Morning brought some relief, but Parry still hurt in places that had no analog to muscles or bones yet suffused them all. Sean was already up, eating the rest of the loaf she'd squirreled away from the inn...yesterday?

Could that really have been yesterday? It feels like ages.

"Sean, thank you. Thanks for trusting me and helping me with the bad men. They will never bother you again."

She looked at him with chipmunk cheeks.

"I'm going to leave you here safe with the turnpike guard. He'll get you safely back to Baronston."

Panic flooded her eyes, she opened her mouth to protest.

"Swallow first? And don't worry. I'm going to give you something."

Forestalling argument, Parry put two of his jacket buttons into Sean's hand, then wrapped her fingers tightly around them.

"Put one of these in your shoe, and the other in your pocket. When you get home, give one to your father. Whatever trouble he's in, that'll will help him. But the second one is just for you. It's...lucky. Don't tell anyone about it, even your father if he asks. This is between you and the Great Lady. You keep it until someday if you're ever in real trouble, then you can trade it for gold, because it's very valuable. Okay, Sean?"

It was a lot, and her expression showed a childish mix of uncertainty, gratitude, fear of abandonment, hope and more. She didn't understand, but he'd somehow earned her trust.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I don't wanna be alone," she whispered.

He forced a smile. "You can stay here with the nice guard until he gets you on a cart bound for Baronston. I'll talk to him right now."

Parry gathered his things and found the guard just outside the quarters feeding chickens. He looked up while scattering seeds.

"You're off then?"

"Yes, thanks for letting us stay the night. I have another favor to ask. Sean there is too small to walk all the way back to Baronston, and I can't promise to protect her on the road. Can you keep her here a day or two and get her on a wagon the next time a merchant or teamster heads in? Someone you trust? I'll pay."

Parry grit his teeth with frustration as all the coins in his purse had turned to white gold.

Damnation, that's inconvenient.

He handed over a few "coppers," eliciting a frown from the guard, who stared at them, then bit them carefully.

"So. I'm not supposed to ask what a little girl I've seen around town is doing here alone, with a strange boy who's white as a ghost, offering counterfeit coins that taste like gold. Instead, I should babysit her, push her on to a wagon like she's a problem for someone else, and you just go off...where, up the road to Baronston yourself? That's what I'm supposed to do, eh?"

Parry closed his eyes, feeling like a heel.

"Yeah, um. I'm sorry? I didn't ask for this. Any of it. It sort of happened."

"You in trouble, boy?"

Shaking his head. "If you do this for me, for both of us, that ends my trouble. Mostly."

"She good with this scheme, eh?"

"She'll be fine."

The guard nodded, once. "You keep saying that to yourself, you do. Get on off now. I'll have her ride up with the loggers, they'll likely be by tomorrow."

Relief flooded Parry, along with less agreeable feelings. "Thank you. I'll say goodbye to her. Thanks."

"Thanks to everyone in the whole wide world, that's you."

"Not now, Styak."

Parry dried a few of Sean's tears, reassured her, gathered his pack and in no time at all was on the road up to Baronston, the dawn at his back, the sound of chickens tutting at him as he went.