Meera came over the moment the girl vanished through the rear doors at a dead sprint. "If Lily's mom says it's okay, can we stay? I really want to watch the fights tomorrow. Lily says her older brother will be there too. And lily said there would be lots of prizes, even for little kids who go to play on an obstacle course."

May grabbed Meera, placing her on her lap. "Do you really want to watch a bunch of smelly boys fighting? Or do you want to play on the obstacle course?"

Meera bounced a couple of times. "If Papa fights, I want to watch, but I want to play with the other kids if not."

Frowning, May pinched Meera's cheeks. "You want Papa to fight? If he wins, you will get a stranger for a mother, you know."

The horrified look on Meera's face made the entire room explode in laughter even the young man who was browsing the cases joined in. "Sorry, little miss, but I am winning the competition Miss. Lou and I have been engaged since we were kids. This tournament is nothing but a farce to raise the peasant's spirits."

The old man scoffed. "I, for one, hope someone saves that poor girl from life with you and that shrew of a mother you have. I don't know what that fool was thinking, engaging his daughter to your family. I can only speculate that he owes your father a favor."

The young man's face turned red. "How dare you, old man talk about your betters in such a way I have half a mind to call the city guard to throw you in a dark hole somewhere for the rest of your short life." Again laughter echoed throughout the room. Even I joined in. I can sense this 'boys' cultivation. If he had half a mind as he said, he would leave this instant.

Standing and putting her hands on her hips, "My Papa could beat you up with one arm tied up." Meera shouted angrily. Then her hands flew to her lips as she looked up at me. I could see tears welling in her brown eyes.

Putting a hand on her head, I smile. "While what you said is true, I prefer not to fight with children and remember what I said earlier about listening to bad people?"

This was apparently not the correct thing to say during this particular instance. The young man bellowed while pulling a sword that is mostly decorative from its looks. "Stand up and face me, boy; you think I cant see that you are at most 16, a full two years younger than me. You should be calling me elder brother. Now, I will give you one last chance to get on your knees since I'm not particularly eager to 'fight children.'" He said the last with a mocking sneer. "If you do as I say, I will let you go while only taking your tongue. If you don't, then I will take your remaining arm and your woman for my bed. The little freak I will send to muck out my stables."

I had clamped my hand over Meera's ear, holding her head to my stomach during his rant. Instead of answering the entitled prick, I looked into his eyes until he looked away. With a snort, I sat back down, watching his face turn even redder. I turned to May. "You heard that right. He wants to take you to his bed." I looked back at the young man. "That was a stupid thing to say." I turned Meera around as May moved. It was so fast I don't think anyone, but the old man and I even saw what happened. One moment May sat beside me, one arm wrapped around Meera. The next moment I heard a distinct meaty sound of a small foot connecting with a man's nether region. Then the screaming began. I could swear I also saw blood on his pants as he fell to the floor, but a wave of the old man's hand and the moron was flung out the door.

As if on cue, Lily burst from the back room shouting. "Mom said it's fine if Grandpa says it is." She came to a screeching halt when she noticed the tense atmosphere then heard Meera crying into my stomach. Lily darted forward, trying to pry Meera away, only stopped when the old man grabbed her.

I pulled her from my stomach then accepted a cloth from May to wipe her face. "Hey, why don't you and Lily finish picking hairpins? So we can get washed up and don't forget to get one for May." Meera nodded, taking the cloth from my hand. Before taking Lily's hand to be led back to the pins lined up on the floor.

I turned to the old man. "I really hope we didn't just cause you problems. It sounds like that brat came from a wealthy family."

Both the old man and woman scoffed before he spoke. "That idiot will be getting beaten by his Father tonight when he finds out whose shop he caused a scene in." Getting to his feet, he addressed the middle-aged woman. "Marie you can take the rest of the day off, and tomorrow we will close down early." Marie gathered her sewing before saying her goodbyes, nodding politely to May and me on her way out, closing the shutter behind her.

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We followed them through the back door leading to a small courtyard of raked sand, with flat stones placed for walking paths. Lily hopped from one to the other, followed somewhat slower by Meera. The old couple waved before heading to a small hut built by a pond surrounded on three sides by a tall bamboo. Lily guided us into a large house with a tiled roof that hung low over a wide wood slat walkway that led around the side of the courtyard to a smaller building.

Lily took off her shoes, leaving them in a wood box on the side, and we followed her example, taking a pair of rabbit fur slippers she handed out from another box. May and I watched as Lily helped Meera remove her shoes, both falling over in the process while having a giggling fit that drew the attention of a woman around thirty and very pregnant. She introduced herself as Rachel; that's all, no surname, just Rachel.

She showed us all inside to get cleaned up then showed us to the guest room. "I will allow you two to share a room, but this door is to remain open at all times, do you understand. She pointed a huge spoon at my face as she said this. Also, if either of you has a communication key for your home, I would like to speak with your parents."

May handed a small inscribed stone to Rachel, who held out her hands in a no-nonsense way. When she turned to me, I shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know my family." Rachel stared at me for a long moment before her eyes darted to the stump of my left arm. She clicked her tongue before walking away, presumably to talk to May's parents. May shouted toward her back that her parents know about me so she can ask them any questions. I could see some tension leave Rachels's shoulders as she waved back. Did she think I kidnapped these two or something?

I moved to sit down on an upholstered chair but was grabbed by May, who pointed me toward the washroom. I rolled my eyes but did as she asked, taking the clean clothes she took out as I went. I turned, giving her a mischievous grin. "Want to join me? Rachel never said we couldn't close the washroom door." I got a comb to the face for my joke, so I left, enjoying the way her face turned bright red. No matter how much we tease each other, it never gets old. However, her teasing is a lot crueler than she knows. I shook those images from my head as I entered the stone washroom finding a steaming basin of water waiting for me. I fully enjoyed the first hot bath in... Wait, this is the first I remember. However, my pleasant bath was rudely interrupted by the entrance of a squealing, giggling four-year-old who dove headfirst into the bath while being chased by a harried-looking May.

I shook my head as I straightened Meera and began soaping her curly brown hair. May placed down a clean set of towels and a dress I don't remember seeing before for Meera. Probably an old dress of Lily's. After I finished washing Meera's hair, I got up, wrapping myself in a towel May handed me before exiting the tub. May took my place a moment later, sighing as she relaxed into the warm water. This has been our routine with bathing for the past month since Meera won't let May wash her hair because May gets soap in her eyes. Well, sort of our routine, we don't have a nice basin tub in May's fancy ring. Huh, that's a thought. "We should buy a tub to keep in your ring." All I got was a semi-coherent mhmm. I was dressed and about to leave when May asked me to dump more hot water in the tub. I threw a rag at her instead. "Use your fire qi to warm the water. I don't want to scald Meera accidentally."

I shut the door behind me, coming face to face with an unhappy Rachel. "I said no shenanigans under my roof. Now go outside and help Lily and Felix pick some vegetables." I didn't reply, only nodded, then headed for the door she pointed at.

Outside I found Lily struggling to pull a radish from the ground while a young man my age, maybe a year older, waved a wooden stick around. I watched for a moment, trying to figure out what he was doing before shaking my head and helping Lily. Lily grinned at me then scowled at Felix. "If you don't help, I'm telling Mom." I chuckled and started pulling the veggies Lily pointed out to me. I used a tiny amount of earth qi to remove any blemishes or rotten spots. Or, in the case of one carrot, a nasty worm.

I noticed Felix half-heartedly yanking at another radish while Lily swatted his hand, telling him we didn't need anymore. "I take it your one of the strays Lily brought home?"

A split second later, a dirt clod smacked into the side of his head. I saw a massive man at least seven feet tall and four feet wide washing himself at a well. "Son, for that rude comment, you can spend the evening collecting slag at the forge and be grateful I don't tell your mother what you said."

A voice at the door said, "Don't tell me what who said?"

The big man flinched before giving me a wink. "Nothing dear, just messing with the boys."

I saw Felix sigh in relief before he turned to me, holding out a hand. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Lily has a bad habit of bringing in sick animals that I usually have to deal with after she goes to bed."

I shrugged, grabbing all the vegetables I could carry. "I don't mind, but you should watch that tongue, you let something slip with the wrong person. It might not be only you that gets in trouble but your family too."

"Alright, you lot hurry up after dinner. We need to get everything around for the children's tournament tomorrow. And Felix, you better get a good night's sleep. You will be in the first bracket for the real tournament." Before anyone moved, Rachel returned, "Hurry. I said we still have to clean and chop all those vegetables." I heard Lily grumble about the children's tournament being real too.