Pretty had never been this high up in her life before. She felt like she could see the entire world from atop Rowboat’s shoulder. They were having special girl time together, though she had no idea what that meant or why papa and Pail weren’t invited. They got a lot of stares wherever they went, and Pretty happily waved to all of them. She assumed that they were looking because they were proud of her for looking just like papa, not because she was a tiny fox girl sitting on a giant woman’s shoulder.

  The villages of humans were a lot more interesting now that Pretty looked like a human, too. Being allowed inside of shops instead of patiently waiting outside felt like a special privilege that she was now a part of. Pretty didn’t know what most of the things inside the shops were, but they were fun to look at anyway. One of them had a bunch of yummy bread, but she got told off for trying to eat one, which was hilarious to the little girl. What kind of food is forbidden to eat? That’s just silly!

  Another one of the shops had a large fire blazing inside the building. She was worried for the poor man who owned the shop. He was so scared of the fire that he started trying to defeat it by shoving a sword into it; then he beat the sword with a hammer when it didn’t put the fire out. Pretty wanted to tell him that fires can’t be put out with swords, but she didn’t have the vocabulary to do so. The big man was too close to the fire, too! Maybe he didn’t have a papa to tell him off when he got too close?

  Pretty was beaming at the compliments she got wherever she went. Humans were a lot nicer when she looked human herself, though she didn’t get any pets like she did when she was in her fox form, much to her confusion. The ladies at the market kept saying that she looked like a doll, which was false; she looked like papa, and she was very proud of it! Not that she had any idea of what a doll was. Maybe it is something edible? Speaking of, she was really hungry now that she thought about it.

  After a lot of whining, Pretty happily sat next to Rowboat under a tree on a nearby hill. Rowboat had bought her a handheld blueberry pie from a nearby food stall, which she was happily devouring, not paying any mind to the mess she was making on her face and hands. Rowboat was eating three pies, saying something about how just one would just make her hungrier. Pretty didn’t understand how food could make someone hungrier, but Rowboat seemed to know a lot of things she didn’t, like how to tie ribbons or whistle.

  “You’re going to stain your dress if you keep eating like that, kiddo.” Rowboat chuckled as she placed her rag in Pretty’s lap to shield her clothes. Her dark red dress looked expensive, so her boss probably wouldn’t be pleased if it was ruined after just a single day. “You got it as a gift from boss, didn’t you? You have to take care of your gifts, or else the one who gave you the gift will be sad.”

  Pretty’s eyes widened, and she nodded her head in understanding. The last thing she wanted was to make papa sad, because what if he got so sad that he couldn’t stop crying and left her here to go be sad somewhere else? She frantically checked her dress for any stains, smiling in relief when she saw none. She loved her dress a whole lot. It had an embroidered pattern of little cream colored birds on the edge of the skirt; they looked so pretty that she couldn’t stop looking at them at every opportunity. They even matched her pretty knitted tights that also had little birds on them.

  “I’ve gotten all my shopping done, so why don’t we spend those coins that boss gave you? You wanted something to remind you of the collar, didn’t you?” Rowboat groaned as she stood up and shook the crumbs off her clothes. Getting up off the ground was a struggle for someone who weighed the same as a horse. All muscle, of course.

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  The tailor was the last stop of the day, and Pretty was allowed to pick out anything she wanted within her budget of three Lapis. It wasn’t enough to buy a whole dress, but it was plenty for any acessory or trinket that caught her eye. Though the money wouldn’t buy even that much if she was in a big city. Pretty looked at all the accessories in awe, her eyes sparkling despite not knowing what most of the things were used for.

  “Oh! Look at this little angel! So this is who the gentleman who stopped by this morning was buying the dress for!” The seamstress fawned over Pretty, complimenting her so much on how the dress fit her and that she looked like a princess that it made Pretty dizzy. “You’re lucky you have such a caring father, princess! He fussed about buying you a dress so early in the morning!”

  Pretty puffed out her pudgy little chest at that. Of course, she’s lucky. She’s the luckiest in the entire world to have both a papa, a big brother, and an aunty Rowboat. She quickly lost interest in the clerk when she started talking to said aunty Rowboat, though. The allure of ribbons, hairpins, and broaches was more tempting than listening to talks about sturdy fabrics and custom orders.

  She was dead set on getting a ribbon to match Pail. Pail was the coolest person in the world, so matching ribbons with him would make her almost as cool. She didn’t know how money worked, but Rowboat had told her to look at the symbols next to the things she wanted. If it said 1, 2, or 3, then she could get it. If it said something else, then it was a special thing that she would have to get some other time. Pretty was about to grab a matching green ribbon when her eyes landed on something even more special.

  It was a pair of little wooden hairclips in the shape of flying doves. They were the prettiest things that she had ever seen before. They had been painted white and coated in shimmerflower dust, making them reflect the light like the inside of a shell. Pretty pulled at Rowboat’s pants, leading her back to the pins with urgency. What if someone took them while she was getting aunty Rowboat? Not that there was anyone else in the shop.

  “You want those? Sorry, kiddo. They’re two Lapis each. You can only get one, or you can get something else. I know it has the two symbol next to them, but if you look under it, you’ll see the symbol for both.” Rowboat patiently explained, trying her best to be educational. “So two twice is four, and that’s one more than three. You only have three coins, remember?”

  Pretty’s lower lip quivered as she held the pins close to her chest. She could only get one? But they were a pair! If she left one here, then it’d be really sad. It reminded her of being left by her mother, and she absolutely wouldn’t stand for it. She felt her tears beginning to well up when the clerk clapped her hands loudly.

  “Ah! I forgot! We have a special sale for special princesses today! Anyone who buys a hair clip can get an extra one for just one coin!” She announced dramatically. There was no way she was going to make someone wearing one of her most expensive dresses cry in her own store. What was a single Lapis less in exchange for brand loyalty?

  Pretty looked up at Rowboat expectantly, earning herself a sigh of endearment. “Yes, you have enough now. If one of them costs two Lapis and you get the other one for one Lapis, then that makes three lapis. If you give your coins to the lady, then you can take them both with you.”

  Pretty let out a noise of excitement as she rummaged through her pocket for the coins. She happily placed them in the clerk’s outstretched palm and looked back at Rowboat for confirmation that she did the right thing. When aunty Rowboat nodded in approval, she squealed as she hugged the tiny little wooden hairclips. They wouldn’t have to split up like she had to split up with her mom. They got to stay together like her, papa, Pail, and Rowboat.