When I returo our suite, Rue was already there, stretched on a sofa, his tail wagging zily. “How was the visit with your new friends?” I asked.

  “Very silly!” Rue said in a serious tone, nodding for emphasis aing off the couch.

  I ughed and asked, “Why silly?”

  Rue’s eyes widened as he demonstrated a clumsy cw swipe with his paw. “Daran say fight monsters like this. That silly! If Rue do this with cws, Rue ’t run fast to grab monster, and shake shake shake to make monster go spt!” he expined.

  “Well,” I said with a grin, “he’s a cat, you’re a dog, you fight differently.”

  Rue huffed, his nose wrinkling. “Daran very silly! Daran say biting monsters is yuck! How Rue shake moo go spt with no biting? Daran also say it smart to jump on a monster from ba surprise. That silly! If a monster not see Rue, monster not know Rue is dangerous!” he barked, looking genuinely perplexed.

  I shook my head, still ughing. “How were the other familiars?” I asked, trying to stifle my amusement.

  “Shashik nice,” Rue said, his tone softening. “Shashik not talk, he only level 3. Shashik like warm. Shashik coil around Rue tail. Rue fot Shashik was oail. Rue wagged tail and Shashik fly off,” he reted, his eyes narrowing at the memory. “But Shashik not angry. He smart. He ed around Rue’s neck, and never fly off again,” Rue added, nodding sagely.

  “That does sound smart,” I said with a big grin, picturing the se. “And how is the bird?”

  Rue’s ears perked up. “Lepim also silly!” he decred, his mental voice rising a notch.

  I chuckled and asked, “Why is he silly?”

  Rue shook his head like he was exasperated and said, “Lepim say the wind tell stories to wings. Wind not tell stories. Wind ruffle Rue fur. That not story. That wind say Rue is friend. Not story,” he growled, shaking his head again, as if to rid himself of an annoying thought.

  “What stories does the wind tell his wings?”

  “Lepim say wind tell about warm current, strong current, weak current. Silly stories!” Rue said with a huff. “Windy Rue go up. Not windy Rue go down,” he added, puffing out his chest.

  I hought I’d gain insight into wildlife from a dog’s perspective!

  “So, you didn’t have fun?”

  “Rue had bestest fun,” he said, tail wagging again. “After familiars stop be silly, we talk about delicious food. They know a lot delicious food. Rue like hearing about delicious food. But now Rue is very, very hungry. Rue hear a lot about delicious food,” he added, his stomach growling as if on cue.

  “Didn’t you eat there?” I asked, trying not to ugh.

  “Rue eat, but Rue is still hungry. Rue hear about too much delicious food,” he said, giving me puppy-dog eyes.

  I ughed again. My dog was silly, but I didn’t tell him that. I’m not silly.

  In the m, Rid brought me a note from Manul.

  “Hello, esteemed Bard. I wish to speak with you to hear about your fantastic wolf. Unfortunately, I’m w with a noble family to bind them to familiars, and it is a longer and more involved process than I initially anticipated. I will be moving to their spire today, hoping to move things along more effitly. I hope you will still be in Crystalspire when I plete my job with them. If not, I hope we meet in another pce. I, like you, move from pce to pce. So I hope our paths will cross again.

  Also, please tell Rue that my familiars enjoyed his visit immensely—especially his stories about smoked crabs. Their descriptions were so vivid that I also find myself craving a smoked crab. Maybe my future job will take me north to an area with crab dunes.

  With utmost respect,

  Manul Astadi”

  “Rue,” I called. When he padded out of the bedroom, I read him the message from Manul.

  “Of course!” He excimed, wagging his tail a mile a minute. “Rue know smoked crab is bestest.”

  “Want to go and visit a bakery with me?”

  He shouted “Yes!” into my head in a loud volume.

  I rubbed my temple and told him, “We’ll eat breakfast there. Let’s go.”

  The bakery was also in the old city, so I took a coach again. When the an saw Rue, he stepped back, armed. “Don’t worry. He’s dangerous only to monsters.”

  The an looked at me suspiciously with furrowed brows and squinted eyes.

  “Look i,” I told Rue telepathically.

  Rue wagged his tail and gave the an the best puppy-dog eyes I’ve seen from him so far, with his tongue lolling out. The an looked at him a moment longer and visibly rexed.

  The bakery was close to the Potion Emporium, he royal pace. It was in a vast building that spawo blocks. The smells ing from the doors were simply heaven. I had no other words to describe it: fresh bread, exotic spices, baked fruit, baked cheese—simply heaven. Five doors were fag the street, and judging by my he first door on the right was for bread, followed by doors with various pastries. I headed to the st door on the left, where the fantastic smells of exotic spices were rising.

  Ihe pce acious, with an enormous U-shaped ter along the three inner walls of the store. In the ter stood a rge table with a sele of pastries, and along the windows fag the street were small tables with chairs. The smell was overwhelming ihe store—too many spices mixed into a delicious but overp aroma. My high Perception was a curse sometimes.

  Smiling young girls stood all along the ter, serving ers, while servers dressed in brown uniforms served those at the tables by the windows. I saw a er paying the server and walked over to that table to grab it. The er got up, and the server quickly cleared the table.

  Before I sat down, I asked, “Do you have other tables outside?”

  He poio a door he ter on the right. “Yes, in the back garden.”

  “Excellent. We’ll go there.”

  He looked around, probably to figure out who “we” was, and then saw Rue. He jerked in surprise, his eyes wide.

  “Don’t worry. This is my familiar. He’s very friendly,” I told him with a smile, trying to reassure him.

  He nodded a back to ing the table.

  We chose a table in the garden under a tree, and when a server approached us, I ordered two of everything. He looked at me quizzically and asked, “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. I brought an assistant,” I said, pointing at Rue.

  “Very well, sir,” he replied with a bow. As he walked away, he shook his head. I couldn’t see his face, but I was sure he was rolling his eyes. This was the vibe I got from him.

  After ten mihree servers approached our table, each carrying an enormous basket full of pastries. When Rue saw them ing, he straightened up and started wagging his tail. The servers looked at the baskets, then at the table. O down his basket, fetched two more small tables, and pced them o ours. They exged gnces, and I could almost hear their thoughts, “Crazy tourists” or some local variation.

  “Enjoy,” the three of them said in unison before leaving.

  Rue and I begahodically tasting the pastries. Pastries with sour fruits, sweet fruits, and various nuts and spices. One pastry with cheese and hot pepper fkes was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. I also felt the mana in the pastries. The amount was less than in seak or crabs, evehan the amount of mana in my regur cooking when I ihe food, but there was mana in them.

  Rue and I didn’t talk to each other. We were too busy chewing. After about half an hour, a hefty dy approached us and said, “I’m sorry to say this, but dough is not healthy for es.”

  Rue answered her, “Ruhf ish notta e-ine. Ruhf ish an advennerer.”

  I chuckled to myself, but she didn’t respond.

  “It’s okay, ma’am. He’s no ordinary e. He’s a familiar and eat anything.”

  She rexed, nodded, said, “Enjoy,” a.

  Despite our best efforts—Rue’s much better than mine—we couldn’t finish a third of the pastries. I waved the server over, and when he approached us, I asked, “Please pack up everythi. In addition, please make me a package of twenty pastries of each kind to take with me.”

  He looked surprised and asked, “Are you sure, sir?”

  “Yes, extensive family. Don’t worry.”

  After a while, five servers carried rge boxes taining pastries that seemed to be made fre leaves. My bill came to fold aeen silver. After I paid, I gave them a tip—which, of course, surprised them, and I had to expin the idea to them. However, they embraced the idea much more readily than Rid.

  “ I speak to a manager or the owner, please?” I asked.

  “Is there a problem, sir?” one of them asked, a ed look on his face.

  “No, no. Everything is perfect. I just want to ask something.”

  He nodded ao call the manager or the owhe hefty dy returo my table and said, “Hello, respected mert. My name is Astha Hamion, and I belong to the founding family of the Mana-Infused Bakery. How may I help you?” she asked, her tone formal but curious.

  “I am fasated by magical items. May I see your ovens?”

  She looked annoyed and replied sharply, “No. This bakery has beloo the Hamion family for thirteen geions, and we’ve never let anyone i our ovens.”

  Bummer, I thought. Maybe a bribe will help?

  I took out a bag of white sugar and spice packets of amon, cloves, allspice, and vanil. “Please check these out. I promise you no one else in this world has them.”

  She tasted the sugar, and her eyes widehey opened even more when she smelled and tasted the spices.

  “If you let me look at the ovens, they are yours. I will give you these. And not only this amount but much, much more.”

  She looked angry. “I told you, the bakery has beloo the family for many geions, and we never let anyone ihe ovens.”

  “Not even for special spices?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “No!” she half-yelled at me, her face turning red.

  I raised my hands in surrender and said, “Please don’t be angry. I asked, you answered. There’s no reason to turn this into an argument.”

  She took a deep breath a out slowly, and I saw her shoulders rex. “Would you be willing to sell us these spices?”

  “No. I have a limited amount and save it for special occasions.” It came out in a sharper tohan I intended, sounding vengeful.

  Oh well, it is what it is.

  She looked at me sideways, bowed slightly, and said through gritted teeth, “Good day, sir.” She then turned dramatically on her heels and stomped away.

  “Big dy angry,” Rue said, his tail twitg.

  “Yep. Let’s go, buddy,” I replied, standing up.

  I wao visit the Royal Pace, and when I checked the map, I saw it was just a few blocks from where we were. When we arrived at the pace, I discovered a stone wall surrounded most of it, and I could only glimpse it through a highly decorative iron gate. I tried to get a better look, but quickly, two guards armed with spears approached me and politely but firmly told me to clear the passage to the gate.

  I went to an alley three blocks away, left Rue in the alley, turned invisible, and flew toward the pace. I flew over the wall with no response from the guards, either outside or inside.

  So far, so good.

  The pace was enormous and so decorated that it practically hurt my eyes. It covered an area of three or even four blocks, with all the roofs shaped into domes, in a blue color that sparkled in the sun. When I got closer to the roof, I saw crystals embedded ierial c it. I expected the crystals to be blue, but they were clear. The material itself held the blue color. Over-the-top gold-pted details adorhe building. I didn’t know if it was genuine gold pting or just paint, but it didn’t really matter. The overall impression was one of majesty and splendor, wealth and opulence, like something straight out of a fairy tale.

  This is hoace should look!

  In front, symmetrically trimmed bushes, statues, and fountains adorned every er of the manicured gardens, along with blooming flowers. The gardens were simply stunning and pleted the impressive image of the pace. At least the vegetation outside, though also excessive, helped tone down the overly extravagant look a bit. It was something!

  I took out my camera to take some pictures.

  Oops!

  My camera wasn’t invisible. I nded behind a tree, made sure no one saw me, turned visible and invisible again, flew back up, and took pictures. A mage or wizard ran out of the pace holding a staff. I didn’t use Identify, but I could tell this person beloo one of the magical csses. I could feel it. He looked around as if searg for something.

  Me, maybe?

  To be on the safe side, I flew back over the wall, picked up Rue, and we tinued walking around the city.

  After about twenty minutes, Rue said, “Rue smells smoke,” his witg.

  “I smell smoke all the time,” I replied, shrugging. “I think they’re cooking over an open fire.”

  “Rue smells bad smoke,” he insisted, his tone more urgent.

  “What is bad smoke?”

  “Big fire, lots bad smoke.”

  “Okay, buddy. Take us there.”

  We followed Rue’s nose, and after a few blocks, we came upon an awful se. One building was burning heavily, and two buildings oher side had also caught fire. One had fmes lig at the roof, and the other was burning on the wall closest to the inal bze. I immediately ahe wind to stop blowing, and everything stilled.

  Despite my request, the fire refused to go out. I sent the request again, even begged it to stop burning, but the fire didn’t feel like it. It was really enjoying dev everything in its path. Just then, four horses galloped around the er, dragging behind them the biggest barrel I had ever seen—about the size of a crete mixer, mounted on a set of wheels. The horses stopped in front of the burning building, and people sitting on the front benches jumped down. They grabbed buckets hanging from the sides of the barrel, started filling them with water, and hahem to the spectators, who began p water on the fire.

  I sent a request to the fire again, but this time I tried something different. I sent the feeling, You’re about to be extinguished with water. Wouldn’t you rather extinguish yourself? This way, you decide, not the water. Or as close to that as I could mah feelings and impressions.

  The fire relutly agreed to go out, and the feeling I got from it reminded me of a teenage girl rolling her eyes and saying, “Fine,” in a very put upon tone. But the fire went out. It didn’t just diminish—it simply disappeared. One sed it was bzing, and the , it was gohere weren’t even any sm coals left. I ordered the wind to blow the smoke away, and a powerful gust swept up and carried the smoke away. The bination was so effective that even most of the smell vahere was still a burnt st, but more like what lingers days after a fire, nht after.

  All the spectators stood around, looking amazed. I stood with them, imitating their movements to blend in. Then I heard screams of pain and immediately stopped pretending. I ran toward the screams and saw a woman with two children staggering out of the building that had been burning earlier.

  I rushed to them, and without even making a diagnosis, I split my mind in two, pced a hand on each child, and cast Healing Touch. The girl was fier one cast, but the boy wo. He had burns over seventy hty pert of his body. I lifted my hand from the girl and pced it oher, casting Healing Touch again. When they were all healed, I looked around. The woman tried to thank me, but I ignored her, searg for more injured people. I saw a few more with burns ahrough them one by one, casting Healing Tou each.

  I looked around again, and when I saw no more injuries, I exhaled.

  That was tense.

  The proached me again, her voice full of gratitude. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don’t have much moo give you, but I am in your debt. Whatever you ask, I will do.”

  I patted her shoulder and said, “It’s okay. Take care of your kids. That’s what’s more important right now.”

  She took my hand, kissed it, aed, “Thank you, thank you.”

  I smiled at her and was about to leave, but the people I healed, and even some I didn’t, came up to me and handed me s. One of them patted my bad said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a selfless healer who helps when needed, without charging a huge amount in advance. Well done, son. Don’t lose your humanity.”

  “Thank you, sir. I promise I won’t lose it,” I replied, nodding.

  After the people finished paying and thanking me, Rue and I walked away, heading toward the hotel. It was certainly aful day, and it wasn’t even noo.