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Lagolian laughed. “That is very good. But can you fight?”

“On your level? No. Absolutely not. It is on my list of things I would like to learn.”

“Honesty. It is smart.” The seamstress chuckled and kept working.

The assistant was smiling as well.

Ranna looked at Riley. “That’s it. You have no ego. You are not trying to save face; you are simply stating the truth as you see it. I wondered what was so interesting.”

“You’ve got me. Ego is for those with something to lose. I no longer have anything to lose. Any day surviving and anything that I get to keep puts me ahead and is a better day than the day before.”

Ranna nodded. “I believe your first outfit is done. We will do a hem on one of my cloaks, and then we can go to the city tomorrow.”

Horib brought in a dark cloak, and Lagolian took it, starting to hem it up about ten inches.

The assistant handed her the tunic and skirt.

“Should I go elsewhere to change?”

Ranna shrugged. “No. It is fine.”

Riley took off her shift, Horib took it away, and she pulled the skirt on before pulling the tunic on.

“Riley?” Ranna was very calm.

“Yes?”

“You have whip marks on your back.”

“Yes. It would have cost extra to get it repaired, so they just fixed my face when I stated I was not pursuing intimate occupations. Did you want to see the scars on my front?”

Ranna swallowed and whispered. “Yes.”

Riley shrugged, took her clothing off, and spent five minutes explaining what the scars were from. “Stabbed. Cut, stabbed, stabbed in the back, that one was fun. Sliced by one guy while another guy assaulted me. Bit. I used to have a cut across my neck and one across my left eye, angling to my right jaw.” She looked down. “Oh, and I lost a knuckle on my pinky toe on my right foot. I am getting dressed now.”

She got dressed again.

The ladies were sitting there and staring. Lagolian said in Kevando, “Lady Ranna, you have brought a spirit into your home. I pray that she is benign.”

Lady Ranna smiled. “I believe she is. Time will tell.”

Riley chuckled and twisted and turned in the tunic and skirt. “Neat. Very comfortable.”

Lagolian kept working on the cloak, and Horib brought Riley her flats.

Lady Ranna smiled. “I think she is trying to tell me to go out for a walk. Lagolian, you can work out on the back stone if you like. Horib has lunch underway if you want to stay for it.”

The assistant smiled. “That sounds delightful.”

Lady Ranna got up and flexed her shredded wings. She took Riley’s hand, and they walked out to the back yard and started a long walk through the gardens and out to the expansive space.

“You did very well this morning.”

“Well, Kevando don’t have nudity taboos, and I won’t have secrets from you, so it seemed like the right time. Plus, Lagolian measured me for underwear, so I have no more secrets from her anyway.”

Ranna laughed. “That is true. I think if you had said you were interested in females, Hovanic would have been here courting daily.”

“The assistant?”