The door to the room with her cell was opened and Sir Frederik peeked in, "Ah, good to see you are up already!"

  "Good morning, Sir Frederik!" She replied. Meanwhile she was used to getting up at sunrise. All the places where she had been so far had been like that. The monastery had been the worst. Getting up at five bells in the morning. She refused to call that morning. That was night. Here waking time was usually six bells. Not much better, but better nevertheless.

  She had just finished her morning wash and was dressed in what she considered to be prison clothing. She had not yet seen another prisoner, so she could only guess. Simple clothing, a sort of off-white linen robe or toga to wrap and tie at the waist. Horn-friendly and somewhat claw-friendly. Something she could easily get into. Two stripes in the royal red ran around it, and she assumed that was the mark of a prisoner.

  He opened the door fully and entered the room, carrying some sort of package on his arms. He gave the door a push with his heel to close it again and then proceeded to unlock the first of the two cascading doors.

  "I've got good news for you Lilith. The forge is ready and we've got a set of working clothes for you. I'd like you to try these on and see if the fit is good. Little doubt about that, they are made by Mr. Erikson. You should have heard him swearing to be ordered to make such mundane clothes, but he already made all your other outfits so he was the first choice for this order, too", he told her while he made his way through the cascading doors and was now in her cell.

  "Now you have me curious", she replied with a smile and reached for the bundle.

  "A more sturdy version of what you are wearing right now and a leather apron for protection. You don't need boots, do you?" He watched her while she unfolded the robe. Linen, but about twice as strong as the version that she was wearing now.

  "My hooves are fine, I don't need boots", she confirmed and nodded, "And this should be alright. You look the other way while I change?"

  "Nope, can't have you hit me in the back of my head", did he try to joke or was he serious?

  She just turned her back to him and got out of the robe that she was wearing right now, rolled it up and to give him some distraction, tossed it towards him over her shoulder. A surprised yelp was the response, with some luck he had caught it. Getting into the new robe was a matter of not even a minute, she tied the belt and turned to him again to see he had indeed caught the one she had tossed, "I think it fits just fine. Sturdy enough for working at the forge for sure. Good with the short sleeves so they can't catch fire easily."

  He nodded, "Also gives your arms a bit more freedom. I guess that's important for rune carving."

  She wiggled her clawed fingers, which he watched with some interest, "I only need these. But still, short sleeves are good. At the monastery I burned to many sleeves and drew the anger of the monks when they ran out of robes in my size."

  He grinned, "I can imagine that. So, the apron next?"

  "Yep", she picked up the apron. Similar to the one that John had given her, back when they still worked together. Probably a standard piece for a blacksmith but tailored for her slimmer figure.

  Easy to get into. Two leather straps that ran over her shoulders to hold the thing, another strap at her waist to tie behind her back. She hated things that she had to tie behind her back but leather was at least sturdy enough not so her claws would not rip or tear it by accident.

  She looked down over herself. Nothing to complain about. Simple and protective, the fit tight enough not to accidentally get caught somewhere and lose enough to easily work with, "Looks good to me. What do you think?"

  She turned once, slowly for him to watch from all angles.

  "Nothing can harm your figure, Lilith", he joked.

  She grinned at him, "Thank you, Sir Frederik. So, we'll go to the forge next? Or is there anything else required?"

  "No extra security for that. Eventually you're supposed to make the way back and forth with just one guard to open the doors for you. Full service, you know", he stated.

  She laughed, "Good. Shall we hold hands?"

  Now she was curious about his reaction. Princess Lisa always insisted on holding hands. The guards all kept a certain distance.

  "Moment", he went to the table and put her clothes down there, which she had tossed at him just a bit earlier then returned and actually took her hand, "I can understand you're a bit shy. We'll walk hand in hand."

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She was pleasantly surprised and bowed her head lightly to him then followed as he made his way to open the inner door.

  Now they were in the corridor that she had seen before, but while the exit of the building was to their right, Sir Frederik led her to the left this time. Seven doors the other way until the exit. She was curious how many to the forge.

  A first one, about ten paces down the corridor. Sir Frederik let her hand go for a moment to find the right key and unlock and open the door and bowed to her, "After you, mylady"

  "Oh, how gentleman!" She smiled at him and ducked through the door, careful not the hit the frame with her horns and then waited a step down the corridor for him to join and close the door.

  Then they made it ten paces further. Ahead, she saw another metal door, to their left was now a wooden door much like the one that lead into the room with her cell.

  He gestured, "Your new domain!", and opened the door.

  They had set up the forge right the next room. She could still see traces of where the metal bars had been. This must have been a high security cell like hers, but they ripped out the metal bars and used the room to set up a forge. Directly across the door was a large open window, secured with metal bars just far enough apart to reach through with a hand. Still, it would air the room just fine. Almost center of the room was an anvil, much the same as the one John had used. Left of that the actual forge and the bellows, at the right side of the room shelves and crates, filled with tools and a heap of coal. She took two steps in and Sir Frederik followed her.

  "You sure put a lot of effort in this", she had to compliment the man, or rather all those who built this.

  "Yeah, it took a while to remove the iron bars. If anything, they were made not to be removed. Anchored deep in the floor and ceiling. How do you like the place?" He looked at her.

  She nodded in agreement, "Looks good to me. I'm no expert at forging, only ever saw two other forges, but everything here looks good to me."

  She walked over to the tool crates to pick up an hammer. As expected the handle had not enough girth for her to hold it well, but John had given her good lessons in hammer work, "Sir Frederik, I know I can't receive training, but once Bernard and I am done with our daily work, is it possible that I just stay here for a while longer and practice forging on my own?"

  He came a few steps closer, "You're quite serious with your idea to practice, right?"

  She put the hammer back, not to scare him with something she could use as a weapon and turned to him, "Quite. If it helps, I can make axe heads, choppers and such, and I am fairly sure I can produce extremely sharp knives too. You or your men can have whatever I produce, if you provide coal and iron."

  He gave her a half shrug, "I don't see why not. A little more coal or iron won't be a problem. I must ask my men though if they are willing to stand guard here while you work overtime."

  "Tell them, they can choose runic inscription of their choice if they want my knives and choppers. I once made a chopper for a butcher with both accuracy and dexterity inscriptions, and it had an extremely sharp edge too. Sharp enough for the man to shave. I practiced almost a week for that. I'll practice a week again if I have to", she tried to advertise the idea to him.

  "Yeah, guess they would like that. But it will be suspicious if rune inscribed kitchenware begins floating around the town. Queen Zabeth expects that she will be the only one to receive such items." He was quite apparently uncomfortable with the thought.

  She nodded, "Alright, no runes then. I once gave a dagger an edge that could cut a falling sheet of paper. So if you or someone needs a straight blade for shaving, let me know. Might take a few attempts, but I'm willing to try at least."

  A smile returned to his face, "That should not raise any questions and make the men happy. Even if they already have shaving blades, they will be proud to have a demon forged one." He paused a moment, "Alright Lilith. I'll talk to them. I'll let them know their time will be recompensated by what you forge. Curiosity item, a trophy for them to have or something actually useful. I think there will be plenty of interest. And some might even just want to see you working. There are such people who enjoy to watch others work."

  "So, how will we do this?" She looked at him again.

  "Ah, right. In the mornings Princess Lisa will come and take you for a walk. Not every day but often. Meanwhile Bernard will fire up the forge and prepare blades for you to inscribe. After the walk you'll be brought here and work with Bernard till the late afternoon." He shrugged, "And then, if the men agree, you can work here for some more hours. Not sure what to do about your evening meal, bring it here or serve it once you're back in your cell, but we'll find out what works best."

  She nodded, "That sounds good to me. How about today?"

  "Bernard should arrive within the hour. Then you two talk and make a plan. I'm neither blacksmith nor do I know about runes, so that's something you two will have to figure out. For the midday meal you'll return to your cell and Bernard will eat in the dining hall. Then someone will fetch you for the afternoon shift. We'll see if that works well, and or if something else is needed", he laid out the plan.

  "Alright. So I'll stay here until he arrives? Can I try out some of the tools while I wait?"

  "Feel free Lilith. The door will not be locked, but stay in here unless there is an emergency. In case, open the door and shout. There will always be guards nearby who can respond", he let her know.

  She nodded to him, "That's fine with me." Then she picked up the hammer again and checked for raw materials. Steel rods and bars mostly. No copper or bronze, also no soft metals like lead or tin. Well, she could hammer a steel rod for practice. Wouldn't make a terrible lot of sense, but she could at least practice to hold the hammer. Armed with a steel rod and the hammer she was about to walk over to the anvil when she noticed Sir Frederik was still there.

  "Sir Frederik?" She looked at him with surprise.

  He smiled, "I like your determination."

  She laughed, "So you want to see how I try to hit this rod with a hammer that I can barely hold and fail miserably?"

  He shook his head, "No, I want to see you succeed."