Dipak smiled, old aches twisting in his heart."I wish there were more people like you.My mother and I hunted to trade for basics back in my village.But where people were starving like we were so often close to doing, she caught extra rabbits and such as she was able."
"Good hunters kill cleanly and share the meat.So name your trade, hunter."
"I honestly don't know," Dipak said."You brought all my things.I have food aplenty, the well works, the cave offers protection aplenty for my finer things… I guess all I really lack is furs and other wintering supplies.What I had was mostly for city use, and my good stuff was taken or otherwise lost to me the day I was arrested.I arrived here late, and getting ready for winter alongside everything else is difficult.I collect furs where I'm able, and lifted more off those mercenaries, but if you know where I can obtain good blankets and a pair of winter boots, those would be appreciated.Whatever part of that is equal in trade to the meat, I'm still learning all your measures."
"Blankets I will have for you no later than tomorrow.I will speak with the man who makes boots.He lives just outside the forest, close to the watermill that makes flour for the village on the far side of the river."
Dipak chuckled."Is there anyone you don't know, dragon?Shoemaker, witch, blacksmith, goblins…"
"And now a hunter with moon eyes," Euclid said."That reminds me of a question the goblins had, but as we were… at odds…before, I didn't know if I could ask it.I'm still not sure."
"As long as you're not going to ask me something like 'did I enjoy killing my lover,' I don't mind."
Euclid wrinkled his nose."That is appalling.No, the goblins I hired to collect your belongings saw something amongst them that made them wonder if you were the scout the goblins called Moonlight."
"That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.Yes, that was me.I was a scout in the army, and a good one, that's how I wound up a personal courier for the late king…and what led to everything else."He shook his head sharply to banish the bad memories before they took hold."I ran across goblins frequently on my scouting trips.They're always traveling, so it's hardnotto cross paths with them.Mostly up in the mountains and across the valley on the other side, where most of the fighting took place, or at least where we were camped and I reported back.The Bluerock Clans, primarily, though a couple of the forest clans too.I'm surprised they realized it was me.They called me Moonlight for obvious reasons.Which actually remindsmeof a question."
"Go on."
"Do you know anything about moon eyes?"
"Significantly improved vision at the cost of dulled colors."
"You weren't dull, though, as a dragon.I barely remember it, I was in so much pain, but I remember you were a bright, bright blue.The brightest thing I've seen since I had my eyes altered.It was shocking.I'd forgotten how pretty colors really were."
Of all things, Euclid's cheeks flushed slightly."I'm one of the oldest magics in existence, silly things like altered eyes cannot stop me in any way.There are other old magics that would show their true brilliance for you as well, I think, like the fae or demons or even the greater dead."
"I've never encountered any of those, thankfully, because I would not have survived the encounter."
"I think you do not give yourself enough credit.You did—" Euclid stopped, frowned."I beg your pardon, Agni is calling my name, and he sounds harried.Probably dropped something in the creek again, silly boy.I will return when I'm able.Have a good rest of the day, hunter."
"You too, dragon."
Then he was gone, and Dipak sighed at himself as he reset the fish traps to start another round of smoking and have something to make for dinner.While he waited for the traps to fill, he shifted his attention to the cabin, working meticulously to patch holes with a clay-heavy mud mixed with some other things that, once dried and set, wouldn't be going anywhere.When that was done, he switched back to fish, and while it smoked again, resumed fixing little things around the cabin, like squeaky hinges and creaky floorboards.
By the time he was finished for the day, he was exhausted.Though he'd grown up doing such things, he'd been living soft and comfortable in the city for years, with money aplenty to pay other people to deal with all the little problems of keeping a house.
After that, of course, he'd suffered in prison for six months.Though he'd done his best not to let his body weaken entirely, between the starvation and constant torment, it would be a long time before he was back to full strength, something he kept forgetting.
Still so strange that he was right back where he'd started, when he'd worked so hard to get away from this life.Ah, well.It was an honest life, and that counted for something.
Packing up the new batch of smoked fish, which would be handy for trading or eating in winter, he prepared his own fish and set it to cooking slowly close to the fire while he stripped down and bathed.If there was one thing he truly missed about his city life, it was the abundance of luxurious baths.Fine soaps, lotions, creams.Lochan had given him a fine perfume for his birthday that was entirely useless now.
Once he was clean, he piled his dirty clothes with the rest, all to be cleaned in a couple more days on what had become his regular wash day, and went to see about the food.It was perfectly cooked, flaking easily as he pulled it apart and piled it on a mound of greens and rice leftover from breakfast, and took it to sit by the pond to enjoy.
When he was finished, he set the plate aside and sprawled out on the grass, staring up at the sky, which was slowly crawling toward night.Probably half an hour or so before full dark fell.Not that it made any difference to him.
The air was cool, leaning into chilly, but he could not bring himself to move.Here in the glade he was safe from the dangers of the forest, a magic he hadn't fully explored yet.The rush of the waterfall was soothing, and fireflies winked in and out as dusk truly settled in, the scent of woodsmoke filling the air.Sensations he hadn't experienced in decades.Camping while scouting wasn't really the same, always on edge, alert to every crunching leaf and snapping twig, never certain if it was a harmless animal, a deadly animal, or a person.
This… this reminded him of nights with his parents, enjoying a rare moment's peace.Of sitting in the garden with Lochan before they retired to their room for the evening.Well, Lochan's room.It had never been Dipak's, probably never would have been, as he was fine for taking as a lover but was far too unsuitable for spouse.Which he'd been fine with.Really.It was more than he'd ever expected of his life, being lover to the king.Sometimes he might have wished he could at least have a chamber in the royal wing so they could be closer, but overall he'd been fine with their arrangement.
Muted thumping drew his attention, along with a familiar growl, though it was soft and rumbling this time, more akin to a cat's purr than an actual growl, but much deeper, thrumming in his bones.He sat up and stared wide-eyed, breath caught in his throat, as Euclid ambled across the glade toward him.
Dipak shoved hastily to his feet."What's wrong?"
Euclid huffed at him and, of all things, sprawled out as well, reminding him again of a cat, though a thousand times larger and infinitely more dangerous.Except when lounging by ponds in the evening.He rolled his massive head, easily the size of Dipak's torso and then some, and clawed gently at the grass.
"Go back to sitting?"Dipak asked.
