p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Even after she'd dozed off, the girl resisted sleep. She twitched and fidgeted as if she needed to wake and protect her brother. Lan Qiren had never met anyone who trusted him less. How could this be? How could a child be so afraid? And how had the boy been attacked? Had there been a creature in town? Even if that were true, where were the children's parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents? Why had no one come looking for them. Something was not right here. By the very rules that governed his life, Lan Qiren was required to fix it, but how could he when he had no idea what had gone wrong?/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"At first, when Lan Teegan arrived with breakfast, he glared at her from across the room. Could she not see that he was busy? Granted it was time to eat but he could go without food if necessary. Perhaps, though, she knew more about the children's situation. Perhaps she could be convinced to explain it to him. The boy's wounds had been treated. The girl seemed to be sleeping more deeply. Perhaps he could take a break from playing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After Lan Teegan laid the tray before him, he continued playing but nodded his thanks. "If I eat," he asked, "will you tell me what you know?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Of course. All you had to do was ask but perhaps we should take this to another room."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"He nodded, put his guqin away, and followed. He did not ask during the meal but he ate quickly. After he finished, he sipped his tea and tried to look patient. "What happened to the boy?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""A servant in one of the inns hands out food to the children, food from meals that customers have not finished. The servant had gone back inside and, well, dogs had attacked the children for the food."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Lan Qiren stared down at the remnants of his meal. He didn't know where to begin. Being forced to eat other people's leftovers was bad enough, he felt sick at the thought, but fighting dogs for their meals? "Where are their parents? Why do they not make sure their children are fed?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Wen Ning believes their parents are dead. He'd been watching them for weeks. He wanted to give them clothes but we were afraid it would draw attention."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Afraid? Attention should be drawn to them. They are children. They should be cared for."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Negative attention. We're afraid bullies will hurt them if they have anything nice. Wen Ning followed them to an empty barn outside of town. They'd been living there but after he left them food, they moved. He's been afraid to approach them with gifts since. We've been trying to think of ways to help them without scaring them off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Leaving food? You should have brought them here."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Lan Teegan sounded tentative when she spoke again. "We didn't want to force them here against their wills. They ran off after an offering of food. Who's to say they would have come here if we'd offered. Besides, we're not set up to care for children."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"He heard what she didn't say, that he wouldn't want children underfoot. Bah, what was the woman thinking? He'd been a teacher all his life. Besides, the children wouldn't stay here forever. They could forward the children to Gusu. Wangji would … Well, perhaps Wangji wouldn't. It did not matter. That was a problem for another day./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""You said they would not accept Wen Ning's help. Do you think they will run off now?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"She shook her head. "They can't. The boy is too injured. Perhaps by the time he is healed they will be less skittish."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""I'm glad they are in competent hands."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"At the gasp of surprise, Lan Qiren looked over to Lan Teegan. She looked astonished. What? Did she think he didn't recognize excellence when he saw it? Wen Ning might be dead, but he was still a good healer./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"At first, when Lan Teegan arrived with breakfast, he glared at her from across the room. Could she not see that he was busy? Granted it was time to eat but he could go without food if necessary. Perhaps, though, she knew more about the children's situation. Perhaps she could be convinced to explain it to him. The boy's wounds had been treated. The girl seemed to be sleeping more deeply. Perhaps he could take a break from playing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"After Lan Teegan laid the tray before him, he continued playing but nodded his thanks. "If I eat," he asked, "will you tell me what you know?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Of course. All you had to do was ask but perhaps we should take this to another room."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"He nodded, put his guqin away, and followed. He did not ask during the meal but he ate quickly. After he finished, he sipped his tea and tried to look patient. "What happened to the boy?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""A servant in one of the inns hands out food to the children, food from meals that customers have not finished. The servant had gone back inside and, well, dogs had attacked the children for the food."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Lan Qiren stared down at the remnants of his meal. He didn't know where to begin. Being forced to eat other people's leftovers was bad enough, he felt sick at the thought, but fighting dogs for their meals? "Where are their parents? Why do they not make sure their children are fed?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Wen Ning believes their parents are dead. He'd been watching them for weeks. He wanted to give them clothes but we were afraid it would draw attention."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Afraid? Attention should be drawn to them. They are children. They should be cared for."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Negative attention. We're afraid bullies will hurt them if they have anything nice. Wen Ning followed them to an empty barn outside of town. They'd been living there but after he left them food, they moved. He's been afraid to approach them with gifts since. We've been trying to think of ways to help them without scaring them off."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""Leaving food? You should have brought them here."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"Lan Teegan sounded tentative when she spoke again. "We didn't want to force them here against their wills. They ran off after an offering of food. Who's to say they would have come here if we'd offered. Besides, we're not set up to care for children."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"He heard what she didn't say, that he wouldn't want children underfoot. Bah, what was the woman thinking? He'd been a teacher all his life. Besides, the children wouldn't stay here forever. They could forward the children to Gusu. Wangji would … Well, perhaps Wangji wouldn't. It did not matter. That was a problem for another day./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""You said they would not accept Wen Ning's help. Do you think they will run off now?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"She shook her head. "They can't. The boy is too injured. Perhaps by the time he is healed they will be less skittish."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;""I'm glad they are in competent hands."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%;"At the gasp of surprise, Lan Qiren looked over to Lan Teegan. She looked astonished. What? Did she think he didn't recognize excellence when he saw it? Wen Ning might be dead, but he was still a good healer./p