Inside the headmaster’s office, Dajra was eyeing Draden speculatively. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so quick with the sword. Then again, after that meal, it makes sense that you aren’t exactly an ordinary man.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I apologize for what my brother did last night. I… honestly, I have no idea what he is thinking these days. He didn’t use to care about playing these games.”

  Draden grunted and took a seat, eager to get off his leg. The nature of the injury made it heal far more slowly than any normal injury, though it was still making rapid progress.

  “If I thought I could get away with it, I would ban him, and all the nobles involved,” Draden told her bitterly. “I’ve never done anything against the man, at least to my knowledge, and yet he just put a giant target on my daughter’s back while I was feeding him.” Just thinking about it made him angry and left a bad taste in his mouth. “I don’t understand what he was thinking, and I don’t appreciate it.”

  “I don’t blame you,” She sighed heavily, “Not in the slightest. What he did was inexcusable. I’ll do what I can to keep your daughter safe while she is here, but once she leaves these walls… My threat to them stands, but I don’t know how much good it will do.”

  Draden nodded. “I understand. Don’t be surprised then if Leah missed the next few days of school. Marcus has a friend coming to town soon that will help equalize things.”

  The headmaster cocked a brow, looking at her old friend, before slowly nodding in sudden understanding. “Coradine will indeed make them second guess any decision to move against you. While you have slowly faded from view, working with Whispering Grove here, she has remained visible, and people still know to fear her.”

  Before the conversation could continue, the bell rang, marking the end of the school day.

  Draden stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get my little troublemaker.” He said with a wink. “Why don’t the two of you keep talking?”

  Outside in the hallway, he found a veritable horde of kids tearing down the corridor, screaming and yelling as they headed for the playground. He groaned and clapped his hands over his ears, feeling himself nearly go deaf during that short instant. Looking back inside the office, he found Tasri wearing ear protection with a slight grin as she watched him.

  With a sudden jerk, he toppled into the office, sprawling across the floor as a tiny midget of a human latched onto his legs with all the force she could muster. Leah had spotted him waiting there and promptly tackled her father.

  He groaned and pulled the bag out from underneath his back. “Sweetie, thanks for that rather, uhh effusive greeting, but your snack just got smooshed.”

  As though a switch had been flipped, the happy grin that had been on her face vanished, and her lower lip began to tremble. “No, not the snack… it never hurt anyone. Why did it have to go and get flattened?” A single, overly dramatic tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. “We should eat it quickly and put it out of its misery.” She finished with a sniffle.

  He stared at her in amazement and chuckled. “Really? You just want to eat your snack now, don’t you?”

  As though it had never been there, the tear vanished as she nodded happily. “I need to determine if smashed golden rings taste the same as fluffy golden rings. It’s for scien… scie… that one word you keep using.”

  “It’s science, Leah. The word you’re looking for is science.” He told her while rolling his eyes.

  “Yeah, That,” She held out her hand expectantly.

  He lightly flicked her nose and gave her a hug. “Never change my little foodie.”

  She wiggled her nose and hugged him back before putting her hand out again.

  “Not yet, only once we leave the walls of the city, you know that.”

  She sighed dramatically, her shoulders slumping in acceptance. “Fine, then let’s go, the food is crying.”

  Tasri had been watching all of this go down in amusement and waved as they left the outer office.

  Holding onto her father’s hand, Leah finally spotted Marcus and greeted him. “Grandpa, old man, are you coming back with us as well?”

  Marcus groaned softly at the new moniker. However, before he could say anything, Emilie appeared with her daughter en-tow and a young woman close behind her.

  Eowin ran over to Leah, and together they headed to the playground, giving the adults a few moments to talk. Near the entrance to the school, more adults could be seen coming to pick up their kids. Meanwhile, the older kids had also begun to gradually leave their classes and then exit the school grounds on their own.

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  The adults found an unoccupied bench where they could watch the kids and still talk in somewhat peace.

  Emilie and the young woman sat down first, with the unknown girl sitting farthest away from them. She seemed somewhat shy, though not timid. People with that trait didn’t last long in this world.

  A little stiffly, Draden sat on the dirt in front of them, close enough that they could talk comfortably, but not close enough to cause issues for the girl.

  Marcus, meanwhile, simply whipped up a seat from the ground and ignored them, only paying attention to Leah and her friend.

  With everyone seated and relatively comfortable, Emilie took the lead with introductions. “Draden, this is Alicemère. Alicemère, this is Draden, the owner, and chef of the restaurant I now work at.”

  “Please, just call me Alice,” She said in a small voice, hiding behind the other woman and not meeting his eyes.

  Draden raised his brows in confusion and glanced at Emilie for an explanation. He hadn’t originally thought the girl was timid, only shy, now he wasn’t so sure.

  The woman in question rolled her eyes, and a little roughly jabbed her in the side with her elbow. “Come on, Alice, at least look him in the eye when you speak. You’re being rude.”

  The girl’s hands balled into fists, and she nodded. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “I apologize. My name is Alicemère Smith, though I prefer to be simply addressed as Alice. I’m not afraid of hard work or anything, but I refuse to be taken advantage of.”

  Draden nodded. “That’s fine. I’ve already told Emilie this, but I’ll say the same thing to you. First off, I’m married, and I have no interest in stepping outside those bounds. Strange perhaps, but that is just who I am. Secondly, that is not the sort of restaurant I am running. It isn’t a tavern, but a restaurant. There won’t even be any alcohol served there. If that makes us less popular, then so be it. I can’t stand the stuff.

  “If anyone touches you in an inappropriate manner, let me know. We’ll beat them and kick them out. They’ll be banned from ever entering the restaurant again. These rules are posted at the entrance of the restaurant, and with any luck, the lack of alcohol will help to prevent problems from arising.”

  Gradually, the girl began to open up as they spent the next few minutes talking.

  Thankfully, he learned that it wasn’t that she was timid, so much as that she had simply been extremely nervous. Alice had really needed the job. Her father was a blacksmith who had his back broken years before by a careless cultivator. They had managed to get it healed, but it had never been the same. It was weaker, and every few months he would suffer a strain that would leave him immobile.

  She also mentioned a little about her mother, but it was enough to leave Draden disgusted with the woman.

  By the end, it was more than he knew about Emilie, and honestly, more than he needed or even wanted to know. The girl was to be an employee, not a friend or a confidant.

  When she finished speaking, Draden took his turn and explained the job to the girl. He figured that Emilie would have told her everything already but wanted to double-check just in case. He also covered the same benefits that he had for Emilie, making sure to include the qi and healing qualities of the food.

  “I can’t say as that it will heal your father; however, it will likely help his back.” He finished.

  Dangling the incentive wasn’t truly needed, but he wanted the girl to understand what she was getting by coming to work for him. Loyalty could not be overstated. It hadn’t been a concern before, but with what Macron had done the night before, it might now be. It didn’t hurt to be cautious.

  A firmness had entered the girl’s eyes as she met his gaze. “Yes, I want to work at your restaurant. Please, give me the chance to prove myself. I’ll work hard.”

  He nodded and slapped his thighs. “That’s all I can ask. Let’s head on out then.”

  Marcus whistled and waved to Leah and Eowin, waving them over. The two laughing girls hurried over and collapsed next to them. They were gasping for breath as their chests heaved in and out.

  With a smile at his daughter, Draden sighed and reached for his bag. “Well, normally we wait until we’re outside the city walls to eat our snack, but I guess we might as well eat it now.”

  It was a good thing that he had brought all the extras that had been prepared the night before.

  It was Alice’s first introduction to his cooking, and while the presentation was somewhat lacking due to it being squished, the taste and effects couldn’t be understated. From the first bite, she felt a surge of energy coursing through her, and the taste… The golden rings, as little Leah called them, were unlike anything she had ever eaten before.

  She covered her mouth in surprise and looked from the ring to her new employer. “This is delicious, and I feel as though I just woke up from a refreshing sleep. All my muscles that have been aching now feel better.”

  Everyone nodded. “Yeah, that’s what he was talking about. His food contains qi and healing properties.” Marcus told the girl. “Qi-enhanced food that isn’t a meat dish is already rare enough, one that also heals, though in this manner is even more so.”

  “My father then?”

  “It’s exactly like Draden said,” Emilie told her in between bites of her donut. “Feed him enough of the food he makes, and his back will get better soon enough.”

  Alice tentatively took another bite and then chewed slowly. After swallowing, she slid off the bench and bowed to Draden, tears coming to her eyes. “Please, let me work at your restaurant. Just heal my father!”

  He scratched his cheek while holding his daughter in his lap. “Get up, please. I have already hired you, so it’s fine. I already said you all can have anything left over after the day is over and I meant it. Just be aware that the healing might take a while. I had a severe injury to my leg and could barely walk on it a month and a half ago. Now I can. It is still weaker than normal, though it is getting stronger every day.”

  The girl nodded, understanding that while it would heal her father, it wouldn’t be overnight.

  Leah polished off her donut and was about to start licking her dirty fingers when Draden grabbed her wrist and head. Despite that, her little tongue waggled in the air, desperately stabbing outward as it tried to reach the sugar still attached to her fingers.

  “Leah, do not lick your fingers.” He sighed in exasperation. “They’re dirty. Go wash them off.”

  She pouted, puffing her cheeks up unhappily, but did as she was asked, regardless.

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