With the sun setting, Torie leaned back in what was possibly the most comfortable chair in the building. Sinking into it, she took off her glasses and held them in the candle light. Only able to clearly see the glint of the light, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Exhaling, she felt the presence of those in her immediate vicinity. In the room with her was a maid who waited by the door. On occasion she glanced at Torie but other than that, made no moves. Directly out of the door was another who walked by. She was carrying something but Torie wasn’t sure what.

Just outside the window was a tree, though not too close that any of its branches could touch the building. There were very few leaves on it, those that remained could be counted on both hands. As she wondered when the first snow fall would happen, she heard someone walking by the door. Upon coming closer, she realized it to be Zen. What could she want at this time? Soon enough, she knocked on the door.

“Please enter.” Torie said, not opening her eyes.

“Yes.” Zen said, doing so. “Lady Haywood, we have an opening in your schedule. If you wish, we can have Ranger Washington over in three days time, around lunch time.”

“Is that so?” Torie asked. “We will need to bring it up with him. After all, the hunting guild master sent him a request. Who knows how long that may take.”

“Of course.” Zen said. “I’ll have a letter sent to her to see if he is free.”

“You do that.” She nodded. “As for me, I’ll head to bed. I ask not to be disturbed."

"Of course." Zen bowed.

As she left, Torie took another breath and stood up herself. Putting on her glasses, she thanked the maid in the room with her, and then departed to her own room. As she settled down and the shadows grew long, Torie rose from her bed. Things were quiet with only the regular guards wandering the vicinity. These guards, as Torie knew, were lax in their jobs. Nothing had happened for years, so why would anything happen now? Opening her window as the latest guard had passed, Torie waited to learn the rhythm of the footsteps.

Upon learning them, she climbed out her window onto the small ledge just outside. Closing it behind her, she began to climb down with her claws digging into the wall at the same time as the guards feet fell. A few feet above the ground, she dropped onto the grass below silently. Inspecting her nails, she saw trace amounts of stone and silently hoped that there were no visible marks. Before long, she made her way to the iron fence which surrounded the property. With spikes on the top and fence continuing far underground, there were few ways in and out. The two intended ones being the main gate and the supply gate. Both of which were under watch. As for the exit that Torie planned was right in front of her.

Walking to the same two bars that she used last time, she pulled them open and walked through. Once through, she straightened them and dashed across the paved roads towards the outskirts of town. Knowing this place like the back of her hand, Torie avoided places which were still active at this time of day. It was easy as those places still had lights out and few people wandered in the dark. Torie would know, as she was one of those few who did.

Leaving the town roads, she headed towards a previously unused, mostly dirt road. As she drew near to an isolated cabin, she noticed small amounts of smoke coming from the chimney. Taking that as a sign, she entered without an ounce of subtlety.

“My beloved darling, I have returned!” She called out.

“Welcome back, Love.” Etrius said.

Though its back was still towards her, she recognized its familiar frame. Relaxing, closed the door behind her and walked towards Etrius. As it turned around, she paused. What was in its arms?

“Guuuu?” It made a noise.

“It made a noise.” She said surprised.

“Yeah, this is a baby thing.” Etrius said.

“A baby thing?” She asked.

“Yeah. I found her out in the forest when I was hunting. She’s not human and probably not from this world.” Etrius said.

“So, it's like an alien?” She asked, walking towards it.

“No, she’s like…” It paused to think. “A small idiot.”

“A small idiot?” She asked.

“Yeah, just look at her.” It said.

With Etrius holding it up close to her face, Adriana saw what looked vaguely like a human baby. It was pale like a corpse, had  a set of antennae, no ears, and four arms, but it was like a baby. If baby’s had small mouths with sharp teeth inside their mouths and gray cat-like eyes. But it was just a baby, if babies had two shell covered legs starting from just above the knee, ending in claws, and a long sharp tail which hung limply from behind it. Okay, it may have been a baby but it was no human, only human shaped.

“I wouldn’t call it a small idiot, but rather a monster.” She said. “But that brings up another question. Why is it naked?”

“Because when I was giving her a bath earlier, this small idiot ate her shirt and tried to eat her dipper.” Etrius explained.

“That would explain why it’s still wet.” She said.

“Yeah, I’m trying to dry her off but she keeps trying to eat the towel.” Etrius said, returning the baby to the counter with a towel on it.

As Etrius dried it off, it’s small mouth came from its mouth and tried to bite the towel, which Etrius kept having to pull away. Eventually, and by holding its head in place, Etrius was able to dry it off. Though as it didn’t have any clothes that would fit it, or a diaper, it had to improvise. Aside from a clean and dry towel to wrap it in, Etrius used some scrap cloth as a dipper for it. When it was finished, Adriana leaned her head on Etrius’ shoulder and looked at the weird baby thing.

“So, does it- she have a name?” Adriana asked.

“She has the title of child and small idiot.” Etrius said.

“She needs a name, even if she is a small idiot.” She said.

“Okay…” Etrius said thinking deeply.

“Hmm…” Adriana closed her eyes. “How about… Abigail?”

“Abigail?” Etrius asked.

“Yeah. It sounds nice doesn't it?” She asked.

“It’s better then small idiot.” Etrius agreed.

“Alright, so we have a kid now.” She said. “Abigail Washington. How does that sound?”

“It is growing on me.” Etrius nodded. “Alright, from now on you are going to be called Abby.”

The baby, Abby, looked at the two and twitched her antenna.

“So, how are we going to take care of her?” Adriana asked.

“Well, I don’t officially start working until the start of the new year, so I can take care of her until then, but after that it’ll be a bit difficult.” Etrius said.

“On days that you head out I can keep her in my place.” She said.

“What about all your servants and guards?” It asked.

“It’ll be troublesome, but I can work in my room.” She said.

“I don’t think that’ll work.” It said. “Babies are loud and the moment someone sees her, the whole town will know about her.”

“Hmm…” Adriana thought for a moment.

The two looked at Abby who rocked side to side, barely able to move her arms.

“How old is she?” She asked.

“Maybe a  few months?” Etrius said.

“It’ll be annoying, but I could convince those in the manor that she’s our secret love child.” She said. “My closest aides already know about us.”

“You say that, but look at her and try to convince them that she’s a normal human.” It said.

“We managed to convince them.” She countered.

“She’s isn't us.” It said.

“Well…” She hesitated. “Is there any way we can disguise her as a human?”

“I could try and make an amulet artifact for her but it’ll take a while and be expensive.” It said.

“What do you need?” She asked.

“Sapphire for one.” It said. “Silver isn’t too hard to get, but if it’s going to be an amulet it needs to be convincing and that’s beyond my skill.”

“What if I order a necklace and you modify it?” She suggested.

“I could do that, but it won’t be as strong as I like. It might break if magic is used near her.” It said.

“Aside from witches and witch hunters, we don’t have much to worry about.” She said. “And it's not like I’ll let any of them get near her.”

“And adventurers?” It asked.

“Rarely any of them pass through here. So we’ll be fine.”

“Fine.” Etrius nodded. “You get me the necklace and I’ll make it into an amulet.”

“That’ll do.” Adrianna smiled.

The two looked at Abby as she rocked in place, pulling at the towel with her small interior mouth.

“Do you think we’ll need to get her a birth certificate?” Etrius asked.

“No, she’ll be seen as my illegitimate daughter.” She said. “We can play it off as my parents wanting to hide her in disgrace or something.”

“Going so far as to smear your reputation for her?” It asked. “You really are like her mother.”

“Well this way I get to have a child with you. And it’s not like you’ll be clean either.” She smiled. “You’ll be seen as a ranger who knocked up some poor noble's daughter. Isn’t that right, daddy?”

“Love please, not in front of our daughter.” It smiled.

Hugging Etrius’ arm, they looked at Abby.

“You know, she’s kind of cute.” Adrianna said, poking her cheek.

“Yeah, she takes after you.” Etrius chuckled.

“And what does that mean?” She asked.

“She’s got your eyes.” It said.

“I hope not. She would do better with yours.” She said.

“I mean, you got a good few years out of them.”

“These things generally last a lifetime, but it was better than nothing.”

“Yeah. Will you have trouble adjusting?”

“Reading and writing might be hard, but I should be fine. Even if not, I have you.”

“Yep.”

The two stood in a comfortable silence, watching their “daughter’ who appeared to be having fun biting the towel.