Another group of people were being rounded up.

Sitting next to Vim, I felt oddly anxious as I watched the soldiers march the people out of the tent.

They did so at spear point. And some of the people being forced out onto the road were barely able to do so on their own. One of them was being carried by two others. They looked wobbly from here… as if…

“Ah…” I sat up a little straighter as they all fell. The world got a little louder as people began to shout and yell. Both the soldiers shouted orders and the people being forcefully marched into a group complained and begged. The chorus they sung made me fidget and worry. It was a good thing Vim was next to me, or else I’d be very…

“Hm?” Vim looked up from the little leather piece he had been messing with for the better part of the afternoon. I turned away, and looked at him… and kept my eyes on his as he watched the soldiers become violent.

Flinching as someone screamed in pain, I watched as Vim sighed.

Unlike me he wasn’t bothered by the scene of violence, but he did seem annoyed over it all the same.

“One side is both following orders, and scared of getting sick. The other is afraid they’ll be killed if they comply. It never goes well during such disparities,” he said lightly.

“You sound far too calm, Vim,” I mumbled.

“We’re not sick,” he said.

No. We weren’t. Thank goodness.

But it seemed such a thing wasn’t as common as I had thought.

When we had first arrived… we had camped at the end of the groupings. We had been the last camp along the road, and had a little bit of distance between us and others.

Now there were more. Nearly two more dozen encampments had formed, both across the road from us and past us farther down the road.

And the camps we had passed had started to dwindle… but not because they had been allowed to leave and enter the city.

Another scream echoed out, and I flinched at the woman’s cries for help.

“Vim…” I complained.

“I know Renn. I’m sorry. But I’ll not force our will on others, especially so when by doing so I’d just be endangering you. And Landi, who would be the one I’d be going to war against by doing so,” he said calmly.

I nodded. I knew that. I understood it. He’s been telling me similar stuff since the soldiers had started rounding the sick up and…

Turning, I looked away from Vim for the first time since I had looked away as to look past the nearby tents. To the bellowing smoke in the distance. It was dark, and big.

They were burning the bodies. Of not just the people who had died in the middle of the night, from the sickness, but those who had fought back.

Like the ones right now… not complying. Not obeying their orders.

“Why won’t they just leave?” I asked softly. It made no sense to me. The soldiers weren’t killing them initially. They only wanted them to leave. To leave the area, and go away. To go back from whence they came.

Yet as far as I was aware most refused. And the result was always the same. I’d understand if it was just because they couldn’t, being too sick or hurt, but several hadn’t been. Most had been healthy enough to actually try and fight back in full. With swords or spears of their own. Two days ago Vim and I had watched a pair of men even use bows. They had killed several guards before being subdued.

The soldiers nearly always ended up having to use force. And that force wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t reserved.

They didn’t force them out when it got to that point. They simple killed them.

“It’s not a pleasant thing to admit, but this is pretty standard for such a scenario. There are many reasons. Most here are merchants. They’re being forced to leave everything behind. Since they’re burning it all. Most genuinely think their stuff is worth more than their lives. Others are likely too sick to realize what’s actually happening. They look delirious. Most don’t even seem able to walk, let alone do much else. And others might not be willing to abandon their fellows who are too sick to leave, even if they themselves are. Just as I’d not leave you behind, if we had been such a position,” Vim said.

I smiled at Vim’s comment at the end there. He hadn’t meant that just literally, but figuratively.

He was saying even if we had been humans, and he not strong enough to face them all… he’d still protect me. He’d die for me.

I let myself read too much into it, since it made me feel warm inside. Even though I knew he’d say, and do the same, for any member of the Society.

“Are you going to let them do this…!” a man shouted loudly. The bellow made me flinch, since it genuinely felt as if he was shouting at us. At me.

His tone was so accusational it hurt.

Right…

There was some more noisy commotion… then silence.

Daring a glance down the road, to the scene, I flinched as I watched them use long poles to push and pile bodies onto a cart. They had finished killing those who had not obeyed. One of the men being tossed into the pile even looked as if his arms were still moving.

They killed even those who hadn’t been able to leave. Like that one who had not been able to walk on their own?

It was a death sentence either way… wasn’t it?

“Could you cure it Vim?” I asked softly.

“The disease? No idea. They look like they’re getting spots, so it could be a myriad of different things… but if it’s what I think it is, then no. Not because I couldn’t, but because the plant I’d need for the cure is not here. It’s only found in the marshes far away,” he said.

Marshes…?

My eyes left the soldiers as they headed our way. There was a section of tents they had removed, not far from where we were, that led to another road. One they used to take the bodies, and all the stuff they’d soon be burning at that huge fire in the distance.

“Does… burning all the stuff work?” I asked Vim.

“Yes. To a degree. It’s better than not doing so,” Vim said… then he flinched.

Looking down, I frowned at the little strap of leather. Or rather, the two pieces of leather.

Vim sighed, and flicked the pieces away. They flew off the cart, landing near the road.

“That’s what… the fifth one?” I asked him.

“Yes. Yes, I know. I’m not even distracted or bothered, what’s wrong with me…?” Vim asked as he leaned back a little. As he did, I noticed the way he had said such a thing. That hadn’t been just a mild mumble of a complaint. That tone he had used had been genuine, and full of worry.

“Vim…?” I asked as I sat up a little more.

We were sitting in the cart. We had moved most of the containers of paints and dyes off the cart, and to the ground nearby, so we could use the cart for sleeping. Right now though we were just sitting on it together, sitting up against a stack of the boxes.

It was interesting that no one had tried to steal any of them. They wouldn’t have gotten away with it, with Vim of course, but it was still amusing to think that no one had tried. The guards and the men who came to take tally of our days and lack of signs of sickness knew what we had, so I figured the rest of the people here did too. We had a fortune, per Vim’s explanation of it all, so…

Though maybe people just weren’t willing to do anything right now, out of fear of catching the sickness.

“What had you been trying to make?” I asked him, since he hadn’t responded to me. He looked lost in thought all of a sudden.

“Just a bracelet,” he said.

A…

Looking for the two strips on the ground, I found them easily enough. They had fallen near the road, and it was dryer there. More stone than grass and dirt.

“What for?” I asked, a little excited over it. I’ve known for a long time that Vim was handy and crafty… but he’s not once ever made anything like that on our travels. Whenever he built, or fixed, stuff it was always for someone else. For another member. Never anything for himself. He often did it simply out of boredom, I believed, but...

I honestly couldn't think of any other moment he had made something without it being for a reason.

“Why were you making a bracelet?” I asked.

“Why’d you paint half the cart?” he asked back.

Oh. So it hadn’t been for any reason, he really had just been bored.

“It’s prettier now, though,” I said.

He smirked at me. “Yes. At least you have something to show for your boredom.”

Amused, I went to sitting back with him, I sat back next to Vim. The cart was actually wide enough we could sit, and lay, without touching one another… but I still sat directly next to him. We touched more than not.

The sun was going down so it was finally cool enough that I felt I could get away with it.

“Why the struggle…? You’re usually pretty handy,” I asked.

“Not sure. I thought it was the leather, but obviously not. Maybe I’m hungry?” he wondered.

I frowned, even though he had said that a little amusingly. As if in a joke, yet not. “Still tired maybe?” I asked carefully.

I’d not said anything… but Vim has been trying to get some sleep, since we begun this… quarantine thing. It was one of the reasons I believed he was even willing to indulge in these human’s antics.

He was using it as an excuse to rest.

He'd not said it aloud, yet... and honestly might not ever do so. But I was okay with that.

Though he’d not been doing a good job of it. Either because he was on guard, or just not able to sleep very long even when tired… he has only twice as far as I was aware actually fallen asleep. Even though he’s laid on the cart with me every night. And those two times had been short, as far as I was aware.

“Not sure. I’m glad this is our last night, though. I’m in the mood for something very cold to drink,” he said.

“Oh?” I perked up at that. I too was tired of water and stale tea. We had run out of supplies rather quickly, and as such had acquired some from the humans here. They rolled in a huge wagon, full of food and water and other supplies, every few days. Vim had let me purchase whatever I wanted, which was one of the reasons we now had blankets and pillows. Though they were pushed over into a corner of the cart right now.

Although they brought supplies, and were willing to sell it to us, they didn’t bring much more than the basic necessities. Nothing tasty or desirable. Water. Tea leaves, which were nasty. Dried meat and hard bread.

“They should have your berry drinks you like here,” he then said.

Now he had my full attention as I nodded quickly. “Oh yes,” I said as I actually begun to drool at the thought of such a delicacy.

He smirked at me as I heard the wagon of corpses crunch dirt as it turned.

Looking over the cart’s side, I watched as the wagon surrounded by spearmen turned onto the other road. The one that led to the giant burning fire in the distance.

“Are they really burning so much, and so many people, that the fire can keep going all this time… or are they feeding it wood?” I asked as I studied the massive smoke stack.

“There’s another entrance that way. That fire is burning two entrance’s worth of people and their stuff. That’s also the northern entrance…. So there’s likely far more people over there than here. This one’s used by those who come by foot from the west, and that’s not normal. Most take that route from the north,” Vim said.

I gulped at the idea of such a massive fire burning so long… by people and their possessions alone.

That fire had been lit a few days ago. And it hadn’t gone out since.

It was making the air feel hotter than it was, and there was a very weird smell and taste to the air as well. But I couldn’t quite place it. Plus sometimes little flakes of ash fell. When they did I tried my best to not let them land on me, but I couldn't notice each one.

It was a little worrisome that the ash could have been from a person at one time. It was unsettling, and...

Vim has sad another fire, similar to this one, was off in the distance past the massive stone city. I couldn’t see it, but he was quite confident that it was there. I’ve known his eyesight was better than mine, but I hadn’t realized it was that much better. I couldn’t even see the dark clouds of smoke from it.

Though he might not see it, but smell it instead.

A group of guards separated from the cart, heading our way along the road. I knew not to worry over them, and not just because of Vim. I recognized some of their faces. They were the ones who patrolled the roads. They’d head into the city, and then a few hours before sunrise return.

My assumption was correct. The group of soldiers walked past our little camp without even glancing at us.

“Wonder where the bald man is,” I said.

“I’ve not seen him, but I saw another clerk type earlier on the last wagon. She wasn’t bald, but she was definitely someone who worked with numbers and not spears,” Vim said.

I tried to think of the wagon that had passed by a few hours ago. It had been only half covered, and it had a few dozen people on it. Most had been soldiers, so I hadn’t really paid much attention to it. All of them looked similar; thanks to the fact their armor and weapons were all the same.

I couldn’t remember this woman he spoke of, which bothered me.

Not just because I hadn’t noticed and he had… but also the underlying reason for it.

Vim noticed women before I did. Often. Especially ones he found to be attractive.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, and wondered if he even realized he did such a thing or not. He was weird like that. He actually had quite a few tendencies and patterns, yet seemed completely oblivious to them.

Or rather he might know about them, but was simply so old and set in his ways that he just didn’t care or deem it noteworthy.

Like how he had been messing with that strap of leather earlier.

Such a thing to me had been somewhat uncharacteristic of him. Yet… was it?

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After all even though I’ve been traveling with him for nearly two years now… in the grand scheme of our lives, that was not very long at all.

Just how many things was he hiding? How many likes and dislikes? Desires and needs?

“What…?” Vim turned his head just enough to glance at me out of the corner of his eye, mimicking me, as he smirked and wondered what I was doing.

I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Excited? Tonight’s our last night,” I said.

“It better be,” he said with a huff.

Oh. Right…

There was indeed that possibility, wasn’t there?

“They wouldn’t actually… stop us, would they? They’ve let other people go,” I said.

Not many, but we’ve seen it. At least thirty people have walked past us. Most did so excitedly, and hurriedly. Pleased to be given the right to enter the city finally. Some had hurried their comrades, and horses, so quickly a few had dropped things as they walked past. Half the time they didn't even pick up the stuff they left behind.

“They will, as long as Landi doesn’t change the rules on a whim. She’s erratic like that,” he said.

Ah… “Right. This is her city,” I said in awe.

I’d forgotten. She was the Queen here.

“Her nation, Renn,” Vim corrected. “This is the biggest city, but there are at least a dozen more elsewhere that fly her banner. There’s a reason she has such a large military,” he said.

“Oh. Right. These men are hers…” I realized such an important thing far too late.

He nodded. “That they are.”

“Huh… so the Society has an army? An actual one? I didn’t even realize it even though I’ve been staring at them for a week,” I said as I wondered how I hadn’t noticed.

He chuckled. “I knew you’d been checking them out. Is it men in armor, or do you like their darker tans?” he asked.

I smacked him lightly on his thigh, and laughed at him. “Shush!”

Vim gestured at the world around us. Him doing so reminded me it was dusk. The person who took our condition and gave us a new marker really should have been here by now… “They’re hers, but they’d not march for the Society. They know nothing of us. Plus for what purpose would they march? And to where? She’s too far away. If she sent her soldiers up north, all it’d do is get them locked into war with all the nations up there. They’d be no help,” Vim said.

“Hm…” I nodded slowly as I tried to ponder all of that. It was a lot to take in.

An army. One ruled by one of or our own. Yet… not. “You’ve said before that she’s…” I hesitated, since I didn’t want to either talk bad about her nor make assumptions before meeting her. I wanted to make my own decisions and expectations of her, not share those of others.

“She’s odd. But I’ll let you meet her first and make your own conclusions about her,” Vim said, like always being a man such as that.

“Would you… do that for others Vim?” I asked him.

“Hm?” he tilted his head at me, which meant my question hadn’t been properly structured.

I quickly made sense of my own mind, and nodded. “I mean… would you say such a thing to others? Do you treat them like you do me?”

Vim’s eyes softened a little as he stared at me… but he didn’t say anything.

A long moment of awkward silence ensued, and I shifted a little. “I mean… you’ve before said stuff, that I interpreted as… special. Like how you’ve… although a little reluctantly, been teaching me to be like you. To be a protector. Someone a part of the Society, but a step removed. So… do you say things like that, about those we meet, to just me or is that something you tell everyone?” I asked him.

“A little reluctantly? You have no idea how much you make me sweat sometimes, Renn,” Vim said softly. I frowned, and was about to complain at how honest he was sometimes, but before I could he nodded and sighed. “I do to a point, though, yes,” he continued.

“To a point…?”

He shifted a little, and suddenly his arm was nearly in my lap. It was a little startling, but I made sure not to move or say anything as he gestured around us lightly with the same hand that was connected to the elbow now resting on my right thigh. “I would tell anyone to make their own conclusions and have their own thoughts. I’d never try to change anyone’s beliefs if I could help it. But… all the same, I’d not trust some of our members to entirely form their own conclusions. Since they’d only cause issues if they did. So for others, I’d give warnings… or maybe gentle nudges and reminders occasionally. As to keep them from doing something that they can’t take back,” he said.

Doing my best to not acknowledge the arm upon me, I nodded as I stared at Vim’s face. He was looking elsewhere, off in the distance. Maybe at the far off smoke.

“I expect more from you. I expect a lot more. So… I try to give you a little more freedom, or opportunity, than I’d give others. As to see what you’ll do. To see what you’ll accomplish. I give the same freedom to everyone when I can, so it’s not as special as you think… but yet at the same time…” Vim went quiet a moment, and then nodded. “Yes, I treat you different than the rest. It’d be a lie to say I don’t. And it’d be wrong. I know it makes no sense, for me to say I treat everyone the same as you yet not… but…”

I smiled as slid my own arm upward, to grab the hand he seemed to have not realized was in perfect position for such a thing.

Vim actually went still, and frowned as he looked at our hands as I secured his in my own. My heart nearly thumped out of my chest at the expression on his face. It was a mixture of pure shock and… acceptance.

“It doesn’t make sense, but I like to hear it all the same,” I said to him.

For a small moment I expected Vim to pull his hand out of my own… but he didn’t. Instead he only nodded… as our hands lowered to our sides, and remained there.

Oh…? He was going to let me hold his hand? Really?

He really was lowering his guard around me. Even if I had to be a little pushy sometimes… it was amazing he was still letting it happen to this degree.

“To be honest Renn… I don’t want you to become like me,” Vim then said.

My happy, warm and full heart suddenly went cold.

“Huh…?”

He gulped and nodded. “I don’t want you to suffer. To have to hurt, and hurt others. I’d rather you just be happy. Which is why it’s so difficult for me. I want you to find someone else, or somewhere else, yet at the same time I don’t,” he said.

Oh. That’s what he meant.

It felt good to realize his meaning, and the relief it brought me… but my shocked heart was still beating quickly. It had almost been stunned out of commission just now.

“We’ve talked about this Vim. I don’t see it as suffering. Even if it hurts, it’s the very fact that it hurts that it is so important. That it’s so wonderful. This life, being so harsh and painful, is what makes it one worth living,” I said.

“You quote that scripture again and I’ll sleep with Fred tonight,” Vim said.

I couldn’t help it, I broke out into laugh. A nearly hysterical one.

It took a long while to get myself under control, but every moment of it was wondrous.

“That’s the first time you ever called him by name!” I said happily.

He had only stared at me with a loving smile as I laughed. It was a little sad he hadn’t joined me in the laughter, but I understood it. Vim didn’t laugh, genuinely, often.

“Well once something becomes your sleeping buddy, you got to respect them at least that much I think,” Vim said.

It took everything I had to not laugh aloud again, as I snickered and nodded. “Indeed it is!”

Giggling happily, I leaned against him. Resting my head on his shoulder, I sighed as we watched the sun set in the distance.

“Don’t fall asleep yet Renn. We have a visitor,” he said gently.

Hm…? Who would dare ruin this wonderful moment? This picturesque…

Ah. It was the marker person. The woman he had mentioned earlier.

I stayed seated as Vim stood up. He had to lightly tug his hand free from mine, which I happily smiled at. He didn’t say anything as he stepped off the cart as to talk to the woman approaching us.

“Vim the dye merchant?” she asked as she got near.

“Aye. And Renn, the woman who just woke half the camp up with her laughter,” he said.

I glared at the back of his head as I watched the woman smile at him… and then me. She was pretty, actually. Her hair was oddly flowy, and done in a design I’d never seen before. It was curly on top, but straight below her chin.

“To be honest it feels good to hear laughter out here. It’s been nothing but complaints and anger for weeks. I’m told you’re not only one of the calmest merchants we’ve had, but also a generous and good-willed one. I can see why you have such a wonderful wife. You two are definitely not sick, either. So…” she held her hand out, and then I realized what she wanted. I crawled over to my bag and quickly fished out the little wooden pellet that had the number five on it.

Handing it off to Vim, who then handed it to her, she smiled and nodded. “You may enter the city tomorrow morning. Here’s your permit,” she exchanged the wooden pellet with a piece of paper.

Vim took it and nodded. “Thank you.”

“No. Thank you. For cooperating, and not threatening to kill my dead mother. I swear, people can be so rude for no reason sometimes,” the woman complained as she shook her head.

Oh…? I hadn’t realized that the other people quarantined like us had such attitudes.

Though I guess it made sense. This was… not exactly a very happy time, to be honest.

“Alright. May your stones never shift,” the woman then said and stepped away.

“As yours,” Vim said as he watched her go.

Smiling gently, I happily waited until Vim finished studying the woman. I even forgave him for looking at her rear, as he turned around and held out the paper she had given him.

Taking it, I found a small note. Like a letter. One written in the oddly familiar language I knew, yet with enough of a difference to make me have to re-read a few times for it to make sense to me.

“Entry for a husband and wife who are dye merchants, Vim and Renn, into the City of Stone. Quarantine checkpoint,” I read.

“They could have let us just go now,” Vim complained as he clambered back onto the cart.

It rocked thanks to his weight, and I tilted my head and wondered why they hadn’t.

“At least we can finally go,” I said.

“Indeed.”

Happy, I returned to sitting next to Vim. Our hands didn’t return to each other’s… but I did notice we sat a little closer than before. A little more intimately.

Unlike the other nights, where we had laid next to each other and stared up at the night sky… talking quietly through the night, this one we had chosen to be quiet. As if to cherish these last few moments here on this cart.

How long would it be before Vim and I would do such a thing together again? Travel, sure, but… just sit? In such an odd way? Without direct reason?

It was a little sad to think, but a part of me was actually regretful that we were done.

The night lingered, and my eyes grew heavy. Vim eventually pulled over one of the blankets, and I was about to slide off into sleep while resting against him…

When suddenly Vim’s back went stiff and a foot crunched dry grass nearby.

Vim rocked the cart as he stood. I went still as I watched him swiftly and almost inhumanly smoothly; go from his lounging position to a half-kneeling stance right next to me.

Half expecting him to leap off the cart, and deal with whomever or whatever was approaching our cart, I was genuinely surprised when instead Vim seemed to immediately calm down upon seeing whatever our intruding visitor was.

A pained huff made my ears flutter as I recognized the sound of a woman’s voice. One strained. Maybe even hurt.

Since my ears moved so much, I was reminded that my hat had slid off. I had been about to fall asleep, next to Vim.

I kept my head low as I reached for my hat.

“Come no closer,” Vim then said with a flat voice.

Huh…? That had been a warning… but it honestly handed sounded like one. Vim had spoken with an oddly gentle tone…

A heavy foot was the answer. She came to a stop, and her breathing became quick. As if scared.

Had she thought she was sneaking up on us, uh? Even if we had been human we would have likely heard her. She had been nearly coughing and…

“Please. Just the boy,” the woman whispered.

Frowning, I finished securing my hat and sat up just enough to peer over the side of the cart… and I found something that was far more terrifying than it was.

A young woman was a few feet from us. She was bundled in an oddly thick dress, and held an even thicker bundle in her arms. Her eyes were glossy in the night, and I could see the pure desperation within them.

I couldn't really tell if she had those weird spots on her skin as the others did, but at the same time I felt I could see them. It was either spots, or she was dirty. Real dirty. But I couldn't really fault her for that. Although we got water here from the guardsmen we didn't get enough to properly clean ourselves really and... They also charged for anything more than a single bucket. A single bucket was barely enough to drink or prepare food, let alone wash with.

Vim shifted. A roll of a shoulder made the whole cart shift again. Even as I shook, alongside the cart, I couldn’t drag my eyes away from the woman… or the little bundle in her arms.

It was moving.

A tiny sound came from the bundle, and what was obvious only became more so. She was holding a child. A baby.

“I’m not sick. Nor is he… but the rest in my group are. Please. The guards noticed. You’re leaving in the morning,” she stepped forward a single step, and her whispers got lower. Quieter. More desperate.

My heart thumped, and I quickly looked to my companion. Vim was standing right next to me, so closely that my tail was occasionally bumping into his foot. I was lucky he hadn’t stepped on it earlier when he had rolled to his feet, or stood.

Though maybe not. Vim was rather astute, especially so during such moments as these.

He’d not notice his own love and emotions for me, but he’d notice my dark tail in the dead of night even while it was half hidden by a blanket. And even more so still while his focus was on something else.

“Please… I have money,” she shifted the bundle, and although I couldn’t see the purse I heard it. A lot of coins just shifted somewhere out of sight.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was able to catch myself before I did.

Turning to Vim, I felt the inner battle rage on inside my heart and mind.

Would he stop me?

Would he claim the child could be sick? As he had done that family we saw with Herra?

Would he say it wasn’t worth the ire of this Landi? Or that it wasn’t something we could take as a burden?

Would he defy me? If I went to accept the child from her? He believed in free-will. But it wasn’t just me and him he had to consider. We had another member. One who ruled this nation, even.

Even if he overlooked the danger of being caught. Or the child being sick…

He had rules. And not just his own. If he took the child, even to save it, it’d be breaking the laws. Of this land. Her rules.

And Vim… obeyed those rules. Religiously. Those laws and rules, set by our members, were his edicts. His religion. His…

“Please…!” the woman stepped forward, and I heard the baby squirm as she squeezed it. She was pleading. Crying. Yet her body was holding on to the child as if she’d never relinquish it while she still breathed.

Yet… even with her desperate request…

Even though my heart was breaking for her, and telling me to accept…

Vim said nothing.

The woman tore her eyes from Vim, and to me. “Please. He’s just a boy. I have family… in the city. You can take him to them, and…” she stepped forward again, and her whispers grew a tad bit louder.

My eyes begun to water as my heart broke for her.

Yet Vim still said nothing.

“Everyone else is sick. You’re the only woman near us, who isn't, please. Please,” the woman stepped forward again, and was now within arm’s reach of our cart.

With her closer I once again found myself wondering if those were spots or not. They looked more like stains, like from the ash falling... but most of her body was covered in those thick clothes. They looked like robes, but she had strange looking sleeves.

Those thick clothes could be hiding the spots. And it wasn't as if the spots were a valid way to tell if someone was sick or not. Nor the baby, either, especially since we couldn't see it while wrapped in that bundle of cloth.

Sitting up, I decided to just risk it.

Vim would have to stop me. He’d have to pry the child out of my arms.

If the child turned out to be sick... then I'll just need to get Vim to care for me. To tend to me as I recover.

Not just from the sickness, but Vim himself. He'd likely try to separate me and the child rather swiftly if the baby really was sickly... and me, being who I am, would probably not let him do so without a fight.

And Vim, being who he is, would be willing to incur my wrath and disappointment... as to protect me from my self. And then he'd use force, if he deemed it necessary.

He’d be able to do it. I'd argue with him. I'd fight him. I'd weep after... and I'd end up forgiving him... But he’d get a fight all the same and…!

Then Vim stepped forward. Before I could. My heart thumped into my throat as I opened my mouth to speak. To warn the woman. To tell her to go away, less he did something I’d never be able to forgive him for…

It would be one thing for him to forcefully separate me and the child thanks to a genuine threat, but... to kill a woman and her baby? When you could still reason with them? Or at least simply let them go...? He wouldn't right?

But instead of killing the woman… he instead simply knelt a little and held out his arms.

The woman instantly melted. Stiff and trembling shoulders slumped in great relief as she started to sob. She was trying so hard not to be loud, yet was trying to whisper her heart out to Vim as she stepped up to the cart.

My world grew blurry as tears filled my eyes while I watched Vim take the small bundle from the woman. She relinquished the child to him, and then had to grab the side of our cart for support. She had almost collapsed.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she sobbed in whispers.

Blinking my blurry eyes, I quickly sat up onto my knees as Vim stepped back. He held the bundle carefully, and was shifting the bundle around… likely to get a look at the child’s face.

Likely to see if the baby was actually sick or not.

“I… I’m…Yana,” the woman had to take a deep breath as she tried to control herself. It only took a few sharp breaths for her to nod at us. “His name is Hark. In the southern center, my family owns the bowl shop. It’s a large blue building, with lots of bowls in the windows. Please… make sure he gets there,” she spoke quickly, and surprisingly evenly.

For a woman handing off her child to complete strangers, she sure did sound full of confidence.

“We’ll get him there. I swear it,” I said to her gently.

She blinked out some large tears as she nodded… and then looked up to Vim. He had found the child, who was now grabbing at his fingers.

“My name is Vim. On my name, I promise your son’s safety. Go into the night without fear,” Vim said to the woman.

My tail shivered at the way Vim had spoken, and the steadfast surety in his eyes. The whole world had just heard a promise nigh unbreakable.

Yana's hand gripping the edge of the cart shook. It trembled, and I half expected her to try and clamber up onto the cart.

To take her son back.

Yet instead she fell.

Panicked, I clambered over to the ledge and looked over and down. She was on her knees, and…

Staring down at the prostrating woman, I heard her whisper a prayer. To a god of stone. She spoke with all her heart. Thanking her god for this divine blessing being granted to her.

After a few moments… she sobbed one last time… then took one last deep breath.

And then she stood. With a tear stained face… she spared one last glance to Vim and the boy in his arms with clear eyes…

And then turned away.

Stunned by her resolve, I watched in awe as she left. Walking off into the darkness. Heading back towards the rows of tents she had come from.

With a quick heart, I turned away from the woman… and looked up at Vim.

“Gua,” the baby made a tiny noise. One that sounded happy, as little hands and tinier fingers squeezed Vim’s thumb.

“Life is full of surprises,” Vim said gently.

“So are you,” I whispered at the man who had just once again proven himself to be far better than should be possible.