The carriages were not as quiet as they had been when heading to the cemetery.

Three wagons, three medium sized ones with cloth coverings, were all rolling in a line along the city street. There were ten women per wagon, and they were all noisy now. They were talking, although with somber voices. At least they were noisy. I couldn’t understand them, of course, but the way they all pointed out the wagon at the buildings and people we passed told me that their friend’s funeral had gone well.

Even Glanny, who had sobbed so much at the funeral that I feared for her, was now laughing.

Leaning over to Brandy, who sat with me on the front of the carriage’s seat, I whispered to get her attention. “Think we could stop somewhere? To let them eat or something?” I asked her.

“Sorry Renn, but this many of them would draw far too much attention,” Brandy said. She didn’t whisper, but I knew it was because there was no point. The girls didn’t speak our language.

“I see,” I nodded. I had expected as much, but it was too bad.

Brandy and I were on the wagon in the center. Vim was guiding the first wagon, alone, and behind us were Brom and Reatti in the third.

Surprisingly, Lawrence and Wynn had been at the cemetery waiting for us. They had helped in the burying and rites of the girl… and had done a very good job. They had known some of the traditions that these eastern girls had expected, and performed them properly. It had surprised me to hear Lawrence talk to them in their language. But at the same time, maybe not. He seemed… old. Like Vim.

Those two hadn’t rejoined us on the trip back, however.

“Was hoping to make it back in time to go to the embassy after we got back, but oh well,” Brandy sighed.

“Hm…” I nodded. The sky was growing dark, and quickly. Another storm was nearing.

Lamp poked her head out from the cloth curtain, and said something to Brandy. She spoke in a happy tone, and I watched as Lamp glanced at me and smiled as she spoke.

Smiling back at her, I listened to Brandy’s response. It had been a short one.

Lamp said something, and then went back into the wagon to relay whatever had been said.

“She asked if we’d let them all hold a eulogy for the girl, and all the others they lost,” Brandy informed me.

“Eulogy?” I asked.

“Just something they do for the deceased. They’ll probably spend the night singing songs in their honor, or telling stories. She’s basically asking for permission for them to be noisy throughout the night,” Brandy said.

“Ah… why would we say no to that?” I asked.

“Most would, Renn. Different religions usually don’t mix well,” she said.

“Oh. I see,” I nodded as I understood what Brandy was actually trying to say.

“They might even sacrifice something in tribute… maybe I should get them a goat?” Brandy wondered.

“A goat…?” I asked.

“Some cultures do that. Never met a pagan before?” she asked.

“Is that what they are?” I asked. They hadn’t seemed like it.

“Basically. They’ll eat it though, so don’t worry about it going to waste. It’s more of a ritual of symbolic nature. Or does it disturb you?” Brandy asked.

I noticed the way she studied me. This was one of her questions that had importance. “It’s odd, but if it doesn’t harm anyone I think it’s fine,” I said.

She smiled at me and nodded in a way that told me she liked what I had said.

“Would Vim be okay with it?” I asked.

“Vim doesn’t tell anyone no,” she sighed.

“He doesn’t like a lot of things though?”

She shrugged and pulled the rains a little. To slow the horse, since Vim had slowed his wagon as well. I couldn’t see the reason, but based off the sounds and how busy the streets were becoming it was simply because of traffic.

We weren’t too far from the guild building after all. From what I could remember, just a few turns from here and we’d be entering the depot.

“To be honest with you Renn, I’m surprised none of them have tried to run away,” she said.

“Huh?” I glanced at Brandy.

“The girls. I expected some of them to run. Maybe even all of them,” she said with a shrug.

Glancing at the cloth behind me, which hid the ten women who were all talking amongst themselves… I wondered how serious Brandy was being.

“Is it that surprising?” I asked her.

“Very. We’ve been kind to them, especially you, but this is still… well… They haven’t had a happy experience, that’s for sure. For none of them to even try makes me wonder if maybe Vim had saved one of them or something,” she said.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, now a little more interested.

“When a man saves a woman, especially when she’s going through such turmoil… well, they become very cordial. I mean really, Renn isn’t it obvious?” Brandy smirked at me.

“Lamp does seem to think highly of him…” I complained.

“Who wouldn’t in their position? Though don’t worry about it. They like you too. They find your efforts adorable,” Brandy said.

“Oh?” they had talked to Brandy about me? Or had Brandy been the one to ask them? Maybe she had asked to make sure I was taking care of them properly.

Someone walked up close to our wagon, and I turned to quickly see who it was. I calmed down at the sight of Brom. He stepped up near us, walking alongside our slowly moving cart. “I’ll go ahead and make sure that they make room for us in the depot,” he told us.

“Please do,” Brandy said.

Brom nodded and hurried away. I noticed he paused to talk to Vim before running ahead of us.

“Good lad, Brom. I’m sure you’ve realized it by now, but if anything ever happened and Vim isn’t around go to him. He’s proven himself. He’ll not cower when it comes to it,” Brandy told me.

“I figured,” I said. I had the bruises that proved that fact. Though… I also had bruises because he did cower, in a way. He panicked when I put him in a dangerous position. He’d toss me onto my back whenever I got too close to hurting him, instinctively.

The wagons turned to the right, and then we came to a stop on the new road. I recognized the buildings we stopped near, and I knew that we were now waiting in line to enter the depot.

We were close enough that honestly we should just let them out of the wagons and walk in… but I knew Brandy and the rest wouldn’t allow it. They didn’t want anyone thinking the Animalia Guild dealt with slaves.

And they, thirty women of foreign descent all looking the way they did… well…

That looked like slavery, from a distance.

Although they were all cleaned up, and in fresh clothes that actual fit… They still had bruises. They still looked malnourished. They still had haunted looks in their eyes. And now, of course, they probably also looked as if they had all just been sobbing for hours… because they had been.

“They are very docile,” I whispered as I stared in front of us. One of the girls was peering at us from behind the cloth cover of the wagon. I couldn’t tell who it was, but she was smiling at us.

“They know they’re safe with us. But yes… as I said, I’m surprised,” Brandy said.

The wagons slowly started moving again, and I watched the city slowly pass us by.

Most of the buildings in this area were warehouses, or businesses. And most of the buildings were huge… with little room between them and the next. The few alleys we passed were dark, and full of stuff. Boxes, crates, and other junk.

Yet every so often… I saw people within them.

People wearing cloaks. People that looked like they didn’t belong. People without any colors or insignia’s to mark them, and let people know what company they worked for.

“Is the city dangerous Brandy?” I asked her.

“Yes. Sadly it is. These girls are proof of that, Renn,” Brandy said.

“I see…” I stared at the alleys we passed, and wondered if the people hiding in them were some of those dangerous things.

“It’s as you said before… we’re lucky. We don’t need to worry over certain things. Though that’s not all of us, Renn… some are weak. Some aren’t blessed with our strength,” Brandy said.

I nodded. I knew that. I had noticed several who struggled with the heavy metal doors of the Society.

“I heard you sent a letter to Twin Hills?” Brandy then asked.

“Oh…? I thought stuff like that was private?” I asked.

“It is. I just happen to be the one Gerald asked to handle it, which is why I found out,” she smiled at me as she told me how she knew.

“Hm… It’s for Lomi. A young fox girl who Vim took to live there, about the time I joined,” I said.

“I know her story, though I don’t know her,” Brandy said, and then she had to tug on the reigns to stop the horse. Vim’s wagon came to a stop again.

Leaning over, I stared at the scene in front of us. Vim had hopped off the carriage in front of us, and Brom was now hoping up to take over.

“What’s going on?” Brandy asked.

“Brom swapped with Vim,” I said.

“Oh?”

Vim then said something to Brom and then turned took at me.

He smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“What happened?” Brandy asked. I blinked as I realized she had been staring at me, since she couldn’t see him she was looking at me instead.

“Nothing…” I said as I sat back up and straight.

Brandy chuckled, and I knew she had a very good idea of what had happened.

Jeez…

Still…

Leaning over little, I peered around the wagon in front of us to see Vim again.

Watching Vim as he spoke to one of the women in the wagon in front of us, he made her laugh as he pointed at Brom. Vim smirked, and then waved as the wagon in front of us lurched forward.

“Finally,” Brandy sighed, and with a snap she sent this wagon forward too.

We rolled forward, and I stared at Vim as we drew closer to him. He stood still in the middle of the street, watching us pass.

“What are you doing?” I asked him as we passed.

“My job. What are you doing?” he asked.

“My… job?” I wondered if I was.

“Don’t have such a huge smile then, it’s weird,” Vim said as we rolled past him. I couldn’t say anything in response, since we left him behind.

Brandy snickered as we slowly rolled along.

A small part of me wanted to hop off the wagon, to join him… but I knew better than to leave Brandy alone to deal with the women on her own. She’d be fine, of course, but it wasn’t fair.

“Makes me wonder what happened for you to look so lovingly at him already. You just yesterday broke his nose,” Brandy teased me.

“I didn’t break it,” I argued.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“You tried to.”

I had… but… Could I even if I wanted to? He hadn’t even flinched at my attack…

Brandy directed the wagon into the depot, behind the wagon in front of us. I noticed that although people were in the depot, working hard, there weren’t any other wagons or carts in the other lane at the moment.

They had stopped the other carts and wagons from entering so we could unload the girls without drawing attention.

That must have been what Brom had hurried ahead to do.

Magdalena approached the two horses which were pulling our wagon, and had them stop. “Welcome back,” she greeted us.

“Thanks,” Brandy said as I went to hop off the wagon.

As I did Brandy stuck her head into the wagon to tell Lamp and the rest to disembark.

The cloth flapped open as they all hurried to hop off the wagon. As they did, the third wagon behind us guided by Reatti entered the depot.

Vim spoke to Reatti as he guided the horses of their wagon into the depot.

Lamp said something to me as she patted me on the shoulder. Whatever she said sounded happy, so I just smile and nodded at her.

While the three wagons became empty, I watched as all the women who had been separated for the last two hours went to talking with one another.

Doing a headcount, I quickly counted the thirty women. They were all still here.

I hadn’t even thought about any of them trying to escape, or run away. Honestly it’s not like we’d really stop them… but I hoped none tried or did so.

Unable to speak the language here, there was a good chance they’d only end up suffering again if they left us.

As I studied them all, I noticed that the women were quickly gathering around Vim. He was now talking to Lamp, and I noted the… happy smile on her face. He said something, then she said something back and the whole group laughed.

Although… jealous, that I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I still found myself smiling and enjoying it all the same.

I liked how, even though he didn’t truly care for them… he was still gentle and kind to them. Even though he didn’t have to be.

Then Lamp said something and pointed over at me. I shifted as most of the women looked at me, and then several spoke up. Very quickly I heard my name come from most of them, as they told Vim all about whatever they were talking about.

“Uh…” I glanced around for Brandy, hoping for a translation. Especially since Vim had one of his amused smiles on his face. He was enjoying whatever they were saying, which meant he’d probably not tell me. Just because it was funny to him.

Brandy was over with Magdalena, talking. Not paying attention to us at all.

Great.

Then one of the girls walked over and grabbed me by the arm. She pulled me, kindly, to the center of the group. Lamp gestured for me to come up next to her, who stood next to Vim.

I obliged, and felt a little… silly, as they all talked in their odd language all around me. Some of them were taller than me, so it made me feel a little out of place amongst them.

They were all blonde. Pretty. Young. And their happy smiles and demeanor made them all the more beautiful.

“They want to tell you something, Renn,” Vim then said to me.

“Oh?” I nodded, wondering what they wanted.

Lamp said something, then so did another. Very quickly they all said the same thing to me… with only minor variations.

“Thank you for your kindness… basically,” Vim translated for me.

Oh.

My eyes grew watery as I nodded. “Thank you,” I said.

Vim said something to them, with much more words than a simple translation of my own words would have been.

They all laughed at me, and suddenly I was wrapped in a hug. Startled, I watched Vim’s face as I was wrapped in another hug, and then another.

Accepting a hug from each one of them, I smiled and nodded as each one said something to me as they did so.

What were they all thanking me for anyway? For letting them bury their friend?

I hadn’t been the one to make it happen. Brandy and Vim had…

“Alright! Stop smothering her!” Brandy approached, and then started yelling at them in their language. They all released me and turned to listen to her.

I watched as they all smiled at her, and then Brandy finished her speech. They all nodded, and begun chatting amongst themselves excitedly.

“Renn,” Lamp patted my shoulder, and I turned to watch her then reach over and tap Vim to get his attention. She said something to him, all while holding my arm.

Vim said something to her, and then gestured to Lamp. “She’s inviting you to their wake. The uh… celebration, of their friend’s death. Brandy just gave them permission to do it on the roof tonight, she’s even going to get them a lamb I guess,” Vim said.

“Oh…” I glanced at Lamp who was smiling eagerly at me. “Should I say yes Vim?” I asked him. I wanted to, to see what this supposed celebration was… but…

“It’d be fine. They’re just going to sacrifice the lamb in her name. They won’t even kill it. The eastern people sacrifice by claiming the animal holy. They make a promise to their gods that they’ll not kill the beast for food or resources, until it dies of old age. So they’ll just have a ceremony, maybe sing some songs, all while being together and having fun. It’s a moment of joy,” Vim described it to me.

“Then yes, I’d be happy to join them,” I said.

Vim told her, and Lamp happily nodded and gave me a quick hug. As she did, I noticed that like most… she felt skinny. Too skinny. More bones than not.

They had a long way to go.

“I’ll take them back,” Brandy said as she waved for the women to follow her as she began shouting in their language.

Lamp said one last thing to me, and then she reached over and kissed me on the forehead. I stood there, a little dumbstruck, as she gave me a happy smile and then stepped away to join the rest of her friends.

Watching the thirty women follow Brandy into the building, I reached up to touch my forehead. Where she had kissed me.

“Don’t tell me you fell for her or something,” Vim said.

“Maybe,” I said as I rubbed my forehead. It tingled for some reason.

Vim shifted, looking at me oddly.

“What?” I asked as I smiled at him. He looked jealous.

“You did spend years with a woman, didn’t you,” he mumbled.

“Nory. Yes. I loved her too,” I said with a nod.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and sighed.

Laughing at him, I glanced back at the crowd of women entering the building. They were forming a line as to pass through the large doors.

As they left someone walked over and then hoped up onto one of the wagon that Vim had been on earlier. It was a worker I didn’t recognize. “Where do they put them?” I asked Vim as he flipped the reigns and made the horses start moving.

Another man came over, and with a small nod to us he climbed up onto the second the wagon. I stepped back alongside Vim to get out of the way as they went to moving the wagons. “There’s a warehouse across the street that has our carts and a stable for the horses,” Vim said.

“Why aren’t they stored in the building?” I asked.

“Why should they be?”

“To make sure nothing happens to them…?” I suggested.

“That warehouse is guarded too. It’s fine,” he waved the concern off easily.

“Hm… Brandy said this town can be dangerous,” I said.

“It can be.”

Glancing at Vim, I wondered what to say. I was running out of common conversations…

He and I hadn’t actually had a real conversation since I had hit him. A few here and there, like last night when Glanny’s sister had died… And this morning, when we had been preparing for the burial. But mostly our conversations have been of work, or rather… not about what had happened.

Vim had said that what had happened was a little spat. As he called it.

Yet I hadn’t apologized yet. And even though he seemed more than willing to laugh it off, and wasn’t bothered by it…

I felt that I should say something. That I should properly apologize and…

“Your painting is almost done, by the way,” I whispered.

Vim stopped watching the wagons roll away and looked back at me. “Oh?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ve been… busy,” I gestured at the door that was now closed. They were out of sight now.

“Yea… that’s mostly my fault, so I’ll forgive you there,” he said.

“Oh? So you admit you made a mistake?” I asked him.

“Damn right I did. I should have tossed them overboard when I found them,” he said.

“Please don’t say that,” I said, unhappy to hear him say so.

“Hm… I guess you’re right. I’d not have done so. Let me rephrase it… I wish they would have tried to kill me or escape, so I could have done that justifiably,” he nodded as he spoke, as if proud of his reasoning.

I sighed at him, and wondered if he’d actually kill them all if he could.

“Would you Vim?” I asked, unable to not.

Vim shifted, and then pointed at the large gate we had just come from. “It’ll take them awhile to start their tribute. Not until sundown. Willing to accompany me until then?” he asked.

“Oh! Yes,” I nodded quickly. Too quickly. He smirked at me, and I knew my reaction had been… too much. I blushed a little as he turned and I went to follow him out of the depot.

Reatti and Brom waved at us as we left, they were walking back into the building too. Why had they waited so long…?

Watching the way they whispered to each other, I realized that they had been watching me. Or well, me with Vim.

While we left the depot, the warehouse started to get back to work. People began to whistle and guiding the next wagons in.

Walking behind Vim, I followed him across the street and then we took a left. To head away from the port.

Wonder where we were going. Was he hungry? Thirsty? Maybe he’d take me somewhere he liked, like that time in Telmik.

We hadn’t eaten together in… well…

Since the day we got here.

“I’m surprised you got Brom and Reatti to help us. They hadn’t really wanted to help before,” I said.

“You just need to know how to ask,” Vim said. He turned a little, and stepped towards the side of the sidewalk. He wanted me to walk up to his right, to walk beside him.

I picked up my pace a little as he slowed his, and I took my place to his right. “In other words you strong-armed them?” I asked.

“You think someone like me would ever do that?” he asked back.

“Oh definitely not,” I said with a smile.

Vim had us take another left, and suddenly we were heading towards the center of the city. Towards the massive castle not too far away.

As we walked I glanced at the alleyways we passed. I didn’t see anyone within them… but…

“What have you been looking for, Renn?” Vim asked.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been staring into the alleys for awhile now, what caught your eye?” he asked.

“Oh. I’ve seen people in them. I’m just wondering if they’re…” I stopped talking as someone walked out from a building’s door in front of us. They ignored us as we passed them, and they locked the door they had left from.

“Most are workers. The few who aren’t are either the homeless or people up to no good. Just leave them be,” he spoke a little callously, as if he didn’t care.

“You really don’t care much for anything other than our Society, do you?” I asked him.

“I don’t have the luxury of doing anything else. And why do you ask that now? Do you suddenly feel like saving everyone or something? You become responsible for a few poor women and now you want to help everyone?” he asked me.

“Huh? No… That wasn’t what I was thinking at all. I was just trying to understand the city a little more… How come it’s so wealthy, yet there seems to be such an issue. Telmik didn’t have people in the alleys,” I said.

“Yes it did. Just not near the church,” Vim said flatly.

“Oh…” I didn’t like that.

“But… you are correct. It’s worse here. Probably the worst out of anywhere. It’s because of the port. People hop onto the ships from all over and come here thinking they’ll change their fate. Become rich. Become healthy or happy. They get here and nothing changes,” Vim said.

“Why doesn’t it? Aren’t there lots of jobs here?” I asked.

“Says who? Haven’t you noticed how hard the humans struggle to make sure they keep the jobs at the company? For every open position they have hundreds of applicants, Renn,” Vim said.

“Oh…” I see. That made a lot of other things a lot more understandable.

Vim guided me around a corner and we finally left the area of the Animalia company. Other symbols and names started to pop up on the windows and signs as we walked down a smaller street. One for feet, not wheels and hooves.

“Have you walked around the city yet?” he asked me.

“Hm? The only time I left the building was with Reatti. To get painting supplies,” I said.

“She was with you?” he asked.

I nodded. “She had been. We went to a place near the port. It was… interesting. It smelled like the Sleepy Artist, but was small. They didn’t really sell paintings, just the supplies,” I said.

He nodded as if he knew the shop I spoke of.

“Is that what we’re doing? Are we going to check the city out?” I asked, a little excited. I had thought he had already done this, since before he left the company. For him to have also invited me to join him was…

“Just a single section of it. I want to see the stock… I mean the booth market, and then I figured I’d take you out on a date to properly earn your forgiveness for what I did,” Vim said coolly.

I stopped walking for a moment, but he didn’t stop. He kept walking… even though he knew I had stopped.

I huffed as I hurried to catch up with him. “Date?” I asked him.

“Something a man and woman do… or well I guess any two people, really. A special moment to be alone, basically. Usually involves food, fun, entertainment, flirting, and sometimes a stabbing,” he said.

“Stabbing?” I asked with a laugh. I knew what a date was, but I hadn’t realized he’d actually use that word to describe our little outings.

“Those are the best kind of dates,” he said with a nod.

“Jeez… I like the food and fun part. Reatti has told me of some kind of underground pub that’s here that she and the others go to…” She hadn’t told me the name of it yet, which was odd, but she had said it was near the castle.

“The Sunken Barrel. Yes. We’re not going there,” he said.

“Hm… she wants me to go with her,” I agreed.

“Plus it’s just for drinking. She must not realize you’re more of a food girl,” he said.

“I am,” I admitted.

He chuckled, and then gestured for me to join him in crossing the street.

We crossed easily enough, thanks to there not being wagons or carts… but the street were on was now a little busy. There were more and more people walking around. Most were dressed nice, but there were also plenty who weren’t… which told me this wasn’t a place only for the rich and powerful.

“By the way, why were you surprised I hadn’t checked the city out already?” I asked him.

“Figured you would have wanted to. You like new things,” he said.

I smiled at him, and wondered why he hadn’t realized that what I enjoyed was experiencing those new things with him.

“Gerald didn’t want me to wander around on my own,” I told him.

“Ah… I guess he is like that. He doesn’t mean any ill will by it, so don’t get too upset with him,” Vim said as we rounded a building, and went down one of the alleys I had been studying.

This alley though wasn’t dark and dreary, but rather wide and well tendered. There was an actual brick path, and it was free of both refuse and junk. It looked as if it was intended to be frequented, instead of hidden away.

“They should make all their alleys like this,” I said as I stared at the lush bushes along the sides of the buildings we were walking in-between.

“Too expensive.”

I bet it was.

“What’s a booth market by the way?” I asked.

“A place that lets a city know the current price trends of items. Stuff like materials, and goods. Useful for large companies, more than a smaller one. But traveling merchants find the most use of them,” Vim said.

“Why are we going there? The guild has one,” I said. I had seen that board, in Lawrence’s office.

“It’s not the prices I want to see,” he said.

Oh. He wanted to see the people there. To see how people were acting, talking, and if there was tension in the air or not.

Vim glanced at me as we reached the end of the alley, and he paused before we stepped out into the new road. He smiled at me for a moment, and then held out his hand.

At first I wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted, but I realized quick enough. I took his hand with my own, and felt a warmth fill me as he nodded and squeezed my hand.

“So far so good,” I told him.

“Good is good enough,” he said, and we crossed the street to head for the market he wanted to examine.