Chapter 1
There was a lot to do in the time before the new school would start; there had been some applicants already but Jade also wanted to poke around into the poorer neighbourhoods, especially those where she owned property, to see who else might be in need of education. She could not take anyone older than sixteen – next year perhaps she might teach to ZH for those who had been to small schools offering three, four or five ZP's, but setting up a new school meant her new, inexperienced teachers would have to adapt to teaching at a low level; they too were learning. And all the school would be new!
There would be a significant number of goblins from the street in Neubrandenburg where the tannery was; and some too would come in with a modicum of education. Traudl Mondschein had boarded – Jade had paid – with Albert Gerecht, father of Beremud at Durmstrang and manager in the tannery; and had set up a school to bring on such older ones as she might and to help the old potioneer with teaching advanced literacy skills. And some of the younger ones had been prepared to put in the extra work – for many were already working at least part time – to be ahead when the new school started; and with such industry, Jade had decided that the two eleven year olds who had stayed the course of hard work should be permitted to start in an advanced class with their older fellows. As one of the younger ones was Hato, the son of the foreman under Herr Gerecht, this was an example to others; and the foreman's brother's oldest children were two others, Lehrt, who was already thirteen and his sister Higith who would otherwise have been a first year. The other older lad who had worked hard for an education was Witlac, who in the second year would be with his chronological age. Jade thought it sad that many of the older youths – and even some younger ones – preferred to give their time to earning than learning, being too short sighted to realise that with magical skills they would be earning far more if they but put in a few years' hard academic graft.
Witlac's older brothers were a case in point; at fourteen and fifteen Jade would have been happy to have taken them if they had only wanted it; but they jeered at him for wanting to spend his little leisure time learning while they went out playing or drinking. Witlac was determined that his little sisters should have the chance at education too, and told them to ignore brothers who told them that all a girl needed to know was how to cook, clean and open her legs. He told them fiercely that they should use their brains and be glad to have them; unlike Hato gan Sigrik's twin brother. The foreman's son's twin was born after Hato and after complications, and was born blue, and suffering brain damage; he was an amiable child, and trainable to do simple tasks but it would have been a waste to send him away to school, that would in any case only have upset and confused him. And it was hardly any wonder that Witlac accused his brothers of making themselves be like Hazan.
There would be three other eleven year olds from the street of the Tannery who had not managed for one reason or another to pull ahead; one of them because none of the goblins had realised that Jade offered places too to such as the half breed girl whose mother had, after being raped by a human, been discarded by both parents and the man she was to marry and had no choice but to become the local whore; though at least she had the spirit to refuse her services to the man who had
jilted her, as Traudl found out, because he tried to dissuade the 'Noble Witch' from having anything to do with the woman and her child. Traudl had cold-cocked him.
The girl Mava was hungry for education, eager to hear stories that in England it was not shameful to be a half breed; and Traudl brought her on as far as she might, which was mostly giving her a basic education in literacy and numeracy and suggesting that as she did not find numbers hard she should work on Arithmancy. Traudl also suggested, when she found out that the custom was to call bastards 'gan Prok' or 'child of no man' that Mava pick a surname. She empathised strongly with the child, seeing much of her little sister in her and suggested the name Sternschein reflecting her own name and suggesting that anyone who wished might shine like a star. Traudl intended to keep an eye on this little one! And as the community as a whole was putting their money towards buying equipment for the children but many refused to be a party to it if Mava was to be sponsored, Traudl lost her temper and said that as they were so uncharitable she would see to all the child's expenses herself and be damned to them when she outperformed some of their acceptable pupils for having even more incentive to learn.
It may be said that neither Sigrik nor his brother Sittig approved of the treatment of Mava; but they had to rely on the good will of the community to help equip their children; and Sigrik spoke to Traudl of his gratitude and approval that she should show the way past blatant unfairness. And at least Mava would have friends in THEIR children; nor were the two other girls in her class unsympathetic. They were twins and were old enough to realise that Mava's mother's fate could happen to any girl; and shrewd enough to be sympathetic rather than using the old expedient of hating what they feared. Which attitude probably came from their mother who, with nine children, might envy Mava's mother's open use of contraception but had been a friend of hers from childhood though she was discreet enough about any sympathies she might hold!
Traudl had been pleased that girls had been chosen to go to school, but Sigrik had grunted and said that girls could be spared; and that if they could learn enough the community would expect them to teach young boys so that they would not have to send earning boys away. It was a cynical, but probably truthful assessment. Saeyth and Milhd's two older brothers worked and would not even try to learn more; it was to be hoped that by the time the girls and their next two siblings were able to show off what they were learning their father might permit the next brother down and ultimately the youngest boy to come too; since they were two of five girls.
oOoOo
There were two human children coming from Neubrandenberg too; a first year girl from the Perükestrasse, recommended by the Anwalten, or legal advisors, Genaumann and sons; and an older boy, who had done two years in the local dame school. This lad, Reiner Kurtz, was bright enough, old Herr Genaumann felt, to be pushed further than his current school could manage; and had duly suggested it to his father. Herr Kurtz was paying a partial fee; as much as he was currently paying the dame school plus the cost of outfitting the boy. Jade would not wound his pride by waiving all fees!
Jade was glad there would be some coming who knew something; it would perhaps give her a basis for future prefects. In some ways taking those who were already getting some education was not what she had intended; but the brightest DID deserve more and it would be nice to have a cadre of pupils with some knowledge. Indeed there were to be three boys effectively in a third year; the other two had been to a dame school in Berlin for three years, but with a small and eclectic selection of studies – charms, enchanting, potions and care of beasts – under the slightly hit-and-miss tutelage of the two sisters who ran it, Jade had insisted that they drop a year to the third and if they studied hard, she might see about subsequent promotion. Herman Meyer was the nephew of the tailor's wife in one of the buildings Jade owned in the Schattenstrasse; and he was, on his aunt's assessement, entirely unburdened with racism. He had suggested that his friend Jurgen Lötze come too; and so it was to be. Jurgen had a touch with animals, so had been pleased to have that as a study; he would be a star pupil for Mischa Seregin. And he too got on fine with goblins and often helped his friend to see home such goblin women as did piece work for Frau Schnürnagel the tailor's wife and seamstress. Indeed, one of the mixed race children to be starting was sponsored by Frau Schnürnagel as far as she was able, a child of a seamstress; another child of a goblin woman by a human who had either raped her, or deceived and left her. By Jade's suggestion the child Elva was to take the surname 'Nagel', needle. It could mean so many things.
The other three part bred goblins were to come from the apartment that operated as a discreet brothel; Ktell Klugmann was the oldest at fifteen, and he had chosen his own name and insisted that the others do likewise; Abert gan Kessel was only about an eighth human and passed as goblin on first sight at least; his name being a black joke on the failure of the contraceptive draught that resulted in him. Viva Mittwoch was born, as her name said, on a Wednesday.
Traudl had held forth in some irritation about the lack of interest in schooling amongst older boys; and Jade had shrugged.
It was their loss.
And at least she had interest from the goblins of the mining village of Kobboldsheim, though there some older boys were the main breadwinners; until Jade insisted on safety measure, the mortality rate had been high.
Even in a small community, four children in the age group were to come, three of them older ones; the youngest child was the oldest of the family who had given hospitality to Jade after she had rescued and healed the trapped miners, Lurtz gan Sidor; who had studied under Ritter with the older children but asked if he might be in the first nevertheless as he felt he had made a poor showing in both charms and potions and wanted to study the lessons over. Jade respected that. One of the older ones was to be learning from scratch; Safraxa gan Beric had missed most of the benefit of Ritter's teaching as she had been bitten by a doxy and suffered a severe allergic reaction; by the time Ritter had been told he had been able to save the little girl's life but she was much weakened. Ritter did not think she would have much trouble catching up; what little he had seen of her abilities – he had given her a few lessons to keep her from boredom – she had shone at. It was a shame her four older sisters were already married – one to the man Jade had dug out from under rubble and earth – if the family was bright; but she had younger siblings. And the other two older goblin children had worked hard enough to put them in the second; Ervig gan Sabac was fifteen but his father willingly told him that they would manage without his wage for this opportunity; and Ervig was keen to take it, and become one day an engineer. Hegi gan Guthic was just thirteen; and she was keen to consider growing medicinal herbs. Her older sister was married too like Safraxa's; and her brother was over sixteen, but her younger brother was keen to come one day as were Ervig's siblings.
The only other member of the second that there was to be was not from Germany at all; but was a goblin who was a protégé of Clovis Gierek, who had managed, between tracking down the lich Abaris, to bring the girl on far enough to be only a year behind her chronological age; Nuta gan Kolaz had jumped at the opportunity and had put in a lot of hard work.
oOoOo
Jade wanted to go to Berlin for herself and check out other possible children; Hunnic in the Kobboldstrasse and Walther in various human neighbourhoods had provided a list they thought suitable but wanted her to have the final say; they were afraid of making errors of judgement still. Jade appreciated that; and hoped to be able to praise their choices. Some came from the Hexengasse, a wizarding lane that opened off a muggle street with muggle repelling spells on it, where Jade owned one or two houses for rent; as she had decided that her own dependants had priority, any from there should be given such. Wulf had checked out the houses there and found them generally of better class and in fair repair. They were tall buildings, made as single dwellings, but in some cases broken into double occupancy.
Jade went to call; she had sent ahead and asked the two families whose sons would enter the first year to meet her in the house of the Schliemanns, whose son Manfred was an only child; his neighbour Klemens Moser had two younger brothers.
She was welcomed in and introduced to both small boys. One might perhaps have expected two boys who were of an age to be friends, as the only young wizards in the neighbourhood; but it was immediately apparent that there was no such thing; no antagonism but nothing that connected them. And the parents were the same. Manfred Schliemann was a suave youth, with the light of ambition in his eyes who was ready to declare that he was prepared to put up with learning alongside goblins to have a decent education. Jade managed to refrain from murmuring 'how good of you' in case the irony passed him by and he took it at face value. She would watch this one; a suave and condescending little swipe with ambition was a proto-Tom Riddle.
Klemens Moser was a normal, dishevelled little boy who asked sensible questions about goblin issues and seemed genuinely keen to know if they rally could attain levels equivalent to humans; his mother tried to hush him.
"It is a valid question, Frau Moser" said Jade "I am always glad to meet those with a genuine desire to learn – and to learn more about fellow beings as much as learning academic things. Let me put it this way; I have known goblins in English schools more than capable of taking five and more ZH equivalents; and the step son of Lucius Malfoy is taking I believe eight because he had trouble deciding what to give up; and he's tipped for 'O' grade in all of them. He is head of his school house and I would not be surprised to hear he gets elected as head boy for he's a popular youth with a reputation of even handed justice in his capacity as prefect. I think that demonstrates attainment on a number of levels. Now Gorbrin is an exceptional boy; but one has to consider the best that CAN be attained."
"He sounds very clever! Thank you Frau Professor" said Klemens.
With two of Jaromir's protégés, a goblin girl from the village of Strangsdorf, the goblin son of Agata Bacsó's concierge that she had proposed and a young French goblin who had failed to make the standard for Prince Peak who Severus had suggested come to Jade's school instead now it was available, that made a class of fifteen eleven year olds; most of those Hunnic had were older children who would still start at a first year level but would be in a separate class. Classes that were too large were not conducive to learning. She might add up to five eleven year olds under exceptional circumstances but no more than twenty in total. So far she had around half a dozen in the beginners who were older; and did not want more than twice that. The older you were, the harder it was to learn, especially if that was beginning to learn.
She left the boys with instructions to have their robes made by Madam Schnürnagel and a list of kit; they would pay similar fees to those of the dame schools as they could afford it, which would help defray expenses. And the dame school in Berlin took only two dozen in total, as much as two old dears could manage, split into a junior and a senior class; quite unsatisfactory but at least they did their best. Jade planned to have a school on the scale of Durmstrang one day; and to boost local schools too. And then she went to the Kesselstrasse to meet the three youths Hunic thought suitable. It was sad that apart from the Tailor's nephew and his friend nobody from the Schattenstrasse would be coming; the entrenched racism was just too much. Perhaps the successes of Herman Meyer and Jurgen Lötze would raise enough envy that others would follow later; breaking through the barrier of determined imbecility was a darn sight harder than teaching ignorant kids their lessons. Well, if there had been any who had wanted to come with the intent of stirring up trouble and causing mayhem to 'prove' that goblins were useless that would have been worse than meeting the blank wall of determination to accept nothing if goblins got it too.
These were the readers of the 'Ursprungen Sonn' the German equivalent of the 'Daily Prophet'.
oOoOo
Jade was heading for the Kobboldstrasse when a young and ragged goblin boy came forward from the shadows and knelt before her.
"Gracious witch, might I carry your parcels or run errands for the beautiful lady who has no escort?" he said respectfully.
"First off stand up; I refuse to talk to the crown of your head" said Jade. The boy rose and darted a glance up at her before lowering his eyes as was expected of a goblin here in Germany.
He was obviously hungry, with that pinched look and hollow eyes; but the eyes were bright and intelligent.
"If the gracious lady is wishing to lay odds on the World Cup I can calculate odds and find her the best deal" he added.
Jade grinned.
"An arithmancer are you? I don't generally bet I'm afraid. And I just hope to see a good game; Portugal has been very fair to permit Brazilian goblins in – even if it is a means of irritating the Brazilians – and I know a few Poles. So I'm essentially neutral. Have you family, lad?"
He shot her a quick frightened look; and it was then they were approached by a member of the Polizei Algemein, the lesser branch of the Vehmgerichten.
"Come on you, stop bothering the witch – it's the Kinderhaus for you!" he said roughly, reaching for the child's arm.
Jade neatly swung the goblin boy behind her.
"Officer, don't you think it is rather rude to me that you do not first ascertain whether I feel bothered?" she said coldly. "You are standing too close to me; pray take a step back."
This as a tone of voice that underlings obeyed immediately; the Politzist stepped back and bowed deeply, clicking his heels.
"Gnadige Fraulein I apologise if I have caused offence; this ragged brat accosted you and he looks to be an orphan; it is law that orphans without means of support are taken to the Kinderhaus Kobbolden for training in suitable menial skills."
"Let me first correct you; I am a married woman; and I am surprised that you do not recognise me. I am the Frau Baronin Nefrita von Luytens – let us not bother with all the extraneous parts of the title – and the boy approached me after asking if we might meet to discuss his inclusion in my school. So you see, as he is a boarding pupil of mine he is not without means of support; he will perform tasks around the castle in his holidays to cover his board and keep during this time."
The Politzist stared.
"Frau Baronin! Forgive me, I did not recognise you straight away! But where is your escort? Have they neglected their duty and lost sight of you? No-one can realise your consequence if you are not escorted!"
Jade laughed.
"Officer, I am one of the most dangerous witches in the world; why on earth would I need an escort?"
"But – but if someone assumed you were vulnerable, and attacked you…."
"They would learn their mistake the hard way, would they not?" said Jade, gently. "I do not need extraneous followers to give me consequence; I am not so small minded a person that I feel in need of having my consequence boosted. I find such an irritation; I am the lone Jade Wolf and as my husband is busy I am happy to be without excess baggage. And pray tell me why I should have to explain that to you?"
"Frau Baronin, excuse; but it is custom…. People might get the wrong idea about you…. If they did not recognise you!" he said.
"Then that is their problem" said Jade "You will give me the direction of this Kinderhaus Kobbolden; I will, in my capacity as a member of the council, inspect it. Then I and my new pupil will be on our way."
The Polizist quickly wrote down where Jade might find the goblin children's home and bowed a great deal as Jade swept past with her new acquisition.
"Lady, did you mean any of that or was you just being kind to get me out of going to that place?" he asked.
"A boy who has learned enough Arithmancy to calculate odds ought to be in education" said Jade "How old are you and what is your name?"
"I am Ulvik gan Rorik and I'm almost eleven" said Ulvik.
"ARE you an orphan?" demanded Jade.
"Yes ma'am; now. Until last week I had a ma and a baby sister, but they both just faded away" he said. Jade's breath hissed in.
"Dammit boy, why didn't you go to Livi in the brothel? She knows enough potioneering to deal with most women's problems and sickly babies!"
He gazed at Jade as though she were an oracle.
"Cuh, lady, how do you know about her? I DID go and she said it was beyond her and there ain't the new apothecary yet."
Jade sighed.
"I must talk to Livi and ask her to send me an owl if there's a medical emergency; I take it you don't want to work for her?"
"Not hardly" said Ulvik. "No offence but pimping ain't my thing; and it ain't Ktell's thing neither nor Abert's; like being a whore ain't Viva's thing, it's why they want to go to this new school run by the ….. I say, lady, is that you?"
"The posh bint that you managed not quite to say? Yes, I am she. Livi's a good woman; knows that education means the children of her girls won't HAVE to be part of a degrading profession. I guess it's because they're all fairly freelance there rather than her being a madam per se. And I meant it that you can stay in the holidays too and help out with sorting out the assorted mayhem there always is at the end of term; I always used to help my parents with that when I was growing up" she added. "And I'm going to give you reading the quick way; because then too you can help teach the small children in the village. Acceptable as a fee for your board?"
"Oh YES ma'am!" cried Ulvik.
Jade used magic to transfer to him the knowledge of how to read and write; and saw the wonder in his eyes as he gazed about at the many shop signs.
"I knew my letters and could read some things" he said defensively.
"Then you did well" said Jade. "That you are numerate pleases me; Arithmancy is a subject I hold important and I shall be teaching that myself."
Ulvik determined that he would shine in the Frau Baronin's class whatever it took!
Jade decided to see her new pupils first before seeing this Kinderhaus; which could well be dire.
oOoOo
Cnebbic gan Norc was a boy who Jade had already met; he was rising thirteen and had been one of the group of youths who had jeered at the unsuitable Hausmeister she had ejected. His own Hausmeister was a co-operative fellow who sailed close to the legal wind, but looked out for the tenants in the building he oversaw. Cnebbic's companions in learning were to be a pair of brothers, Kole and Vinz gan Doric; there was too a younger brother who would come in next year. Kole was fifteen and Vinz just twelve; and Doric a good man ready to take a gamble to advise his older son to give up relatively well paid work as a scrap merchant's assistant to try to better himself even more. The scrap merchant had been less sanguine and had railed at Kole for getting above himself, Hunnic had told her; and refused to take the boy back 'when he found he could not keep up'. The Scrap Merchant was human.
Jade spoke to the three boys and found them eager; indeed, the third brother, Greniz was so eager to be old enough she almost took him in early; but decided to wait until the last minute to make such a decision and told him that he should have his turn. It would not, besides, be good for Kole to have a little brother so much younger than himself equalling or possibly surpassing him; it would be off-putting. Naturally with a full school life of learning Greniz would probably surpass his brother; but not yet.
That was her class more or less filled; Wulf was busy following up a child who had been chattering on social networking sites about magic; her name was Liesel Bredel and Wulf was tracking her down to a closer vicinity than just Munich. It would help if the German ministry was less lax about the use of underage magic; but of course she had no wand and the German ministry did not follow up the use of random magic by the muggleborn. Anett was to visit her; having a grim faced and scarred wizard turn up in answer to the child's social networking might raise questions over what he was doing looking at such sites and a negative reaction ensuing before he could explain that he was looking for those who used magic.
Which was NOT going to be believed until a dialogue could first be established.
Jade had every intention of having big posters put up in Muggle areas in cities and towns with muggle repelling spells on so that muggleborn wizards and witches could read them and then make a hit on the web site they would set up for the purpose. It was the quickest and easiest way of contacting the talented; technology was great! Allied with magic it was very useful indeed and those of the wizarding world who understood and were not afraid of it had so many advantages!
oOoOo
And now she might turn her attention to the orphanages.
Jade knew something of some orphanages in Germany; the Durmstrang champion of the time of David Fraser's triwizard had been Karl Heinz, who was an orphan; and he was desperate to defect to rescue his little sister from a harsh regime where bullies ruled supreme in the Kinderhaus where she was. Yet the older bullies and Uschi had expected to go to Durmstrang; and it was possible that such Kindehausen were run more or less under the auspices of Odessa. She would pay Karl to look into that. Whether human children of lower birth and no wealth fared better or worse she shuddered to find out; but her first priority was this goblin orphanage, that by the terror on Ulvik's face was bad.
oOoOo
Jade sighed and sent for Walther and Hunnic to give her the consequence these wretched Germans seemed to think she needed. The Kinderhaus Kobbolden was away from the general wizarding society, tucked inside a railway bridge in wizarding space; and nothing but a bare yard and an imposing and forbidding building therein.
Jade blood pulsed Anett and Mortimer who turned up.
"Prepare room for as many orphans as we need to" said Jade "I'm taking the poor little slots out of here soonest."
Anett gasped; Mortimer nodded.
"Grim looking place to grow up" he said. "What about the hunting lodge in the woods? We never got around to doing anything with it because the castle was sufficient."
"There's a hunting lodge in the woods?" said Jade "If you think it's big enough."
"It's big enough" said Mortimer "It's about ten miles from the castle over the muggle border into their definition of Poland; but it's all part of the muggleproof estate."
"Fine; sort it" said Jade. "This is NOT a place children should be; it looks like a ruddy prison."
Ulvik was clinging surreptitiously to her robes; he was still with her for having not been anywhere she might leave him, though he was at least now dressed in better clothes – Jade had asked Cnebbic to run to buy some for fear Ulvik would be picked up by some vindictive Polizist if he set foot away from her influence – and had a meal inside him. They had eaten in the Bierhall which only served food at midday unless bullied and bribed in equal measure; which Jade had proceeded shamelessly to do, because Ulvik was famished. And now she took his hand.
"They can't make you stay" she said, firmly.
He shook his head dubiously; but went with her as she marched into the building.
"Council business" she said to the startled looking young female goblin who was sweeping the floor. "You are one of the orphans?"
The young girl bobbed an awkward curtsey.
"Please gracious witch, yes" she said. "But I have a placement as a maid with a noble wizard called Herr Schiff."
"They send people out to that randy old toad? We can do better for you than THAT" said Jade. "You may show me around child; and do not bother to try to hide anything. I will know."
The girl curtseyed again and led the way.
Jade had seen images of the muggle Romanian orphanages; it was a personal family thing because of the German ministry's use of Romanian orphans in David's triwizard; and he had adopted Vasilica, one of the orphans, and sponsored the other two. Vasilica was a witch, and would in fact be coming with her husband Mischa to help teach care of Magical Beasts. They may have left Hogwarts after taking OWLs but as Hagrid's adoptive son there was little that Mischa did NOT know about beasts of the magical world.
This place made Jade think of a cross between a Romanian orphanage and the school photographs of cowed Victorian children in some of the stricter schools; and it took a deep breath for her to continue.
"Lady? Are you all right?" asked Ulvik.
"From the age of just five until I was seven I grew up in an orphanage that was cruel; this place has not so bad an atmosphere but it has yet the feel of casual cruelty" said Jade. "I do not much like orphanages, though I know well run ones are necessary. We WILL be doing something about this place; and any of the same for human orphans."
"The humans are in the same building with a different entrance" said Ulvik "And only the overall director can move from one to the other."
"Well we shall do so also" said Jade. "We will inspect both; and if there are deficiencies, we shall remove all the children as soon as possible to a better place as my friends who came to talk to me will set up. Lead on further, lassie" she added to the girl.
It seemed that this place trained the children by making them undertake slave labour tasks, presumably with a view to keeping the costs down; long benches of goblin children laboured, right down to small children no more than five years old. Jade ground her teeth.
The goblin overseers did nothing but bow to her; she was a witch.
"Who are you and by what authority are you interfering in here?" a wizard with robes of authority accosted her.
"I am representing the council in a spot inspection" said Jade.
"I received no notice that there would be an inspection!" said the man, irritably.
"No; there is no point holding a spot inspection if you have had time to make the children pretty and order them to look happy or any such, is there?" said Jade.
He stared.
"There would scarce be any point trying to make these ugly little gobbo bastards look pretty; and as for being happy, why should they deserve it?"
"You're fired" said Jade "Hunnic, throw him out."
"With pleasure" said Hunnic.
"How DARE you order a filthy kobbold to lay hands on me! Have you any idea who I am? I have a brother in the Vehmgerichten!"
"Then if he is such a crook as to use his position to undertake personal revenge, I thank you for that information for I shall fire him also" said Jade, calmly. "I am the Frau Baronin Von Strang und Luytens, little man; and you better go quietly or I might just make you go in the form of a pig; it's a shape I practised on the erstwhile Prince Gerhardt when he annoyed me. Should have left him in it; as bacon he might actually have served a useful purpose."
The man went for his wand; and Jade, who did not bother with hers, elevated him by one ankle, cast the tongue lock curse, the bat bogey hex and the slug vomiting curse, all to the amusement, if concealed, of the orphan goblins.
Presumably there were so many orphans because there were no contraceptives permitted and too many mothers died in childbed; and either they were deserted by a father who could not cope or they were unfortunate enough to have a father who met with an accident. And since there were a large number of half breeds here too, perhaps both goblin and human women were inclined to abandon such babies. Or, if they perforce became whores, who died from disease, childbirth, improperly prepared abortifacient or violent clients. She turned to an overseer.
"The children are to do no more work on these production lines; none of them. See to it" she said.
"Please, Gracious Witch, how then will they pay their way? And how will they learn to work?" he asked, bowing deeply.
"They will learn by more practical methods than being thrust onto a production line they can scarcely reach, with tools that are dangerous if not trained in their use, likely to hurt themselves because they are overtired" said Jade, wondering if he felt compassion and truly meant to help the children. His next words dispelled that; for he shrugged.
"Well it don't hardly matter, do it, gracious witch, if a few whore's brats hurt themselves or better yet die of it so they don't need feeding no more?"
"If they were all whore's children, they would still be children who did not ask for the manner of their birth; and no-one can help being orphaned" said Jade, levelly "I believe I can dispense with your services too; you can get out under your own steam or Hunnic can kick you out."
"But lady, I've no-where else to go, no other job!" he whined.
"Funny; that's the position an orphan finds himself in. Only you're adult; get out and get a life" said Jade. Her voice held winter in it.
He got.
"Guess I'm running the place and Walther the human side 'til you move them then" said Hunnic.
"It does rather look that way" said Jade. "Let the poor little brats have a rest for now; we'll go look at the younger ones."
