Kelton felt the inn filling up. He always sensed the people below and in the upper rooms, but as the day waned the numbers increased well beyond what he thought was normal. He knew he should remain in the room ointment covered with the door barred. It was curiosity that made him put on his cloak and hide his hair in the hood. A peek down the stairs wasn't much of a risk.

"But my britches are on fire the Lord cried!" It was Gossamer's booming voice that filled the inn and traveled up the stairwell. The laughter that followed drowned out Gossamer's next words. Kelton couldn't help but smile as he inched his way downward.

Standing on a table at the end of the room, Gossamer was in full story mode. More animated than Kelton had seen him in quite awhile. There was a joy in Gossamer's eyes that had nothing to do with the story itself. He was feasting on the attention, a meal he enjoyed immensely.

Kelton sat down near the top of the stairs. The gathering gave him no notice, their eyes glued to the storyteller for fear of missing a line. It was a tale Kelton had heard a few times before. A Hold Lord's struggle to better the lives of his people thwarted at every turn by accidents and missteps. It bordered on the line of insulting the King and his lords, but never crossed it. There were a few uniforms in the crowd, and they looked to be laughing the loudest.

As Kelton watched, he began to realize how much Gossamer had given up to raise him. Here, Gossamer was home. The large audience was the family he could embrace with words. All of this would be gone in a few days as the forest would once again wrap them in solitude. Kelton stifled a laugh when Gossamer blew a line. The crowd loved it as he artfully incorporated the mistake into the tale, turning it into more laughter at his expense. He had them. They were mesmerized.

"This was not our agreement." Kelton was startled by Naddi whispering in his ear. His mind was elsewhere and hadn't paid attention to the large woman climbing the stairs. He nodded and retreated back to the room with her following.

"There are some of the King's Own down there," Naddi said once the door closed. "You risk more than your own neck."

"I'm sorry," Kelton said. "It's been awhile since I've seen Gossamer work. I had forgotten how much it pleases him."

"He does take joy from it. The folks sure enjoy it. I haven't had this much business in ten winters." Naddi wasn't angry at Kelton's breach; she was beaming.

"He would do well here, wouldn't he?"

"Till he runs out of stories." Naddi nodded. "Though I suspect many would be happy to hear the same ones more than once. We don't get many tellers around here, and fewer still with his skill." Idea's formed in Kelton's mind. Things he had been thinking about solidified with added credence. He made a decision then and there. It would require Juno's help if she chose to come.

"I may need two meals tonight. Juno may be returning," Kelton said.

"It has already been arranged," Naddi returned with a knowing smile. "Gossamer made sure there would be ample wine and a hearty meal." She chuckled. "He says you'll need both courage and strength for what comes." Kelton rolled his eyes. He thought it best not to attempt to correct her thoughts. It didn't matter since he was leaving soon.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to stay in the room from now on."

"Door barred."

"With the door barred," Kelton agreed. Naddi smiled. She started to leave, thought better of it, turned back and gave Kelton the largest hug he ever had. Her bulk swallowed him, his face pulled deeply into her ample bosom.

"It is sad, what's being forced on you," Naddi said, squeezing more air from his lungs. "More than a boy should endure. It is comforting to know you'll have one good night before you leave us." Kelton tried to respond, but it came out muffled by her dress and the lack of air. She released him, kissed his forehead and pointed to the door bar as a reminder, then left. Kelton quickly barred the door, more to protect himself from being asphyxiated than to remain hidden.

The sun had yet to fully descend when a light knock sounded on Kelton's door. He traded a few words through the wood to verify it was Juno. She entered boldly, almost as if it were her room. Kelton felt dirty in her presence. Juno had bathed and washed her hair, a small white flower set by her ear. Her skirts were of better care than the last clothes she had worn. He closed and bolted the door, then turned to her and his words tangled. She was standing with a warm smile, her body swaying as he stared.

"I...I did not bathe," Kelton admitted. He didn't know why he felt the need to say it. Women seemed to think bathing important, and she had gone to the trouble.

"I did," Juno said. "It is important to look good for the client. Did I do a good job?"

"Yes," Kelton said without thinking. "I mean...I didn't mean...I'm not a client." He forced his eyes to the floor. Juno moved closer.

"Did you not pay for two nights?"

"Not for that!" Kelton's eyes came back up, wide as a pair of full moons. Juno laughed, altering her demeanor. Her shoulders relaxed, and the seductive swaying stopped.

"I am teasing you," Juno said. "You make it so easy." Kelton started breathing again, a smile curling his lips.

"You are pretty tonight," Kelton admitted.

"Oh, was I not last night?" Kelton stopped breathing again. He had no idea how to respond to such a question. She was not ugly last night, and she is even less so tonight. Surely, a person can look better on one day then they do on another.

"Still teasing," Juno said. This time there was concern in her eyes. She stepped forward and took his hands in hers. "I know why you want me here. Someone to talk too that's not a hundred winters old."

"You don't have to stay if you don't want too," Kelton said. He prayed silently to the Goddess she would stay. Her hands were warm, and he liked sharing words with her.

"Two nights you have paid for and two nights you will get." Juno leaned forward, then whispered in his ear. "Coin or not, I would be here." Her breath sent a shiver from his ear to his chest. She leaned back and smiled at him. This time it was a warm, friendly smile without the confusing meanings of her previous ones.

"Do you wish to talk about this Serenity again?" Juno let go of his hands moved to one of the chairs.

"No." Kelton shook his head. "I will likely never see her again, and still she infects my dreams. I would rather learn of you while I'm awake. Mayhap we could trade some stories of our past. Good things so I can forget what's to come."

"What's to come?"

"A favor I will ask in the morning," Kelton sat in the other chair. "Until then, I want to forget about dead Brothers, the King's Own, choosings and wilted roses."

"You wish to pretend?"

"Not long ago, I knew nothing and begged Gossamer to know more. Now, I wish I knew none of it."

"You did not know of these things before?"

"Gossamer was hiding me. I didn't even know what being unseen was until after I killed the Brother. Now I wish I was still hiding."

"You are unseen," Juno said with excitement. "We had heard so, but thought it a fable."

"No one is supposed to know. At least Gossamer says so. I don't think it matters anymore. I am the red demon that eats babies. It is a minor addition to the tale." Juno laughed, which made Kelton smile. She reached out across the table, palm up. Kelton placed his hand her hers.

"My mother once told me a story about a princess, one so beautiful the King's Own fought for her Kelton," Juno began. What followed were joyous snippets of Juno's memories before being cursed. They were silly and contained the optimistic thoughts of a child before the weight of the world became known. Kelton interspersed his memories, usually when he or Gossamer became the fool due to one mishap or another.

Naddi brought the evening meal, briefly interrupting the laughter. They ate a hearty rabbit stew and hard bread with a fist-sized chunk of yellow cheese. A flagon of wine was finished between them, which further increased the laughter. Naddi returned to collect the empty dishes and left a bucket of warm water and some cloth, as per Juno's instructions.

"Take off your clothes," Juno instructed, once the door was barred.

"What?"

"Take off your clothes. I intend to wash you." Juno pulled the bucket to the center of the room and pointed where she expected Kelton to stand. Kelton remained sitting. "You stink. The ointment has blocked your skin from breathing and needs to be washed off."

"I do not stink," Kelton said, lifting his arm to his nose.

"You stink," Juno insisted, though her smile was less than serious. "There is nothing I haven't seen already so take off your clothes and let me wash you."

"I was planning on leaving my clothes on. Either way, I can wash myself if need be."

"Come," Juno said. She reached out for his hand. A mixture of the wine and the idea he may have a foul odor made Kelton rise from his seat and take her hand. She pulled him to where she desired him.

"Now, close your eyes and let me work. I will think like a healer."

"I'm not..."

"Shh." Juno laid her fingers on his eyes, tenderly pulling the lids down. "Relax and let me do this for you. You wish a favor from me, and I wish this of you." She began undressing Kelton, shirt first. The wine diluting his thoughts allowed him to remain still. With his eyes closed, he could not see her looking at him. Why it made a difference, he wasn't sure, but it did.

At first, Kelton intended to appease Juno. The warm water and her gentle caresses with the cloth changed all that. He blamed it on his unfamiliarity with the wine. She lifted his arms and wiped them gently, not missing a single patch of skin. As she moved lower, his back, chest and stomach, his breathing slowed. The task had a luxury to it and Juno prolonged it. She did not alter her tempo as she neared areas he would have wished to wash himself. His body responded embarrassingly, though he remained motionless, selfishly enjoying the spreading warmth and her tender care. Each leg was given the same attention. Even his feet, which he was forced to lift one at a time, was washed as if it were something precious. Juno saved his face for last. Carefully stroking each feature with her fingers embedded in the cloth. Kelton shivered when she accidentally tickled his ear.

"Lay on the bed," Juno whispered. Kelton's eyes shot open. "Your hair silly." She was smiling at him. More teasing. He did what she asked and laid on his back, head over the end of the mattress. She covered his lower body with a blanket. He knew it was for his sake and not hers.

Juno's hands stroked Kelton's hair clean. Adding water, then pulling it through his strands with her hands. This time, Kelton closed his eyes to better feel her hands massage his scalp.

"You like this," Juno said. Kelton opened his eyes to find her upside down smile leaning over his face. He smiled back.

"Yes," Kelton whispered, afraid to disturb her work.

"I like your hair. I wish mine would curl like yours."

"I was told it was girlish once." Kelton was nervous when he said it. Juno laughed.

"I think it was a compliment."

"I was thinking of shaving it off at the time."

"Don't you dare," Juno said. She removed her hands from his head. Kelton lifted his head trying to find her fingers again.

"I didn't," Kelton said.

"It is part of what makes you, you."

"Being me hasn't been so great." Kelton lost the ability to breath when Juno's lips found his forehead. His skin shivered, the sensation running down his neck and dissipating in his chest with a shutter. His body snapped up in reflex.

"I'm sorry," Juno said. She grasped his shoulders and pulled him back down. "Lay back. I won't do it again." Hands once again found his hair and Kelton closed eyes. His thoughts traveled back to the pond. He wondered if Serenity's lips would feel as nice. Would her hands be as kind? The thoughts felt rude, insulting in another's presence. He struggled to remove Serenity from his mind.

"I never knew my mother," Kelton said. "I wish I had memories like yours."

"She would wash my hair, much like I'm doing. There is this flower, a small purple one that grows in fallow fields in the early summer. I remember her boiling the leaves, the scent of it filling our house. She would wash my hair in the water, and I would smell wonderful for days."

Kelton opened his eyes. Juno was looking away, her eyes glossy in the memory that had pulled her attention away.

"I remember her most when that flower blooms." Juno smiled. "I would have done it for my child if I weren't cursed to drink the Darny leaf." Her eyes returned to Kelton's and her smile faded.

"Darny leaf?" Kelton whispered. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. At the same time, he was tired of not knowing things others understood.

"It is not the Wilted Rose that keeps us barren," Juno replied, showing Kelton the mark on her wrist. "It is a foul-tasting leaf from a tree with white bark. It is boiled and mixed with wine to hide the flavor." She forced a smile. "We drink it every day when we wake. It is the Brethren's decree that the cursed do not give birth. It is death to thwart the Goddess's will."

"It is death for this. It is death for that. It is death to breathe," Kelton said with dismay. "I question a Goddess who allows such things."

"It is not the Goddess who does these things. Her words are twisted and used by King and Brethren to bring us to heel. It will not go on forever, she will see to it."

"Tell me more of your mother," Kelton said. Juno's memories were better than the world as he knew it. Juno became softer, happier as she expanded the vision of her mother for Kelton's ears. When his hair was done, which took longer than necessary, Kelton dressed, and they sat cross-legged on the mattress, and he continued to absorb her early life. Feasting on her memories as if they were his own. Gossamer had been his only family until he briefly adopted himself into Joycelyn's family. Now, he was adding another sister.

In time, they lit a candle, laid down together and talked well into the night. Juno was as interested in his time with Joycelyn as Kelton was with her family. He told her about playing stones, Taggart's attempts at being a storyteller and the happiness of the time with them. Without thinking, he told her of his deal with the Hold Lord and steering the King's Own away from Boyertown. Juno took his hand in hers.

"You are brave to do that for her," Juno said.

"I had to kill a Brother to save Rebecca. I'll not have it wasted because I fear my own end." Kelton shrugged his shoulders. "Never had a choice really. I will lead them on a chase until they catch up."

"Then what?"

"Then I stop running." Juno squeezed Kelton's hand. "Been lucky so far. Even here. The King's Own is in town, and I hide above their heads."

"You needed a rest. I'm glad you took it here."

"Me too. I mean, I'm glad it was here, with you. I'd go crazy in this room alone."

"How do you know you're not going crazy with me?" Juno smiled, her eyes reflecting in low-burning candlelight. Kelton smiled back and squeezed her hand. It was a nice way to talk, wrapping many unvoiced words into a tender squeeze. It was odd that they both understood without having it explained.

Kelton tried to fight off the yawn and failed. It infected Juno, and they shared a small laugh when her mouth finally closed. She curled up into Kelton, losing his hand and laying her arm on him. He shifted a bit and tucked her arm into the crook of his. It felt good there, almost as if he was protecting her.

Juno's steading breathing stilled Kelton's mind and lulled him to sleep.