Rannok hadn't actually seen Sasha for the rest of the day. He'd hoped she'd be brave enough to wander up to where he was, or to make an effort to come look for her, but as far as he was aware she'd stayed in the kitchen and gone off somewhere to sleep. He missed her presence, and now that he wasn't exhausted, sleeping through the night had been impossible. He'd spent the last three hours in bed, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the rest of the house to awaken. 

Maybe you should have found her instead.

Rannok jerked out of his half-sleep and looked out the window. He'd nearly forgotten the crow was out there. Its beady eye fixated on him, the pupil expanding and contracting as it stared. He sat up and backed up toward the wall a bit.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he asked, eyes locked on it, the feathers on the tops of his wings fluffing out a bit. He'd prefer if the bird would announce itself by something other than talking into his head when he was only partially aware. 

How else am I to help you, if I don't inform you of when you're being a stupid human?

Rannok sighed and rolled his eyes before pushing himself out of bed. Of course the crow would give too simplistic an answer to actually tell him anything at all. 

"Do you ever give useful advice?"

When the powers that be allow me to in order to forward the narrative.

Rannok sighed and went to pull his shirt over his head. "Do you know where Sasha stayed last night?"

No, the crow replied, fluffing its feathers. Rannok reached over and cracked the window, and the creature hopped inside and perched itself on his bedframe. She is used to sleeping outside. Perhaps she is better that way, like a cat.

"No, she's not," Rannok responded. A muscle in his jaw stiffened. Sasha was not a cat. He had a feeling the crow knew that and was just being obstinate. The conversation from the day before with Mantu replayed in his mind. I knew you were a nice, reasonable man.

Those words sounded far too much like the ones Aegan had said before he'd demanded Rannok plant black-powder where the villagers might find it. The acid in his stomach rolled, and for a moment he closed his eyes before opening them again and pushing on his bedroom door.

The crow hopped down from the bedframe and waddled across the floor. Rannok shut the door again. "No, you stay here."

Why? I will keep better track from inside.

Rannok stared for a moment, flabbergasted. "...Because you're a talking crow," he said slowly, reaching for the bird. It hopped away back toward the bed. An offended, screeching sort of sound came out of its throat.

And you are a man with wings, it replied.

"Yeah, and one of us is going to make people ask questions." Rannok shoved the crow toward the bedframe with his foot before shutting the door behind him and heaving a loud sigh. The sound of awkward fluttering and the bird's wings slamming into the wall made Rannok pause and put his hand back on the doorknob.

I will just go out the window, then!

"Stay outside," Rannok responded, in a voice quiet enough not to carry down the hallway. He pulled the door latch shut again and made his way down the stairs. They creaked underfoot, breaking the still morning silence, but when he retreated into the kitchen Rosa was already there, stirring a pot of oatmeal that rested on the stove.

"You slept well, I assume," she said to him, not even looking up as he entered. "Your friend isn't here yet. I have a bone to pick with you." She lifted the spoon out of the pot and tapped it against the top before retrieving a bowl from one of the cabinets and ladling it with gruel. 

"Thanks," Rannok said, reaching out for the offering. He puzzled over what Rosa could possibly have to yell at him for after just a day. But before he could think much on it, Rosa snatched it away again and turned her sharp eyes in his direction. 

"This isn't for you," she said. "It's for--"

A moment later a tiny blonde figure burst through one of the front doors and latched herself to Rosa's legs. 

"Rosa, I'm back! I have a lot of stuff to tell you!" 

"That's nice Adelaide," Rosa said, pulling the girl's arms from around her waist. "Sit down and I'll get you some breakfast, what are you doing back here?"

Rannok took a step backward, away from the child. She scarcely came to Rosa's hips, and her hair was long and wild, like no one had yet made her brush it. There was a sheen of stickiness all over her fingers. Rannok grimaced while trying not to look like he wasn't.

"Who's that?" Adelaide asked, shoving a pudgy finger in Rannok's direction while Rosa picked her up and set her in one of the counter stools. She took the porridge from the woman's hands and dug into it. 

"That's Rannok." Rosa looked in his direction and raised her eyebrows, as if it were a threat. "He's going to be helping you learn to read and get ready for school."

"Oh," Adelaide replied, mouth full of porridge. It leaked out around the corners of her mouth while she talked. Rannok's stomach turned a little. "Why's he have wings?"

"Why do you have arms?" Rannok responded without thinking about it or meaning to. Heat crept up his neck, and he rubbed one of his hands against the other. 

He tried to remember how old Mantu had said she was. She couldn't have been older than six. Hael's age, when he left his village. His heart panged and he tried not to think of it. Hael wouldn't have talked with a mouth full of gruel, and his mother never would have let him meet a stranger so unkempt.

"I dunno," She said. "I couldn't eat porridge without arms. Can you fly?"

Rosa pushed a napkin into her little hands. "Wipe your face, and don't talk with your mouth full, it's impolite."

Rannok's attention went to the cut ends of his wings. He opened his mouth to answer, but hadn't gotten a syllable out before the child launched into more diatribe. "Father read me a story about a man who could fly. He got tangled up in a tree and his mommy had to save him. Have you been stuck in a tree before?"

"No, I--"

"Do you think if you tried you could go all the way to the moon? Rupert says the moon is made of cheese, but I think that's silly, everyone knows it's a big flower. My teacher even said so. She's really smart. Are you really smart? I bet you know all about boats and stuff, because Father said you came here on a boat."

"Adelaide, that's enough," Rosa said.

"I told you my name's Addie," the girl said. The expression on her face turned sour, but only for a second. "Adelaide sounds like an old lady name."

The hardness in Rosa's eyes had faded. Instead they sparkled like she'd heard something very funny, and Rannok couldn't tell if he was in on the joke or not. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask, like what the girl was doing in the helper's kitchen, but they didn't seem like a good idea to ask with the girl still around.

A moment later the door opened again. Rannok's heart went into his throat as Sasha appeared through it, clothes unkempt and pulled around the corners. There were dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept very well, and she had a leaf stuck to her hair. 

"Sorry, I'm late," she said. Her eyes darted to the girl sitting at the counter, then flickered between her and Rannok for a moment, expression unreadable. "Who's this?"

"Adelaide," Rosa responded, the ghost of a smile still traced across her face. "There is a leaf in your hair."

"Thanks," Sasha said, face flushing as she pulled it out. Rannok noticed there wasn't a sword at her hip anymore. He gave her a questioning look. She shrugged before turning away from him and picking up an apron out of one of the drawers. She fastened it around her waist and sat back at the counter without looking at him, arms crossed.

An uneasiness settled into Rannok's gut. He tried to catch her eye again, but she stubbornly avoided him and stared at the wall instead. The expression in her eyes was empty and hollow as she turned to Rosa, even though a thin smile spread across her lips.

"What do you want me to start with?"

Rannok wanted to ask her if she was okay, even though he knew she wasn't, and he knew it was his fault. She was still angry, then. Angry at him for getting them into this mess, for abandoning her. For not having the foresight not to steal from innkeepers.

He wanted to bundle her up and say he was sorry and hold her until it didn't matter anymore. It was too late for that.

"We need to run to the market," Rosa said. She ladled two more bowls with porridge before looking over at Rannok. "This one's yours."

Rannok took it from her, but his mouth felt too dry all of the sudden to eat it. His gaze lingered on Sasha. Her eyes met his for a moment as she took her own bowl, but she looked away from him so quickly that it made his heart sink.

I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am.

The words didn't matter. She wasn't the crow. She couldn't hear them, and she might not care even if she did. Rannok sat down at the table and spooned some of the porridge into his mouth. It didn't taste bad, at least.