A slightly-charred Vyrne made his way into a small clearing in the forest where he found the horse, the repaired wagon , and his red-haired captor waiting for him.

"Took you long enough," said the woman as she hopped down from the seat of the wagon. The red-haired merchant stormed over to Vyrne and took him by the hand.

"What's your name kid," she asked as she dragged him toward the wagon.

"My-," Vyrne stuttered as he tried to keep up with the woman's brisk pacing. "My name is Vyrne."

"Vyrne huh," The woman said. "Not that bad of a name I guess." Finally finished dragging him, Anna and Vyrne stopped at the back of the wagon. "Well Vyrne," She said, releasing his hand. "Do you know what this is?"

"Um..." Vyrne began, confusedly. "It's a wagon."

"Not just any wagon," The merchant said, speaking as if she were doing another sales pitch. She smiled. "Thanks to our little agreement, this is also where you'll be eating, sleeping, and conducting business until you pay off your life-debt. Now hop on in!"

Vyrne's jaw dropped. Anna's wagon was packed with sacks of gold and merchandise. There was barely enough room for his head - let alone his entire body. It didn't even have a covering to protect him from the elements.

Vyrne looked up at the smiling merchant and desperately searched for a sign that this was all a big joke. "Miss, you can't be serious," he asked.

"Deadly serious," Anna responded. "Now get in the wagon." With that, the merchant headed toward her horse and heaved herself onto the saddle.

"But-," began Vyrne. But his words halted as he saw the woman place her hand on the hilt of her Levin Sword.

"The wagon," The merchant commanded. "Get in it."

"Yes Miss." With that, Vyrne closed his eyes and crawled head first into the heap of sacks and crates.

"That's another thing," The woman said as she commanded her horse to move forward. "From here on out, you are to address me as Mistress Anna. Got it Kid?"

Vyrne poked his head to the surface of the crates and sacks of gold, the rest of his body remained completely buried.

"yes Mistress Anna," Vyrne sighed angrily. You just wait until I escape old lady.

"Goody," Anna said with a smile. "Then we're off. I've gotta head into town and make a delivery first so feel free to get some rest. It'll be a while before we start heading north."

Please,Vyrne thought as he began planning his next escape attempt. As soon as it gets dark, I'm out of here.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask you," Anna said. "Why did you try to steal my wagon anyways?"

Vyrne's eyes opened wide. For a moment, he had almost forgotten the reason himself.

"I," Vyrne began. "I heard about your sale that morning. I thought that what you were doing was amazing, even if you were charging people for it. But then. . ."

"But then what," Anna asked, egging him to continue.

"But then," Vyrne began. He stared down at the sacks of gold as he spoke and twiddled his fingers beneath the wagon's surface. "But then I saw you deny that boy's sister just because he didn't have the money. So, I wanted to bring her enough concoction to get better."

"Wow," said Anna. "you've got a heart of gold kid. We're going to have to do something about that."

Night had fallen by the time Anna and her new companion rode back into town. Normally, it wouldn't have taken her so long to get back, but Vyrne had tried to escape three times since they set out.

"Sheesh," sighed an exhausted Anna as she looked down at the unconscious Taguel boy lying atop the gold in her wagon. Nearly all of his fur was singed with black and he smelled of fried fox meat. The scent was making Anna hungry. ''What am I gonna do with you?''

Anna and her wagon rolled a little further until they stopped at a collection of little cottages. Anna leapt from the driver's seat and onto the ground. She walked over to the back of the wagon and reached into one of the many bags of gold. She was especially careful not to wake her new partner. Taking a small burlap sack from the bag, Anna headed toward the nearest house. She knocked on the door.

"Coming," answered a woman's voice from behind the door. "Oh,'' said the woman that she had met in the forest earlier as she opened the door, ''It's you again. How may I help you?"

"Well I-,"began Anna before being interrupted by the voice of a little boy.

"Is that the doctor mommy," the boy asked, running to his mother's side. "Oh," he said in a disappointed tone as he saw Anna standing in the doorway. ''it's just you.''

''Look I-" Anna began again only to be interrupted for a second time. This time, it came from the boy's mother.

''Don't be rude,'' she said to her son, smacking the back of his head with the palm of her hand. ''This woman was a Shepherd of yilsse! Show some respect!"

"ouch,'' the boy exclaimed, rubbing his head. ''Sorry miss,'' he said to Anna.

''Here,'' said a frustrated Anna, shoving the sack into the mother's hands. ''That should take care of your daughter. Good night.''

''Oh but miss,'' the mother began as Anna turned and walked away. . ''We haven't the money.'''

''Don't worry about it,'' Anna said as she walked back toward her wagon, ''it's been paid in full.''

An exhausted Anna took a sigh of relief as she loaded one last bag of provisions onto the back of her wagon and hopped onto the wagon's seat.

''glad that's finally taken care of, '' she muttered to herself.

Anna looked up to the stars as she stretched her back. Much to her surprise, Vyrne was still sleeping like a newborn baby. If he hadn't tried to steal her entire week's earnings earlier, she may have even thought that he looked peaceful.

'''Meh,'' she said, gripping her horse's reins. ''North it is then.''