Chapter 2

"My day begins at dawn and ends a few hours after dusk... I don't expect you to hold the same hours. I do expect complete loyalty and I do expect that you help care for the animals and the garden." She told him as they made their long trek back to her land. "You were not purchased to serve me. I only need your help. You work, you will eat. You may choose to live with me or, not. I will provide you with a warm bed, shelter and food. I do not expect you to worship me or demean yourself for me. I do not want a slave, I only ask that you speak to me as you would another."

She felt him silently nod behind her.

"You don't need permission to speak to me, Kuon. You don't need permission to ask any questions you would like answered." She told him.

"Why did you remove my bonds, Mistress?" He asked quietly.

She looked ahead at the road in thought. "Even animals need their freedom, more so a human. I'll admit there are certain men that should be bound, but even I can see that you are not one of them." She answered.

"Aren't you afraid of what my former mistress told you?" He asked, while he inconspicuously examined her tattoos and his new ones.

She let out a little laugh, that almost sounded like music. "Of course not. She was spineless and I can protect myself. I have lived for many years on my own, protecting myself and my former companion."

"What happened to him?" He asked curiously, feeling a little more comfortable talking to her than before.

She smirked. "He lied to me and betrayed me with my apprentice."

Kuon felt the air around her grow a little cold. "Did you kill him?" He whispered.

She shook her head. "No. I refuse to kill another. I only kill what I eat. He was... re-purposed as entertainment, as was his whore."

"You sold him off..." He stated.

She sighed. "No, I did not. As I said, he was re-purposed and he is quite content with his new lot in life, as is my apprentice."

"What do you do?... I mean, why did everyone call you Mistress?" He asked genuinely curious.

She slightly turned to him and smiled. "I tend to things... I am a healer, a seer and much more. Although, I do not believe I deserve the title they have forced upon me and I accept no payment for what I would do to help in the first place."

He furrowed his brow. She really didn't answer his question with the information he wanted. He kept quiet for awhile and she began to sing to occupy herself. Her voice made him comfortable and relaxed. As she weaved her magic with her voice, he noticed that the surrounding forest came alive. Little birds perched on their horse's neck, a pack of wolves trotted next to them without harassment, and a few deer kept in time with them just off the path. He'd only seen something similar long ago and the more he was with his new mistress, the more he thought about the little girl that was so kind to him as a boy.

They finally arrived, just as the sun was setting. He dismounted first and helped his new mistress down, gently by her waist until she found her balance.

"Thank you." She told him and he was stunned a little at the gratitude.

"You're welcome." He quickly told her and started to unhitch the harnesses from their ride.

"I'll take care of that. I need you to take the grain to the storage shed, please." She pointed to the crude little building next to the hut.

He nodded and slung the large sack of grain over his shoulder.

She sighed as she removed the harness and saddle from the horse. She gently caressed it and murmured some words of healing to it. "Take care friend. You must be exhausted. Why don't you eat, drink and rest tonight."

The horse nodded and snorted to her.

She smiled. "You old devil. Then say hello to your mate for me and let me know if you need anything, okay?" She laughed a little and patted him on his neck.

The large animal nodded and trotted off into the forest.

Kuon's eyes went wide as he watched the animal run off into the forest. He couldn't help, but think the small woman was insane for releasing it. "W-Why did you do that?"

She smiled mischievously. "He's off to see his mate. He'll come when I need him. Now come, It's time for dinner." She motioned for him to follow her into her home.

As he entered behind her, he saw a small fireplace cobbled together with stone and clay, a bed covered in furs and handmade linens with pillows, a small table with two chairs, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling above the mantle and shelves upon shelves filled with handmade pottery and books, and barrels in the corner, lined up along the wall. "Sit..." She told him as she pulled out a knife, a few vegetables and a rabbit carcass that she began cutting up and tossing into the large pot in the hearth.

He thought his heart was going to stop when she murmured "Ardeat Ignis." and a roaring fire licked up the sides of the pot. "W-What did you do just now?"

She giggled. "I started dinner. It should be ready in an hour." She told him casually and began cleaning up the mess she had made, then sat a mug in front of him and filled it from a pitcher on one of the shelves. She put her hand over the mug before sliding it to him and cooled the golden liquid. "Frigus." She smiled sweetly. "There you are, have a sip. I shall get you some water too."

He cautiously brought the frothy drink to his lips and sipped. He looked up at her. "What is this? I've never had anything like it."

"Ale. I thought you may need something to help you relax. You've had a very long day." She took her own and sat across from him. "And so have I. I can get you something else if it's not to your liking." She told him as she played with a small pile of pebbles sitting next to her mug.

"No, not at all. It's very good. It's different, but I do like it." He gave her a small smile. It was something he hadn't done in a very long time. "Thank..." A colorful bird, the size of a crow began squawking and Kuon watched as his new mistress scowled at the creature and pelted its cage with one of the pebbles she had been fingering.

"Shut the hell up Sho! You opinion is not wanted. You will stay silent or I swear to all the ancestors, I will add you to the cookpot!" She growled.

Kuon flinched a little and the bird immediately quieted.

"I'm very sorry about that. He sometimes tries to get on my nerves. I keep trying to drive him away, but he always comes back for food. Just like that lazy cat in the corner. I should just turn them to something more useful. At least if they were sheep, they would provide wool, but I would probably get them mixed up with the naturals. Plus, they would probably be fucking all of the time and die from starvation." She groused and Kuon snickered a little.

"I've never heard of sheep doing that before." He pointed to the two animals. "You said naturals and talked about turning them. What did you mean?"

She sighed and stood to stir their dinner. "Well, they would be my former companion and his whore." She said nonchalantly.

Kuon's eyes went wide. "H-How... How did you?"

She shook her head. "I am a Shaman and a Mage. There are many things that I do. Like I told you before, I will not kill another. Considering their betrayal, I would say that they got off pretty easy. I had the option of sending him back to his mother and giving her to the magistrate in town. His mother would have beaten him and sent him to work in the mines and the magistrate would have sterilized her and thrown her into the wilderness. What I offered was far more humane. He sings for his food and she keeps my storage free from rodents... Most of the time." She explained.

"Oh..." He said quietly and took another drink.

"Well, enough of that." She smiled, stood and pulled a loaf of homemade bread from one of the shelves and began breaking it, then putting it on a plate in the center of the table, next to the candles. She pulled two bowls from another shelf and sat them aside, poured two cups of water from a pitcher that she had cooled and sat them on the table. She then laid a spoon where he could reach it and one on her side before she began ladling out the rabbit soup.

He waited until she sat to eat.

"Well, eat up." She smiled and offered him a piece of the bread. "I hope you like it."

He nodded and took a bite. It was heavenly, although anything was better than what he had been eating. He looked up at her in surprise. "It's...very good." He told her as he eagerly gobbled it up.

She smiled as she saw him finish long before her, she grabbed his bowl and filled it again.

He looked at her confused.

"You need it. You're large and your body needs more than mine. Eat your fill." She sat back down to finish hers.

After dishes were washed, animals were settled in for the night and her two charges were fed and watered, she arranged the bed to accommodate her and Kuon. He had been prepared to sleep on the dirty stone floor, but she told him no. "I will not have you catching your death from sleeping on the cold floor. Come, sleep." She held the bedding open and he joined her. "I will wake you in the morning." She began humming a sweet tune and his mind cleared and body fell into the deepest sleep he had had in a very long time.