<div dir="ltr">Morning, June 6, 708 CR Misha was feeling satisfied after having breakfast with Kasaima and the others. That his favorite muffins had been available helped. They had headed off, something about flying lessons with Rorlyn, again expressing regrets that they wouldn’t be there for the wedding. He’d understood, though. It’d take a long time to go through the Great Barrier Mountains. That there *was* a path piqued his curiosity. He’d heard legends of the Lost Road, but assumed even the Suielman Empire wouldn’t have attempted that. Apparently he was wrong. He was sure that automatons had to be involved in the construction of the Lost Road. No humans would be willing to attempt that, and even slave labor would only go so far. He also wondered that neither the binoq nor the Nauh-kaee had tried to stop them. Then again, so little was known about the two; perhaps they found the project amusing or simply didn’t care. It was about time for the prisoners to return. Their sentence was about half finished, though from what he observed he was getting ready to have Nathan do something else. Besides getting sick, it was pretty obvious he had the Child Curse, and Misha would *not* allow children to do the midden work, not even if they were former adults. Additionally, he recognized that Nathan was more a follower than a leader and certainly a more moral character than Roderick. Roderick would show deference, when it suited him, but Misha feared the man would never repent an ill deed. Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn’t see the crowd of guards until he ran into it! Nathan was holding what looked like a baby in his hands. Sir Chrysaor had a hand on his sword hilt. “I tell you that jail cannot do when it comes to these two!” “They’re still prisoner’s ain’t they? Got at least three more days on their sentence. And that depends on if they changed at all.” “What’s going on here?” asked Misha, as if it weren’t obvious. “Child Curse on both of them. Nathan’s been slow but Roderick went from adult to yowling infant like that.” The guard snapped his fingers. “I see.” This was a problem the Keep was still ill-equipped to handle. Full adults, not a problem. Full morphs, not a problem. Adults turned into kids, Problem! Strengthening the Counter-Curse would help. The trouble was what to do with them now. While Nathan could still do adult things as a teenager, Misha was disinclined to keep him at the middens. As for Roderick, he knew there were places that had no issues making children labor as hard as adults or even hang them. He could not be that way. “Nathan.” The two had looked different as men and while Nathan’s hair had lightened slightly, it was still obviously him. “Yes sir.” Nathan gulped. Was he in even *more* trouble somehow? He looked down at the sleeping form of Roderick, and hoped he was having sweet dreams. Nathan had taken care of all his younger siblings, so this was nothing new. Misha could smell the fear. That wouldn’t do. “I’m not going to harm you, but we can’t let crimes go unpunished.” “I know sir,” said Nathan. “I’m willing to serve full term, but what’ll happen to Roderick?” The question weighed heavily on all those there. It was known that there was at least one ring of child thieves wandering around the Keep, but no guard had been able to catch even one. The standing order was to capture and detain with as little force as possible. “What do you see in him?” “He needs guidance, sir. Heavens only know what he’d get into without me keeping him back.” “Like in the stable?” Nathan winced. “That was wrong, sir. If I’d seen the stablehand sooner I might have kept him from getting hurt. I still want to make amends for that.” Misha smiled. “I think that, for the rest of your sentence, you can do just that.” Nathan’s face lit up. “I like nature, sir. The beasts and fields and streams. Once all this is over, I think I could be content working on a farm somewhere, perhaps as a shepherd or whatever they needed. But I don’t know if I could leave Roderick. I’d hate him getting into trouble because I wasn’t there to stop him.” “It seems to me he can get into trouble even *with* you there to stop him. Let me have him for a while; a stable is no place for a baby under normal circumstances. I promise he’ll be well cared for.You can visit him every day, once we have a place for him. ” “Oh! I’d love that sir!” “Then that’s settled. Sir Chyrsaor, please go with Nathan and make sure he keeps up his end.” “Your order to my honor does concert. I’ll make sure Nathan helps the one he hurt. With good will in heart, to the stable we depart!” Chrysaor took Nathan by the hand. A handcuff or rope might have been wiser, but no one suggested it. Nathan was unlikely to try and escape without Roderick. Misha let out a loud sigh. Having a friend like Rodrick would undoubtedly lead him on the wrong path, but he wasn’t sure if he could keep them separated. Where they would *keep* Roderick was a different matter. There were some who’d not have a problem with him being in a cell like anyone else, even as a babe. The image of a baby in a prison cell, even as relatively nice as the Keep’s, caused Misha to shudder. When the two were away, the others gathered in. “Yer goin’ soft.” Misha let out a low growl, and his eyes caught the light, making them look like molten silver or steel flashing in the sun! “And you’d be okay with a child in the middens? Don’t we have enough of those?” The guard stepped back, then hung his head in shame. “Nathan ain’t so bad sir. I’ve been watchin’ them too. He’s a might too soft-headed, though, and that Rodrick fella’ll lead him around like a lost pup.” “I know, and he’s liable to join up with those other kids doing crimes. The Keep repairs are going as fast as we can, but it can’t replace the lives lost. We’re racking our brains to figure out what to do about it.” There were solutions, of course. Forcing the children to work in mines or dangerous situations, or even hanging them for their crimes. None of these would appeal to anyone in the Valley. Misha looked down at the still-sleeping form of Roderick. “I’ll give you this much; you sure know how to cause trouble!” *** “Well, are you ready Franklin?” Drewbert had packed everything carefully. “As I’ll ever be Drewbert. You’re really giving him this stuff back?” It was more a statement than a question, with resignation rather than disbelief. “I didn’t win it fairly. He can have it back if he wants or we can help him get rid of it for a fair price. He’s at Barnhardt’s yet, I think.” “Alright. I’ll not object. Besides, I’ve been meaning to get there. I hear that lake’s great for us amphibians.” “It’d have to be.” Drewbert laughed and the two headed off. Their pony had Jerrod’s gear and their own rations; though it wouldn’t be that long a journey, it never hurt to be prepared. --[Next Part Below]--</div>