Feri looked back at Silas following her while he searched, twisting his head from side to side, all around for Asinis and Mr. Noarwin. His dutiful attention to her wishes reminded her of a dog. A smile crinkled her eyes. She'd known a few, rare, individuals like him in Nytvale, but she didn't make friends with them. It seemed a foolish oversight now. Silas's simple and straightforward earnestness subdued by his quiet nature had already proven its power against the enemies they faced in Waywin Wood. Remembering Silas's assault on their attackers solidified his form of innocence, though many might argue he wasn't innocent at all. He'd reacted out of grief, fear, and a sense of self-preservation. Different than the practiced innocence of those who had experienced life's tragedies and had learned how to deflect it through humility and submission. Feri had met a few claiming such strength, but none of them could prove it true. Silas's version was more child-like. Naive. Appropriate, if he were really only six years old. Feri glanced at him, finding it hard to believe, though she accepted it as fact. He had not undergone a normal birth. Magic could do whatever it liked as far as she knew. Why not create fully matured people as innocent as babes.

“Abby,” Silas called after a time.

Feri's flow of thought stifled. “Yes?” The smell of warm bread in the bakery beside them sent pings of pain through her stomach. She’d forgotten about eating that morning. Stupid Asinis. Why couldn't he have left a note? She wasn't like Silas. She would have accepted it and waited for him to come back... unless he took longer than necessary.

“The spell I spent to find you has regenerated. Shall I use it to locate Klyde and Mr. Noarwin?” he asked.

The spell he used to find her? Feri spun to face him, almost knocking into the person walking past. She ducked under his round belly wrapped in a pinstripe, yellow plaid vest and the package he carried and looked up at Silas. “Spell?” she asked, not hearing the man's mumbled complaints under his thick, twisted mustache.

Silas nodded and showed her his palm. She didn’t see anything but guessed she would if she asked him to activate it.

“Would it help?” he asked.

“You used it to find me?” she said.

He nodded.

“Then yes! Please.” She cupped his hand and lifted it over her head, so he would activate the sparks of ether she had begun to sense.

Silas blinked curiously at her excitement. Then, as he started the spell’s activation, his eyes shifted. “Oh. I don’t need to.” He pointed past her. “There they are.”

Feri whirled around and shouted at the two figures coming towards them. Asinis winced, and Mr. Noarwin, wearing a cheeky grin, waved.

“Where have you two been?” she asked stomping toward them.

“My apologies, little lady,” Mr. Noarwin said. He swung an arm around Asinis’s shoulders. “I got restless in the middle of the night and dragged Klyde along for an evening out.”

"Evening? It's morning! Do you know how worried I was? So many things could have happened."

"Oh my, we have a mother hen on our hands." Mr. Noarwin pushed Asinis toward her. He stumbled, and Mr. Noarwin straightened the collar of his fine coat. Then, he tossed Silas a pocket of coins. "Feed the misses, will you? People are sweeter when tempered by something delicious. Also." He slipped a small pendant over Feri's head. "Now you'll sound like any other gnome girl." He winked and then started away, giving her little time to examine the peanut-sized piece of iron imprinted with a flower in its center.

"Where are you going?" Asinis called.

"I'm off to visit a devil," he said, waving a hand behind him.

Asinis stared after Mr. Noarwin until Feri dropped her pendant to her chest and tugged his pant leg to force him around.

"What happened?" she asked then gasped at the sweet sound of her voice.

Asinis smiled tenderly at her surprise then squat to her height and stroked her hair. "We went to a pub and conversed over drinks."

Feri narrowed her eyes, forgetting that she no longer had to worry about speaking. Asinis thought he could soothe her with that tone and a few pats on the head? Feri couldn't tell if he was lying. She sighed and shoved away, causing him to fall onto his backside. "Fine." Her stomach rumbled, freezing her in place. Right, breakfast. She puffed out her cheeks as she felt her companion's stares.

"Shall we find food, Abby?" Silas asked.

"Yes. Though." She eyed the small purse he held and then looked behind her at Asinis. "Can we afford to indebt ourselves to him?"

Asinis looked uncomfortable. "He is the one who bought our drinks through the night," he said. Then his stomach roared, and his cheeks flared darker than the freckles that dusted his nose. "Ahem. Perhaps we can accept his patronage a little longer," he said.

"There's a bakery that way." Feri couldn't argue. They had no way of feeding themselves, and she wasn't ready to stoop to stealing. Not food anyway. Or rather—not around Silas. She didn't want to promote any bad habits, nor did she want him to think poorly of her for such acts. She pointed a little way back where she could still catch the scent of fresh cakes and bread wafting into the street. A line was forming, and so they hurried to join it before it grew unbearably long.

"How much did he give us?" Asinis asked, taking the purse from Silas to begin counting. He and Feri looked over Asinis's shoulder, who then scrutinized the post of prices. "Let's see. There's a small loaf and some cakes worth in here."

"I don't suspect Mr. Noarwin is a wealthy sort," Feri said when she saw the few silver and bits of copper. "The fact he's hosting us so amiably, despite his eccentrics, has me wary."

"I'm sure that's what he wants," Asinis sighed.

Feri glanced at Asinis who, when he saw the look in her eyes, shook his head with a fearful frown. She sighed. He was right. No stealing. They would have to endure Mr. Noarwin's psychological leash.

They made their way to the counter where Asinis ordered a small loaf of bread and some cakes. They shuffled out, a few copper pieces leftover they kept tucked away. Just in case. They stepped past the hungry patrons waiting to get inside and back into the morning sun.

"Where should we take this?" Asinis asked, their bag of breakfast clutched in his arms as if he carried a precious book.

"The fountain!" Feri said, pointing toward it splashing not far. Children played around the round, lapping structure. A dog barked after them as they waved a stick to entice its chase. Silas and Asinis flanked Feri there, and they sat on one of the benches.

Feri dug in the bag and handed out three small cakes. Silas watched the others' teeth sink into theirs. Feri smiled. The delicious combination of vanilla and almond with a hint of lavender was worth every bit of debt Mr. Noarwin enticed them into. Then, noticing Silas hadn't tried his, she motioned for him to do so. He obeyed. The sponge pinched between his lips and then sprung back into place when he released it. He studied the fluffy morsel.

"What do you think?" Feri asked. She doubted he didn't like it. Anyone who said they hated cake was a liar, and she didn't think Silas knew how to lie.

"I've not tasted anything like it," he said. Feri chuckled. He didn't lie.

"What do you usually eat?" Asinis asked.

Silas held out his hand. His companions watched and then gasped as vines grew out of his palm. On them bloomed berries, and nuts popped out also.

Feri's brow twitched as she processed the magic. "But, isn't that like, eating yourself?" she asked.

"No. The things needed for plant life exists in the ether and elements all around us. I simply draw them in and stimulate their manifestation. None of it comes from me."

"Huh." It sounded a curious experiment. Excitement bubbled in her chest, and she all but pointed her nose at them. "May I try one?" she asked.

Silas gestured his berries and nuts toward her. She chose a blackberry. Her back molars broke through the tight, glistening skin in an instant and sent a spurt of gorgeous juice into her cheek and back of her tongue.

"Oh! It's delicious," she said.

Silas smiled and offered some to Asinis, who accepted. The trio ate their assortment of food, finished, and sat satisfied with their satiated hunger.

"The nuts and berries topped it off perfectly," Feri said. "Thank you, Silas."

Not sure how to respond, Silas offered a nod as someone ran into their bench. They toppled over Asinis, who shouted as he fell onto his hands and knees. He hissed at the scrapes on his palms as the person shouted an apology and raced away.

The blood drained from Feri's face as Asinis's image changed. She jumped to her feet. "Asinis!" Asinis looked up at her. "You look like you," she hissed.

Asinis's eyes widened in panic. He went to activate the stone but— "The ring is gone!"

Feri whirled in the direction the urchin ran into the crowd. She slipped off her ring, shoved it in her pocket, and taking advantage of her rabbit-like legs, dashed in the direction he had gone.

"Fe—!" Asinis reached toward her, but it was too late. "Oh no." He pulled his hood over his face and ran after her with Silas.

Feri leapt over the dog racing around the fountain. The boys playing with it shouted and pointed in excitement. She slid and ducked under a cart loaded with fresh fruit, her claws forcing her to scurry in place a second before finding traction. The color of her eyes deepened. Her sight blurred at the edges, focusing only on the urchin who had stolen Asinis's ring. She snarled, frightening a horse she sped past so it whinnied and trotted back away from her.

The thief looked behind him and shouted at the sight of the rabid rabbit. He urged his legs faster, but he couldn't outrun the dy'adrin. She jumped him, forcing them into a tumble down a path of steps going into an emptier part of the city. The cobblestone and pebbles bit into her arms and back as they rolled, and then she scrambled on top of him and grabbed his collar.

"Give it back!" she shouted, spittle wetting his face in her fierceness.

"Give what back?" he cried.

"My friend's ring!" she said.

"I don't have a ring," he said, covering his face.

A few people further in the labyrinth neighborhood of gray stone and earth bordered slopes dotted with randomly placed flowers, poked their heads around corners and out their doors to discover the source of the ruckus, but no one approached when they saw the fanged, red-eyed dy'adrin snarling at the young man she assaulted.

"Feri!" Asinis called, waving over his head as he and Silas caught up. She snapped a glare past her shoulder, and her fury melted.

"Huh?" She gawked. He looked like Klyde. She focused on his hand and discovered him wearing the ring. Her hold on the urchin slackened, and she faced him. He looked about to wet himself. Realization weighed on her chest, and she shirked before gently releasing him and climbing off. "Sorry," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Crazy beast-bunny." He spun up and then darted the way he'd earlier fled. As soon as he did, a pair of soldiers intercepted him. Feri gasped, fished frantically for her ring, and brought up her disguise, but the guards didn't spare her direction a glance.

"Stop right there." They grabbed the urchin, who struggled under their grip.

One of the men reached into the man's coat and pulled out a bag. He jerked it open. Silas, Asinis, and Feri, along with some of the people living in Dusk Commons looked at what he'd grabbed. A sack of stolen jewels glittered in the shaded light.

"Lady Argile's dowry. You ought to be ashamed of stealing a woman's happiness." The guard, which held the urchin, clamped some irons around his wrists. "Let's go." He steered him back the way the guards had come, and Feri and Asinis let out a relieved sigh.

"I think we should get back to Mr. Noarwin's," Asinis said.

Feri nodded, her fingers trembling in place of her disguised rabbit's nose. "Agreed," she whispered.

"Abby," Silas said. She met his gaze. "Did that man do something wrong?"

"Oh?" Feri considered the situation. Silas likely didn't understand what had happened. "Yes. I thought he'd stolen Asinis's ring, but it turns out that was minuscule to what he'd really taken."

"Those things weren't his?" Silas asked.

"No."

"Then why did he take them?"

Feri paused. Silas's naivety and innocence brought a sweet pain to her chest. This gentle boy needed protection but—was she the one who should provide it? She remembered the selfish choices of her past. She remembered almost killing a man whom she should have just slapped and walked away from. She thought of her family's desperation to get her out of town to protect her. It'd all stemmed from her looks, which had a poor influence on her choices. Her sickness returned, but Silas's kind gaze eased her nausea.

"Silas. Stay just like this," she whispered up at him.

"Hm?" He tilted his head at her.

"Whatever happens. Don't let this world ruin you."

"I will... try." He sounded confused, but that didn't bother Feri.

She smiled and took his hand, feeling like she'd gained a precious pet. "Come on. Let's get some rest. Klyde?"

"Coming." Asinis tagged behind them, the ring which had slipped off his finger firmly back in place. "Let's not tell Mr. Noarwin what just happened," he suggested, probably nervous over his reaction of them nearly losing something he'd let them borrow.

"Of course. Silas?" Feri turned imploring eyes on him.

"Should I not say anything?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Alright."

Feri smiled. "Let's go lay low. We can decide what to do when Mr. Noarwin returns." She led them back to the slums, and there, they started planning what to do, so they had something to show their host in order to prove they were making good on their end of the bargain. The last thing they wanted was to turn their only ally against them.