Nobody's around to see me emerge from the caves, shed my armour and stash it in its usual place, for which I am even more absurdly grateful than usual. In my current mood, lurking just inside the mouth of the derelict mine waiting around for somebody to leave would be sheer torture. Slinging the sack full of Mirelurk meat and eggs over my shoulder, I set off for the grove I share with my love.

Half a dozen steps, and I'm brought up short by a voice.

"Do you dress like a monster so the monsters will let you through?"

Just for a second, I shut my eyes and pretend that none of this is happening; then I open them, plaster on a smile, and turn to face Sapling Yew. I go down on one knee so I can better look her in the eye. It's no use dissembling; she's obviously seen everything. Best to just hit her with the truth and try to persuade her it's best nobody else knows.

"No, sweetie," I say, trying hard not to be overwhelmed by the surge of emotion that's trying to choke me. Such a smart kid...she deserves better than this. "I put that on to protect me from the monsters."

She thinks about this for a minute. "I saw you come out, last time. I couldn't sleep that night, so I went for a walk. I saw you coming out and I thought you were a monster." She shivers. "But then the monster started coming apart and you came out, so I didn't know what to think. So I went and asked Harold."

I close my eyes again, but she keeps talking, inexorably scoring my warm, safe cocoon. She'll make me come out...

"Harold said I shouldn't draw any con-clue-shuns. But I don't know what one of those looks like, so I couldn't draw it anyway. So I thought I'd just ask you."

I find my voice. "You didn't tell anybody else?" She shakes her head and I heave a sigh of relief. "Okay, sweetie. You're such a brave, clever girl that I'm happy you discovered me. But it's important, it's so important, that nobody else knows, okay? This has to be a top secret thing, just between us. Do you understand?"

She nods, solemnly. My heart is squeezing inside my chest, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. I'm manipulating a nine year old girl, but at the same time I'm so impossibly proud of her. I wish there was more I could do, for her, for all of them.

"Maybe there's a way you can help me. What I'm doing down there, it's so important for us up here. The monsters, they're..." I trail off, realizing that the whole truth would terrify her. "They're really good to eat," I finish lamely. "And you know how badly we need the food." I heft the sack. "Branchtender Maple finds ways to sneak this into her soups and stews, so you can grow up big and strong, and so the rest of us can stay healthy. But if the others knew what I was doing, they'd say it was too dangerous. They'd stop me, and we'd all go back to being hungry most of the time. So from now on, I need you to be my Initiate. Whenever I go down there, you scout it out up here, and if somebody comes, try to distract them or lead them away somehow so I can leave the cave unseen. Can you do that?"

She nods again, eyes wide. "Sounds like fun. Let me know, okay?"

Without any further ado, she skips off towards the main glade. I watch her go with admiration in my eyes and shame in my heart.

Comes a voice from behind me once again. "That was well done, husband."

Have my warrior instincts been so eroded, that I can be snuck up on twice in ten minutes? Frustration nudges me, but I suppress it, and turn to face my love. Maple is so beautiful; the sight of her always calms me. I leave the sack where it is and rush to embrace her. I kiss her neck, her ear, and murmur into it, "You think so?"

She pulls her ear out of my reach, giggling, and looks me square in the eyes. "I know so. Come on, let's make some soup."

I heft the sack over my shoulder again. It seems lighter this time. Maple takes my free arm, and we walk through the green to start the cooking process together.

My cocoon is intact, for now.