The Alarming Scent of Cinnamon

XV

Hansel woke up the next morning in a straw cot, just like the one he'd had at home. For a second he thought he was sick, and that Pa would come through the door with a bowl of hot porridge any minute. His head felt as though someone had struck it like a gong.

Moaning groggily, Hansel sat up and looked around. His vision was blurry. like a 3-D movie without the glasses, and his back was awfully sore.

"You're up," Gretel said, relieved. As she walked over to him, he noticed that her hands were tied together.

"Why are you tied up?" he asked, trying to think back to what had happened last night. He vaguely remembered a black dragon.

"You should probably ask her that," Gretel muttered, nodding towards Ros, who was braiding more rope in the corner.

"Hm?" she said, looking up. "Do you remember last night?"

"I think there was a black... a black dragon," Hansel's throat felt like the Sahara desert, and his voice came out as scratchy as a broken record player.

"That's me," Ros said. "I'm a bounty hunter, also a shapeshifter. There was a decent bounty for your sister here, so when I heard she was in the area, I headed over. You put up a pretty good fight," she said, handing him a cup of water.

"Did I win?" Hansel asked after taking a sip of water.

"You tell me," Ros said grimly. "You'll be fine in a few weeks, but I don't really know what to do with you,"

"Why was there a bounty on Gretel?" Hansel asked.

"She stole a noble's ring," Ros said. Hansel glanced at Gretel.

"An emerald ring?" he asked.

"No, I think opal," Ros said, furrowing her brow. "Why?"

"No reason," Hansel said, drinking the water greedily.

"Well, this noble is very upset," Ros said, stretching. "I'm getting a handsome reward for you."

"What about me?" Hansel asked. "Why'd you bring me?"

Ros shrugged. "Figured some rich guy might want a shapeshifter,"

"That's it?" he said, coughing.

"What do you want, 50 marks?"

Hansel drank some more water, then sat up in bed. The world shifted around as if it was in a kaleidoscope.

"Did you steal the ring?" he whispered to Gretel. She paused for a second before saying,

"Yes." 

"That's how you got the money!" Hansel said, a bit too loudly. Ros crinkled her brow. Gretel sighed.

"We'd been staying in the house for too long," she said, "and you know how Baba Yaga gets. She slept on the couch for a week!"

"So?" Hansel said. "I'll have you remember, I sleep on the floor. Permanently."

"Well, you're a dog! And Baba Yaga made you a bed!"

"I'm a human!" Hansel shouted, fuzzy black dots invading his vision. Ros fidgeted awkwardly.

"Just let me explain," Gretel said. "Baba Yaga had been sleeping on the couch for a week, and you know how stubborn she is. But her joints were hurting, I could tell; so I stole the ring and sold it for 170 marks." 

Hansel flopped down on his pillow.

"Your heart is in the right place, but we can't draw attention to ourselves like this!" Hansel said.