Lappidoth said, "Have you ever heard of chess?"

"I played a lot as a child," Leo said.

"Well, now that you bones are healed; we should play a round at the town square. We can play on the fountain and sit on the edge of it."

Leo looked outside The window, and looked at his legs.

"It's been a good six months since we found you. Consider this a part of your rehabilitation. Gotta walk before you can work, you know what they say."

Leo nodded his head.

He stretched his arms and placed his shaky hands on his thighs. His body was close to bones when they first found him with the horrible merchants. But now he had put on a bit of weight. He wasn't fat by any standard, but his muscles were too weak from not getting any exercise.

Leo pushed his hand from the bed and scooted his bottom to the end of the bed. He lifted his legs and swung them slowly over the bed and to the floor, beside the chair that Lappidoth was sitting on in the small guest room.

Leo stood, and fell just as quickly as he stood up, if not faster. Lappidoth caught him, and Leo s.h.i.+fted his body through the Blackcloth that was still sewn into his skin. He walked ate by step at a slow pace, while Lappidoth would encourage Leo with a good "you're almost there" or "you can do it."

Then, he saw Rachel. She came around the corner in a yellow dress with floral patterns, sunflowers to be exact. She dropped the basket of laundry and was about to help Leo, but her Father gave her a firm glare.

She realized what her father thought about her reaction and picked up the basket with haste as she walked through the other hall to get to her room, the long way around.

"That wasn't necessary," Leo said.

"Well," Lappidoth said, "I just wanted to make sure... you know, that your pride as a man wasn't trampled on."

"If I still had any of that left," Leo said, "I had that when I was free."

Lappidoth said, "Oy! Since when does being a Blackcloth make you any less of a man? Does being a slave make you any less of a man? Does being poor make you any less of a man? Take hold of your dignity. I bet it's one of the few things you still own."

"That's true," Leo said, "I'm still a man, but she was only trying to help."

Lappidoth sighed, "Sometimes I forget you're from the Seven Mountains..."

"We're much more liberal in our thinking with women," Leo said.

"But we plain dwellers treat ours better."

Leo thought about the dark seedy side of the seven mountains and how many n.o.bles partic.i.p.ated in trafficking, and he decided he couldn't refute the claim Lappidoth made.

Leo, with one arm wrapped around Lappidoth, trudged in silence for another minute and a half, until Lappidoth broke the silence.

"You know—"

"Honey."

Deborah interrupted him.

She walked into the front door that Leo and Lappidoth were about to exit, and she said, "Did you buy flour? I wanted to make dinner for the family."

"Not yet," he said, "Leo and I were going to play some checkers at the town square. The boy needs some exercise to get back into shape."

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Deborah sighed, "I'll get some, but you know it wouldn't hurt you to get the flower once a month. My duties don't allow for me to cook as much as I'd like, and I rarely get to cook for you either."

"I can do the cooking," Lappidoth said, "Just focus on your duties as Judge."

Deborah have Lappidoth a kiss on the cheek and left out the door.

She returned for a moment to say, "Oh, and have fun with Lappidoth Leo; he can be a handful."

And with that it was just the two of them again.

"You're pretty liberal yourself," Leo said.

"I am the husband of Deborah, Judge of Sodom; only I'm this way though."

"Do the other men make fun of you?"

"Sometimes..."

Leo said, "Why are you so nice to me?"

"It's my duty," he said, "As husband to Deborah. While she judges the city, I show it love. It's a thankless job, but someone had to do it."

Leo found a new kind of respect for Lappidoth, one he hadn't thought of before—one he'd need time to understand.

The clouds rolled gently, and Leo and Lappidoth trudged into the city, towards the town square, while Harumi rode through the the plains, looking for Leo.