What was odd was that Maylia and I had been all over the city and I didn't remember seeing this shop before. We went inside the shop and there was a grumpy old man with grey hair that stood behind the counter. We walked right over to him without looking around.

“The tailor a few doors down recommended you.” I said and motioned to Afyne. “She needs boots.”

“Are you looking for comfort or for durability?” The old man asked with a rough voice.

“We're going to be riding horses a lot, so both.” I said.

“You're going to have sore backsides riding all the time.”

“What do you recommend for that?” I asked and knew what he was going to say.

“Not riding so much.” The old man said and chuckled.

“I knew you were going to say that.” I said with a smile.

“Ain't no better way to prevent it than not doing it.” The old man said and looked at Afyne. “Do you want boots?”

Afyne looked a little startled to be spoken to directly. “Um... yes. Please.”

The old man squinted his eyes for a second. “Being polite is a good trait.” He said, then he gave her a huge grin. “All right. I'll make you a pair.” He said and started to walk out from behind the counter, then he disappeared. I looked around because both the mana and Presence I had detected from the man had disappeared as well.

“Where did he go?” Afyne asked.

“I'm right here.” The old man said and we all turned around to see him as he sat at a workbench across the room. He was rubbing something onto a very nice pair of boots. They glowed yellow for a moment and he smiled at them. “Yes, very nice.” He said and picked the boots up.

“How did you do that?” Afyne asked.

“It's a secret.” The old man said and walked over to us and I still couldn't detect him. “Here you go.” He handed the boots to Afyne and he smiled warmly as she hugged them to her chest.

“How much?” I asked.

“A silver per boot.” He said and I gave him two silver coins. “You're not going to negotiate over the price?” He asked, surprised.

“I'd rather ask how you can hide your mana so well.” I said and smiled. “Please.”

The old man squinted his eyes at me for a moment. “Being patronizing is not a good trait.”

“If I was going to be like that, I would...”

“Hunter!” Maylia exclaimed.

“I wasn't going to say anything actually patronizing.” I said to her. “You know I won't insult someone or treat them unfairly until they do it to me first.”

The old man looked from me to her, then he chuckled. “I heard that about you.”

“You did?” Maylia asked.

“The two of you were all over the city and in practically every shop.” The old man said. “If you hadn't done them all so quickly, word would have gotten around about how you were testing them to see who was actually interested in selling the right things to you.”

“That's why I wanted to do as many as I could in one day.” I said. “Is that why we didn't see this shop?”

“No.” The old man shook his head. “You can't find this shop without a recommendation.”

“I suppose having this badge wouldn't help, either.” I said and motioned to it.

“Someone still has to recommend you.” The old man smiled slightly. “That thing isn't an all-access pass for everything, so get that thought out of your head.”

I chuckled. “Actually, besides what it has already done, I don't expect it to do anything else except ease our passage and maybe help smooth things over if we do get into trouble.”

“Or cause trouble.” The old man said.

“Yeah, that's a worry I expect to have when we leave the First Sothen Kingdom; but, that won't be for a while.” I said. “The other kingdoms are a little low on the queen's priority list.”

The old man couldn't help but chuckle at that. “Any good ruler is concerned for their own citizens first. If she has things for you to do, you should get to it.”

“I guess that means you can't tell me how you're hiding your mana.” I said and stopped myself from sighing.

The old man put a hand on my shoulder. “You're on the right track with what you're doing. You just need to focus more on the mana part.”

“I've been trying to do that.” I said.

“You can't do everything in a few days.” The old man said. “Time will let you do what you need to do.”

I was about to respond when I remembered that the old lady at the enchantment shop hadn't given me the name of someone, like she said she would, that could help me with my abilities.

The old man saw my reaction and nodded. “You better get going.” He said. “If you need anything else boot-wise, you come back here and let me know.”

I nodded and we left the shop. It took a bit of convincing to get Afyne to let her shiny new boots go and to put them into her bag of holding. After that, we mounted our horses and rode over to the enchantment shop. We had barely come to a stop when the old lady came out the front door of the shop and passed me a piece of paper with a name and a location.

“You know how to find it.” The old lady said and went back into the shop without another word.

“How did she know we were coming back here?” Maylia asked.

I held up my hand and showed her the ring. “It has to be this.”

Maylia nodded. “Where to now?”

“The stables.” I said, and Afyne sighed. “You need to tell them you're not going to live there anymore.”

“Most of them don't even know I was there.” Afyne said.

“Which means a couple do and might miss you.” I said, and she shook her head. “Well, at the very least, they'll miss you doing the jobs no one else did.”

Afyne didn't say anything and we rode over to the stable. A worker came out to greet us and didn't look at Afyne at all.

“What can we do for you?” The young man asked.

“Who's in charge?” I asked.

“I am for today.” The young man said. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes, since you're losing a great worker and don't seem to care at all about it.” I responded.

“What?” The young man turned and looked back into the stable and saw several workers. “Who are we losing?”

“She's been in front of you this whole time and you didn't even notice.” I said and let anger seep into my voice. “I thought she might have been exaggerating about how you treated her; but, I can clearly see that she was understating how much you ignored her.”

“What?” The young man turned back to look at me. “Who are you talking about?”

“By the look on your face, I can tell that her name won't mean anything to you, since you probably don't know it.” I almost spat at him. “When whoever owns this place, or the actual manager shows up, you tell them that Afyne won't be living here anymore.”

The young man stared blankly at me.

I knew he wouldn't know it. I thought angrily and tapped the badge on my chest. “I won't be using this stable anymore, either.”

“Sir! This is a great stable! We treat the horses like royalty! They are fed and watered as much as they want and we groom them several times a day!”

“That's great news for the horses.” I said with a snarl. “It's too bad you don't treat people half as well.” I turned my horse around. “Make sure you tell the manager that, too.”

“Sir!” The young man ran forward and stopped beside my horse. “SIR!”

I ignored him and flicked the reins to make the horse trot. Maylia was right there beside me and the young man stared at us until we took a corner and left his sight. I wasn't sure if it was because of the horse's speed or because I had ignored him. It was probably a mix of both.

“Th-thank you.” Afyne whispered. I took a hand off the reins for a brief moment and hugged her, then resumed full control of the horse. We stopped at the general store and I bought another bedroll, a jar of coal pitch and a brush, and some rope. If we were going to be capturing people at some point, I was going to need it.

With nothing else to keep us in the city, we decided to find the second creature on the captain of the guard's list. Thanks to the map scroll pointing us in the right direction, we travelled for the rest of the day before we reached the town where the creature was last sighted. The best part about doing this one first was that it was in a completely different direction from the main road and there was no chance at all that we would meet Kara and the others on their way to the capital.

Maylia, Afyne, and I had stopped for a quick picnic at lunchtime and finished off the last of the turkey and things we had received at the farmer's dinner table. Afyne said that it was the best food she had ever tasted and wanted to know where we got it from.

“It was thanks to god.” Maylia had said and explained what had happened.

“That can't be true.” Afyne said and had looked at me and back at Maylia several times. “Is it true?”

“It is.” I responded. “I've been blessed by god.”

Afyne had caught her breath and just stared at me for several minutes. “Is that why you're so good?”

“No, he's always like that.” Maylia had said and explained that we had only just found out that morning. Afyne had stayed quiet for the rest of the trip to the town and stayed that way until we stopped at a stable. Her expertise took over and she practically schooled the people there on the proper treatment of our horses if they were going to stay there overnight without a fuss.

She can definitely take charge when she's confident in herself. I thought.

We left the stable when Afyne was sure the horses would be fine and we went over to the only inn that the small town had.

“Ah! What a great looking family!” The innkeeper said as we entered and walked over to the counter.

I ignored the compliment and the blushes on Maylia's and Afyne's faces.

“What can I do for you?” The innkeeper asked with a smile.

“We need a room with a bathtub.” I said and put a hand on Afyne's shoulder. “I'd complain that I smell like a horse, except that our horse expert might get upset.”

“Yes, I would.” Afyne glared up at me and the innkeeper laughed uproariously.

“The joys of a child's honesty!” The innkeeper said and picked up a key. “This is our biggest room and the tub is quite large.”

“Sounds great.” I said. “How much for the night?”

“Eight copper, since I assume that the three of you will be staying in the same room.” The innkeeper said. “Two rooms would be ten copper.”

“One room is fine.” I said. “What about food?”

“Only breakfast is included.”

“All right.” I said and gave him eight copper and took the key. “Do you know anywhere that serves good meals?”

“Good as in cheap or good as in taste?” The innkeeper asked.

I chuckled at the distinction and slipped him another copper coin. “Let's go for taste this time.”

The innkeeper smiled and told us where to go for the best tastes and how late they were open. I thanked him and we went to our room to get cleaned up.

“I think I want to show off a little.” I said and started to take off my uniform coat after I turned the hot water on in the tub.

“What do you mean?” Maylia asked and started to get undressed as well.

“We've got to let our uniforms air out tonight, so we might as well get a little dressed up to go eat.” I said. “We should probably give our underclothes a good scrubbing, too.” I said and then sighed. “Dammit, I knew I forgot something.” I glanced at Afyne, who had stood there silently and watched us getting undressed.

“I took care of it.” Maylia smiled and took out a few small wrapped packages from her bag of holding.

“You've been waiting to rub that in my face all day, haven't you?” I asked with a chuckle and hung my coat on a chair and kicked off my boots.

Maylia couldn't hide her smug smile this time. “Not all day.”

I laughed and started to open my pants to take them off. I heard a small gasp and looked to see Afyne as she turned around and faced the other way. “It's all right.” I said and laid the pants on the seat of the chair. “I still have underwear on.”

“That's not... you can't just...” Afyne babbled and Maylia chuckled.

“I'm getting undressed, too.” Maylia said. “It takes me longer because of all the laces.”

“I usually help.” I said and slipped off my long sleeved t-shirt. “Four hands work faster than two.”

Afyne didn't say anything, so I helped Maylia get undressed completely and she climbed into the tub.

“Now you have a choice.” I said and touched Afyne's shoulder. She let out a squeak and jumped a little.

“Ch-ch-choice?” Afyne asked nervously without turning around to look at me.

“After you get undressed, you can soak in the tub first or get rigorously scrubbed by experienced hands.” I said and took off my blast shield. “The other choice is to get scrubbed first and then soak.”

“I... I don't...” Afyne still didn't turn around, so I knelt behind her and put my arms around her waist and hugged her.

“You don't have to be nervous.”

“But... you're a boy... and... and boys, they...”

I chuckled. “Don't worry. We're only getting cleaned.” I said and let her go. “You won't see any of the things that boys and girls do sometimes.”

“But... you and Maylia... don't you...” Afyne turned around to look at me and she gasped at my completely exposed face. Her small hands reached up and touched my face where the edge of the blast shield had been and ran her fingers over the shape that used to be there. “H-h-how...”

“It's a trick to keep my real face hidden.” I said. “People seem to underestimate me when they see it, or assume I'm blind, or think I was in a terrible accident.”

“I... I was going to ask what happened to cause it.” Afyne said, then her fingers traced my eyes. “Why do you cover your eyes like that?”

“Since I came here, it has come in handy a few times already.” I said. “It deflected an arrow that probably shouldn't have been deflected and it stopped someone from blasting my eyes with a blinding light spell.”

“It's armor?” Afyne asked and stared into my eyes.

“There's nothing else like it.” I said and she smiled. “So, scrub or soak first?”

Afyne's face flushed red and she let her hands drop from my face.

“Shall I choose for you?” I asked and she gave me her sad puppy-dog eyes. “Scrubbing it is.”

“Wh-what?” Afyne asked and I quickly unhooked her belt. “I want to soak first!”

“I'm sorry. The decision has been made.” I hung her belt on a chair and quickly took her top off.

“AHHH!” Afyne yelled and covered her very small chest with both hands. You could see the dirt line between where the cloth from her top ended and where her exposed skin began.

“It's okay. I've seen a woman naked before.” I said and started to undo her pants. Afyne let out a little yip as I pulled them down to her ankles. “Oops! I forgot your boots.” I said and picked her up, went from kneeling on the floor to sitting on a chair and sat her on my lap. I slipped her ratty old boots off and saw how dirty her feet were, because she wasn't wearing socks. “Somebody has been neglecting her toesie-woesies!” I said and tickled the bottom of her feet.

Afyne burst out laughing and struggled to get away. She stopped trying to cover her chest, which was the distraction I needed, and I pulled her pants off completely. Now that she was almost naked, I gently held her in my arms as I stood up and walked over to the tub. Maylia already had herself lathered up and held her hands out for Afyne.

“N-n-no.” Afyne whispered.

I carefully handed her to Maylia, who took her into her own arms and just held her. I kept my underwear on at first and climbed in as well, then Maylia and I took off our underwear and quickly washed ourselves. We gently scrubbed Afyne all over and it took a while to get the dirt off. I even had to use trace amounts of Presence to encourage her skin to give up its hold on the grime that had been caked on for a long time.

Afyne's feet were the worst and were almost black from the old boots she wore. They were also very ticklish and she laughed the entire time we tried to scrub them clean. We had to empty the tub when she was clean, because the water was so dirty, and Afyne's face was bright red because of that.

“Don't be embarrassed.” I said and she turned her head and looked at me while the tub refilled. “You survived and made it on your own for this long and washing yourself wasn't much of a priority.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “Even Maylia and I have ignored washing when it was necessary.”

“What he's saying is, don't expect to bathe like this every day.” Maylia said and checked the water's temperature. “Ah, there it is.” She turned off the water and climbed in as she sighed and relaxed.

“Go ahead.” I said and Afyne stepped into the tub and sat down. She just stared at me as I climbed in and sat down myself. I put my arms out along my side of the tub and sighed as I leaned back and closed my eyes. A few moments later, the water sloshed a little and I felt someone lean against me. I opened one eye slightly to look and see Afyne as she tucked herself under my arm. She started to turn her head to glance at me and I closed my eye.

I'm glad I didn't lift my head because she would have caught me looking. I thought and then smiled. The last thing I need is for her to think that I'm trying to peek at her.

*

This is absolutely amazing. Maylia thought as she looked across the tub at Hunter with a young girl tucked under his arm. His actions have all been to protect and comfort her. He bought her things she needed and he even made her laugh. She thought in surprise. No elf man has ever done anything like that for a child!

Maylia's thoughts reeled over two completely conflicted sets of information. She knew, deep in her subconscious and in her beliefs that she had grown up with, that men were flawed and that they couldn't properly raise a child. They were too impulsive, too reckless, and couldn't be trusted with the life of a child because they lacked the proper emotional attachments to ensure their safety. And yet, here before her very eyes, was the complete opposite of that.

Maylia had watched the girl closely all day and she was responding more and more to Hunter. Even now, after protesting barely a half an hour before about him taking off her clothes for a bath and seeing her bare, she laid against him as if she had always done it.

*

Afyne closed her eyes and let out a sigh and relaxed. She had just turned eleven years old and she had never done anything like this before. Bathing with another person seemed so odd at first, then both Maylia and Hunter had scrubbed her and cared for her. Her skin felt raw and even tingled in some places. Especially her toes. She thought it was a good tingle and she let that tingle flow over her. After a minute, she felt the water ripple and opened her eyes for a second. She saw Maylia as she tucked herself under Hunter's other arm.

They both closed their eyes and relaxed against him.

*

We really should get out and dry off. I thought about ten minutes later.

I had my arms around their shoulders and both of their breathing was calm and even, barely above where it would be if they were sleeping. I thought that was a little odd, until I realized they were both so relaxed that they were at the brink of falling asleep.

I'll give it another ten minutes. I thought and smiled. I want to see if they actually do fall asleep.