A wet, rough tongue swiped across his burnt cheek in one long, painful stroke. Harper knew that something was licking his face, as he could hear it breathing and smell its horrible breath. When he managed to open his eyes in the dim light of morning, he was surprised to see Kite leaning over him, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth and drool dripping from his panting jowls.  

"I never thought that I'd be glad to see you." He said as he slowly pushed himself up on the thick bed of moss he found himself on. 

The horse was nowhere to be seen, but if Kite was there... With nervous excitement, Harper looked around, expecting to see the stoic lord pacing somewhere nearby. When he scanned the swampy area several times, but still saw not a single soul besides Kite, he felt his hope deflating. 

"Arthur's not here. I guess it's just you and me." 

The dog pinned its ears back and growled, making Harper frown. "You can be as mean as you want, there's nothing I can do about you out here." He said calmly as he used a nearby tree to get to his feet. Well, to his foot. His left one was definitely broken, but thankfully there didn't seem to be any bone sticking through his skin, saving him the risk of it getting infected. 

Once he was steady, Harper turned his attention to the sky. He'd hoped that he could at least see smoke from somewhere, but no matter what direction he turned, nothing stood out. Alright, I need to find my way out of here on my own, then. It was a daunting idea, but he knew that he should just be happy that he was alive, and in all honesty, he was worried that the horse might have gotten caught in the flames after dropping him where it did. 

"I guess there's nothing I can do about the horse, at least." He mumbled, watching Kite as he stopped several paces ahead of him, then turned to lick his muzzle. 

"Hey, you better not have eaten him. He was a good horse." 

The beast just huffed, earning one right back from Harper before he continued hopping after him. He wasn't sure why he was even following the evil dog, but Kite didn't seem stressed about their situation, so perhaps he knew where he was... or at least had some idea of how to navigate the muggy landscape. 

They traveled for quite some time, Kite rarely slowing long enough for Harper to rest for more than a minute or two. After half the day had come and gone, the dog finally flopped down beside a huge tree and yawned. 

Harper was just barely able to see Kite from where he stood, leaning against a much smaller tree, trying to catch his breath. After a few moments, he decided to just sit down. He could still see Kite, and it looked like the dog was finally going to rest for a while, so he needed to take the opportunity to relax, too. 

His foot throbbed, but as time had worn on, it had become a dull ache in the back of his mind. 

"Abel! Don't wander too far!" 

The sudden shout had Harper stumbling to his feet and Kite jumping up, his hackles raised and he bared his teeth. They both looked in the direction they'd heard the voice coming from. No. Before Harper could think to try and stop him, or even consider that Kite would even bother listening to him at all, he saw the dog bolt for the two men on horseback several yards away. 

"Whoa!" 

Kite's size and ferocity had the horse nearly bucking as he stopped before it to roar a bark. Abel, the young man Harper had met at the ball, did his best to keep his horse still, but Kite refused to let up on the poor creature. 

"Hey! Get back!" The magistrate shouted as his horse barreled toward Kite with far less fear than the panicked one. It reared up, trying to stomp on the dog, but Kite managed to just-barely dodge, before redirecting his barking, snarling assault to the slightly larger animal. 

Arthur will be horribly upset if his dog gets hurt...

He didn't like the dog, at all, but Harper knew that if he let it get hurt, he'd hate himself for not doing anything. Biting his lip, he hesitantly hopped out from behind the tree and put his hands up to either side of his mouth. 

"Kite! Halt!" He yelled. 

The dog's ears twitched, but it didn't show any signs of slowing down its assault. 

Darn it. 

Mustering up as much energy as he could, he then took in a deep breath. 

"Kite! You stupid mutt! Halt this instant!" 

The dog stopped. In turn, after a few tense moments, both horses settled. Kite remained still as he panted, then looked over his shoulder at Harper. He looks... offended. Harper wasn't sure how that even made sense, but he wasn't going to worry about it right then. Especially because the magistrate was now dismounting his horse and heading toward him, his friend, Abel, right behind him, though they both kept glancing back at Kite to be sure that he wasn't going to try and attack them again. 

"Hari?" Abel asked as he ran around the magistrate, stopping in front of him with wide eyes and a worried expression. "Oh my god. Lord Rule has been out of his mind looking for you! He thinks that you perished in the fire!" 

Harper would have tried to run from them, but there was no way he could manage such a thing with his broken foot. "I am quite well." He lied instead. The looks on both of the men's faces as the magistrate stopped beside Abel made Harper feel more than a little bit dumb. He was wearing a torn, scorched, muddy shirt... and nothing else besides several burns. Thankfully, it still covered the important parts, but he was clearly not in good shape. 

"We're going to forget you just said that. Come on, we'll take you back to our home for now and get you cleaned up. Then we'll send a message to Rule." The magistrate said as he stepped forward, offering a hand that Harper refused to touch. 

"No." He stated with as much determination as he could muster. Which, honestly, wasn't much. He was exhausted, hurt all over, and felt like he could eat as much as a horse. Keeping said food down, however, was unlikely considering the man standing before him. "I'll just be on my way." He said. 

When Harper didn't move, the  Magistrate tilted his head, seemingly trying to hide a smile as the edges of his lips twitched up. "I do believe you'll get nowhere at your current speed, Hari." He stated as he crossed his arms. 

"Um, please just leave me alone." 

Abel frowned, stepping closer to take Harper's hand. He wanted to pull away, but the look in the young man's eyes made him hesitate. "I know you're worried about something you might have done in the past." 

How...? 

"I'm going to assume that whatever that is, it's the reason you don't want Rule to know that you're alive." 

Harper looked down at the soft mud his toes were kneading into, unwilling to answer. 

"Honestly, I feel like that's horrible, and unless you somehow killed someone in the past, or did something else of equal negativity, you need to let him know that you're okay as soon as possible." 

It hurt to be told such a thing. He knew that Rule was likely panicking about what could have happened to him, but if the magistrate standing before him was anything like the last one, he would be dead if he confessed what he did... and if Arthur or Rule found out that he was alive, he'd be sent right back to the man and would have no choice but to confess. 

"Please don't tell them I'm alive." 

When there was no response, Harper peeked up at the two through his lashes, worry twisting his stomach into knots. They were looking at each other, somehow communicating, though he had no idea how. 

After a few more seconds passed, their eyes returned to him. "Alright. We'll make you a deal. We won't tell Rule what's going on, as that is your decision." Harper sighed with relief, his shoulders sagging as some of the stress left his body. 

"But, you have to come back with us, and you won't be permitted to leave the property until you tell us what you've done in the past to make you so nervous about this entire situation as to make us remain silent when someone is desperately searching for you." 

Harper's head spun with dread, but he managed to swallow his worry enough to nod. 

"And don't think that this will be permanent. You'll have one week to think things through. If you don't come clean by then, we'll personally bring you to lord Rule." 

The fear that had left him a few moments ago came back full force. He would have just let himself drop to the ground, but the idea of knocking his broken foot on the way down kept him upright, but barely. 

"Alright, let's get you home. Whether you agree to our decision or not, you can't stay out here. We won't let you." The magistrate said as he walked forward and easily picked him up. 

Harper knew that resisting would only get him hurt worse, so he relaxed himself against the man's chest and allowed himself to be carried back to his horse. The ride back to their home was quite short, or perhaps, it passed quickly because he passed out shortly after they began their journey. 

The home they came upon wasn't grand by any means, but it was well maintained and upon entering, he noticed that it was kept very well cleaned. Where are the servants, though? He wondered right as an elderly woman came around the corner. She looked young in some ways, but older in others. Her grey hair was the easiest feature to determine her age, but the hawkish look in her eyes confused him. 

"Who's this, Kirin?" She asked as she took a step toward them, thumping a cane on the ground beside her, though she didn't seem to be in actual need of it. 

So that's his name. Harper thought. It might have passed in conversation around him before, but he had likely been too worried about who he was to pay attention to what his name had been. 

"Someone who will be staying with us for a week." Kirin stated as he carried him past the woman with haste. 

Kite sauntered up to the woman and they seemed to share a glare with each other before she reached down and swatted him on the nose. "There will be none of that in this household, and you best be trained well, dog, or you'll be sleeping with the horses." 

Wow, she's a spitfire. He didn't understand why Kirin was trying to avoid her, though, but when he was set down in a strange metal tub, Harper returned his attention to the man above him. Kirin leaned over and tugged Harper's dirty shirt off of him, then tossed it behind him before starting to pump cold water into the tub. 

"Sorry, it's going to be cold. Lighting the fire beneath the tub would take too long to be worth it. Just bare with it so that you can get cleaned up, then I can tend to your foot and burns." He said as Harper fought back shivers while the water grew higher around him. He was worried about being naked in front of the man, too, being so used to being a female, but as he was handed soap, he shrugged away his nerves and scrubbed himself as well as he could manage. Kirin got his back for him, then pulled a strange plug at the bottom of the tub so that the water started draining out. 

When the water was mostly gone, Kirin wrapped a towel around him and lifted him from the bath. Carefully, he settled Harper on his good foot, then turned and pointed. "Relieve yourself if you need to. You can put on the shirt on the counter when you're done. I'll be right outside the door." With that, Kirin left and Harper did what he needed to. 

He opened the door about ten minutes later, having taken most of his time alone to try and calm himself down. He had a week to figure things out. It was enough time. After all, he'd kept his secret most of his life. It wouldn't hurt, hopefully, to finally be rid of it. Whether that meant telling the truth or running away, if he could possibly get himself up onto a horse with a broken foot by himself. He'd figure it out. 

"Hey there. Kirin is making dinner with lady Lelynn." Abel said as he took Harper's arm and helped him get to the sofa in the other room to sit down. 

Once he was settled, his broken foot up on a small padded stool, Abel disappeared off to where Harper assumed was the kitchen. He could hear them moving around in there and a bit of chatter, but couldn't see anything. He was just closing his eyes when he heard the woman speak. 

"Get your lazy arse out of here and go tend to that poor boy! What fool forces such an injured person to bathe before tending their wounds?" The sound of, what Harper could only assume was her cane, echoed throughout the room as it likely connected with some part of Kirin, considering he yelped. 

"Christ woman. You're going to be the death of me!" He growled as he stomped from the room, rubbing his left shoulder. 

His glare softened when it landed on Harper. "I'm sorry if I pushed you to bathe first. I'm a bit of a clean freak recently, and you looked like you'd appreciate it..." 

Harper offered the man a hesitant smile. "I did." 

Seemingly relieved, Kirin nodded, then gathered up a few supplies stored in a container on the small table to Harper's left. Kneeling in front of Harper's foot, he set the items down, then began checking it. Thankfully, he didn't move it too much. 

"The break isn't too bad. You got lucky. How did it happen?" He asked as he put a small splint of wood against Harper's foot, then began wrapping a bandage around it. 

"I jumped out of the second story window. There was nowhere else I could go." Harper mumbled as he stared down at his covered lap, glad that the shirt was very big on him. 

"Dinner will be ready soon!" Abel called as he ran around the corner from the kitchen with dishes in his hands. 

The table was set in a few minutes, then food was brought in. By the time his foot was done, his burns tended to, and he was helped into a pair of loose shorts, then to the table, it was loaded with more food than he'd ever been allowed near. Sure, he'd been fed well enough as a servant, but never such high quality food, and never so much at once. 

He waited until everyone filled their plates before awkwardly taking a few small pieces of meat, a biscuit, and a few vegetables. It all smelled amazing, but when he picked up his fork to start eating, more suddenly appeared on his plate. Two scoops of potatoes, a large helping of steak, and several more vegetables joined his previously minuscule portion, making his jaw drop. 

"Lady Lelynn will beat me, again, if I don't make sure that you eat. No small portions here. I even fed the dog more than what you took, so you best eat." Kirin said before returning to his own meal. 

Harper wasn't sure what to say, or do. He looked down at his full plate, then back up to Kirin, then back down, and back up. "Keep doing that and your head will fall off, child. So, tell me, what did you do that was so bad that it's got you tongue tied and afraid to return to your previous master?" 

Rule isn't technically my master, and I'm not a child. 

He remained silent for a few moments before turning to Kirin. "Is... is lord Arthur alright?" 

Lady Lelynn huffed at the sudden change of topic, but let it slide as she looked toward Kirin. 

"He's alive, but is having trouble breathing. They took him to a hospital to watched over for a while." 

Blinking back tears he hadn't realized were about to fall, Harper quickly shoved a piece of meat into his mouth and focused on chewing. There was silence among them for several minutes as everyone ate, but then lady Lelynn broke it again.

"I can't think of anything, except for murder, that you could have done to make you so nervous. Kirin is a very lenient magistrate. He does his best not to remove body parts from others." 

Harper's stomach twisted with the small amount of food he'd eaten not sitting well within it. 

"Why, you should hear dear Abel's story!" 

Abel blushed and looked down, running a hand through his messy hair as the woman continued. 

"His father tricked him into being a girl his entire life to steal money through marriage, but lucky for him, the man who fell for him was none other than our gullible, overly-sexually active, dolt and magistrate, Kirin." 

Harper's mouth opened slightly, looking between the two as he put the pieces together. 

"When he found out that Abel was a man, and most definitely not a woman, he was slow to realize that he wanted him in his bed, and not dead in a cage being pecked to death by birds." 

His stomach soured again. 

"But, anyways. The old magistrate would have seen pretending to be another gender as something mortifying and worthy of death, but Kirin tends to think differently. Why, I have to beat him nearly daily to keep him away from my dear prodigy for more than a few hours." 

A quiet laugh slipped from his lips at the image of the woman beating such a strong looking man as Kirin. "His thick skull broke my last cane, you know." She said with a smug look of satisfaction on her face as Kirin ducked his head further, ignoring her to continue shoving food into his face.

"And I have no idea where you got that new one from, but plan for it to disappear soon." He said in a hushed voice a few moments later. 

Harper looked around the table as everyone fell into a comfortable silence. He slowly filled his belly as his mind worked on a course of action. It was a relief, somewhat, to hear Abel's truncated story, but he was still hesitant to believe that he could be so lucky. 

Oh well. Only time will tell. Take the story for what it's worth and tread carefully come morning... especially around the strange old woman and her weapon.