Sadrahan stood at the cave entrance with his arms crossed and wings out, the sun was setting at his back and cast his shadow far over the space below where the human captives and the demon residents finished their work. A few flecks of snow came to rest on his head and shoulders, they melted almost instantly and the icy water ran over the contours of his body.

Neither human nor demon walked over the shadow he cast on the ground, making wide detours to go around it. ‘Where they came up with that idea, I don’t know. But Liln and Sarthas both said to leave it alone, and they generally know what they’re talking about.’ He cleared his throat, drawing the attention of his advisor.

“Lord?” Sarthas asked, immediately taking out the smooth wooden plank he’d fashioned for his note taking and slapping a fresh red leaf down to make ready to write.

Sadrahan held up his hand, “It’s nothing you need to write. I was just wondering about the other villages.”

“I checked with Batagan this morning, there was no sign of them, nor any sign of the ones we sent out to talk.” Sarthas admitted.

“We’ve had the humans with us for several weeks now, you gathered a lot of information from them, is there any chance they got any word out?” Sadrahan asked and looked over his shoulder at last, Sarthas lowered his head and descended to one knee.

“If they have, I don’t know how they did it. I-I suppose I can’t rule it out, but the only ones I talk to are Shala and Klemet. They’re begging for more food, by the way.” Sarthas answered and then growled out, “They should be grateful that you haven’t simply slaughtered them.”

“They’re asking for a reward?” Sadrahan raised an eyebrow at that, his claws tensed, ‘Whenever Lamash wanted my cooperation with something I wasn’t eager to do, she always prepared something especially delicious before mentioning it… if a few extra mouthfuls of food will loosen any knots in their tongues, it’s worthwhile.’

“No, for Shala, and a few other women. It seems,” Sadrahan’s face twisted up at the mouth and his eyes burned when he looked outside to where the humans were finishing up their day’s work, “that a few have conceived. If we let them live, they’ll have some new young next year. They require a lot of food thanks to their short pregnancies compared to ours. If we don’t feed them enough, they may miscarry.”

“I see.” Sadrahan acknowledged, his first impulse was easy, ‘Deny it. Let their seed die.’

But as he watched the way they worked, he saw the waste of resources that represented. And also the anger that would come from the demons he now had to lead. “If we’re sure nothing has gotten out, then we can only assume there’s a delay or something happened that isn’t connected to the humans. If they don’t get here soon, we won’t see them until next year.”

“And the food request, My Lord?” Sarthas asked.

‘Midas the younger and elder were both human… and that village, it was once friendly…’ Sadrahan reminded himself and answered, “Wasn’t there something you wanted them to work on?”

Sarthas plucked the leaves off the thorn where they were impaled and sorted through them in a furtive rustling act, “Yes… a wall of our own. Now that the granaries are built and everybody has a place to stay and we have enough goats and other food supplies to get us through the winter, it’s just been laying the groundwork for the next harvest and stocking up on firewood.”

“Tell the humans that if they want extra food, they have to do extra work. For every ten paces of mine that they add to the wall, we will increase the ration for their women by a spoon.” Sadrahan threw out a wild guess based on his own limited experience building the wall around his home, and his immediate thought was, ‘Is that too much, or too little? It should be good enough that it quiets any rumblings of unhappiness among my own at least. None of them have built a wall before.’

“Yes, that will do.” He muttered while Sarthas said something at his back which he didn’t quite catch.

“So then you intend to do that, Lord?” Sarthas asked, and Sadrahan snapped his jaw shut. Sarthas’s head was raised, “I admit it’s a bold decision to walk among the humans yourself to see their work.” He tapped a claw down on the red leaf, bending it beneath his insistent and steady touch. “But it is for the best. They haven’t really seen you up close since they got here. And I concede that keeping them alive to work was a brilliant idea. I would add, My Lord, that some of our own are now also announcing they’re with winter children.”

“You’re about to suggest a feast?” Sadrahan asked.

Sarthas coughed into one anxious hand, “It is customary for all our villages… and we could manage a little indulgence to raise spirits.”

Sadrahan rubbed his chin and scratched the skin with the claw of his forefinger. “Are any of the humans reliable?” He asked.

“The one called Klemet. He is very careful of his woman’s safety.” Sarthas acknowledged, “He wouldn’t do anything to put her at risk. He has an almost demon-like loyalty to her.”

“I see, offer him and… the mates of the expecting human females, the chance for a special parole. Let one of our hunters go out with them and gather some extra meat. There should be some bear caves out there. If any are brought down, they can keep the furs and one part in twelve of every animal’s meat, along with half of any winter fruits they find. We’ll use that for our feast. That way we don’t cut into our own stores too much. And we can’t keep the pink skins tied up forever. This might make a good first step…” He cut himself off before asking, ‘don’t you think?’ And covered his brief discomfort with silent observation of what took place down below.

The fields were now entirely ready for spring planting, with one part in the middle set for the humans to raise crops. Two shelters were now up for the humans, divided between a space for men and a space for women. But those shelters were surrounded in turn guarded by people Batagan chose, and the guards were already in place. In turn, there are a multitude of shelters for demon families, and every demon of suitable age is either bonded or about to be. ‘I’m the only one with no companion, other than Liln. I wonder if she had to turn down every male here, or just half of them?’ Sadrahan chuckled a little at that, completely missing when Sarthas answered…

“Of course, My Lord, of course.”