Grace followed the Butler, after waving farewell to Hunter, wondering where he was going to take her. A few dogs were curious to the fact as well and came over to sniff the strange duo; the Butler ignored them, while Grace went to pat their heads. The dogs were a bit apprehensive at first, but found that Grace seemed to cause them no harm and they haven’t had their heads scratched in a while. The strange group gathered even more attention than before, with the Butchers throwing scraps of meat to the dogs and the Bakers’ wives giving spare bits of food to Grace. Grace thanked them all profusely and even tried to not accept the gifts as she had no money to pay them, which just made them give her even more food. Grace tried her best to wave to them with her arms full of food still trying to thank them as best as she could.

Following the Butler, who seemed nonplussed about what had happened behind him, Grace nibbled on the bits of food that she received occasionally feeding any other stray dogs or children that came up to her. While most dogs would disappear after being fed, one followed her from the street where she had originally gotten all of the food. She would see one dog attempt to get an extra serving with the other dogs that come out from the alleys, and would happily give them all some of her nibbles.

Grace was nearly finished with all of her food when the Butler stopped just outside of the Castle Walls. Grace nearly bumped into him, as she wasn’t prepared for him to stop and she was also lost in her thoughts. Grace took a couple steps back to give the Butler some space, when he suddenly turned and yelled at her. 

“Eep,” she exclaimed, and curled into a ball in a vain attempt to hide herself, having a brief flashback to her childhood.

“What are you still doing here?” the Butler snarled.

“Umm, you never left me anywhere,” she responded, still cowering on the ground.

“Now, where should I leave you, little girl,” he mused, stroking him mustache, “Why don’t you go and mingle with all the other vagrants, hmmm?” he told her waving her away.

“Do you maybe … have another idea?” Grace asked shakily.

“No, now do not bother me,” he said turning away “I am a very busy man.”

“Wait,” Grace said weakly, “I don’t have anywhere to go,” and curled herself even more tightly into a ball. Grace almost started crying, when she felt a rough tongue licking her hand and looked up to see a familiar little dog. Grace smiled at the small dog and went to pat its head as it licked her dirt smudged face. She felt better now that she had a furry companion to accompany her and picked the friendly dog up, surprised that it didn’t resist. Carrying her new surprisingly docile companion like a doll, Grace started wandering her way over to where she thought the Castle’s entrance may be.

Grace had been wandering for a few minutes when the little dog started wiggling in her arms and suddenly leapt out of them and headed for a side street, stopping near the entrance seemingly waiting for Grace to catch up. She followed her furry friend, curious to see where he would lead her and semi desperate not to be left alone again. She followed her interesting new pet for a few blocks, before it stopped and started scratching on a nearby door. She had barely reached the door, when it opened revealing a woman in her thirties, with a long mane of hair and a pair of furry ears sticking out the top.

“Eep!” Grace exclaimed, covering her mouth to hide her rudeness.

“Hello, little one,” the woman said, reaching down to scratch her visitor behind the ears, “I see you brought a guest with you,” she continued, talking to the small dog. “Hello, you appear to be lost, little one,” the woman asked Grace sympathetically, as a tail swished to one side, revealing itself to Grace.

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“Yes ma’am,” Grace gulped, still astounded by the sight in front of her.

“No need to be so formal, little one,” she said, smiling warmly. “I see that you two have already bonded or he would not have brought you here,” she told Grace, motioning to the dog as it trotted into her house, wiping its paws before entering. “He’s a very good judge in character you know,” she finished, giving Grace a wink before turning into her house, leaving the door open.

Grace stood in the street for a few moments debating on whether or not she should accept the open door as an invitation or if she should and turn and run for the Castle. Once again, her curiosity and the rapidly increasing darkness got the best of her and she decided to at least look inside her would be captor’s home. A warm glow filled the interior and the smell of warm bread and spices enticed Grace even more. Her rumbling stomach finally pushed her to enter the stranger’s house and accept their hospitality. Reluctantly Grace stepped foot into threshold, shutting the door behind her, and was immediately mobbed by several small children with similar characteristics of the woman who had greeted her.

“She’s pretty,” one of the children said. “She smells good too,” another one of the children replied. “As if she would like either of you. You’re both smelly and gross,” a third child replied.

“Uhhh, thank you,” Grace told them, smiling awkwardly, while the final child tugged at her shirt while staring at her with wide eyes and a hand halfway inside their mouth. “What is it little one,” she asked, leaning down head slightly cocked to the side.

He responded with another tug to her shirt and one of the other children told her, “He wants you to follow him. He probably has something to show you.”

“Ok then, where are we going?” Grace asked, watched as the small child waddled forward, hand still in their mouth and their bushy tail dragging on the ground. The two boys ran ahead, heading upstairs, while the girl took the youngest’s hand out of their mouth and picked up their tail lightly scolding them for both. Grace followed the two in front of her admiring the girl’s sleek tail and neatly braided hair as she followed them up the stairs. She had to hold in a laugh as she watched the girl help the youngest boy pull himself up the stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs the two boys were alternating between playing a game that looked similar to rock paper scissors and chasing each other around the top floor. This time Grace couldn’t help but to giggle, as she watched the two of them running around and the girl attempting to tell them off. The youngest however continued on in his quest and was reaching for the handle of a door that was just out of his reach. Grace noticed this and went to assist the little fellow, opening the door, and followed him into the room, where the woman Grace had met earlier sat reading a book in a simple chair.

The woman seemed surprised but not unhappy when the child started tugging at her dress. “Oh, hello there,” she said, picking him up and setting him in her lap, where he immediately curled up into a ball and continued sucking his fingers again. “Hello again child, I see that you have met my children,” she said casually, while stroking the child in her lap’s head.

“Your children are lovely ma’am,” Grace replied.

“Again with the unnecessary formalities, please call me Katherine, little one,” she told her, now lightly humming a lullaby.

“Ok, Katherine,” Grace said, swaying slightly, “I’m just going to … lie down for a moment,” Grace told her before crumpling onto to the floor in a similar fashion to the child in Katherine’s lap.