"Wait, please, Miss Tepes!" The man followed her, quicker on his feet than she expected. He was either more athletic than his pretty face belied, or the armor was lighter than it looked. "Speaking somewhere with other people around is acceptable too."

"You're suspicious, and I don't want to answer any questions!" Getting a bit desperate and not wanting to run home to her mother with Baugulf—if that was his real name—tailing her, Melusine dashed into the closest storefront and held the door shut behind her.

"Melusine, what are you barging in here for?!" Kenneth, the baker's son, exclaimed. He was a few years younger than Melusine, and he wasn't the sort to be noticed by girls, but he'd always seemed fine with that. Because he shared Melusine's lack of interest in socializing, Melusine always had a soft spot for him.

She heard Baugulf fluster and huff on the other side of the door even over Kenneth's confused squawking. When Baugulf rattled the handle and tried to push the door open, all of Melusine's weight was put into pressing against the oak door.

"I'm sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot," the blond stranger grunted out from the strain of their reverse tug-of-war. His tone sounded baffled and almost impressed that she was holding her own against him. Malachite pigmented scales emerged in Melusine's skin, patches covering her forearms and temples. The baker's son made his way from behind the counter to tug on her arm, but when he saw the scales, he screamed and hid behind the counter. "What are you doing in there?!"

"Nothing!" Melusine snapped, shooting a glare at the scaredy-cat.

"I heard a scream!"

"Kenneth's always been a crybaby!"

"Who's Kenneth?!" Baugulf's tone was now appalled, and the handle rattled furiously.

"Who cares who Kenneth is?"

"Hey," the baker's son objected, his tone hurt. Melusine wagged her finger at Kenneth and hushed him. At this point she was only mildly surprised that she could hold the door shut with just one hand. Baugulf cursed under his breath, but Melusine was still able to hear it through the door. A grin stretched across her chapped lips, and she glanced over her shoulder with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. 

"I'll make Kenneth choke on his own moldy bread if you don't leave me alone!" Melusine shouted through the door. "What's a fancy city person like you doing all the way out here in Hathorn anyway?"

"I was sent to retrieve you by order of King Adelric the Third!" Baugulf admitted and kicked at the door. "You shouldn't harm other people just because you're the Dragon's Proxy!"

"The what?" Melusine's eyebrows furrowed.

There was a tingle on her neck and arms. Melusine kicked out like a startled horse. It was only when she heard Kenneth yelp and drop to the floor that she registered how her body had reacted. "Damn," Melusine muttered under her breath. She stopped applying her weight to the door in favor of turning and squatting down by the side of the village's promising next baker. Kenneth was prone on his side, clutching at his calf with both hands. The store door immediately was opened, and the aghast blonde knight stepped inside.

"Did you truly use violence against a citizen?"

"I didn't mean to! It's just happened sometimes ever since— oh never mind. Kenneth, I didn't break a bone, did I?"

"Why do you ask that like you're genuinely worried you might have?" Kenneth grunted out, trembling on his side like a newborn foal.

"Well..." Melusine closed her eyes, remembering all the times she'd shown a sudden amount of strength in the past six months. The broken table that she cracked in half with a mere angry strike of her fist, the discovery that she could now drag their fattest pig from his trough with ease, and the look of horror on her mother's face the first time Melusine had picked up their old hen only to crush its body between her arms. "Did I or not?"

"I want so desperately to say yes... just to see the look on your face. But no, I don't think you did."

"Shut up, you jerk. If I didn't break anything, stop whining and get up."

"It still hurt, you know. And a girl shouldn't crouch down like you're doing. It's unladylike." Melusine rolled her eyes and stood up straight.

"Fine, stay down there for all I care." Melusine turned towards the door once more, only to be met with Baugulf blocking the exit with an awkward and guilty expression. Melusine heaved a deep sigh and hung her shoulders. "Let's talk near the gates. The guards are more or less useless, but they'll have to step in if you try anything suspicious."

"That's acceptable," Baugulf replied with a strained smile. Melusine glared at him as she passed on her way to exit the store.

"What does the king want with me?"

"I thought you wanted to talk at the village gates," Baugulf teased. Melusine felt her cheeks grow hot and she turned her nose up at the knight.

"I can still ask questions while we walk."

Baugulf chuckled and his tense muscles relaxed. "The Dragon's Proxy is meant to serve the king, just as the previous Proxy did."

"There's been others?" Melusine mumbled, half to herself. "What if I don't have any desire to serve the king?"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," the knight told her in a soft voice. Melusine froze in place, stopped right where she'd started—next to the well. "Your mother had word sent to the guard captain of the capital some time ago, asking for you to be escorted to the king."

Melusine stared at the well and then the bucket that she'd left behind nearby. Rage took over her mind, and her vision became doused with a crimson hue. Her own mother had sent her out to be whisked away by strangers. Images flashed through her mind of the final time she'd seen her mother, the grim and knowing glint in her eyes, the way they'd been trying to pretend that nothing was amiss, and finally the dragon hidden in shadow. Melusine started to laugh, and combed her bangs back from her forehead with her fingers. Her nails had grown into sharp claws, green scales appeared around her face, and her eyes glowed a horrid red.

"Ah, I've struck a deal with a demon, not dragon, didn't I? Truly, it has a miraculous ability to grant wishes," she scoffed, broken up amidst her mad laughter. Blinding hot tears stung at her eyes. "What am I to do?"

Melusine's focus was kept locked in front of her, her jaw set. Every fiber of her energy went into maintaining an exterior of stone. Her ears pricked with the sound of her mother sobbing into her hands.

"Please, Melly, forgive me," her mother wept. "I didn't know what else to do. At this rate, you'll hurt someone!"

"You mean that you're worried you won't be able to feed yourself," Melusine accused.

"That isn't it at all!" Her mother tried to pull her down into a hug, but Melusine shook her off. "Melly, I barely understand what's happened to you. With your father not around anymore, I can't risk the villagers turning on you. I can't... protect you on my own..." Teeth clenched, Melusine turned her back on her mother. Her muscles twitched and her hands tightened into fists.

"Just say that he's dead," Melusine muttered under her breath before she spoke clearer. "Ah, sure. You're doing all of this to protect me. Fine. I'll be a good daughter and go then."

"Oh, Melly..." Her mother took in a shuddering breath, and held out a bundle to Melusine. "I want you to take this with you. I love you, Melusine... no matter what, never doubt that. Okay?"

Melusine glanced at the package, rage and bitterness roiling in her, but underneath was hurt and fear. What hid behind her anger won out, and the bundle was pulled close to her chest. It was wrapped in a spare rucksack used for holding grain and tied with a waxed thread. However, even if this last gift was wrapped, Melusine knew what the gift was—at least in general. It had almost no weight, and wasn't stiff or hard.

"I love you too, Mother," Melusine admitted in a small voice. This time, she allowed herself to be pulled into an embrace. Her eyes stung. She wrapped a single arm around her mother's back and squeezed. "Don't let anything bad happen to you," she mumbled.

Her mother laughed and hugged her tight. Melusine felt warm water land on her neck. "Look after yourself, and you stay safe too. Or I'll come find you."

"That's... not much of a discouragement." A twinge of grief corrupted her mother's chuckling.

"She will be well looked after, Miss Custance," Baugulf assured. He'd hung back and stood by the carriage, but when Melusine softened her stance, he'd approached.

"Thank you, sir." Melusine's mother kissed her daughter on the cheek, and stepped away. Reluctantly, Melusine took in the visage of her mother and home one last time. Her mother—with her eyes and nose reddened from crying, and her home—run down and ramshackle. She'd miss both dearly.

Melusine stepped into the carriage and let the door shut behind her. Baugulf got on his chestnut steed, and the carriage began the slow progression down the uneven path to the village. Melusine stared down at the package resting in her lap. It felt like hours before she had the courage to pull the string loose. The cream colored tunic was lifted up into the air, every detail absorbed by Melusine. It was simple and plain with tanned leather trim. Black woven string hung loose on the neckline and sleeves, strung between the fabric to allow the cuffs and collar to tighten.

It was only after the procession had passed the village gates that Melusine let herself wail into the tunic.