-- Lilith POV, Skyview Monastery --

  "Lilith, we need five more pounds of barley!" Brother Brown's voice sounded up.

  Since the fire accident they usually chased her out of the kitchen once the hot phase of cooking started, but she was still supposed to help preparing the common meals. No food without working for it.

  "On my way!" She replied, put down the knife she had been working with and fetched one of the linen bags that they used to carry grain up from the pantry.

  The pantry was downstairs, on the same level as the monastery gate. Usually they did not sent her downstairs, worried she would run away the first moment that she got the chance. She still didn't understand why. She got food here, and she had a room which was dry and clean. A proper sleeping place. That was much better than being homeless on the road. And she didn't mind to work for the food. Everyone here worked.

  She shrugged off the thoughts and made her way down to the pantry. The stair steps showed the wear of decades, many, many feet had worn down the stone. Well, her hooves did not exactly go easy on the stairs, but there was little she could do about it. And soon she was down in the lower hallway, the pantry was the first door on the right.

  She opened the door and entered the dimly lit room. Most rooms in the monastery were fairly dark. They had little firewood up here, and to keep the little warmth they had in the building, all the windows were quite small. And since window meant 'hole in the wall' here, they were also usually closed with wooden shutters.

  It wasn't too hard to find the sack of barley though, and she began to scoop some of it into the bag that she had brought. Five pounds, brother Brown had said. She would have to use the scale to get that right.

  "Squeak!"

  What was that?

  "Squeak!"

  She turned around to find a mouse behind her. Apparently unafraid.

  "Hello little one?" She didn't really know what to do.

  The mouse turned around but didn't run away as she first had expected. It started to squeak rather frantically and soon more and more mice came running. They lined up, and when the line got too wide, they formed a second line. Then one mouse from the front line stepped forward and got up on its hind legs.

  "Squeak!"

  She squatted down, "So you're the chief?"

  "Squeak!"

  What to do now? Usually people fed friendly animals some food, she seemed to remember.

  "That's fine. Follow me. Bring your friends. I have food for you." She walked to an empty corner and squatted down again. The mice were scurrying after her and quickly formed a semi circle in front her her. She poured a small pile of barley grains from the bag onto the ground.

  "This is for you. The monks won't like it though, if I feed you, or if they see you with me. So eat up and go hiding again. I'll call you once it's safe for you to meet me again."

  A chorus of squeaks answered her, and the mice began to eat. Orderly and neatly.

  She watched for a while, happiness growing in her just from seeing the mice feeding, till she had a smile on her face. Then she went back to fill the linen bag with more barley, till the scale showed five pounds and a little more.

  She looked back to the corner. The mice were gone. As was the little heap of barley that she had given them. Good mice!

  She closed the door to the pantry carefully and went back up the stairs to the kitchen, with less hurry in her steps now than when the she had went down.

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  "Lilith! What took you so long?" Brother Brown inquired.

  "There were mice in the pantry." She didn't want to lie.

  "Don't tell me you are scared of mice?" He looked at her with one eyebrow risen.

  She laughed, "Certainly not!"

  "Caught any?" Now he had a grin on his face, too.

  "Nope, they all ran to their hiding places." Well, the mice actually did so after she had been feeding them, so this was not a lie. Right?

  "Yeah, they're fast. I've set up traps, but they are clever too. Haven't caught any yet either." Brother Brown commented with an understanding nod.

  She dropped the bag with the barley on the workbench near him, "The barley as requested. What is next to do?"

  "Wash and dice the carrots. Be quick, we soon must fire up the cauldron. You should be out of the kitchen before we do." His voice sounded firm on the last part.

  "No compromises?" Maybe she could hope anyways?

  "Nope. You burned the sleeves of three robes meanwhile because you cannot keep your hands out of the fire. We just don't have so many spare robes."

  "I've never demanded a new ... " Seeing his face she stopped mid sentence, raised her hands defensively and quickly added, "Alright, alright. Carrots, wash, dice. Be quick. On it."

  She rushed to fetch the bunch of carrots and bring them to the sink to wash them before brother Brown could come up with new reprimands. He was right though. She should have shoved up the sleeves before she felt the fire. She should have been more mindful. But fire always got her. And now they had yet another reason to keep her away from fire. She really missed fire meanwhile. Well, she still had the candle that superior Martins had given her. A baby fire. It couldn't replace a real fire, but it was nice anyways.

  While she washed the carrots, her thoughts were still spinning. She wanted a bigger fire than the candle flame. Why had firewood to be so rare in this place? There had to be a solution, but nothing came to her mind. These stupid stairs made every transport to the monastery a real chore.

  She started chopping the carrots, still deep in thought. Was there really no better way to get firewood up here, but carry it up all the stairs, step by step?

  Then she stared down at her hands and the knife. Distracted as she was, she had put the carrots in the compost bucket and started to cut up the greens. Now she had to wash the carrots again, and she still had no idea how to help the lack of firewood. Also, brother Brown had told her to be quick and would certainly ask why she was late with her work once more. Nothing to do about it. She fetched the carrots from the compost bin and brought them to the sink to scrub them clean again. Could cut up carrot greens be used in stew? Maybe it was worth a try.

  -- Lilith POV, Skyview Monastery --

  As expected they had sent her to her cell before they lit the cooking fire. But she had taken some grains of barley with her to test an idea that had been in he head since she had been playing morris with brother Sam in the library.

  Demon skills that helped to create. Well. Not quite. She was fairly sure that creation was a thing for the gods, not for demons. All her skills were related to games somehow. And what she had in mind might count as a game. Remotely. A test of skill.

  Now she was looking at five grains of barley floating in thin air with a bright smile on her face.

  It had taken her a while to get a feeling for it. Imagine it's a game. A falling grain of barley, imagine it's like a die cast.

  She could influence how dice rolled without touching them. And both were in motion, a falling grain of barley and a rolling die.

  Well, that had not worked. Wrong mental image or something. It had turned out the idea of motion was wrong. Stopping the motion was it. Like stopping a die once the right side was up.

  Now she could set barley grains into thin air and tell them this is the desired position. Stop them there. One grain was easy. Two were easy. Three, not so easy, but not hard either.

  Now she had five and hard to focus not to let one slip.

  "Squeak!"

  She jerked up and the grains dropped.

  Then she had to laugh as she noticed the mouse sitting on her table, staring upwards.

  "Did I keep the grains out of reach for too long? Guess I did. It's fine, you can have them now." She smiled at the little creature.

  -- Superior Martins POV, Skyview Monastery --

  A message had arrived by a messenger bird. He held the unfolded message in his hands now. As unexpected as the method of transport was the content.

  A runesmith in service of the praetorian guard had demanded to see Lilith. Requested that she will work for him. And the message had the praetor's seal, so without good reason he could hardly deny the request.

  He wanted to ask Lilith about it though before he wrote an answer. If she refused there was little to do about it. The next morning, he decided. The next morning he'd ask her. Some time to breathe, a day of normal, before something stirred his little world up again.

  He couldn't help himself though, but had to grin about the postscript. If there was one way to bribe Lilith, it was the promise of fire. Apparently there was someone who knew exactly that.