They lapsed into silence again, but he could feel Winna’s dark eyes on him, curious. Looking up, he caught her gaze and smiled a little, “Ask your question.”

Her face heated, and she looked away. “I…just worry it’s rude?”

“Like I said before, very little you could say or do would offend me. Please ask.”

“Why were you a cat?”

“That’s not rude.” he assured her. “I’d shifted shape to escape from a bad situation, and got hit by the poison that kept me too weak to change out of cat form until your magic broke through it.”

“Oh. Why a cat, though?”

Lear shrugged, “Why not? I like cats, they’re small and agile and able to protect themselves." He paused, then added, "I don't actually have a choice in it. That's the only other shape I can take. But it suits me just fine.” he reached over and back a little, to where Diana was sitting, listening to their conversation.

The little familiar stared at his hand, unimpressed.

“Still not a fan, eh?” he asked, smiling a little.

Diana sniffed, shaking her head back and forth rapidly, like she did whenever something got in her ear.

Lou, on the other hand, maowed and be-bopped forward, happy to have the attention if her sister didn’t want it. The ridiculous little feline purred loudly, pushing her head into his hand.

“What silly gooses!” Winna giggled, getting up and sitting down on the ground beside the two cats, reaching out to pet them both, though she petted Lou on the back, which allowed Lear continue to scratch the cat’s ears. Diana allowed her mistress’ touch and began to purr as well.

Lear let himself watch the young woman, taking in every inch of her small face and form with his excellent vision. Wanting to see her even more clearly, he opened his second eyes. Her heat signature was a warm, rosy pink.

As he watched her, somewhat enamored, he heard movement outside the cottage. The fey man turned, frowning and alerting her, “We have company. Human company.”

“What? This early?” She frowned, seeming startled.

There was a knock at the door. Lear’s heat vision told him it was a man.

Winna hurried to the door, and opened it, “Yes?”

The fey man shut his second set of eyes, and watched the scene unfold.

“I’m sorry to bother you so early Winna, but I knew you’d be up already.” The man said. He was in his thirties with brown hair, blue eyes, and a handsome enough face.

“Is something wrong, Paz? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, no.” he shook his head, “I just didn’t know who else to go to about it, it’s…kind of strange, and you’re the strangest person I know, magic and everything.”

“Geez, thanks.” Winna muttered.

The man, Paz, flushed, “No, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…something odd has been going on with my sheep. I didn’t know who else to go to, since it is very weird. I wanted to ask what you thought before we did anything. You’re pretty smart about stuff.” an admiring note had crept into the man's voice as he'd spoken the last sentence.

Lear didn't like the man's admiring tone, nor the way he gazed down at Winna. The fey man had known her for a mere handful of days, and she’d really only known him for one, at most, but the situation irked him. He knew he had no right to her or any sort of claim on her, but the potential for competition in regards to her affection riled him.

“I don’t know about that, but come in out of the cold.” Winna sighed, stepping aside. Lear stood and walked over to join them.

“Thank you.” Paz stepped in, then froze upon catching sight of Lear. “What the-?!”

“Oh, I should have warned you, I have a guest. This is Lear, he’s staying here until he’s healed.” Winna told the man matter-of-factly.

“A fey patient? You’ve never taken fey before.” Paz’s gaze was mistrustful.

“There’s a first time for everything.” Winna shrugged, “I’d have taken them sooner if the opportunity arose. I don’t turn anyone away, provided they don't cause me trouble.”

“Fey often cause trouble though.” Paz muttered.

“You’re not wrong.” Lear replied mildly, “But I’m not here to cause any problems, just to heal. She’s already helped me more than I can repay.”

“I-I don't know about that.” the young woman’s face flushed pink. Pink looked nice on her, in his not so humble opinion.

Paz blinked, then said, “You’re too kind, Winna, I’m always worried someone will take advantage of that kindness.” his eyes flickered to Lear as he spoke.

“I won’t allow it.” Lear said quietly, opening his second set of eyes, wanting to unnerve the man.

It worked, and Paz looked away.

“Are you two done with whatever is going on here?” Winna crossed her arms, looking back and forth between them, apparently not blind to the tension that hung thick in the air.

“What are you talking about?” Paz asked, trying to save face.

“Not nearly as naive as you think. Give yourself more credit.” Lear smirked, sitting down. In his mind, it was better if she knew that he found her attractive, lest she worry the attraction was only one-sided.

Winna narrowed her eyes at them, then scoffed. “Men. And people wonder why I'm not married!"

Paz’s face flushed at that comment, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Lear bore into him with his gaze. The other man took the hint and remained silent.

“Now, have you had breakfast yet, Paz?” Winna asked.

“Uh, yes, but I could eat again.” the human man glanced hopefully at the table.

“Have a seat.” she said, going and pouring another cup of coffee, and setting it down on the table in front of him before resuming her seat. She waited until Paz had a mouthful of food before saying, “I’m teaching Lear to cook, how’d he do?”

The man choked, then coughed, and took a drink of coffee, then sputtered. “It’s fine!”

“Good. Now what’s going on with your sheep? It must be something really weird, if you came here this early.”

“We’ve had several sheep killed lately.”

“Wolves?”

“No, that’s just it. Not a scratch on them, just stone cold dead.”

“Are there any signs of illness or anything? I can treat animals, you know.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

He shook his head, “That’s what we thought at first, but then one night, I swear I saw…” his voice trailed off.

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you saw, Paz.” Winna rolled her eyes.

“I swear I saw a shadow moving on its own. It…it disappeared into a sheep’s shadow, and the animal collapsed a few moments later. I ran forward to check on it, and as I approached, I saw the weird shadow slip away. There was nothing to cast it or anything. And the sheep was dead.”

“Ah shit.” Lear sighed, rubbing his face.

Paz looked up at him, “That’s not appropriate language!”

“Paz, I’ve heard you say far worse. Don't act like we didn’t go to school together.” Winna crossed her arms, looking annoyed.

“I wouldn't say stuff like that around you now!” Paz protested.

“The point is, I don’t care.” she turned her dark eyes to Lear. “Why the reaction?”

“Sounds like shadow demons.”

“Demons?!” Paz’s voice was a shocked sort of squeak.

“It's a misnomer. They’re not actual demons, they’re a type of fey. Dangerous enough, but not too difficult to deal with if you know how.”

“What should I do?” Winna asked softly. “I'm just a healer, I don't know if I could do anything even if I knew what to do."

"You're right, I don't think you could do anything, no offense."

“None taken.” she shrugged, “But we can’t just let the sheep keep getting attacked. What if they move on from sheep to humans?”

“They will, given time. But I’ll deal with them. Are you still wanting to go to Jedda’s farm?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll go speak with Jedda, then we’ll deal with this.”

“Alright then.” Winna turned to the human man. “Paz, we’ll be along after we go to Jedda’s.”

“Alright.” he nodded, drinking the last of his coffee and standing. “Thank you for coming.” He directed his comment to Winna, but his gaze flickered to Lear, still clearly mistrustful.

“He’s not going to cause any trouble. Now scoot.” the young woman rolled her eyes at him again, and he made for the door, then paused.

Turning, he asked, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.” Paz gave what he probably thought was his most winning, lady-killing smile.

It only got him another eye roll from the mage. “Get.” she shooed him from the cottage.

“He did not like me being here.” Lear snorted after the door swung shut.

“You didn’t do yourself any favors.” she arched an eyebrow at him. “He thinks any male being that looks at me is some kind of competition, though I’ve no mind to ever be with him.”

“Why not?”

“Thinks women should stay in the kitchen.”

“Ah, one of those sorts. And here I was thinking he’d reacted so poorly at me having made the food because I was fey.”

“It was a little bit of both. That’s why I waited until he’d eaten it to tell him!” She giggled mischievously.

Lear grinned, pleased to see she had a rebellious streak. But his smile faltered, “So he thinks women should stick to the house, but was perfectly willing to come get you to help with this?”

Winna’s dark eyes rolled yet again, “Only because he wants me to hop-to for him, and try to convince me to let him court me. Unfortunately, it’s a little hard to say no to helping when I am willing to help everyone to the best of my ability."

A thrill of anger coursed through him, “And he had the audacity to say that he worried someone would take advantage of your kindness?!"

“Yeah, he was projecting.” she shrugged, resuming eating.

“Tch.” Lear shot an annoyed look at the door. “Piece of shit.”

Winna snorted, “He’s not really a bad man. He just thinks he can change my mind, but in the end, I'm not interested, and he can't get that through his thick skull."

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I should probably feel flattered. I’m something of an old maid now that I’m thirty.”

“That’s not old.” It was Lear’s turn to roll his eyes.

She shrugged, “Most women are married by twenty-one around here, and usually they get hitched younger than that. I’m sort of the odd one out. It’s alright, I’m not worried about it.” Winna looked around fondly at her cottage, “I’m happy with the life I have here. I have everything I need.”

“Good for you.” Lear murmured.

It was quiet for a few moments.

“On that note, why aren’t you married? You’re handsome enough and have a pleasant personality.” she asked.

“I guess it does beg the question.” he sighed. “I’ve never felt inclined. It’s different for my people, though. Humans often pair off for life, or that’s the intention, usually. It’s rarely the intention with my kin. So much so that a fey marriage, in its oldest and truest sense, is incredibly rare, given it’s magically binding, and doesn't allow the married couple to feel anything but love for one another, and leaves us unable to feel desire for anyone else. Very few of us are interested in such a binding situation.

“That sounds like a good thing though. Love forever, and no wandering eyes. How is that a bad thing?”

“We in the high fey courts often wear our promiscuity like a badge of honor, of sorts. So to bind ourselves in such a way to one person is seen as giving up what’s considered one of the most intrinsic things in our beings.” Lear shrugged, “And it kind of takes away an aspect of our free will, which we don’t like the thought of. That said, the one couple I knew that went so far are very happy and in love.”

“Huh. I wish humans had something like that.” she muttered.

“Well, it also really is something to be cautious with. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you’ll be happy with them. Imagine being stuck in a marriage where you’re compelled to love the other person, and they you, but you’re ultimately not happy or fulfilled in life, and a different, more wisely-chosen partner might have not led to that.”

Winna was quiet for a little while. “I…I see your point. I shouldn’t equate love with happiness. That’s a fallacy, really. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you’ll be happy.”

“Exactly.”

It was quiet for a little while.

“Well, I’ve learned a lot more about fey folk than I ever thought I would in the last few days.”

“I hope that’s not a bad thing.” Lear smiled slightly.

“It’s not. I like learning.” she assured him, then stood. “We should get going.”

“Of course.” he stood and helped her clear off the table, and they quickly did the dishes.

“Thank you for helping.” the young woman murmured.

“I want to pull my own weight as much as possible.” he shrugged.

“I still appreciate it.” She sat down and started struggling into her boots, then frowned and looked up at him. “You don’t have any boots or a coat or anything.”

“No, I don't.”

“I think I have some of my dad’s old clothes stashed away somewhere.” She stood again, went to a closet, then started to dig through it.

“I don’t actually need them. We don’t feel temperature extremes the same way humans do."

“Oh?” she pulled out of the closet to look at him for a moment, then sighed and shook her head. “Well, I think folks around here will find you a little less…unusual if you dress like they do, based on the weather.”

“Fair enough.” he shrugged. It was in his best interest for the locals to not dislike him.

“I hope it’ll fit though, you’re taller than dad was, and both of my brothers.” the young woman frowned.

“I can adjust clothing in size with magic.”

“Oh? Well that’s handy.” She finally pulled out a coat and a pair of socks and boots. “Here.”

Lear took them, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Winna nodded.

He slipped his feet into the thick socks, then into the boots. “The boots fit well.”

“Good.” Winna looked over from lacing up her own shoes. “And the coat?”

“Too tight in the shoulders. I'll just make it a bit bigger.” he muttered, then pulled for his magic to adjust it. Intense pain shot through him as his magic surged, thanks to the poison. He grimaced, reining his power back in and shrugging out of the coat with a wince. “Uh…it’s fine. I don’t need one.”

“The poison?” she asked softly, looking up from tying her boots.

“Yes.” he hung the coat on the coat rack. “I’ll be alright.”

“Are you sure you won’t be cold?” her face was full of concern.

Gentle warmth spread through him at her worry for him. It was entirely misplaced, but very sweet. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I keep forgetting you can’t lie.” Winna chewed her lip in a way that was surprisingly endearing, “Tell me you won’t be cold or uncomfortable.”

“I won’t be cold or uncomfortable.” he told her readily, then reached out and helped her up.

Instead of immediately stepping away, she frowned, eyeing his shirt. It was long-sleeved, but likely not as thick as a human would want in the winter.

“Hm. Well, I at least have a scarf you can wear.” She went to the coat rack and pulled a scarf off, then paused and brightened, “Oh, wait! I have a cloak! That’ll work!” she hurried back to the closet and dug around it again for a moment, then triumphantly held out a long black cloak.

“Yes, that’ll work.” he took the cloak, and shrugged it on. “It does fit well.”

“Good.” Winna smiled, clearly pleased with the end effect. “Well, let’s go. I’ll need to hook Poppy up to the cart if we’re both going to get there.”

“No need. You can ride, I’ll fly.”

Her large, dark eyes blinked, “I forgot you have wings."

“It’s not surprising, you haven’t even seen them yet.”

“I guess.”

“Come on. I’ll help you get her saddled, and then we’ll go.”