The woman’s expression was warm, her eyes smiling, but her words were cold and condescending. “You can’t just go running out into the street toward people’s children. What are they supposed to think? A witch just coming out of nowhere. Of course that would be frightening for them...”

The woman continued to ramble with a tight grasp on A’nallia’s wrists, and she could do nothing but stand and listen.

“Apparently I missed something.” The calm voice drifted over her shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you to wait at the table?”

A wave of relief immediately washed over her. She didn’t know that she could trust her master, but at this moment, he was at least something familiar. Flashing him a look of desperation, he barely spared her a glance and said nothing more. The woman still held her wrists and didn’t seem bothered by the appearance of the demon.

“Well, good. She does have an owner.” Her disapproval was happily redirected to the man in charge. “Of course, we would be concerned that she might be a runaway.”

“Of course.” Her master’s voice was somehow deeper than before and his eyes moved to rest on her wrists, the grey dark and intimidating. The woman immediately released her grip and wiped her hands on her apron.

“Yes, well...” Clearing her throat, she looked back at A’nallia. “Look, girl, your master is here. You should stay closer to him.”

A’nallia wasn’t sure how to respond. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do in most situations. Leaving the Tower, you know you will be sold or given away, depending on your worth. If you are lucky enough to be purchased, you know your new master will be a demon and you will serve him in whatever way you were most useful. But the Tower didn’t teach girls about the world they were entering. Why waste time on such things? Once sold, those witches were no longer their responsibility.

“Master.” She gave him a gentle standing bow, then kept her eyes down after rising. “I’m sorry I wandered. I shouldn’t have left the table.”

“Mm.” He didn’t look at her, his gaze fixed on the humans. “What happened to make you leave?”

“The boy cried out and I saw he had injured his knee, so I wanted to heal him. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive.”

“Show them.”

“Master?”

He pointed to her hands but still didn’t turn to look at her. They needed an example. She held her palms outward and with a gentle warmth, the scrapes and bruises faded away. Only some residual dirt and stone dust remained, and she gently brushed this off onto her dress.

The villagers just stared, speechless. Surely they have seen a healer before? Healing was the most common magic used among humans, seen as a charitable gift given by the Imperium to its citizens. This close to the Imperium city, there shouldn’t be any reason her magic would be shocking.

“She is a healer, but has no other magic. As her brand shows, she is not a danger to you. If you let her, she can easily heal your boy’s injury.”

The woman nodded and hurriedly shooed the men and other villagers out of the way, clearing a path for A’nallia. After bowing in thanks, she slowly approached the boy, kneeling at his side and smiling softly.

“This won’t hurt at all,” she promised, placing one hand on his thigh and the other on his shin. She didn’t want to touch the injury directly, causing him more pain. “It will just feel a bit warm. You might want to look away, though.”

In only moments, the warmth from her hands flowed to his leg, then to his knee. The joints twisted, bones and cartilage all shifting back into their proper place. A’nallia moved her hands to either side of the knee, making sure to get rid of any soreness before removing them and resting them on her thighs.

“You can look now. It's all finished. How do you feel?”

The boy turned and looked at his knee in amazement, then smiled up at A’nallia, tears already drying on his cheeks. She returned the smile, rubbing him gently on the back, and let him use her arm as leverage to stand. He shook his leg and jumped a few times, testing the knee out.

“You were very brave. Just make sure you are more careful in the future, ah?”

After a vigorous nod, the boy ran to hug his mother’s leg, who gave her a hesitant but appreciative bow. She simply smiled and nodded back. Then she stood, not bothering this time to wipe her dress, and walked back to her master’s side, avoiding eye contact with the other villagers.

There were murmurs in the crowd that had formed, but no one addressed them directly until the middle-aged woman slapped the brutish Hagen on the back. Hagen took a few steps forward and, facing the demon, he bowed slightly.

“Thank you for your help and, uh… sorry, about earlier.” The self-assured bully from before was now like a timid child. “You understand though, I’m sure.”

Her master didn’t say anything. Instead, he pointed at A’nallia standing next to him, tilting his head to look directly into Hagen’s eyes. Hagen looked away, clearly uncomfortable, but turned slightly to face her.

“Sorry. For pushing you earlier.” His voice was low and filled with embarrassment.

“It’s fine. No harm done.” A’nallia would have rather smacked him, but clearly, she was in no position of power here, as she was everywhere. It was better to accept her place than cause any more trouble. Her master was probably feared, but he was not respected and had to be careful as well. For the first time that day - for the first time ever - A’nallia recognized that his kind weren’t viewed any higher in human society than her own. Maybe they were even lower, and it was nothing more than their shadowy reputation that protected them.

“Perhaps you know where I can purchase a pair of boots for this girl.”

As if nothing had happened, her master gathered the directions to the shoemaker and gestured for her to follow him. Everyone else had scattered, avoiding the strange pair. A’nallia was fitted for simple leather work boots and after scanning her battered white dress, she was also dressed in a plain farmer’s dress at a shop across the street. Though it was a single shade of faded blue with no frills, just a basic corset tie in the back, it was clean and comfortable, and infinitely sturdier than the flimsy fabric the Imperium had dressed her in. It also had large side pockets that could fit an entire hand, and she walked out of the shop swinging her arms back and forth, her skirt swaying to the rhythm. The ordeal from only moments ago was gone from her mind, and a smile returned to her face.