Odilia was looking at Ezhno with a confused expression, she was wondering why he looked like a person in deep thought.

"Ezhno, are you ok? Do you feel ill?" Odilia asked.

After being jolted back to the present, he looked back and said, "Oh, hello Miss Odilia, I am fine, I have something important that I must do today and can not remember for the life of me what it is I needed to do. Oh well, it will come to me later, I suppose. So Miss Odilia, it has been a long time since I last saw you. You look like you are doing well for yourself."

With a slightly disgruntled look upon her face, Odilia replied, "Ezhno, you know when we are alone you can stop with all of the formality. Miss is not necessary. I am angry that you forgot about this."

"I did not forget Miss Odilia, but my friend Odilia, the Hero of Forest Shadow Village, has been dead for about a year now, and all that stands before me is Miss Odilia Redfield. The granddaughter of Keane Redfield, my boss, and the master of the stables."

Ezhno sighed slightly after saying this, and continued on, "Miss Odilia, the horses have been ready for a while now, and I have been grooming them to ensure that they look their best, so Master Redfield and his men can make a grand entrance when they enter the town of White Rock. We can not have the people of White Rock thinking we are some poor, weak, dirty backwoods villagers who only know how to tend to crops and livestock, now can we? We can prove to them that we are worth more than horse shit, right?"

Odilia's eyes started to moisten and water up, she then turned away from Ezhno and replied, "You are right Mr. Ezhno, Grandfather has been in talks for a while now with the higher echelon of White Rock to allow some of the stronger men in the village to take part in next month's event that will hand pick personal guards for one of the lord's grandchildren."

Ezhno replied, "That is wonderful, I hope and pray that the men of Shadow Forest bring honor to the village and the benefits that might come along with it. Now, you must excuse me Miss Odilia, I must go back to my duties and prepare for your grandfathers arrival.

As Ezhno turned around, he heard Odilia with a sad crying voice yell, "Ezhno you truly are an idiot!"

Odilia ran off as fast as possible, she did not want him to see the tears that were flowing down from her face. As she ran off, one could clearly see the tears trickling off of her face, each tear, which glistened from the sun rays like tiny little gems would splash down onto the dry ground and disappear into the earth.

Ezhno looked up at the stable ceiling, eyes glossed over with moisture and sighed. He said with a sad low tone, "I know I am, Odilia. This lowly one truly is the world's biggest idiot."

He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his brush, as he looked off into a not so distant area, Ezhno sighed once more, and went back to brushing the horses as he waited for the arrival of the village head and his men.

About 15 minutes later Master Redfield and his men finally arrived at the stable entrance. What awaited them was five horses, saddled and ready for their departure.

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Ezhno gave a bow and said, "Master Redfield, please be safe on your journey." On the in the inside, Ezhno wanted to kill this man, but he knew his place for now. Ezhno was no match for him and would only get himself killed before he could lift a finger to this man. He hated being a coward, but what could he do? He was still a child. He knew if he were to buy his time and grow up, he would have a chance to exact his revenge, but for now he would act his part and be the good worker that he was.

Keane replied with an arrogant laugh, and said, "Good job shit boy, the horses look like they were owned and groomed by royalty, you did your master proud. Now we can go to White Rock with our heads held up high.

He looked over to one of his men and said, "Reward the boy. Even though he is a good for nothing, he has done myself and the village proud. As we walk down the streets of White Rock, everyone will be gossiping and whispering of our arrival. If it reaches anyone from the upper echelon before we see them, then this small reward will be justified."

The man pulled out a bag of coins and with a tough annoyed voice said, "Boy, show your appreciation to the master, enjoy this moment, this is more than you will ever earn and will probably be the last reward you will ever receive." He unties the bag and flips it over, spilling the coins all over the ground.

Before Ezhno picked up the coins, he bowed and said, "Thank you Master Redfield, this lowly one will forever remember your kindness."

While reaching out to pick up the first of the coins, Keane said to Ezhno, "Boy, is there anything else you would like to tell me before you do that?"

Ezhno froze, at first he did not know what Master Redfield wanted him to say, but then after thinking a moment about it said, "Yes, this lowly one had a visit from Lady Odilia about 15 minutes before your arrival, she wanted to let me know that you were arriving shortly, and wanted to make sure I did my job properly."

"Is that all??" Keane asked, while dragging out his words.

"She also tried to bring up the past, but I have told her that the past is dead and only treated her as everyone else would. As the granddaughter to the village head. After her arrival, I went back to my duties and she left."

Keane replied, "Good. Know your place boy, this week I may throw in a little extra food ration for you. You are more mature then most your age."

Keane had a vile grin and with a loud mocking voice said, "Good thing that your parents are dead, who knows what kind of brat you would have turned out to be."

While giving a hardy laugh Keane shouts, "Men, lets go! Everyone mounted their horses and set off to the town of White Rock. Within the dust storm left behind, Ezhno was clinching his hand so tightly that you could see trickling blood oozing out a little. He stared at Keane and his men with blood shot eyes. After he settled down he went over to pick up the coins.

Even if he did not want the charity from that man, he also would not pass up a free meal. He wanted to head over to White Rock the next time he was not busy and pick up a new set of clothes. He still has not replaced the ones from that day and would really like a backup pair in case the ones he was wearing now got holes in embarrassing spots.

He counted all the coins and figured he had enough for a couple sets of cheap clothing and maybe some spices to spruce up his bland food.

Ezhno finished up the rest of his chores and took off back to his home.

On the way to the town of White Rock, Keane looked over to one of his men and asked, "Was there any truth to what that boy said, in regards to his meeting between him and my granddaughter? I put you in charge of watching over him in case they would meet up. He did not spot you the whole time did he?"

The man replied, "Sir, I do not believe he saw me even once, even though he looked at my direction a couple times, he appeared to be just looking out at the scenery. Everything that boy has said was true, even though what he said has made Lady Odilia cry, he did what he was suppose to do and distanced himself from her."

Keane replied, "Good, I do not have to sell him off into the fighting pits then, even though feeding him to the wild beast would be more enjoyable to watch, but it truly is hard to find anyone that is willing to work for next to nothing in this day and age." Keane gave off another loud roaring laugh and continued on his trek to White Rock.