# 006

"Hey, Mom. We've got a surprise for you." I say while hiding my damaged limb as much as possible. She's going to freak when she sees it, either way, but this way she'll have something to be excited about while worrying over me.

"Oh? Did you find another rabbit in the woods?" She looks up at me from the couch where she's reading to the twins. "I've been craving it since you mentioned that one you caught yesterday."

"Sorry, no." I shake my head, but my smile grow. "I'll keep an eye out next time. I've got something much better than some rabbit though. Queenie, come." The slime bounces forward and Mom's eyes go wide when she realizes what it is.

"No!!!" Mom looks like she wants to jump forward and examine the slime, but between the twins and her belly, she has trouble just sitting up. "How did you catch her? I swear the damned things can smell tamers. I'd only ever seen a couple and they each bolted as soon as I got close."

"That's all thanks to my magical prodigy of a sister." I pull Jen forward and put my good arm around her shoulders. "And, it was not easy." I sigh out and turn so that Mom can see my raw arm. "Had to use that old trick you showed me, and even then she almost slipped free of my strongest spell."

Back when she first started taking me out into the field, I just could not get the damned taming spell to work. So, she told me to just shove my hand in there and pump it directly into the core. That was how I caught my first slime, and now Queenie.

"Cole!" Mom shouts and forgets all about the slime.

"I'm fine." I try to reassure her. "But, we might need some more salve soon. And, that kinda hurts." I add when she gets a bit rough while checking my arm over.

"..." Mom just glares at me, but I can hear the oaths she'd be shouting if Katie and the twins weren't here.

"It's not his fault." Jenny speaks up for me. "I... I stepped on a branch when he tried to get us away from her."

"He was so cool, Mom." Katie tries kissing up. "Cole told me and Jen just what to do and then charged straight at it ready to fry it with lightning."

"And?" I say while staring directly at her.

"And..." She gulps. "I didn't listen. He told me to run but I just stood there and watched."

"And, as punishment, she's going to listen to everything Esra and Sera have to say for the next week." Mom's glare turns into a smirk upon hearing that.

"Yes, that should just about do it." Mom smiles at the twins and the identical looks of glee coating their faces right now. "But, right now you can help Jen hitch up a wagon; I want a healer to look at Coles arm."

"Oh, Mom." I sigh, but go along with her overprotectiveness. "So, where's Dad? I know he's going to flip when he sees Queenie."

"Is that really what you're calling her?" Mom shakes her head at my abysmal naming sense. "We have a whole book on names in the library, it even has a section devoted to names connected with royalty."

"I almost went with Princess because I can tell through the bond that she just spawned." I tease back.

Whatever." She sighs at my stupid grin. "And, your father is in town hiring a wagon driver since we're going to need one sooner or later. And, he wants to take them along when he leaves tomorrow in order to make sure they'll work out. I'll have him meet us at the healer."

...

"Oh, she's beautiful." Dad was waiting outside the healer's and went straight to Queenie. "I've never seen one before, what can you tell me about her?"

"She's smart, smarter than a wolf at least. She likes praise." I chuckle when the slime wiggles in joy when I compliment her. "And, I think she just spawned a couple of days ago. I haven't really had the chance to get more in-depth than that."

"Oh, why do I have to leave tomorrow?" Dad laments the fact that it will be weeks before he can sit down and research her properly.

"You can look her over tonight." Mom says and starts dragging me into the healer's. "In case you forgot, Cole is missing a layer of skin right now."

Dad and I roll our eyes in sync and the lot of us head inside.

"Hello, how can... Oh, my goodness, what a cute slime." The healer's apprentice, a blonde girl who looks maybe a year younger than me, starts cooing at Queenie as soon as she sees her. "Where did you get it? I've never seen one so big."

"Maria!" The healer herself snaps from behind the girl. "If you would use your eyes, I think it would be clear where he got it from." The girl, Maria, blushes when I wave at her with my red arm.

"I needed to protect my sisters, so I had to get a little creative with the taming." I explain with a smile for the blushing girl before turning to the healer. "I'm fine, and we already put on a healthy dose of some high-end healing salve."

"I'll be the judge of that." She purses her lips and motions me into the back.

...

"Oh, man." I sigh in relief after getting out of there. "It's like the girl had never seen someone with a slime burn before. And, why is it every time I go to a healer I always end up getting stuck as a practice patient for their apprentices?"

"I'm just glad we stocked up on salve before the move." Dad replies with a laugh. "Did you see what she was charging? I hadn't thought about shipping stuff back into town, but with those kinds of mark-ups, it might just be worth the extra few days it'll add to the trip."

"I'm pretty sure she raised the price just for us." Mom says. "But, you're right, that's not a bad idea. I'll ask around town while you're away to see what's in demand, maybe make a deal with the general store."

...

"Can I sleep with you tonight, Cole?" Katie asks for the first time in years; today really must have messed her up.

"If you promise not to fidget all night." I relent with a smile. "And, if you bump my arm in the middle of the night, I swear I'll toss you on the floor." The thing is all bandaged up and, thanks to the salve's numbing properties, I don't feel anything, but I'm sure that will change if it gets smacked.

"I promise." She replies meekly.

...

I blink my eyes open the next morning to find Katie sprawled all over my left side. She was woken up by nightmares a few times last night, and each time she could only get back to sleep by clinging to me as I stroked her hair.

"Come on, runt, it's time for breakfast." That word snaps her awake. "There you are. Come on, let's go eat." She clings to my side the whole way to the kitchen.

"About time you two got up." Mom says when we enter the kitchen. "The food was going to get cold if you took any longer."

"Sorry, Mom." I sit down with Katie right next to me. "This one had a few nightmares that woke us both up last night." I tousle her hair with my left hand.

"She's not the only one." A raccoon-eyed Jen yawns. "I almost snuck down to join you two last night just so I could see that your arm was okay."

"You can tonight if you need to." I can't help but offer because of how pitiful she looks right now. "Now, why didn't I use my left hand on Queenie?" I ask while trying to eat with just my off hand.

"Hah." Mom barks out a laugh. "You can dual wield swords, but you can't use a spoon with your left hand?"

"Those are two entirely different skills." I huff back and then snap my head to the side when someone knocks at the front door.

"That must be the driver I hired." Dad says and stands up. "They're early, that's a good sign." He walks out front to answer the door, only to return a Moment later. "Looks like I was wrong, it's for you, Cole." He stands aside to reveal the healer's apprentice from yesterday along with another girl her age, this one with long, wavy, dark hair.

"Hi, I thought you'd need help with the bandage, and my friend Selene and I both have the day off." She says that, but her eyes are locked onto Queenie.

"Where have you been hiding?" Her friend locks onto Jen instead. "There are so few girls our age around here, why haven't I seen you in town?"

"We've made a couple of trips in." I offer when Jenny clams up. "But, Jen prefers to spend most of her time in the library."

"You have your own library?" The girl's eyes light up even more. "And, your name is Jen? Is that short for Jennifer? That's such a cute name." Mom and I smile at Jenny's reaction to the exuberant girl.

"Oh, that must be him." Dad says when another knock comes from the door. "Cole, don't forget that list of tests I want run on Queenie. Maybe Maria here can help you with some of them." He adds with a smirk, having obviously noticed her interest in the slime.

"Can I finish breakfast first?" I heave out an exasperated sigh. His list is about a mile long, and mostly just the same thing with minor variations. He just waves and head out front again.

"Oh, not that guy again." Maria grumbles when she hears idiot boy's voice filtering back from the front. "Don't tell me he followed us here."

"You girls know Mason?" I ask and then laugh when I realize how they must know him. "You must be the ones his sister said he was chasing after. What is he doing here?"

"Your father felt bad for him." Mom answers. "He got the whole story from those two and decided to give him a job before the poor boy got himself killed."

"Well, you girls are in luck then." I laugh again. "He's going to be gone for weeks, driving the slimes to the city. Alright, let me go get changed, then you can change my bandage and play with Queenie all you want. Jen, why don't you show them the Library, I'll meet you there in a bit." She glares at me for an instant, but nods anyway.

"Can I come too?" Katie asks.

"I suppose that's up to the twins." I grin when she remembers her punishment.

...