Another week passes of the same housework, and we are at the market again. I sit up straight in my seat, my tail curled neatly and ears alert. Humans visit our stall to look at the jewelry and artwork. Some sit for portraits. I wonder if he is here, somewhere.

A long time passes. I begin to slip into a daydream when I raise my head at the sound. Did my ears move? I catch sight of movement. A small figure darts between stalls and hides behind tables, moving quickly towards us.

It is him. I stop my tail from rising in excitement.

He reaches the seer and says something to her. He looks… stressed? Afraid? He looks at me and looks back at the seer. She nods her head slowly and a smile stretches across her face. She stands up and they walk towards me.

“Come, Pup. It is time.” She unhooks the leash and gives it to the boy. He takes it and I stand from my seat to follow him into the seer’s once-invisible tent, now shimmering in the air.

There is a wooden table and a candle that creates a warm glow in the tent.

The seer places papers and a pen on the table, and motions for us to come closer. There are no chairs, so we stand at the table. There are scribbles that I suppose are words. The boy looks at them, scanning them quietly, his face completely emotionless. The fur on my tail and ears prickle. Was he so certain he wanted to become my master? Did his parents simply agree–

He slashes himself across his palm with the pen.

I watch the human blood dripping down his arm as he slashes his other palm. The smell fills the air. My mouth waters as my muscles tense. The air becomes thick with a strange energy, but I feel it guiding me through the ways of the bond.

He grasps my palms and uses the same pen to slice the flesh across my hands. I feel only a slight tickle as I watch the blood flow out slowly. It is not as appealing as the boy’s blood, which fills my nose with that thick metallic scent. He clasps his palms over mine, our blood oath, skin touching skin, blood touching blood, and the strength of our new bond leaves me breathless and the world spinning, the air drenched in blood, salt, and sweat.

Our hands are no longer touching. When I look back at him, he is holding the collar. I lower myself to my knees. I bow my head, and wordlessly, he slips it behind my neck. I tilt my head up to bare my throat as he seals the collar between his fingers. I take my bloody hands and place them both over his.

He speaks first, as the bond decrees. His voice sounds far away. “My servant, with this bond, I accept my power over you. You will serve me and protect me with your life. You will be loyal to no other.”

My voice is unfamiliar as I speak the oath and look into his eyes. “My master, with this bond, I accept your power over me. I will serve you and protect you with my life. I will be loyal to no other.”

“And now, my servant, I give you your name. From this moment, until the moment our bond ends, you are Kyrov, or Kai. And I will be known as Master.”

I shiver at those words. “Then let us travel together as Master and Kyrov, or Kai. And may nothing in the world bring us apart.”

- - - - -

“Hey, Kai.” Someone is slapping my face lightly. “Wake up. We’re going.”

I open my eyes to see him. Master. I sit up quickly. How long was I lying here?

Water trickles down my head.

“Come on, I said we’re going.” A rush of water soaks my hair and shirt.

I ignore the wetness and stand. “Yes, Master.” Was he asleep, as well? How did the day pass so quickly?

The sharp aches in my palms startle me. The events of this morning rush back into my mind. Where was the seer? I look around, but the area around us was empty. No trace of charcoal, canvas, or jewelry at all. I turn my hands over. There is nothing but the red lines on my palms. As expected.

“You know,” he says, “I can just leave you here. Good luck feeding yourself, dog.” He turns to walk away, but then sighs and pulls his fist towards him. “I said come on!”

The pull of the invisible leash drags me along the ground. He was strong. I cough, landing on my hands and knees, and a kick knocks me over again.

He sighs. “You’re so small. Come on.” He nudges me with his foot. I quickly stand up and follow him, still pulled by the leash.

I glance quickly at my aching palms with the thin red scars. I smell old blood. The marks of the oath. Did Master still have his marks? How much did he remember?

I look up to see his parents. Yes, his mother and father. Lydia and Charles. They are waiting at their stand with baskets near them.

I bow to them. “May I carry these for you?”

They nod, showing no surprise that their son is now a master. I take a basket in each hand and we walk through the empty market, now filled with nothing but wooden stands and stools. Yes, around here was where Master asked me to fight the other human children until the girl came in. Over there was the stand that held books and the waving merchant.

We leave the market and climb onto a cart pulled by horses. I follow Master and his parents to our seats and watch the others talking and laughing with each other, showing each other their goods and empty baskets.

The ride to Master’s house is bumpy, but the horses move quickly. Every so often, the cart stops so that humans can climb off and enter their homes. Sometimes there are children. Younger than Master, sometimes older. How strange it is to see them in all stages of life.

We continue to ride, moving past a cluster of houses and a grove of trees surrounding a large building, and the cart slowly empties. I watch the sky darken as the stars come out. We continue to ride onto a long, wide road filled with small, sturdy houses, livestock, and large yards.

Master nudges me. “We’re almost there.”

“I understand, Master.”

We stop at a small house with the sounds and scents of other animals around. As we climb off, there are the soft noises of chickens and sheep. The rustling of rabbits. There is the scent of tomatoes, squash, and apples, freshly-dug earth, and a pile of rich soil to feed the crops. In the distance lies the shadows of the forest and the other houses. I look up at the sky again, watch the moon come closer to fullness. By scent, by soul, they will know where I am.

Master stops and looks up, too. We just stand there, quietly, watching the sky, holding the baskets.

Then he shoves me towards the house. “Just go inside. It’s getting cold here.”

The house is much warmer inside. Rugs are everywhere, and some chairs gather around a fireplace. I place the baskets just inside the entrance and follow Master into the kitchen, where there is a stove, oven, and areas for preparing food.

“There’s bread there.” He points to the table, where a large loaf of bread sits, along with tomatoes and cheese. Master’s parents are sitting there.

“Welcome home, Pup,” says Lydia, looking up from slicing the bread. Her voice is how I remember: quiet and serious. “I do hope you and Alli become good friends soon. Are you two hungry?”

“Of course they are,” says Charles, laughing in that full, rich way. He motions to come over, so we do.

I look at him. I thought I would be serving them, but they had already prepared the meal. He smiles. “I’ll do the honors, Pup. Tomorrow is your first official day of work.” He tops the bread with a slice of cheese and tomato and hands it to me.

It is delicious. “Thank you, Charles.”

Charles and Lydia look at each other. Not even a day, and I already made a mistake?

They look back at me. Lydia speaks. “We decided during your bonding that you may call us Mother and Father. You are not only Alair’s servant, but our son as well.”

“You can decide whether to call us Mother and Father or Lydia and Charles, but we’d prefer Mother and Father,” says the man, placing a hand on his wife. “It’s up to you.”

This was strange. Them asking me to name them. I bow. “I accept. From now on I shall call you Mother and Father.”

“Oh,” says Master. “His name is Kyrov. But he’s Kai for short.”

“Kee-rove,” says Mother, drawing my name out. “How beautiful, Alli.”

“Good choice, son.” Father nods.

“Thank you. We’re going to my room now. I’m getting tired.”

“Make sure to look after Kai properly, Alli,” says Mother.

“’Kay. G’night, Mother. G’night, Father. Love you both.”

Love?

We head into a dark room. Master touches something and a golden light flickers on the desk. It is not like the candles that I lit in the seer’s home. Was it instead a lantern that she sometimes spoke about?

Master closes the door and opens the curtains, silver light spilling onto the floor and nearly putting out the lantern’s fire. He sits in front of me, watching me.

“Your eyes are cool,” he says. “Like the moon is trapped in them.”

“Oh.” I blush. “Thank you, Master.”

He grabs my chin, angling it in various directions so that I catch each part of the room behind him. His bed, his drawers, a desk, some papers on the walls. He lifts the corners of my lips and rubs my fangs. “This is so cool. Like playing doctor.”

The seer rarely spoke about doctors, but I guessed that they were like wizards and seers for humans. Applying their own kind of magic to cure their illness.

“Do you know what you look like?” he asks.

“I suppose, Master. From looking at puddles and windows.”

He runs his hands through my hair, then rubs my ears between his fingers. “So soft,” he whispers. “Are these actually yours?”

“They are, Master.” I stare at his legs, not sure what else I can do.

He lifts my hair away from my forehead. His hands cup my face, his thumbs stroking my cheeks, his eyes once again looking into mine. They are large with an unknown expression. “Kai, are you really a boy?” His whisper is soft in my ears. “Or are you a girl? Or something else?”

“I am indeed male, Master.” I try not to think about how strange this question is. What purpose would it serve?

“Prove it.”

My mind blanks. “How should I prove it, Master?”

He lifts my shirt, a slight breeze on my skin. Although I am not cold, I shiver anyways. His face is blank as he stares at my features under my shirt. His finger is cold as he pokes my belly.

“Damn skinny dog,” he says quietly. He looks back up at me, without expression. I nod and say nothing, simply accepting what he is doing. I hear a sharp inhale from him before his fingers search over my underwear, feeling me.

My entire body shivers, and I take a deep breath. But his voice is normal when he speaks. “Wow, Dog. We’re the same. Except for these.” He pinches the tips of my ears and tugs slightly on them. “Okay. Now for the fun part.” He pauses. “I want to see your tail. Turn around.”

I turn around, still sitting on the floor.

A knock at the door.

We freeze. My hair stands on end and I spin around, facing the door. Master rushes to open it.

“Alli, Kai. Are you doing all right?”

“Yes, Mother. We’re just getting to know each other.”

I see Mother in the darkness. I nod at her. “We are doing well, Mother. Thank you for checking on us.”

She looks at us for what feels like a long time. “Good. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, boys.”

“Good night, Mother.” We say it at the same time.

Master closes the door and sighs shakily. “That was close.” He collapses on the floor and continues looking at me. “You need a haircut, Kai. This is too long.” He lifts the braid away from me and begins combing it out. “Your hair is so thick. I wonder if your wolf fur was like this.” It feels strange, someone touching my hair like this and running his fingers through it.

When Master is finished, he takes a handful and ties it in a loose knot, which unties right after. “When did you last cut this?”

“Not for a while, Master.”

“Hm. So that’s why they thought you were a girl. I mean, even I thought you were a girl at first. Like, your shirt looks like a dress.”

“Is that so, Master?”

“Yeah. Okay, now turn around again.”

I obey. As soon as I do, I feel a strange sharp energy in the air, like someone tried to pull my soul from my body.

Master lifts my shirt again, and I feel him staring at my tail. “So you can move this on your own, right?”

“Correct, Master.”

“Okay. Move it really fast so that it tickles my face.”

Do not question Master.

I lean forwards so that my tail is against Master’s face and move it so that it brushes his face. “Is this okay, Master?”

“Mm… do you smell that?”

“Smell what, Master?”

“I don’t know. Sweet, I guess?”

I hope he cannot see my ears twitching. The scent – was it coming from me? Did my tail smell sweet? Was it a smell that he accepted? “…I was born with that scent, Master, just as how you are born with yours.”

“Are you saying I smell?”

“Each human has a special scent, just like all animals do.”

“…And I smell bad?”

“No, Master. I am not exactly sure what you smell like, but you do not smell bad.”

“I thought you were a wolf. Don’t you have a better sense of smell than we do?”

“Generally, I do. But when it comes to humans, it will take a while for me to learn each scent. In time, I will come to know the scents of you and Mother and Father.”

“Oh.”

He is stroking my back now, under my thin shirt, starting from my neck and ending at the tip of my tail, his hand running through my fur. He is quiet as he does this. An owl hoots. The trees shake in the wind. I close my eyes and feel his hand glide across my body.

“Turn onto your back and sit up.” I do. Again, he grasps my face in his hands. He looks like he is appraising me. He smiles slightly. “I think you’ll look really good when we cut your hair.” He looks in the distance, out the window. “’Kay. Now go to bed. That one over there.”

He points to the bed behind me, and I nod. “Thank you, Master. Will you need anything before we go to sleep?”

“No. Just go.”

I watch him climb into his own bed, pull the covers over himself, his back turned to me. I glance at the corners and furniture in the room, the silver light, the slowly-darkening lantern. The door is closed. He is safe.

I curl into a ball and listen for his deep breathing before I allow myself to fall asleep.