After the talk with the duke, my daily routine ended up being changed quite a bit. The lessons with Arvia had been somewhat suspended, as my mornings were occupied by things like being measured by a squad of seamstresses sent by the duke, trying on costumes, enacting some mock fights with some kids Denzel had picked up from the slums of the city, and deciding on the shape and size of the table for the arm wrestling matches.

It seemed that what Arvia had told me about Denzel was somewhat true. To convince the kids to help preparing for the fair he had promised them a place to sleep and three portions of food a day and had immediately delivered on his promise, but he had also made it quite clear that the deal would last only until the fair itself.

While my mornings had been completely turned around, the afternoons were still spent with the guards, but instead of training like usual, I was to keep practicing a choreography over and over for hours every day with the same group of guards. While less physically tiring than the normal training, the monotonous repetition was much more mentally tiring.

For this reason, during the weekend, I found myself going again to the same tavern I had visited before, accompanied like last time by Yvonne, who seemed to have managed to quiet down her newfound anxiety about me.

When we arrived at the tavern, we were welcomed again by the same plump barmaid, who now seemed overjoyed to see us there. If there chants of "Anya" that came from some of the customers were of any indications, it was probable that the reputation of the tavern had risen even more after my last visit.

This time around, when the devil-looking woman who was playing for the crowd saw us, she stopped playing her song and, after giving me a smile, started playing a much more melancholic one. I couldn't understand most of it, but I managed to grasp the words "ice woman" from it which, coupled with how Yvonne became much more bashful a few lines into the song, almost trying to distance herself from me, made me think it was probably about me.

The song ended shortly after with an applause by the customers and the usual liveliness of the tavern returned with a new, much more energetic song. By then we were already enjoying our first cup of ale and a tray of food in a table close to the back that had no other diners beside us yet.

Our peaceful time ended quite soon when the bard suddenly dropped on the bench in front of me where Yvonne was sitting. I did a double take when I saw her there but cold still hear the music playing, although with no lyrics accompanying it. When I looked over at the stage, I saw the violin floating in mid-air, still playing.

My reaction made the devil girl let out a short laugh before she started speaking like a train, making it practically impossible to follow her. Luckily Yvonne quickly intervened telling her that I didn't know the language well. She nodded, then turned back to me and gave me her hand, saying, "my name is Phoebe," making sure she was speaking slowly and clearly enough for me to understand.

I nodded and shook her hand, which was surprisingly hot, as if she had a high fever. "Anya."

The barmaid then came to the table bringing three more cups of ale, one for each of us and, like last time, the alcohol slowly helped me loosen up my tongue. Phoebe seemed to be quite interested in me, asking where I came from, how long I had been in the city, and other simple questions that I knew how to answer.

Both her and Yvonne were quite shocked when i told them that I was still technically only three years old. Yvonne even tried to take my cup away, but I quickly explained that I was indeed an adult for the tribe, telling them that we grew fast as I had no way to explain the details of the infusion with the little I knew of the language.

The conversation was getting a bit awkward after that, so I got up and told them that I wanted to dance. Remembering the awkward fumbling attempt of the previous time, Yvonne was quick to deny me, vigorously shaking her head. Phoebe instead was much more into it and quickly changed the song to one with a much more clear and easier to follow rhythm, somehow even adding the sound of drums to it, despite the lack of drums in the room.

The ability I had when it came to fighting, Phoebe had in dancing, and then some. She even managed to turn my awkward movements into an actual dance simply by making me follow her movements, gifting the customers with the sight of a grey brick house gracefully dancing with a short red devil that barely reached her waist. To make the height difference between us less prominent, a few minutes into the song she started levitating off the ground, so that she could at least be on level with my shoulders.

After our second song, she leaned in to whisper into my ear, "Anya, do you like women?" then gave me a wide grin that exposed her long canines.