If there was anything to praise about humans, it was their adaptability. Roan’s adopted household settled into their new normal in the space of a day. Though Corey and Bless were still quite intense in the attention they paid to Roan, she found the fuss a worthy trade for always having a packmate around. Bless’ lessons in particular were invaluable. Knowing the basics of human rune language and society helped Roan ask better questions of the locket she wore.
Whenever Corey or Bless would insist on Roan taking a nap, she used the time to interrogate her link to the mortal girl she’d supplanted. The human world – once a confusing mix of myth and misunderstanding – took shape in Roan’s mind. Delusion seemed to be the main theme of the mortal realm, which explained why humans were so easy to fool with magical tricks. Mariah’s memories in the locket were adamant that she was “free” and had no allegiance to any nobility. Careful investigation on the circumstances of Mariah’s life, showed Roan that there was a definite ruling class, and that Mariah had pledged herself to several aristocratic houses in various ways.
Roan had to laugh when she found herself wishing for the simplicity of the faerie court during one of her dives into Mariah’s political knowledge. It was a sign that she’d learned enough about human politics, Roan decided. Her goal had been to definitively discover what her pack’s place was in the human world – and she had. Mariah’s social class was shockingly lower than Roan’s initial assessment. Knowing that her adopted family couldn’t afford to have an unproductive member for long, Roan redoubled her efforts to absorb information about Mariah’s work.
On the face of it, Mariah’s job was simple. She served drinks in exchange for money. However, Mariah was also expected to mix the drinks – a process that involved memorizing hundreds of ingredient combinations and the use of a human alchemical engine. Despite how intimidating the task sounded, Roan felt that she had no choice but to try.
Forrest seemed the best packmate to broach the subject with. The next time he was assigned to watch over her, Roan waited until he was done changing her diaper and had put away all his work things.
“Daddy – Forrest, I need to talk to you about something.” Roan was sitting at Forrest’s feet while he read his magical slate. He’s Browsing his Phone. I have to remember. People will think I’m strange if I don’t use the right words.
“What’s up?” Forrest put his phone away and sat up, giving Roan all his attention immediately. It was a small gesture, but emblematic of the way Forrest honored people he cared for. Mariah must be a great woman to have collected such wonderful packmates.
“I think it’s time that I go back to work. I’m not sure if I can do everything – that Mariah did – that I used to do. I want to try though. I’m hoping they will let me do at least part of my work.”
Forrest’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
Roan nodded eagerly. “I can read and write now, I remember how to make a latte, and there’s always cleaning to do there. I can do all the cleaning so that the others don’t have to.”
“What about getting to and from work?”
“I was hoping – that someone could take me.” Roan felt her cheeks heat. It was hard transitioning from someone who had raced across the breadth of Faerie, to a pseudo-child who couldn’t make her way to a shop. “If no one can, that’s understandable. I can be very careful about going on my own. I understand about cars and roads now.”
“Mariah,” Forrest sighed and rubbed his face. “You’ve made a lot of progress, I agree. That doesn’t mean you’re back to where you were. I’m worried about you getting to work if you – well, the way you talk about cars and traffic isn’t the way you would have before.”
“We need the money, don’t we?” Roan sighed. “I don’t want to be a burden. Forrest, please. I know it’s more work for you to help me do this, but I want to make less work for you later.”
Forrest bit his lip when Roan mentioned the money. She winced internally. The pack’s resources were lower than she’d guessed. If doing Mariah’s work wasn’t possible, Roan would need to find something valuable that she could sell. Or I could ensorcell some other mortal. Someone outside the pack has money that my pack could use. Roan surprised herself by quickly rejecting the idea of enchanting someone to rob them. Stealing from mortals and making fools of them was a subject of much laughter back in Faerie, and Roan had laughed along as much as anyone else.
“You’re not wrong about us needing the money. I’ll talk to your boss and see what she says. I can take you in tomorrow if she agrees.” Forrest sighed and looked at Roan pensively before asking, “What about your diapers?”
“I…” Roan blushed. There was no good way to hide them, she knew. The clothing that Mariah wore to her work would cover, but not conceal a diaper. That was doubly true of a wet diaper. Roan had already made the experiment by wearing Mariah’s work trousers while Hannah was watching over her.
Roan set her jaw and shrugged. “It will be embarrassing if people know I’m wearing them. I hope they’ll get used to it and be kind, eventually.”
“Mariah, you’re one of the bravest and best people I know.” Forrest pulled Roan onto the couch and into a warm embrace. “Luckily your boss is a pretty good person. I’m sure she’ll be kind – hopefully the others will follow her lead.”
Taking such a big compliment for Mariah made Roan’s chest hollow with guilt. She hadn’t earned Forrest’s praise – especially since any gallantry on her part was a feather against the bolder of debt she owed the pack for stealing Mariah from them.
“Thank you. Especially for offering to talk to my miss-, my superior for me. I know how busy you are without having to take care of me.”
“Mariah, I’ll always take care of you.” Forrest squeezed Roan tightly. Though the comfort he offered was as unearned by Roan as his praise, she refused to feel further guilt. Roan needed love and closeness as much as Forrest did – it didn’t matter that she wished he was her father or that he thought she was Mariah. A hug was a hug.
Roan and Forrest cuddled until dinner, much to Bless’ amusement. The pack’s usual placid dinner conversation was supplanted by a lively debate about Roan’s ability to go to work. Bless and Corey were appalled at the idea, pushing Forrest and Hannah into an equally extreme position of support to oppose them. In the end, Roan used Corey’s oath to sabotage his opposition – reminding him that the household needed the money and that Roan working would protect them all.
Forrest and Hannah were obviously confused at how quickly Corey switched sides in the argument. Roan caught Forrest watching her suspiciously – which made her worry the phrasing she’d used to trigger Corey’s oath was too out of character for Mariah. Luckily for Roan, if not the harmony of the pack, Corey’s magic compulsion pushed him to be quite harsh with Bless. Forrest had to abandon his suspicions while he and Hannah corralled Corey’s tongue.
~~~~*~~~~
The next day, Roan stood nervously in Mariah’s workplace – Coffee Shop – while Forrest spoke to Karen, the shop’s proprietor. An elm tree on the shop’s sign was something Roan took as a good sign, for elm was had long been a friend of the fae. Unfortunately, there was no actual elm in the shop or nearby. While Forrest was occupied with the shop’s mistress, Roan was left to endure the judgmental stares of the other workers. Baristas. They’re baristas, and I hope I am one as well. Roan lacked the art to give Forrest the gift of the bard’s tongue, but she whispered the blessing for it under her breath anyway.
“I think it’ll be fine. Thank you for giving me such a detailed explanation.” Karen, the shopkeeper raised her voice from the whispers she’d been exchanging with Forrest. Karen was a stout woman, putting Roan in the mind of a tall dwarf. Her brown hair was in full rebellion against the tie that was meant to pull it in a bun at the back of her head. Though Karen’s clothing was as plain as any other mortal Roan had met, her face had the stern cast of a woman used to command.
“If there’s any problem, please call me or one of the other people on the emergency contact sheet I gave you.” Forrest dithered nervously, as Roan’s father had before she went on her first real hunt. She smiled fondly at her good-hearted packmate.
“I will. It’s a terrible thing that happened, I’m glad I can help. There’s plenty of work for Mariah to do here, we’ve been short staffed this past week with her gone.” Karen patted Forrest on the shoulder and approached Roan.
“Ready to be back at work, Mariah?”
“Yes…” Roan’s tongue caught in her mouth. In her frenzy of learning all the drinks the shop sold, she’d forgotten to learn what honorific Mariah used for her mistress. Forrest had called Karen by her given name, but he wasn’t her servant.
“Good. Alright everyone, listen up.” Karen turned to the other baristas, who responded with simple affirmatives – except for one man. Roan was grateful to the blonde barista for speaking formally enough to address Karen as Boss.
“Mariah has had a rough time since her house was broken into – she’s not going to be completely up to speed. She’s going to need a lot of retraining, which I will mostly handle. I want everyone to be patient with her when she’s asking questions, understand?” Karen’s speech did not have the effect it would have if Roan’s father had been speaking to his Hounds. The other baristas reactions ranged from resigned to rebelliously annoyed.
“Can’t you hire someone else? You put a job ad out already, right?” The question came from a woman who’s hair was half black, half green. “Do we really have to work with Mariah now that she’s gotten all retar…”
“Alice!” Karen snapped with volume and tone that made each of the workers straighten their spines – Roan included. “If you ever finish that word in my shop you’ll be out a job and out the door five minutes later. Am I clear?”
“Clear.” Alice crossed her arms sullenly.
“The inclusive language on the shop’s website isn’t just for our customers. Whatever Mariah needs to relearn, she can still clean. If you’re busy and she’s not able to help you, have her take your cleaning instead.” Karen sighed. “I don’t expect my staff to be friends with each other but you have to be civil. So help me, if one of you sets this business up for a lawsuit, you will not like what happens.”
The baristas – even Alice – nodded and responded with a chorus of “Got it”, “Yes”, “Understood.” Roan was so nervous watching their reactions that she nearly jumped out of her skin when Forrest hugged her.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Forrest patted Roan’s arm. “I have to go Mariah, I’m late to work as it is. You have your phone and you know how to call me if you need to, right?”
“I remember. We practiced last night.” Roan gave Forrest her best confidant smile, hoping he wouldn’t worry about her all day. “Have a good day at work.”
“We’ll see.” Forrest chuckled ruefully, waved to Karen, and was gone.
Roan turned expectantly to her mistress – Boss – and waited for instructions. Training was the first order of the day, with mixed results. Karen seemed pleased with Roan’s progress, though her opinion was not shared by the other baristas. Alice in particular rolled her eyes whenever Roan asked a question.
The shop filled up with customers and conversation before Roan had as much as an hour of training. While the training had done wonders for putting Mariah’s memories in context, Roan was glad to be tasked with cleaning tables and ferrying supplies from the store room. As she worked, she mused on the shop’s odd organization. Her fellow baristas would have been considered rude and insubordinate in Faerie – Alice in particular would have earned several lashings over the course of the morning. At the same time, the baristas were highly regimented about how they were allowed to serve the customers and even when they could take a break.
Karen had no sooner sent two baristas on a break when a dozen new mortals entered the shop. They looked expectantly at Roan, who’d been caught out in the main ordering position by the Register as she swept the floor. As the first customer stepped up to the counter, Roan looked for help.
“Alice, can you…”
“I’m busy.” Alice was pouring ground coffee to brew, quite a bit more slowly than Roan had seen other baristas do it. “Just take their orders. I saw Karen show you how. Again.”
Karen was in her private office. The polite blonde barista was on break. Worst of all, the customer in front of Roan was showing signs of impatience. Roan wasn’t sure what would happen if the customers lost their patience, but with the way her fellow baristas apologized for small delays in service, she was sure it was something terrible.
“Welcome to Elm Coffee Roasters.” Roan smiled at the customer. She’d been annoyed to hear her fellow workers greet everyone the same way, but she now appreciated how the repetition made the words stick. “What can I do for you?”
“I want a quad tall breve, no foam, with whip, two Splenda, and three pumps peppermint latte.” The tall man sighed and drummed his fingers on the counter.
“Okay, a latte…” Roan found that option quickly on the register’s rune-panel, but stalled immediately after. “What size would you like your drink?”
“Tall.” The customer sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry, that’s not one of the sizes I have listed here…” Roan braced herself to be yelled at as the man took a deep breath.
“He means a small.” The woman behind Roan’s rude customer leaned in to interject. “He thinks he’s in a Starbucks.”
Roan quickly pressed the small button, smiling gratefully at the woman. “Thank you.”
“I suppose you need me to repeat my drink.” The male customer sneered at Roan.
“No sir.” As someone who had been trained to perfectly carry long verbal messages, the rude man’s order was no effort at all to remember. “You wanted a quad small breve, no foam, with whip, two Splenda, and three pumps peppermint.”
It cost Roan time to enter those options, especially since some of them didn’t matter to the rune screen. Roan spent precious time hunting for Splenda until she remembered it was a sweetener and that the shop didn’t charge based on sweetener type. As she scribbled the appropriate runes on the customer’s cup, she was glad to see that her memory had impressed the customer enough that he was no longer openly annoyed. The customer that had helped Roan left extra money in the jar after she ordered, which helped Roan win back some of her fellows’ good will.
By the time Roan had cleared the line she was had a knot of tension at the base of her neck. Human work is unexpectedly relentless. She was happy to move away from the register and find other places to clean.
“Mariah, do you have a minute?” Karen beckoned Roan to a quiet spot behind the counter.
“Of course, boss. Do you need me to do something?”
Karen waited until Roan was next to her and in a low voice said, “Do you need to change your diaper?”
Roan’s cheeks burned. She’d been hoping it was her turn for break, or even that Karen would have some words off praise for how she’d handled the line of customers. Instead of her work being recognized, she’d been reduced to her infantile curse. Worst of all, a quick tug on her waistband revealed to Roan that she was indeed wet.
“I do, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” Roan mumbled.
“It’s okay, no one is upset, especially not me.” Karen’s expression landed somewhere between a sympathetic smile and a concerned look, ending as a grimace. “Your jeans look a lot more full than they did this morning.”
“I’ll take care of it right now – if that’s allowed.” More than anything, Roan wanted the conversation to end.
“Of course. Go ahead, and take your break after you’re out of the bathroom. You get ten minutes.”
“Thank you, Boss.” Roan stopped herself from making a bow, turning the gesture into a respectful nod before she scurried to the bathroom.
It was a wonder Roan hadn’t noticed she needed a change before Karen did. Her diaper was sodden to the point that it make her trousers sag down. Released from the fabric, it dipped alarmingly between her legs. After quickly disposing of the diaper, Roan checked the changing supplies Hannah had packed for her. Using the wipes was an awkward experience, though being clean improved Roan’s mood substantially.
Roan struggled to put a clean diaper on from a standing position. Her packmates had made it look so easy, though they had the advantage of a better angle on a person that was lying down. In the end, Roan did her best to wrap the diaper around herself and secure the tapes. All that was left was to hope her diaper wouldn’t leak, and to avoid drinking liquids.
The other employees had stepped out of the shop during their break, so Roan followed suit. Relief washed over Roan at the sudden drop in volume. She took a moment to watch the sparsely planted trees sway in the wind. That the humans had covered nearly every inch of their city in stone was a culture shock.
Wistfully looking down the street that would lead her back to her pack’s home, Roan retraced the journey in her mind. The Car Forrest had brought her to the shop in was only allowed on the dark stone. After nearly being hit by one, Roan was glad for that rule. The lighter, raised stone paths didn’t made a continuous route back home, even without considering that the roads divided them. Still, Roan was confidant she could get home on her own if she had to.
The slow realization that someone was staring at her pulled Roan out of her reverie. The walking paths had no shortage of people during the city’s busy hours, but one person in particular wasn’t passing by. He stood by a metal post, wearing a coat too heavy for the warm afternoon. The shadows on the man’s face were far deeper than his hat could explain – Roan gasped when she realized she was looking at an illusionary glamour.
“What do we have here, a changeling?” The man’s lips barely moved, he was two dozen feet away, but Roan heard his words as clearly as if he was whispering in her ear.
“None of your business.” Roan hissed through her teeth.
“I’m making it mine. The town’s overcrowded as it is. Shove off to wherever you came from.”
“I came from Faerie.” Roan mumbled. “Just days ago.”
“Lies!” Something reflective flashed under the man’s shadow glamour. “Do you think I’m so stupid I don’t know you’re in an adult body? You’ve been out of Faerie for a score of years, easily.”
“I’m not lying. Leave me alone, I have to go back to work.”
“You’ve been warned. Clear out or I’ll clear you out.” The man turned and expertly wove himself into a group of humans, vanishing from Roan’s gaze.
Roan sniffed at the air out of reflex, forgetting how useless her human nose was. To her shock, she was flooded with smells. The scents of human bodies and the clothes they wore were easy to eliminate from the subdued version she’d been smelling at home. Picking out the scents of human industry was more difficult, but nothing a trained fae bloodhound couldn’t handle. Stepping up to the metal post, Roan picked up the man’s smell. Leather and a cloying plant smell stood out the most, lavender most likely. His body scent was unique, at once human and not – it had a smokey character blended into what would have been a normal man’s musk.
The rest of Roan’s work time passed in a blur. She couldn’t concentrate enough to take an order, so made herself as useful as possible bringing supplies to her fellows. Scrubbing the counters and tables was mindless and let Roan mull her breaktime encounter over in her mind. Whoever the man was, he wasn’t a faerie – more likely he was a changeling like Roan. His human scent had been too authentic to belong to a conjured disguise.
“Don’t you hate it when hair dye runs out that fast?” Uma, one of the other baristas, smiled sympathetically at Roan. “Was it City Girl brand? I have the worst luck with them.”
“What do you mean?” Roan caught a lock of her hair and pulled it in front of her face. Mariah’s black hair was represented in only half the strands Roan saw. The rest of her hair was a bright red-brown – just as Roan’s coat had been before she’d been transformed.
“Your natural color is so pretty though!” Uma leaned on a table. “If I had red hair I’d never go brunette. Just goes to show that the grass is always greener on the other side, huh?”
“Oh right, of course.” Roan stifled a laugh, terrified that it would come out as a hysterical cackle. “I wanted something different, I guess it didn’t work!”
The iron in the shop glimmered menacingly in the periphery of Roan’s vision. At the beginning of the day she’d been glad to see that the only overt iron in the shop was centered around the alchemical engine – the espresso machine – and resolved to wear gloves if she needed to touch it. Now everything in the shop that had a hint of iron smoldered in Roan’s vision.
“There’s my girl!” Hanna flung the shop door open exuberantly and gave Roan a hug. “It’s time to go home – or did they need you to stay longer?”
“No, she can go.” Karen looked up from a list she was making. “I got distracted, sorry. Great job today Mariah, thank you for working so hard.”
“Of course, boss.” Roan nodded fervently at Karen. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and I’ll do better.”
“You were fine, go home, relax.” Karen waved Roan away in as clear a gesture of dismissal as Roan had ever seen at court.
Roan sat gingerly in Hannah’s Car, fearful of the iron frame of the vehicle that she could feel enclosing her. She’d not noticed any such sensation in Forrest’s Car, and doubted that had anything to do with the carriages being differently constructed. Her tongue found a canine tooth longer than Mariah’s had any right to be, sending her into a panic. My disguise is unraveling. How fast? How can I fix it?
She answered Hannah’s questions about the shop noncommittally. It was a shame to shut her lover out, but Roan had bigger problems at the moment. Thankfully, Hannah guessed Roan to be tired and commanded the Car to play music and fell silent for the rest of the ride. The car came to a stop well away from their house, snapping Roan out of her frantic attempt to remember a spell of disguise.
“Get out of the driveway!” Hanna pressed the Car’s control wheel, triggering it’s alarm sound. The figure blocking their entry didn’t move. It was a male figure on the larger side. A man – wearing a heavy coat and a hat that shadowed his face.
“NO!” Roan bellowed in sudden rage. “This is our DEN!”
“What?! Mariah, what are you – come back!” Hannah’s cry fell on deaf ears as Roan bolted out of the Car.
“Leave my pack’s land and never return.” Roan shouted at the changeling.
“Impressive ward you have on your house – but it doesn’t cover your vehicles. It’s you that needs to go.” The man passed a hand over his face and the shadows fell away, revealing a face like craggy stone with dull metallic discs for eyes. “I am Craddock Gethin, and I charge you to leave my town for-ever.”
“Mariah, get back in the car!” Hannah leapt out of the vehicle. “I’ll call the police and we’ll – oh my god what’s wrong with his face?”
“Craddock.” Roan spat the name as she would a bit of rotten meat. “Know that I am Roan, a Hound of the Hunt in the domain of Her Majesty Ixinavori, who is the Queen of Glass. Depart this place or die with my teeth in your neck.”
“Where’s your hunt?” Craddock sneered. “A lone hound isn’t much of a threat.”
Roan rushed Craddock. In her rage, she’d forgotten she had a mortal body. Her body had forgotten it’s mortal state as well, for she moved with the full strength and speed of her fae form. Roan hit Craddock like a Car had almost hit her, grabbing his torso and hurling him a score of feet. His ribs made a satisfying cracking sound during the hit – and his body bounced off the stone pathway like a sack of sand.
As Craddock rose, Roan growled. The sound was nothing a human throat could make. It was the unmistakable sound of a hunting hound about to tear the throat of her prey. His bravado gone – Craddock stumbled away from Roan without a parting quip.
Roan turned to Hannah with ice clinging to her heart. Everything terrible she expected to see in her packmate’s face was there – fear, confusion, and horror. Roan touched her face to find patches of fur. The idea of trying to talk Hannah out of what she’d seen was ridiculous on its face. There was only one way for Roan to conceal what she’d done. She knew only a pair of memory charms, and neither of them were subtle. With her full fae power upon her, Roan knew she could blast away Hannah’s memory of her fight with Craddock – along with an unknowable amount of the woman’s other memories.
I can’t do it. No – I won’t do it. “Hannah, I’m sorry, I…”
“Mariah, what the hell is – MARIAH!” Hannah sprinted toward Roan as the changeling girl choaked. The locket’s chain had tightened around Roan’s neck and dug deep into her skin. Roan scratched at her neck to no avail, she couldn’t get under the strangling chain. Her faerie strength fled with her breath. The last thing Roan saw was the house’s stone path – Driveway – looming up at her face.
~~~~*~~~~
Roan woke on something soft. She sniffed, but the only smell apparent was laundry soap, and that was faint. The scene upon opening her eyes left Roan cold. Hannah was sitting on a chair next to the bed upon which Roan lay – with a cruel iron tool in her hand. It looked like a bird beak, with two short, opposed blades. The tool’s short reach marked it as a torture device rather than a weapon.
“I’m sorry.” Roan cast her gaze away from her packmate and lover. “I didn’t mean to deceive you. Please – end it quickly. I know I don’t deserve it but… for what we shared together…”
“What are you TALKING about?” Hannah threw her arms around Roan. The fae girl yelped in terror as the tool smacked against her arm – but it was merely warm. As was Roan’s diaper.
Wonderful. I fight a battle with no ill effect but a little bit of iron makes me wet myself. Roan gingerly put her arms around Hannah. “I – I thought you were going to torture me with that iron implement.”
“Are you insane?” Hannah threw the pincers away and grabbed Roan’s face. Her own face was tear streaked and blotchy. “Why would I do that? Mariah, what’s HAPPENING?!”
“I…” Roan sighed and closed her eyes. She knew she should lie, ensorcell Hannah any way she could, even flee the house if she had to. Instead, she put her life in Hannah’s hands. Hannah had wanted to be her mommy once – Roan was about to find out if there was any truth to that feeling.
“I’m not Mariah.” Roan opened her eyes to see even more confusion on Hannah’s face. “My name is Roan. I’m a faerie – a changeling of sorts. Mariah’s in Faerie, held prisoner in the Court of Glass.”
“WHAT!?” Hannah’s shout echoed off her bedroom walls loudly enough to hurt Roan’s ears despite their pitiful human sensitivity. The silence that followed made it clear that no other member of the pack was home. Roan stared at Hannah, and the mortal woman stared back.
A rude noise broke the silence. When Roan realized what she’d done in her diaper, she wished Hannah had killed her with the iron tool. Neither Roan nor Hannah had words to pierce the tension that froze the room, while the smell of Roan’s messy accident made itself known.