She was still a wreck.

  It was really amazing she hadn't developed an infection after everything she had been through, but her heavy breathing as she clung to my waist for support broke my heart again as we staggered up the steps together.

  All I had done to help Meika up until now were little things- Not so subtly taking food down to her, reporting to the captain that I had "lost" my surcoat, cleaning out her wounds the best I could through the bars of her cell, lending an ear- All little things that kept her alive and fighting until I could save my coin and buy her way out.

  The Guardsman's Earnings were meant to be kept in a man's chest until they could take leave- After that they were brought home to their families to support their wives, daughters, younger siblings, children, grandparents- Basically whoever needed it. The thing I had done with my earnings over the past two months would have raised some eyebrows, but since I had no one at home to support, or even a home to take it to, spending two months' pay was still somehow a "little" thing.

  But then I reached the top with Meika carefully in tow and saw her in Early March's morning light, glowing through the windows in that white-grey of a cold and cloudy day and my breath hitched in my throat.

  The extent of the damage to this creature struck me much harder as the scars seemed deeper, fur seemed filthier, and those beautiful yellow eyes grew damp when she saw the outside world for the first time in two months.

  All my plans blew away like dust in the wind when I realized what I had made myself responsible for, and for the first time in five years, I felt unprepared for the world outside. What do I do now?

  As if to answer, Meika pulled herself together once again, carefully looking away from the windows and eying herself in their light.

  "Austin, I need a bath", she declared.

  I found something to latch on to. An errand boy around 10 or so years old made his way through the nearby hall, finding something to keep busy with between tasks.

  At first I didn't know what to make of the practice, but an errand boy was never worked as hard as he was without any say in the matter. Like an apprentice to the guardsmen, or a paige to the knights of the castle, he was there to learn and he even took home his own pay. Something much kinder than the treatment of children in my home planet's medieval period, but I expect the way humans here treated each other better had something to do with a lot of other "worthy" targets- Non-human people which functioned as a sink for all their hatred.

  Even still, I flagged the boy down.

  "Errand boy, come please!"

  With grace I'm still not accustomed to seeing in a 10 year old, he turned around and stood in waiting, artfully folding his hands behind him. "Yes, sir Austin?"

  (I jump in to tell you that guards in Saovia usually earn the right to "sir" because they see as much action as any knight. If you're new here and in doubt, call the man with a sword "sir". Can't hurt.)

  My old roleplaying voice to this day helped me fit in with the natives- Though it was way less exaggerated in the five years I had been using it. "What's your name, boy?"

  "Colin, sir. I've been here for a week, Sir".

  "Must have slipped my mind again. Draw this woman a bath, will you? ...And please stand by once you're done."

  Visibly confused, Colin still headed into the kitchen to bring out the wash tub and towel. He'd probably have some trouble with the well, so I saved him some grief by starting the fire myself while Meika collapsed on to the dirt floor.

  I used wind-weaving to do it. It beats the heck out of rubbing two sticks together, honestly, but the consequences of wind-weaving in Saovia and the other nations of this world (And I say "this world" because everyone here also calls it Earth- Confusing!) have advanced technology in some areas and stagnated it horribly in others. One that often comes to mind is dealing with infection.

  When one uses wind-weaving, they need a practiced sense for "fibers" in the air to wrap their fingers around, and from there use precise motions to manipulate things at the atomic level. Some things can simply be plucked and start a chain reaction, but sometimes you really have to yank and tug, and it's not going to be obvious which is which unless you know chemistry.

  Anyway, the thing a soldier, guard or sellsword out here is most likely to die of (other than the obvious arrow to the brain) is infection, but thanks to wind-weaving the well practiced schollar has both the knowledge of germ theory as well as the means to reverse infection by making germs pop and spill their tiny organelles.

  This is great, but nobody thought of penicilin because of this, so as things currently are, you need to either know some pretty advanced wind-weaving or find someone who does when treating infection.

  Imagine this with not just the medical field, and you can see wind-weaving is a powerful resource that reduces pressures to inovate. About the only inovations currently being pursued are in warfare, of which Saovia does a lot for the usual reasons reasons a conquerer might have. Don't get me wrong, there are good people in Saovia, and most are almost good, but I'm only human and I've often wished for a can of cafinated pop just as much as I've wished for peace between Saovia and it's neighbors.

  Folks like you and I, who sort of "popped in" from the western world are at a bit of an advantage though. I've at times told people that I did amateur experimentation with wind-weaving and they looked at me like I just told them I was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ (you know, absolutely fricking crazy), but coming from a culture that still believes one can learn anything they put their minds to, I took notes in my very expensive journal and picked up a few tricks.

  The logs in the boiler were nice and dry, so I took a tangle of strings until it was a fist-full and pulled on it like the chord on a chainsaw. By no means was it elegant, but everyone else in my station had to use the flint and steel to do what I had just done. As a sellsword and as a guard I often surprised friend and foe alike by what I managed to pull.

  As Meika turned her yellow eyes to admire the freshly lit fire, Colin walked back in with his first bucket.

  "The well's a piece of shit, sir," He declared as he poured the bucket into the basin above the boiler. The errand boys liked me because I gave them the time of day, and often they'd complain to me because I'd listen.

  "Do tell, Colin! That crank does not turn like it's supposed to."

  "Is the Velak your ladyfriend, sir Austin?" he asked, lingering with the empty bucket.

  "Why do you ask, boy?"

  He flushed a little, remembering he was really quite young. "I have eyes, sir. I know you often go down to the dungeons- Throughout the day when you can. I've seen sir Turkar do the same..."

  Meika shuddered, but quickly looked away to pretend she wasn't hurt. I could have been insulted by Colin's assumption, but I knew what it looked like.

  "You have eyes, do you? Come here and use them," I gently pulled Colin closer to Meika.

  Both She and Colin flicked their eyes back and forth, deeply confused and looking to me for answers. I began by taking Meika's tail in one hand and parting the fur to show the nearly bald patches.

  "Her name is Meika- She has no last name, but it was given to her by her own mother and father. The man I once called a friend did not ever indicate he knew it. This tail of hers used to be gorgeous, but it was a favorite target of his to abuse." I placed Colin's free hand in the fur, making him feel the patches and the slight skew in its spine.

  Then I moved his hand to feel the scarring from the rat bites on her belly. "When he did not abuse her, he forgot about her. We have often had rats in the dungeon. Every little bite up and down her body was because she had once lost hope. I cleaned every one of these out myself."

  When Colin's hand lingered at Meika's waist, she took it in both hands and gently brought it to her face. As I saw she caught on to my intention, I continued to narrate.

  "She's missing a few teeth too, now," I said, and she pulled her lips back to reveal a missing canine, incisor, and a couple mollars now absent.

  "Her nose, sir...?" Colin asked, his hand automatically reaching to touch the scar.

  "I believe he once brought a knife. He must have lost the nerve to cut it off."

  Colin pulled his hand away. "What good is it, sir? If you beat your slaves, they can't work."

  "Turkar told everyone who would listen every day that she was just a slave, but I don't think he believed it even once. It's why he said it so."

  "But he said it, didn't he?"

  "All God's creatures tell lies, boy, even to ourselves. He raped her every day for two months straight. He beat her, spat on her, and wished death to her kind loudly and boldly whether sober or drunk. These are things we do to our greatest enemies, not our beasts which pull our carts."

  "Some men still beat their oxen, sir."

  "Only because they want them to pull the plow, not to suffer."

  Lost in thought, Colin took his bucket back to the well once more.

  In his absense, Meika chuckled. "You did not answer his question, 'sir Austin'."

  I smirked in return. "I felt sorry for you, and I was mad at Turkar. I... I hope I feel more than just 'sorry' at some point. Maybe when you get back to waiting tables I can feel proud."

  As I joined her on the dirt floor, her eyes welled with tears again and she leaned into my shoulder, starved for real affection.

  "Austin, I can't wait tables anymore. ...My smile is gone."

  "Don't say that, Meika. You still have enough teeth to flash a brilliant smile any day."

  "No- I... If I ever went back to an inn as if nothing happened, I'd remember everything. Every day. My first master died while I was waiting tables- I was put on the market that afternoon and Tur... That monster bought me that same day. I don't want to hold a tray anymore! How could I ever feel safe again?"

  "...Maybe you'll have a good employer again?"

  "And maybe my home will be taken over again and this will happen all over again. I hate Saovia. The Velak are nothing but pets and work dogs to your people and your God does nothing to stop it."

  It wouldn't be long before Colin had gotten enough water for a proper bath, but I was past caring that I looked weird two months ago, so I pulled my poor bedragled Velak into a hug and held her as she cried again.

  "...I wanted to kill him," I told her.

  "Me too," she whimpered into my chest.

  "Not like I did," I snarled, "But if God put me in this country for any reason, it wasn't to die pointlessly trying to speed up his plan. I could have been killed trying to rescue you from 40 well armed guards, or I could buy you two months after I found you."

  She pulled her face away and snuffled. For someone who had cried for so long, it was an incredible thing she had any tears left.

  "I didn't mean it, Austin. I-I want your God too, if I'm worthy."

  "Meika, it's not about what you can give to God, I told you already. If it was then heaven would be empty because nobody's good enough- Look. Our relationship is a perfect illustration of what God does for us."

  Suddenly inspired, I cupped the fur of her face in my hands like I'd done more than a few times through the bars of her cell. "You cost me money. You've cost me time, you've cost me food, you've cost me clothing, you've cost me peace of mind, and more than a few times I was wondering if I was at risk of some disease that infected you, either from Turkar or the rats in the dungeon, just from touching you- But not a bit of that mattered because I only wanted you to be free and healthy and happy. You didn't give me anything in that cell, and I don't care."

  Lips quivvering, she put her hands over mine and remembered again. "Th-th-then, why d-do everything you did for me if you can't pay your God back?"

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "Because Jesus said if I love him, I will keep his commandments. It's not just a warning for the disobedient, but a promise for the heavy hearts who love him- As long as I love him, obedience will follow, and I will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, comfort the grieving, and visit the imprisoned- All as long as I first love Him."

  She was never a loud crier after the first few days. If she made too much noise the beatings would get worse, so two months of conditioning made even her racking sobs all too quiet for what she had gone through. But still she cried, and as I let her once again cling to me, I couldn't help but think about Colin's presumption-

  If she weren't a beautiful woman of her species, and instead a man was beaten and abused and left for dead in a dark cell in the dungeon, would I have really gone through half the effort for him that I did for Meika?

  But I don't think it matters. She may have been what it took to get me to care, but in the end I knew that I would do everything I was able to to stop suffering like this in the future, no matter who or what. I was able to tell myself that I did it once before.

  Colin had been watching for a while, second bucketful of water in hand, when I finally noticed him. He no longer seemed able to thoughtlessly ignore Meika as he poured the bucket into the basin.

  "Don't mind us, boy, She's been through a lot," I said, wiping Meika's nose with the towel the boy had brought out along with the wash tub. She gratefully took it to dab her eyes.

  "So I see, sir..." Colin stared at Meika, evaluating his new reality where pigs learned to fly and hell just froze over.

  "...Something on your mind, Colin?"

  "No sir. I should make sure The Lady gets some soap," Colin turned away to get his third bucket. I could have sworn I heard the capitalization in his reference to Meika (and if you're reading this, you'll hear it too).

  The silence was companionable as he left. I heard the remaining guardsmen leave to take posts around the outside of the small fortress, but my job wasn't to join them anymore. I settled in next to Meika where she leaned on my shoulder once again.

  She breathed a sigh. When she broke the silence, Her tone was tongue-in-cheek as she posed her question.

  "What's your plan for me, now that you're my master?"

  I told her the truth. "I don't really know, Meika. I didn't expect to get this far. ...I would like to drop you off somewhere you can be free and stay that way. If I never saw you again afterward, that would still be enough for me."

  "Austin, my friend, I love you very much. I would miss you terribly if we never met again."

  I remember the first time she ever hit me with those puppy-dog eyes. To this day she has made extensive use of them as I am uniquely vulnerable.

  I chuckled, helpless against this sudden new weapon, and put an arm around her waist. She wagged- Which I'll note she had never done in all the time I knew her before and I didn't know if it was mischeif or genuine, but it was almost as effective as the begging look.

  "Long term goals then: Conquer Saovia," I offered.

  She threw a hand over her mouth. "You can't do that, Austin! You barely got me out!"

  Neither of us liked the nation we were tied to very much, but that is a story for another entry. Instead I laughed again and backpedaled.

  "Well, maybe as long as I can change how The King runs things, or even just live in a small town which calls your people friends, I would be happy. But I'd still like King Erranco to have a piece of my mind."

  She giggled. "The King owes me some teeth."

  "Do you think he has any? Nobles don't often keep their teeth, you know. It's all the rich living and rich eating they do."

  "Ah, his wouldn't fit me anyway... But Austin, what do you intend for me tomorrow?"

  That I could work with, at least.

  "When we leave, we should take the road back to Ashvale. It will be a day's travel if you can keep up with me, but we will have to go camping for a night-"

  "You mean make camp?"

  I smiled playfuly. "Yes. We called it camping where we come from though- We set up tents and ate rations at a campfire for fun. Enough people did this that we'd have to pay money to do it in certain places!"

  "Really?" Meika popped her head up, fascinated. "Why would you have to do that?"

  "To pay for the lightning we harnessed to make our lamps light. Not much fun if there is real risk, after all."

  "Again with the harnessed lightning! I would have loved to see it... You must have lived so far away from Saovia."

  I felt a pang of homesickness. Clean water from taps, fire from a stove, warmth from metal grates in the floor and fresh fruits and vegetables in the middle of winter- I had to make due with the intelligent and careful planning of the peasant folk, only occasionally being granted the absolute privelage of a clean guest bed fit for nobles in all my time as a sellsword, and disappointed still when the fethery mattress was harder than I remembered my bed at home.

  "Very far away, Meika... I don't even know if you could measure it."

  ...

  "Holy shit, look at the fucking thing. Boy, you'd best let him have that soap."

  The blunt observation belonged to My captain, now standing in the doorway to the outside and the well beyond it. His appearance with Colin in tow was a surprise, but I think I should have expected it. At this point I was away from my post at the time I should have been manning it and he would be looking for me. Despite his words, the tone of voice and grimmace of sympathy were far kinder to Meika- Not quite treating her like a human, but at least like a puppy whose cruel owner kicked her for fun.

  From men in power, I would have to take what I could get.

  "Good day, Captain," I rubbed unexpected sleep from my eyes. "Colin, I believe I will have that soap if you're so kind."

  Silently apologizing for getting caught being helpful to me, Colin placed the lump of soap in my waiting hand. "I had to tell him, sir."

  "I was going to tell him myself, but maybe only once Meika was actually clean and clothed."

  "What is this then? You're supposed to be on the southern wall, Austin," The captain questioned idly.

  The water wasn't going to be warm yet, but at least it wouldn't be fridgid. I peeled off Meika's surcoat and helped her into the basin.

  "Captain, you are aware it is my intention to resign my position once I had purchased Meika?"

  He quirked an eyebrow at me. "I am."

  "This morning I had gathered enough to do so."

  "How much did you pay, then?"

  "Fourty Marks. The standard for a slave."

  "That bastard fleeced you, man. It can't be worth that much."

  "I disagree, Captain. She is worth far more to me than money could possibly buy."

  As Meika's ears twitched with surprised flattery, the captain nodded noncomittaly. Colin, ever looking for something to do as any good errand boy, tentatively helped me scrub out the filth in Meika's fur. The captain gave her a quick study and his brow wrinkled in sympathy.

  "I thought Turkar was going to take care of his pet."

  Colin piped up impulsively. "Sir Austin told me neither he nor Turkar thought of Meika as a pet."

  "I Know Austin, boy, it seems it's Turkar that I don't. Your faith gets stranger to me day by day- First a god that sacrifices himself, now this..."

  "Captain," I began, but he cut me off with a swiftly raised hand.

  "Guardsmen don't just leave, Austin. They are dismissed. Neither our king nor I would have let you simply walk away."

  "I know, Captain. I would have talked to you first."

  At this, he smiled.

  "You were the best guardsman I ever had the pleasure of working with. Eventually, at least."

  "Thank you Captain."

  "You want to be out of here fast, then?"

  "We do, Captain."

  He held out his hand. "Then on behalf of Our King and by the authority Our King has granted me, I will take back from you The King's Mark."

  It felt surreal as I put the symbolic coin into my captain's waiting palm- Again another sign that my life had vastly changed.

  "It's not the first time I've given one of these back to The King on behalf of someone else, but usually they were crippled or dead."

  "I've wondered how it feels to have to do such a thing, Captain..."

  The Captain eyed the coin in his hand. "We all do our part, Austin. There's not much more to say."

  His eyes landed on the disgarded surcoat in the dirt and he showed some degree of amusement.

  "I see you've found your missing surcoat again."

  "On Meika's back this whole time. Who knew, Captain?"

  "...Suppose you were to have, say, five or six Marks go missing from your coinbag- Do you think I'd soon also, coincidentally mind you, lose a guardsman's outfit from our stores in exactly your Velak's size?"

  "That would be very unlikely, Captain," I said, pulling eight Marks from the bag on my waist. He took them conspiratorially.

  "Come to think of it, we never did find that sword either," He mentioned offhandedly as he turned to leave. "I wish you the best, Austin."

  Colin was completely lost at that last turn of our conversation, but he didn't say anything about it as he continued to scrub.

  "I've never been this close to a Velak, sir. Father always told me they bite."

  "Are we also disease ridden and poisonous, Colin?" Meika scoffed.

  Startled by the sarcasm more than the posibility of being bitten, Colin clammed up instantly, but Meika only laughed.

  "You should be more careful with rumor, boy. I don't think your father has been near a Velak before either." I advised, this time gently working the wax out of Meika's left ear.

  "Ah, but you will know more than your father does! An enviable position to be in at ten years of age," Meika tapped the side of her nose.

  "True enough, lady," Colin said briefly.

  "Why the change of heart, Colin?" I asked.

  "Sir?"

  "You are treating Meika as more than just furniature."

  Colin paused to think about it. "How could I when she cries like my mother? I had a younger brother I was expected to mind, sir... When I had failed, my father did not fault me, but I had hurt my mother deeply that day."

  Meika and I looked at each other briefly.

  "See Meika? Not all Saovians are hopeless," I told her, knowing full well Colin was listening.

  "You believe so, Austin?"

  "I do. He can clean a spot of dirt well enough, can't he?"

  It wasn't much of a joke, but the full throated laugh she responded with was wonderful after so many smiles forced for all she was worth in the midst of her inprisonment. Colin (to my eternal amusement) rolled his eyes in response and continued to help me clean like I hadn't said anything.

  In short order, the best work that cold water and medieval soap could do had done its job and I hoisted Meika on to her feet and out of the tub. When he prepared the towel, I selfishly sent him after the guardsman's outfit instead- I had done the minority of the work on Meika's filth and wanted to feel like I contributed to her care.

  Alas, she took the towel instead and stubbornly stood on shaking legs to dry herself off. After an initial once-over with the towel that did most of the work, she shook herself off in the way wet dogs do, spraying very little remaining water around the kitchen and nearly falling over.

  Just when I'd caught her before she could land in the dirt, Colin came back in and got to work fitting Meika in the outfit we definitely didn't steal after definitely not bribing the captain. He brought a sewing kit with him and with much practice and swift movements he had the most problematic elements of the outfit adapted to her subtle physiological differences.

  Holes for the tail were only slightly more than rips in the cloth, but here and there he took in cloth where possible and trimmed the lengths of the sleves. The hood of her cloak and of her chainmail were acceptable for her large ears and therefore had nothing done to them. As we all admired her blue and gold surcoat and the rest, I came to the conclusion that eight marks for this and my sword was a better deal than I was soon going to get at any smith or tailor.

  She would have looked like any proper Saovian guard if it weren't for her being a Velak, but she simply marveled at the feeling of a proper set of pants on her legs after far too long without.

  This all done, Colin finally stood at the door. I expected him to immediately leave for some other task as I believed this whole ordeal was not welcome to him, but instead he shuffled his feet.

  "Sir... You have to leave now. You're not a guard anymore." As he informed me, his face was downcast and avoidant. My reputation as the favorite guard in the fortress held even with the new errand boys, it seemed.

  I freely admit to not remembering him for that week since he arrived, but in less than an hour I had grown fond of the boy.

  I patted his head. "Colin, when you become a guard, remember the errand boys who work with you." Tears threatened to spill, but he kept them in despite his feelings.

  However, Meika surprised the both of us, getting down on one knee and drawing him into a tight hug. Baffled, he put his arms around her in turn. Velak or no, when a stranger you've just met an hour ago hugs you this tightly, anyone would be surprised.

  "Thank you for everything. You have no idea what it means to me to be clean again," Said Meika.

  "...My pleasure...?" Colin squeaked out.

  Meika slumped into my side again and I pulled her to her feet once more. Colin decided after a moment to give Meika a smile as he escorted us out to the hall. Not blind to social decorum, she did not touch him again but was more than happy to return him a toothy smile, bright and cheery and warmer than the cold air outside.

  I hope it stuck with him.

  We met no one else on the way out- All guards were stationed at their posts or on patrol and the other errand boys were keeping out of their way while cleaning, fixing and generally "errand-ing" about the place.

  When we went out the gate, I was known to the two guards posted there like everyone else, and Meika looked like she owned the place with her confident (if heavilly supported) stride. Further to our advantage, once we left the guard station, we ceased to be anyone's problem there and were fully content to take advantage of that.

  The road ahead would be quite safe to travel. The next town was a day's journey away, and with my private stock of rations and my coin split between the both of us, we would be able to set ourselves up for whatever plan we made on the way there-

  I resolved to take one day at a time, Good Lord Willing.