A few minutes later in the barn.

"Boy? Boy?" A soft voice, coupled with some shaking, drew me out of my sleep into a world of pain. I looked around, fire in my neck, and found myself surrounded by four wooden walls and a mass of hay. I reached instinctively towards my dagger, only to find in gone. I looked around wildly, panic flashing through my mind, before a pair of strong hands grabbed each side of my face. "Boy, look here. You know me?"

"The farmer's wife? May?"

"Good, thought you might be crazy with the hunger. I seen in before in lean harvests." She smiled, letting go of my face. Her eyes darted to my horns and silver hair, to the demonic eyes and the black talons. "I ain't never seen something like you before. You said you was cursed?"

"I did. Some six weeks ago I woke up like this, not knowing why." The statement contained kernels of the truth, even if it concealed that the transformation had been gradual. "I got chased out of my home by a mob of people I'd known all my life; even my sister and our stepmother was in that mob."

"They just attacked you?"

"Yes." There had been some incidents as I'd transformed, some minor magecraft that I had no control over. And the incident when my sister was mesmerized. And I'd been know as a vitriolic and easily impassioned brat. So they were somewhat on edge, and primed to attack. "I don't why they did. My family and friends. . ."

"Poor boy." She reached out and stroked my hair in a motherly way. "What's your name?"

"Ikarus." I said, leaning into her hand. It was a trick I'd often seen my sister use to ingratiate herself. "Or, Kari if you prefer."

She pulled her hand back, and then reached out to touch my horn. It was an odd feeling, like someone putting a weight on your head, but without feeling it. She pulled her hand pack and reached to the side, grabbing some bread from atop a barrel. It was all I could do to not snatch the loaf from her hand and devour it whole.

"Can I pay you back for this?" I asked. I had to play the right card, set the right bait and say the right words; get the best possible deal for what I had. I had nothing, but I was merchant-born; I could make a profit from nothing. "I've a strong body, and I'm sure there's plenty of work around a farm."

"That won't work Kari." May shook her head. "The neighbors will talk."

"Your closest neighbors are surely hours away." I reasoned. "and I don't need to work where people can see me. I can work your latrine, I can muck out your barn or basement, I can do complex sums and sales. Just for a few days, so I get my strength up before I take to the cold road again."

"I'll. . ." She trailed off as she say the tears shining in my eyes. Crying on demand was a simple skill, another I'd learned from my sister. "I'll talk to Donnie. He'll come around. Eat up, boy. Eat up."

I bit into the bread, cold and plain as it was, and found that it was the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten. It seemed that starvation was the greatest spice. Even so, it only diminished my hunger by a fraction of a fraction. Still, it was better than nothing. May stood and started away, smiling in a matronly way. I watched her go, staring at the sway of her plump hips.

I immediately found myself at full-mast, straining painfully in my trousers. This was something else that had changed six weeks back, the length and girth of my dick, and most annoyingly, the strength of my libido.

I watched the barn doors close, and heard the heavy sound of a closing lock.