the boots. Her eyebrows raised in surprise once she unfolded the supple hide and held them up to study. She gave Maura a real smile which made her face light up.

Maura said, “Those are like mine! They’ll be warm and silent. Um… They should fit really well.”

Amber replied, “Thanks, Maura. I did notice your boots were really nice. They look complicated, can you help me with them later?” To which Maura nodded happily.

Shannon unwrapped her gift and gasped. She said, “Oh Maura, these are lovely!” She showed them to Amelia and Eric before she took off her scarf. Her hair was already in a bun so she placed the hair sticks in them and asked Eric how they looked. He was smart or honest enough to compliment her well.

Maura was really nervous for her last present. She had placed the box between Amelia and Chief Carter and now she held her breath as he picked it up and opened the crude latch to see inside.

His expression was polite at first, but seeing what was in the box it became more genuine and interested, if not a little shocked. He made a noise of approval before placing the box on the table so Amelia could see and lifting one of the knives out. The rest of the small chatter around the table died down seeing the naked blade in his hands.

The claws that the blade were made of had a very slight curve to them and after cleaning, polishing, and oiling looked almost like cloudy silver with a mirror finish. Towards the cutting edge the material became slightly translucent and just a glance showed how sharp they were. The blade was carved and secured to the handle securely with a band of polished copper and metal monster silk. The handle itself was made from metal aspected monster antler and she had carved different pictures of strong monsters she had fought over the years into the sides of each one. The knives were perfectly balanced and held a deadly beauty.

Maura’s nervousness was escalating as everyone stayed silent and Amelia picked another knife out and began to study it with an expression Maura didn’t understand. She couldn’t take it anymore and blurted, “They’re for eating! I thought… Well, your knives were okay, but… I wanted to make you something nice!”

Amelia still had the strange expression on her face, but Chief Carter looked up and said, “Nice… Maura, these are works of art! I’ve been to dinners in great halls and these make their utensils look cheap by comparison, not that you would ever see something like these there. I wouldn’t be surprised to find something like this on the hip of a king, however. Here Eric, pass around the box so everyone can have one for dinner. Kids, look but don’t touch, they are very sharp.”

Maura felt the tension flow out of her body. They liked them! She had been worried that they might have thought of it as a sleight on their normal knives. Maura would never say out loud how she thought their normal table knives were terrible after that first time, but she was glad that they liked them.

When Eric got to the soldiers they each took a knife and studied them with serious expressions. Sgt. Eileen said, “This is probably the nicest knife I’ve ever seen. Maura, you should really consider the scouts, you could make a fortune.”

Cpt. Logan cleared his throat with a glance at the Sergeant and she winced. He said, “It’s an option, but we won’t pressure you. If you wish to learn more, let Mrs. Carter or Ser Stephen know and we can set up a meeting as they are your guardians. Maura, these are very well made. I am surprised at how well you can hunt and work with your hands. Very well done, young lady.”

Maura was blushing hard and had a big smile on her face at all of the compliments. She felt strange but happy about everything and there were some exclamations during the meal at how well the knives worked on the meat. They were a bit sharp to use for butter and jam, but they worked well enough that people didn’t mind.

After dinner, Maura helped Amber with her new boots and Perry asked her about what she could make with what they had in order to sell when they reached the city. The soldiers excused themselves after thanking them for the meal, and Eileen and the kids left early also.

Once most people were gone the siblings and Maura helped clear and break down the table. As they were working Amelia said, “Maura, that was masterfully done and you didn’t even do it on purpose! As I was telling you over the last couple days, the best thing we can do to hide you is to let others think of you as a hunter and refugee. Soldiers couldn’t keep their mouths shut if that’s what they were paid to do so the gifts and your hunt together will do wonders to sell that illusion.”

Maura blushed in embarrassment and Eric let out a loud chuckle. They finished up quickly with some more small talk and Maura promised Perry to visit tomorrow so they could talk about making items for sale.

As everything calmed down and she was curled up in her bedroll she dreamed about what she might see in the city. She had already seen smaller villages and farms and lots of people out and about even though it was winter. She was nervous, but she couldn’t wait!

Tomorrow, she would finally reach civilization.