"Were you being serious, Mr. Scoresby?" I asked the old man once we were out of the stable building and out of the earshot of the scalehoofs. "I mean about working here."

"That's not something I would joke about, Korra. Are you interested?"

Was I? Taking care of horses, I mean scalehoofs, was not something I had ever dreamed of. They were big animals that could hurt you, unlike flowers. Although, even flowers, if you approached them with ignorance, could give you quite a hard time.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a florist looking for a helping hand, would you?"

The old man smiled but shook his head. "I'm sorry, girl. I don't think there are that many florists in Castiana in the first place, right, little one?"

"Um-hmm. I know of four," Ria nodded to my disappointment, thinking hard. "No, I know of five flower shops. I can take you there if you want, Korra."

"Only five?" Sure, my little guide didn't necessarily have to know about all the flower shops, but it was still way too few for such a big city - at least by my modern standards.

"There are more useful things to spend coins on than flowers that must be tended to so they don't wither," Scoresby explained, seeing my confusion and disappointment. "Is that what you were before - you know what? Instead, why don’t you tell me what happened to you yesterday? Marlene and I were waiting for you to show up."

He meant well, not wanting me to talk about what were probably painful memories for me. Little did he know that talking about yesterday wasn't any better.

"W-well, you see..."

"Thugs ambushed us," Ria blurted out, eager to explain what had happened, even though she didn't remember any of it herself. And so, she recounted what the city guards and I had told her.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Korra. If I knew..."

"It's okay, Mr. Scoresby. You couldn't have known. Besides, everything turned out fine in the end."

Not quite true. Somewhere out there were mind mages intent on getting me while one of the city guards watched my ass. But he didn't need to know that - actually, Rayden didn't want him, or others, to know.

"See." To prove my point and stop him from blaming himself, I spread my arms and twisted around to show him I was okay. If anyone should feel guilty, it was me. I was the one taking advantage of his kindness and putting him in danger just by being around him.

"Although, you see, if it's still fine with you, Mr. Scoresby, I'd like to take you up on your offer to spend a few nights at your house."

Sure I knew the answer, I still had to ask and get it off my chest for my own peace of mind.

"I've already spoken to your wife, and she said she was fine with that, but...I wanted you to know. I mean, just for a few days. Until I earn enough to find my own place."

"Of course, Korra, I wouldn't have offered it to you only to tell you no afterward. But speaking of work, what do you think about working here in the stables?"

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"Well...I mean, I don't know anything about it. I don't even know how to ride a horse, I mean a scalehoof."

"It's not a job that requires having an array for, if that's what you mean. The stable master would tell you what to do. Look, Korra, I don't think you're one to mind dirty work, so..."

"No, I'm not," I blurted out, not entirely sure why I was hesitating. This was what I was looking for, a job, a real job, not a fancy one, but still far better than ending up as a whore in Tender Way. "It's just - would they really hire someone like me?"

"That's up to the stable master. Anyway, as I was going to say, this is a golden opportunity, Korra. With all the Terr'dens coming from the north, finding a job opening is not easy. Especially for Terr'dens and halfs like you."

"W-why?"

"Some, not all, see you as someone who's taking jobs away from the locals. There are many places that are looking for workers but won't hire one with fur and tail."

"Is it that bad?"

"Um-hmm." Much to my surprise, it was Ria who spoke up, nodding. "My mom says so too, that she and dad are lucky to have at least some jobs."

"Is that why you work as a guide?"

I mean, I knew she was trying to earn some coins to help her family. But honestly, a kid like her should be in school, not running around the city all day. Again, though, I knew shit about how this world worked, let alone if there were even any schools.

"Yes, I'm old enough to work. I want to help them," the little kitare said proudly and confidently, just to frown nonetheless. "Mom lets me keep everything I earn, though."

'Good on her, shame on me.'

Seriously, while the eight-year-old was doing what she could to help, I was hesitant to accept something that didn't sound like such a bad job.

"Okay, Mr. Scoresby. What should I do? Who should I talk to?"

The old man smiled broadly. "Don't worry about that. I'll take you to see the stable master. The man is always around."

─◇─◇─◇─

»Who are you? Beast? Speak or leave!« A large black dog barked at me, standing guard at the feet of the man fixing the gate to one of the stable buildings.

"I'm just here to talk. Not to hurt anyone." I told the dog after a brief hesitation instead of introducing myself to my potential future employer. Awkward, but I didn't want to have the dog bite my leg.

»Good. Better not even think about it,« the dog growled, lying down on the ground, his eyes on me.

"I'll be damned; I guess this is the gal you were talking about, old man?" asked the stable master, putting down his tools and wiping his hands on his pants. The man, I would guess in his fifties, was neither tall nor muscular, but I still had to raise my eyes to look at him and matching him in strength didn't even cross my mind.

[Stablemaster: 81 sigils]

Not only was he a well-built male, but he was also one of the few common folks with such a high number of sigils I saw outside of the barracks or Labyrinth Square.

"Name's Oswyn Hale, yours?" the stable master asked, offering me his hand.

"Korra Grey." It took a lot, but I managed to keep my voice steady and even shake his hand properly.

"Nice meeting you. Scoresby talked about you understanding scalehoofs, but somehow forgot to mention the other animals," Stable Master Hale said, raising his eyebrows at the old man to which Scoresby just shrugged, grinning. "Better to see it for yourself."

"Bullshit, old geezer. You wanted to see her catch me with my pants down - and honestly, she did. Never seen a half-Terr like you, Grey."

"Y-yeah, I hear that a lot. And I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to surprise you."

"Not your fault. The old geezer is to blame. Anyway, call me interested. So you're looking for a job? With a kid? Yours?"

"Yes, I mean no," I blurted out, red in the face. "Ria is the guide I hired."

"Ah, the uniform - and the job?"

"Yes, definitely yes. If you’ll have me."

"That we shall see. Scalehoofs are gentle animals; they're not gonna let just anyone in."

"Yeah, I know..." I sighed, not seeing my prospects of getting a job here as very promising.