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she returned to her seat and took up the reins once again, driving towards home.
Infamous fell asleep on the way home. He did it without much fanfare; one moment he was
sitting up, the next he was a pile of clothes and hair in Misty's lap. His thin little body took up
surprisingly little room, and he didn't weigh enough for Misty to even really notice he was there.
Clad as he was, all in black, it was almost as though Infamous Keeper had vanished back into the
night.
"Well, he won't be up running around tonight," remarked Misty, smiling. "Of course, it would be
nice if he'd fallen asleep in your lap."
"Why would he do that when you're here?" said the Moonhound. She grinned at the blond man,
who stared back at her, looking none too happy about the comment she had just made.
"Are we going to be home soon?" he asked. "I can't tell where we are in this dark. I hate riding
home at night, I always feel as though Ogres are sneaking up on me."
"Misty, you know as well as I do that it is a physical impossibility for Ogres to sneak. Stomp,
crash, roar and bang they can do, but not sneak."
"Call it an unreasonable fear, then. I can't help it. When I was growing up with the Elven tribe
south of Kirianna, we were always being bothered by Ogres. I think they can smell Elves.
Anyway, they always came after dark, and while they do make a lot of noise, they're not so
stupid that they can't use it to their advantage. They would have one group come up on one side
of us, to crash and bang and howl, then while we were dealing with them, they would have
another group hiding somewhere close at hand to snap up the wounded or unwary." Misty
shivered. "I hate Ogres."
"Well, no need to worry. I'll protect you," said the Moonhound. "And look, there's home right up
ahead, you can see the lights."
"Good," said Misty. "My fears were starting to run away with me."
As the Moonhound halted the wagon in the little yard, the door of the rambling cabin flew open.
In the warm yellow glow of the fireplace light that filled the doorway, there stood a small
silhouette, one hand resting on the doorframe.
"Moonhound?" a voice said.
The Moonhound turned to see who had called her name, then grinned at the figure in the door.
"Hello, little mage, yes, it is I." She pointed at Misty, who was still seated on the wagon with
Infamous on his lap. "It's all Misty's fault we're late."
"What?!" exclaimed Misty.
With the sudden increase in noise, Infamous stirred and woke up, blinking sleepily at all about
him. "Are we home?" he asked.
Blackbird stepped out of the cabin and into the yard, his strange, violet eyes fixed on Infamous.
He smiled at the slightly befuddled man on the wagon. "Great Creator," he said, "you found the
thief."
Infamous climbed off of the wagon, rubbing his eyes and yawning while Blackbird crossed the
yard to greet first the Moonhound, then him. Infamous hugged Blackbird in return, wincing as
his cuts ached. "Hello, Blackbird, I missed you too. Now let me go, I'm in a lot of pain."
Blackbird backed up, concern in his eyes. "You're hurt? Well, come on, you shouldn't be
standing out here in the cold like this. It's autumn, for Creator's sake, get inside."
Infamous allowed himself to be dragged inside. They entered the large kitchen, which was
almost too hot to be tolerable. Blackbird pulled a rustic wooden chair away from the rough-hewn
table, its legs scraping on the worn, flagstone floor.
"Sit," he instructed Infamous, shoving him down into the chair. Then, before Infamous could
say anything, Blackbird yanked his leather tunic and roughly woven shirt over his head, dropping
them onto the table.
"Blackbird!" yelled Infamous in protest, his strange, rope-like hair now standing at all angles. He
glared at the little man angrily, not certain he like being mothered. He had a mother once, and he
hadn't much cared for her, either.
Blackbird, however, had not heard Infamous' yell of protest; he was too busy staring at the
bloody mess of cuts all over his neck, back, arms and chest. He slowly brought his hand up to his
mouth, shaking his head.
"Good Creation!" exclaimed a voice, echoing Blackbird's thoughts. Monshikka stepped into the
kitchen. He had come to yell at Misty and the Moonhound for being so late, and at Infamous just
for being Infamous, but he found the words sticking in his throat.
"Hello, Blackie," said Infamous, staring at him amused.
The words that would not come a moment ago now began to fly out of his mouth, while
Blackbird scurried to heat water.
"Infamous Keeper, you plague-ridden, garbage-eating roach! What have you been doing to
yourself?"
"To myself! What do you mean, to myself? Does this look like fun?" he roared back, indicating
the slash marks.
"Of course you did it to yourself! If you would give up all of your filthy disreputable ways these
things wouldn't happen!"
"Spoken like a true Kiriannan, Blackie. Or is that Prince Blackie?" Infamous' eyes glittered as
they narrowed at Monshikka. "Perhaps princes that live in little cabins on mountain tops instead
of in castles had best not yell at Master Thieves about disreputable things."
Monshikka glared poisonously at Infamous, then turned and stormed out of the kitchen. A
moment later there was an explosive bang as he threw his bedroom door closed.
"Infamous is home, I see," said a voice. Wesselik wandered into the kitchen, filling his pipe.
"I wish you two would leave each other alone," said Blackbird.
"I can't," mumbled Infamous. "His face makes me angry."
"Where are Misty and the Moonhound?" asked Wesselik.
"Outside, putting the animals to bed and the supplies away," said Blackbird. He was inspecting
Infamous' cuts and shaking his head. "Wess, would you mind sending the Moonhound in here to
look at these? She knows more about healing than I do."
Wess nodded and roamed out of the house, moving in his leisurely way. A short time after he
left, the Moonhound appeared.
"Infamous," she sighed as she stared at the mess all over his body, "I honestly don't know how
you survive the things you get into."
"You mean you don't know why he's allowed to survive!" yelled Monshikka from within the
cabin's depths.
"Monshikka, you only say those things because secretly you want my body!" Infamous shouted
back. The bedroom door slammed again.
Lord Sylvannamyth, the quietest of the cabin's seven occupants, roamed past Infamous, the
Moonhound, and Blackbird, blankets in hand. He walked out of the cabin, apparently seeking
peace in the barn.
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