As Tessa led them down a path at the other end of the clearing, a big, white dog hauled itself up from where it had been laying in the shade and followed along with them. Duran offered it his hand and it sniffed it before happily accepting head pats.

Duran hadn’t spent much time around dogs, but his master had always had cats. Duran had liked them even if they were temperamental bastards who would take a swipe at you if you pet them slightly too long or in a way that wasn’t exactly to their liking. They may have been self centred creatures, but they were simple and honest.

They reached the end of the path and ahead of them the trees had been cleared to make space for a farming settlement. Near them was a fenced-off area with rows and rows of mixed plants, more reminiscent of a large vegetable garden than crop lands. Further down the path, there were a few buildings, and in the distance, on a grassy hill, several huge beasts covered in long, voluminous brown fur grazed.

"We grow all of our own fruits and vegetables here, and our livestock give us milk and wool," Tessa explained. "They also provide us with manure for the gardens."

“Are those huge things on the hill your livestock?” Hamish asked.

Tessa laughed. “They are. A hundred years ago, we had cows and sheep. Now we have those. We’re open and welcoming to the fae, and sometimes they come up with creative ways to help us.”

Two children dressed in woolly coats were in the garden, whispering to each other as they watched Duran and the others pass by. They were munching on cucumbers. When Duran waved, one of the children let out a squeal of laughter and ran to hide behind some of the plants.

“But the fae haven’t changed you?” Hamish asked.

“Studying the fae is a spiritual endeavour, but it’s also a scientific one,” Tessa explained. “I’ve never met anyone who’s upset with the fae for what they turned them into. There seems to be some subconscious consent involved. The fae may give someone a second chance at life or help them out in subtle ways, but if you’re happy and healthy and part of a safe community, they’re likely to leave you alone. It’s no different from a pack of werewolves remaining werewolves over the course of a hundred years.”

“Sounds about right,” Slone said. “Sometimes the fae step in, make someone a lil extra special, but werewolves have been werewolves for a good long time now. Don’t need to mess with what works.”

Tessa led them through a gate into one of the gardens, and Duran pretended to pay attention as she and Hamish discussed growing strategies and crop yields. Slone didn’t bother pretending. He was down on the ground, making friends with the dog. Whether it was a werewolf thing or simply a Slone thing, he seemed to have a way of communicating with the animal through his body language alone.

“Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough,” Tessa said as they reached the far end of the garden. “Dinner should be about done by now. Would you three like to come and eat with us?”

Duran hadn’t been part of the conversation for a while, but it was he who Hamish passed the question on to with a glance. Duran nodded. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t still a little uncomfortable with being around a large group of humans, but he knew it wasn’t a rational feeling. It certainly wasn’t worth passing up a meal and a bed for the night over.

As Tessa led them further down the road, the sounds of people talking and laughing drifted on the breeze along with the smell of cooking food. Everyone quietened down as they made their way down a path towards the covered eating area. Even a man who had been playing a guitar took a pause.

“We have guests for dinner tonight,” Tessa announced, and everyone cheered.

Duran took a deep breath in and let it out, preparing himself to dive into the social situation ahead of him. He had a smile ready for the first person who handed him food, and compliments on the fresh vegetables, the way of life these people had, and the warm welcome they had received lined up in his mind for anyone he talked to. Was he a mage? Yes, he was, and he would happily sit and shoot balls of magelight around for the children to chase until someone came and kindly suggested he might like a break. Could they touch his hair? Yes, of course, and he would smile while they did it.

Slone was also busy talking to everyone, dancing, and playing games with the kids, though Duran got the impression he was just genuinely enjoying himself. Hamish, meanwhile, had clearly found Tessa’s son, along with an older man he seemed just as interested in. He seemed happy just sitting and talking with the two of them. Once Duran decided he was done making sure everyone liked him, he pulled up a chair and joined them.

Hamish shot Duran a smile that somehow communicated that he knew just how fake Duran was being, but also that he sympathised with it. “Duran, new friends. This is Eli,” he said, pointing to the younger man who was presumably Tessa’s son, “and Roman,” he said, pointing to the older man.

Duran shook Roman’s hand when he offered it. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

Roman held onto Duran’s hand just a little too long, and even after he let go, his gaze lingered. He was probably twice Duran’s age and had a thick beard.

Eli was much more of a pretty boy, at least by human standards. If they were having a prettiness competition, Duran would have easily won, but they weren’t, so Duran could appreciate Eli’s big, dark eyes and his easy smiles.

Roman leant back in his chair. “So, Duran, how have you been liking our home?”

“It’s beautiful, and the food is delicious,” Duran said. “We appreciate the warm welcome.”

“Hamish has been telling us about your journey so far. It’s fascinating. The other side of the mountains may as well be another world with how little news gets through.”

“It does make me wonder what else might be out there if things can be so different so close to home,” Duran said. “I’ve seen a globe before. There’s so much more world we know absolutely nothing about.”

“I’ve thought about that myself,” Roman said. “What if things resolved very differently in other parts of the world? What if everyone came to their senses before things escalated so much? Maybe there are people still out there, living in advanced cities full of all the old technologies?”

"I still think I'd rather be here," Eli said. "Don't get me wrong, it might be interesting to visit a city, but I don't think I'd like to live in one. From the pictures I've seen, they look so barren. It's not really my thing."

“I wouldn’t recommend them, honestly,” Hamish said. “There are a few cities where I’m from, and to be fair, they are falling apart, pre-war cities, but they don’t seem like they were ever pretty. Just grey concrete. At least there are plants growing all over everything now.”

"I could never imagine travelling like you do, Hamish," Eli said. "But it is exciting to think about all the things we don't know and can't ever know. It's fascinating to think about all the possibilities out there."

Roman shot Eli a fond smile. “It is fun to think about.”

Tessa approached the group, carrying a basket full of vegetable scraps. She shot an uncomfortable glance between Hamish and her son, but Eli just smiled, seeming to find the situation amusing.

“Hamish,” Tessa said, “I got those scraps from the kitchen for you. We’d normally use these for compost, but if they can go towards feeding someone, that’s even better.”

Hamish stood up and took the basket from her. "Great, thank you so much," he said. "Duran, do you want to come with me to take these to Cookie?"

Duran nodded. He could use a break.

Once they were outside, Hamish drew a breath in through his teeth and tightened the strings on his coat to ward off the chill. “You’re quite the social butterfly when you want to be.”

"Well, those people were kind enough to let me work my charms on them, unlike some people I could mention." He tried to give Hamish a glare, but couldn't help the smile that crept onto his lips.

Hamish chuckled. “Ah, except your charms clearly have worked on me, even if it took you a while to figure out the best strategy.”

Duran's smile faded and he shook his head. "I'm not trying to manipulate you anymore, Hamish. I mean, when we first met I was, but not now. You know that."

"I do," Hamish replied. "But it's still a little unsettling to see how well you can put on a show. You looked happier than I’d ever seen you in there, smiling away at everyone. If I didn't know you, I might have thought you were genuinely enjoying yourself."

Duran shrugged. "I guess it's something that comes with the territory. As much as I hate to stereotype, I think it's fair to say that slaves are often good at pretending to be something they're not. Except for Fanner, maybe. That sweet boy never could quite master the art of pretending."

“I’ve seen plenty of that before, of course. You’re just exceptionally good at it.”

“Am I?” Duran asked. “Or am I just so exceptionally candid when I’m not doing it that it stands out?”

Hamish let out a long breath. “Now there’s a question.”

“Never trust anyone who’s always happy, who never says no, and always tells you what you want to hear. They’re either a snake like me or they don’t know how to stand up for themselves. Either way, the truth will come out eventually, and you won’t like it.”

“Maybe that should be my rule,” Hamish said. “No sex with ex-slaves unless they’re willing and able to tell me to go fuck myself.”

Duran raised an eyebrow. "You really do like your rules, don't you?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not very good at saying no," Hamish admitted. "And speaking of my insatiable sex drive, I was planning on spending the night with Roman and Eli. Care to join us?"

“Hmm,” Duran said. “Three times the human? Yes, I think I will.”

“You don’t mind group sex, then?”

Duran shrugged. "I don't know if it's fair to ask me if I like things that I've only experienced in bad ways. Do I like it? I don't know. Maybe? I suppose if it's like what we did before, but more, then why not?"

"I understand," Hamish said. "I know you hate it when I fuss over you, but I just want to make sure you're comfortable.”

Duran let out a deep sigh. “It’s fine, Hamish. I give you a hard time, but I’ll admit that I know I don’t have to worry about being outnumbered in a situation like this because you’re on my side, and you’re so annoyingly caring that there’s no room to doubt that. I know you won’t get caught up in things and stop caring about me. So thank you, asshole.”

"Aww, you're welcome," Hamish said, grinning.

"That's not encouragement for you to do it more," Duran warned. "It's still annoying."

"Uh huh.”

Duran groaned. “You’ll never stop now, will you?”

"Well..." Hamish said, his grin widening. "Nah."

“Fuck.”

With the help of Duran’s magelight, they found the way to the path they’d first entered through and followed it.

“Huh,” Hamish said when they came to the clearing and found the naked woman still sitting on the ground in front of the stone monument, surrounded by the fae exactly as she had been when they’d last seen her. Cookie was laying on the other side of the stone, sprawled out on the ground.

“Is this… okay?” Duran asked as Hamish set the basket down and Cookie wandered over to check out her dinner. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” a voice said, and Duran jumped as he looked up to see Kit standing next to the woman. “I mean, she’s naked in this weather. She’d be dead if she wasn’t being protected.”

Hamish watched as Cookie crammed fistfuls of vegetable scraps into her mouth. “We’ve fed Cookie enough to get a conversation out of you, have we?”

“When I feel like it,” Kit said. “I’ve been talking to her —  to Vonnie. Seeing what she’s seeing. They’re trying to understand the fae.”

“Are they succeeding?”

Kit shrugged. "It's confusing and chaotic, like what might happen to your brain if you took every hallucinogenic drug at once. It’s like… well, I was going to say it’s like when you open a random file type as a text document and it just gives you a bunch of random symbols and letters that make no sense at all, but I guess neither of you would understand that, so never mind. It’s like we’re trying to interpret something that our brains were never designed to understand.”

"I don't know what any of that means, but I like your funny words," Hamish said. He emptied the rest of the vegetable scraps out of the basket onto the ground, then turned to Duran. "Ready to head back?"

Duran nodded. “Our new human friends better have waited for us.”

“Oh, I’m sure they have.”