Lytah led Shilo to her quarters, with Kirlim following close behind. Her quarters were located on the upper floor of the Mage Chapter in apartments reversed for high-ranking officials. Archmagus Arrinon had somehow beaten them to her apartment and was already chatting with Lytah’s husband over tea. Her husband, a thin, darkish-medium grey man who wore his hair pulled back in a topknot, gave them all a hard glare as they entered. 

“Perhaps, Archmagus, it would be better to continue this discussion at your residence?”

“Certainly, Archmage Romin. Do you wish Enforcer Kirlim to stay while we deliberate matters?”

“No,” Romin said. “And thank you for escorting them, Officer Kirlim. I trust you will return to retrieve the boy once Archmagus Arrinon is ready?”

“Yes, and are you sure, Archmage Romin, you do not require me to stay while you attend to other matters?”

“No. I’ll arrange for my daughter to stay longer at her grandmother’s. I’m sure Lytah can handle any problems that may arise.” He nodded to Lytah with a dour expression. “She’s shown herself capable before and I’m sure this will be no different.”  

Lytah flinched slightly as the door shut. She ran her fingers through the hair of her tail and fiddled with the tresses for a moment before facing Shilo. Clasping her hands together, she let out an audible sigh before plastering a half-hearted smile on her face. “So, are you hungry, Shilo? I can make you some tea and sandwiches.”

“I want to leave.”

“Yes, I know. But sorry, that’s not an option. The washroom is the second door on the right if you want to bathe first. Er, do you—”

“Yes, even though it’s been awhile since I’ve been somewhere with indoor plumbing, I think I still remember how to use the toilet.”

“No, I mean do you have any other…?” She muttered off, embarrassed.

“Clothes besides what’s on my back?” Shilo shrugged. “No.”

Lytah stared at him as if she wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. He felt the same.

“Well, thanks for the offer, but I’m leaving now.” Shilo reached for the door.

“No!” 

At her command the door that Shilo held partly ajar, slammed shut and refused to budge again. Shilo thumped his head against it. Damn mages. He eyed her, she no longer stood there looking meek. She seemed almost pathetic at the meeting, flinching at every question, but now— she held her hands on her hips and swished her tail angrily like a ticked off cat.

“Sorry, you can’t leave. I’ll ask Jin tomorrow about seeing if Natto has anything he can spare that might fit. You can wear a pair of my sleepers for now after you bathe.”

“You’re not listening! I am not staying! I have to get to Asha!”

“No, you’re the one not listening! You. Can’t! Leave! And as much as you and I would both love for it to happen, the Council isn’t going to change their minds just because you want to be an asshat. They’re not about to release you back into the wilds of civilization until you prove yourself to be of no threat.”

“No threat? I am no threat! Look at me! I’m worthless!”

“That’s for them to decide. Now sit, tell me who this Asha person is and maybe I can help you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Or you can stand there holding the door up and nothing gets done. Your choice.”

He glared at her and crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring her. He was a tad taller in height being how she was so short and he tried to look imposing. He was about to launch another protest when a loud gurgle that sounded like it emitted from the depths of despair came forth. 

At the sound of his stomach, his face reddened and Lytah let out a giggle. She had a cute laugh and an adorable smile that she hid behind her hand. Still giggling, she went to the kitchen only to return a moment later some cheese and crackers she grabbed from the pantry. 

Shilo sat on the sofa with a sigh. “Can you help her?”

“I can try. You said you’re her guardian? How did that happen?”

Shilo nodded and nibbled on a bit of cheese trying to collect his thoughts enough to start. He shoved the rest in his mouth and almost choked when he heard her say, “Do you want to lock minds so you can project your memories?”

“No! Crap!”

“I won’t control your thoughts if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

She may have said it with a playful smile, but for some reason, Shilo didn’t think it was all in jest.

“No, just give me a second. I’ll start at the beginning. Like I said, my mother died when I was five. The Orphan Wranglers found me, and I don’t really remember how, but somehow they did. And for the past three years, I’ve been trying to save Asha from that fate.”

“Orphan Wranglers? You spoke of them at the meeting. That term is new to me. They take in orphans, like an orphanage?”

“Yeah, they find orphans and then auction them off to owners…uh, I mean caretakers—they call them caretakers—with the highest need that would be beneficial to the community. You know, like livestock.”

“Like slave traders? That can’t be right! The Chancellors would never let children be used like that!”

“Well, probably not exactly slave traders. But when you get told you’re worthless and a waste of money, you can’t really call those people anything loving. And, as Urilee put it, how else are those little lost souls gonna get food and shelter? Little workers to help the fields grow the food to feed the citizens. Very noble. Blah, blah, blah, bullcrap. The chancellors probably set it all up.”

“No, that can’t be. I’ve never heard of such a thing and I was a homeless child when I was mutated. Well, I guess that’s not completely true. Enolla and Ressil took all four of us in, so none of us were exactly homeless.”

“Four of you?”

“Yes, me, Yeisha, Jin, and his older sister, Yun. We were all kids that had our human lives ripped from us and met shortly after. Me, the youngest at age ten, to Yun, the oldest at nineteen. Granted, Yun was fully capable of taking care of her brother on her own, and both she and Yeisha were basically adults, but despite all that, Enolla and her husband still fostered us all. But enough about that, you were explaining yourself. Orphan wranglers found you?”

“Yes, and from there I was placed in a home only to be returned for a refund when I failed to be as strong as they wanted. And that happened again, and again, until it repeated itself enough times that I ran away. My blackness is a lie, I’m no muscleman. I’m just a reject, a freak. I’m nothing.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. There’s tests…” 

The boy shot her look, the doubt and bitterness etched clearly on his face. He rolled his eyes and snorted.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “And I’m sorry you ended up in such a place. Maybe things would have been different if… if someone else had found you after your mother’s death…”

“But I was lucky. I saw a few kids that ended up in houses that weren’t.” Shilo stared down at his hands as he spoke, “Beaten and broken until someone calls the Watch. Sometimes the kid escapes or dies. There’s even a few children who were sold by their own parents because they could no longer afford them or they just didn’t want them. Those unwanted children stare back with haunted eyes and bleak expressions of hopelessness. They’re dead, but their bodies refuse to believe it. I could easily have been one if the wrong person got me. I knew if I was sold again, there would be no refund. I could’ve ended up slaving away on some landowners field never knowing what it was like to be a kid again. Asha could have ended up that way too if not for me.”

“How many?”

He looked at Lytah, her eyes misty as she wrung her hands in the hem of her blouse. He sighed. She is a Sensitive mage after all, empathetic of others, and apparently that also means getting easily worked up. He might have laid it a tad thick, however none of it was untrue. 

“Out of all the orphans, only a small amount end up in the bad way. Urilee is an ass, but he’s a caring ass. He tries to check up on all the sold children, but he can’t always. He buys back any if it’s a bad match or gets the Watch involved on bad owners. I’ve been the cause of several refunds and a buyback. Urilee just told me that I’d used up my last bail pass.”

“Even as a child, I knew ugliness existed. I’ve seen children assaulted, often by those who are supposed to care about them the most. And I’ve seen adults frightened, trapped in a state of mental anguish from the abuse they’ve suffered. Monsters exist, I know it’s futile to wish they don’t. But I still like to dream.”

“I’m nobody’s monster, despite…” Shilo rubbed his face. “Despite the looks people like to throw my way.”

“I really hope that’s true,” Lytah said, barely above a whisper.

Shilo threw her an odd look. She stared down at her hands refusing to meet his eyes. 

Whatever.

“Anyway, I ran away from all that and lived by myself for over a year until I found Asha. I saved her from the Orphan Wranglers. I found her after her mother had saved her at the cost of her own life.”

“Tell me about it, please?” Her hand landed gently on his, covering it. Her hand was warm and soft, but oddly… 

“Why didn’t I get zapped? You are a mage, right? Come to think of it, I didn’t get zapped by that other lady either. Her name was Yeisha, right?”

“It’s possible for a mage not to zap, as you call it, if the mage’s power is insignificant. Or, as in our case, you’ve been touched by that mage once before. The zap is only on first contact, it proclaims each mage's strength. It’s an involuntary one-time response to the magical energy of mana within us reacting to one another. Think of it more along the lines of static shock.”

Shilo screwed up his face. “Okaaay, but I’m not a mage, sooo—?”

“It’s said that all of creation has a little mana, it’s just that it is not accessible to everyone to access it. That’s what a mage is, someone who can access the mana within themself and flowing throughout nature and utilize it to perform magic. Even if you can’t access it, the spark is still there, which can cause an unknown mage to trigger it on first contact.”

Shilo cocked his head with an arch brow. “But Asha hasn’t ever been shocked by one, so, why just me?”

Lytah returned his look and questioned, “Has she actually touched a mage that you know of?”

“No, we tend to avoid going near them.”

“But anyway, to answer your first question better, I already touched you once before when I healed you at some point in your young life. You see, not only am I a sensitive mage, but I’m also a healer and Yeisha used to accompany me when I made house visits.”

“So, when I was too young to remember I was healed by you?”

She nodded and gripped his hand a little tighter. “Share your memory of finding Asha with me. That way I can feel how important she is to you and decide how best to help. Please?”