Theanore handed the groceries with their list and received her payment from a happy Ogre. She had not budged for the tax she had for the shopping and the extra 5% went to the children who have done the shopping.

Luca had been nice enough to teleport everyone to Mirstone for free, and the shops of the town were now empty. The children of the grotto made plenty of pocket money, and they were eagerly awaiting the next shopping trip.

The Ogres have used the silk she sends them well, and now, a week from the first delivery, they were all wearing proper silk clothing. One of the Ogre women had even made her a dress in the Ogre fashion.

Theanore wasn’t very found of the skulls, but she supposed that she could wear it on Death day when they had to be dressed in scary costumes. Death day was in October.

Last Death day she had not celebrated because she had been too busy with publishing her book, but this Death day she was going to dress up and scare as many people as she could.

Archibald, unlike her, was wearing his Ogre style tunic with bones stitched at the color. He liked to pretend that he was an Ogre, and so the Ogres liked him for it. He even had a small wooden club, courtesy of Norgog.

“Archigog the destroyer wishes you a happy day.” Said Archibald as he handed a small package to an Ogre child. The boy giggled and patted Archibald on the back.

“Fargog the fleet wishes you a happy day too, Archigog.” Said Fargog, and he moved back to the teleport and soon, he was gone.

“Archie, was this the last package?” Asked Theanore. She looked around but couldn’t find any more packages to be delivered.

“Yes, big sister. Fargog gave me candy too. Look!” Said Archibald, and he showed Theanore a small circle wrapped in paper.

“Let me see.” Said Theanore, and she unwrapped the candy. It looked like an eyeball and if Theanore didn’t touch it to be certain, she would have been sure that it was indeed an eyeball.

But it was not. It was caramel candy and nothing more. Theanore wrapped the candy back up and hid it in her pocket.

“Archie, you can’t eat that. It is too morbid. I will throw it in the cooking fire.” Said Theanore, standing up.

“But, big sister, Fargog gave it to me!” Tried to protest Archibald. Theanore took his ear, similarly to how her mother did when she wouldn’t listen, and tugged.

“Archibald, you are a human and not an Ogre. It is one thing to wear bones in your clothes. They are from dead animals, and we can’t help them anymore. But you will not be eating caramel eyeballs. Not on my watch! Not in my dungeon!” Said Theanore sternly.

She heard a crunch and looked around. Mary’s mouth was full of something. Theanore patted her pocked and found it empty. Mary smiled and ran towards the houses. Theanore gave chase, with an indignant Archibald following as fast as his small legs allowed.

In the end, Esmer had made Mary spit out the eyeball into the fire, and Theanore gave her daughter a stern talking to. Or, as stern as a child of nearly three years could give.

They hugged and forgave the prank, and then they went to Marinus and Cassius, only to see them eating small skulls.

“Mari, Cassy! What are you doing!” Screamed Theanore in horror as Cassius popped another skull in his mouth.

“Those are muffins, Thea. Don’t panic. We have an entire sack. Come, eat.” Said Cassius between bites.

“These are skulls!” Said Theanore. They looked like delicate work, too, but she had to remind herself not to admire their craftsmanship. People shouldn’t eat skulls.

“You have to be more accepting of other people’s culture, Thea.” Said Marinus as he extended a skull towards her. “The Ogres are friendly, and they just want for us to feel included in their tribe. They gave sweets to all the children in the grotto. Didn’t you get any?”

“No. I prefer not to eat sweets in the shape of body parts.” Said Theanore. The fact that most of said body parts had looked human did not go over her head either.

“Try one. They have raspberry jam where the brain should be. It is delicious.” Said Cassius, and he too tried to hand her a muffin. Theanore ran in horror to the only person who would be above this madness. Her father.

Only to find Crassus eating a caramel bone with delight written all over his face.

“Thea? You look upset. What is wrong, dear?” Asked Crassus, setting the bone down.

“Father, why are you eating human bones?” Asked Theanore as she tried to process what she had seen.

“This is caramel candy, Thea. Had it been a human bone, I would have buried it, not eaten it.” Said Crassus. Then, realization hit him. “You don’t make the difference?”

Crassus gave a belly laugh and patted the chair next to his. She went and sat on it and looked at him with big, worried, eyes.

“Look, Thea. People are different. The Ogres are morbid creatures. Some of them might even eat humans…”

Theanore breathed in and bit her bottom lip. So, Ogres were evil?

“But not all.” Reassured her Crassus. “Still, they like the look of bones and different body parts. Nothing wrong with that. Even the bones in your dress are made of clay. The same with all the other bones in the other clothes the Ogres gifted the inhabitants of the grotto.”

Crassus pulled out Theanore’s dress from where it lay on the bed and showed it to her.

“See how red the bones are? Almost orange. Normal bones are yellowish white, Thea.” Said Crassus. Theanore touched the nearest bone and she smiled. Nothing had died in the making of her dress.

“And, besides, if the Ogres want to hurt us, I am sure your dragons will stop them and drive them back to No Man’s Land.” Said Crassus in an afterthought. Theanore nodded. She didn’t want anyone to be hurt, but if it comes to that, she was sure that the dragons would try to drive the Ogres away without killing them.