A week later

"Urgh" I grimace as I put weight on my bad leg "hey come on runt you're doing great" Quinara says her arms ready to catch me if I fall. I stand tall my head bumping the ceiling as fiery pain shoots up and down my leg "FUCK!" I cry out and Quinara's arms inch that little bit closer just in case I topple, however I remain upright despite the pain. "Good boy, you're doing so well" Quinara says, this was the first time in two weeks that I had stood unsupported. Quinara had supported me for a few tentative steps earlier in the week but this time it was all me, "come on now runt walk to the door" Quinara encourages me.

With great difficulty I limp to the door groaning the whole way, "gods, will this ever get better" I wimper. "Yeah of course it will, ma knows what she's doing you're just being a baby" Royce says, Quinara glares at him "not helping" she says sternly. "No Royce is right, I need to suck this up" turning around and limping back to the bed it hurt but it was manageable, "you doing ok runt?" Quinara asks me I take a deep breath "yeah, I'm good I just need to regain my strength" I say sitting back down on the bed. "I reckon we should be good to leave in a couple of days, I'll keep this up" I say putting on a brave face, I wanted to get out of here not just for my sake but hers. She'd been sleeping on floors unable to even stand up in the small house, I had told her she can leave me and just visit wanting her to have some comfort but she had refused to leave my side. "Are you sure? We can stay as long as you need" she says, Royce clears his throat "ahem, this isn't even your house" he jokes, Quinara gives him a side eye. "He's right, we've been staying here for a while just taking up space" I say, "and breaking doors" Royce adds, Quinara gives him more side eye but I continue "we should really get out of here as soon as we can, I can rest up in a tavern. I'm not saying we need to leave the city and get moving." Quinara knows I'm right, we had intruded on this family and we probably shouldn't **** their hospitality, "ok but if you're not up to it, there's no shame in taking the time to get better."

I spend the next three days pacing back and forth in this room, it fucking sucks but with each round I get stronger and more comfortable on my feet. Quinara is encouraging me every step of the way, and it's precisely her support that drives me to keeping pushing myself. "I'm ready" I tell her feeling the pain radiate from my leg as I limp back to the bed, "are you sure runt? You look like you're in pain" she says, "I am" I admit "but I've been walking all day, I'm ready." I say firmly.

The next morning we leave Royce's house, I thank them for all they've done especially Sylvie and offer to pay the debt that Quinara owes for break their home. Quinara however insists that she pays, using what I paid her for her services, I realise that this meant Quinara was now working essentially for free as she'd given her cut to the ratkin. I limp along slowly following Quinara, she has to walk slowly for me to keep up but she makes no complaint. We find a tavern, thankfully a much nicer tavern than the green man was, "see I told you we would be going somewhere else" she jokes calling back to our discussion about the state of the previous tavern. "Yeah I'm sure this was exactly how you planned it out" I joke back, after an excruciating task of limping up the stairs to our room I can finally relax in luxury. Our room was stunning a huge soft plush bed pressed against the back wall, looking oh so inviting, our own private bathroom connected to our room. I settle myself on a leather arm chair facing the bed and breathe a sigh of relief.

"You feeling ok runt?" Quinara asks handing me my water from my pack, "yeah I'm fine, thank you" I take a sorely needed drag of my water. "Good you get some rest I need to head out, I need to catch up with Jaime" she says realising she hadn't contacted him since the job. "Going to get your cut?" I inquire, Quinara looks at me "nah I was actually just thinking about cheating on you by having wild sex with him" she teases with a wink, I groan "oh no, you're not gonna let me live this down are you?" Quinara laughs, "hey at least you knew I wasn't serious, that's growth and trust" she purrs, "but seriously get some rest I'll be back soon" and with that she leaves me. My eyelids quickly grow heavy and I fall asleep on the comfortable armchair.

"You did an admirable thing Huck, reckless but admirable" a soft voice wakes me up, "wha? You!" I say startled by the stranger sat across from me on the bed. As usual his face is obscured by his hood I look into the vacuous black hood trying to make out any sort of facial feature but finding none. "You really care for her don't you?" The stranger asks me, "who, Quinara?" I ask feeling very uneasy with the current situation "yes her" I didn't need a second to think about it I cared about her more than I had ever cared for anyone. "Yes, I love her" I state to the stranger, "good, good. Keep her close she will be the key to unlocking that potential I see in you" he muses. "What the fuck does that mean? What does any of this mean?" I ask every time I saw the stranger I found myself more confused and with no real answers. The stranger chuckles "you'll find out in due time", I roll my eyes "why can't you ever give me a straight answer?" The stranger gets up "I would like to but alas I can only nudge you to your potential. Goodbye Huck" before the stranger leaves I tell him one final thing "she doesn't believe me! About you she doesn't think you're real" I blurt out to him, "good." And with that he walks out of my field of view and disappears, I turn to say one final thing only to find nothing, no trace that he was ever here. What is this stranger? And what potential is he seeing in me? I wonder to myself as I sit in this armchair, I just wish I had some answers.

I don't get long to stew on these questions however as Quinara shortly returns to the room. "Hey runt, look what I got" she says handing me a ledger, I flick through and see full documentation for me and Quinara granting free travel into the elven kingdoms "Lord Rudolph of Lapis Island" I say reading the profile for me, "human male, Ginger hair, small build" I continue reading off the facts about me. "It's good isn't it?" Quinara proudly states, "um yeah but surely if I'm lord of Lapis Island they can check that right?" Quinara snorts "oh please, no one cares about Lapis Island. Hell you're a learned man could you even point to Lapis Island on a map?" She challenges me, I think hard, I had heard of Lapis Island but only briefly as it was a remote island, "U-um I actually don't know where it is" I admit shamefully. "Exactly you think anyone is going to care enough to check? That's why it's the perfect excuse, they'll search your bag and you have too much gold to be a commoner but some random lord from somewhere they don't care about? They will buy that" she says animatedly, she was very proud of this "wait did you come up with our alibis?" I ask her, she nods "of course, it needed to be perfect" her energy was infectious and I couldn't help but smile, I turn the pages to her documents "Zael, orc, hired protection... That's it!?" I say as I look at the remaining blank pages "look they're gonna see an orc. It really doesn't matter what's on my documents what matters is that someone who they can trust will vouch for me" she says "that's why it's so important to get your documents right." It was a bitter pill to swallow but it wasn't unsurprising, Quinara had been judged as a monster by so many throughout her life, it almost seemed naive to assume that wouldn't affect her travel prospects. "I see..." I say solemnly, Quinara shrugs "look I can rage against the world forever but that won't change it. Anyway we should be excited this is huge" she says bringing the mood back up. It was true this was a big step towards my dream of going to live out the rest of my days in the elven kingdoms.