The next day, Artos asked Ren to come over in the morning before he went to see Duke Hallard. 

“I'm going to see if Ren knows of any better ways to disguise you, Dracius," Artos said.

I nodded. “Magic?" I asked, feeling worried.

“No, no magic. We don't want to have another incident like with Phaegus."

“No!" I said, shaking my head and he smiled and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

The door opened and the guards showed Ren into the room. “You wanted to see me, Lord Artos?"

“Yes, Ren. I was wondering if you had any ideas to better disguise Dracius. The cloak and cowl do a fair job, but you can still see the outlines of his wings and sometimes his tail."

Ren looked at me, considering. “I'm not sure, Lord Artos. His wings aren't very big but short of binding them up I can't see how you could hide them any better and I don't think Dracius would allow that."

I cocked my head, “Bind?"

“Wrapped up, Dracius," Artos said.

I took a step back. “No!"

Ren smiled. “Like I said, I don't think he would allow that."

Artos looked frustrated. “So what can we do?"

“Well, I'm not allowed to use magic on Dracius but I could use something on his cloak to perhaps hide him better."

I looked over art Artos nervously as he considered. “Well, so long as you don't cast anything on Dracius and it doesn't hurt him or get you in trouble with Phaegus."

Ren laughed. “I'll just tell Phaegus that it was something that needed to be done to insure Dracius' are the parties safety."

Artos grinned. “I'll support that. Okay, Dracius, get your cloak and set it out where Ren can work on it."

I chirred nervously and pulled my cloak off the hook where it was hanging and lay it out before Ren, then took several steps away. I was sure Ren wouldn't hurt me on purpose but neither did Phaegus. Artos walked over to me and ran his hand down my back. “You're fine, Dracius."

“Yes, Artos."

Ren pulled out one of his books and flipped through it then set it aside and started gesturing in the air. I could see magic start to coalesce along the paths he made with his hands and moved a little behind Artos. Ren chanted some syllables that made no sense to me and suddenly the cloak glowed brightly for a moment then the glow faded out. I could still see the cloak radiating some sort of magic.

“There," Ren said, “It should make him look like a normal human now."

“Alright," Artos said. “Try it on, Dracius."

I swallowed nervously and approached the cloak slowly, scenting the air as I moved towards it. I poked at it a few times with my claws extended and it didn't hurt so I carefully picked it up and put it on then looked over at Ren and Artos.

“He doesn't look any different," Artos said, sounding disappointed.

“That's because you know who and what he is," Ren said. “He'll look normal to everyone else and even to us except in a mirror. Go look."

I walked over to the mirror and made a startled sound, taking several steps back. I couldn't see the outline of my wings or my tail or even my muzzle! I looked to be a normal human, looking rather like Ren. “I look like Ren?"

Ren blushed. “I used myself as the model. I hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. “Fine," I muttered as I watched myself move in the mirror, then looked away, rustling my wings. I put my hand over my muzzle as if to reassure myself it was still there.

Artos laughed. “Yes, you're still you, Dracius."

I huffed at him and pulled off the cloak “Thank you, Ren."

Artos looked me over. “Well, I suppose it hides you well enough. Still nervous about letting you explore."

“I will go with him," Ren said.

“Alright. The two of you be very careful, OK? I need to go meet with the Duke. Be back here before lunch time."

“Yes, Artos," I said.

Artos knelt down and hugged me and I carefully hugged him in return, rubbing my cheek along his shoulder. “Be careful, Dracius, Ren," he repeated.

“We will, Lord Artos," Ren assured him.

With one last pat on my head he turned and walked out the door. I watched him leave, shivering slightly, then turned to Ren and looked at him questioningly.

“Well, I suppose we should simply walk about and get a feel for the place," Ren suggested.

“Yes, Ren," I said, still feeling nervous about the whole thing but at the same time wanting to do something to help protect Artos and the others.

Walking around the castle with Ren was one of the most terrifying things I've done. I kept it firmly in mind that Artos trusted me and that Ren would never lead me into danger, at least not on purpose. 

As we walked down the hall way, lit with guttering, smokey torches as opposed to the clean burning oil lamps that Duke Grimal preferred, we passed servants, all of them looking sullen if not fearful. The smell of their fear and even anger hit me like a physical force and I stopped and shook my head.

“Are you okay, Dracius?" Ren asked worriedly.

I nodded, rubbing my muzzle. “They're scared and even angry. It smells off."

Ren nodded. “Yeah, even I could notice. Let's see if we can get a look at the servants quarters. Maybe we can hear more about what's bothering them."  

I nodded and followed him down the hall way, and then down some stairs that had mold growing along the sides of them, the stones nearly damp. The stair way smelled unhealthy but was nothing as compared to the servants quarters.

I quite nearly froze at the stench of fear, unwashed bodies, vomit, and other unsavory smells. Ren put his hand over his nose. “Ugh!"

“Bad," I muttered.

“Yeah. Very."

We cautiously made our way down the hall, walking past the doors, peering in as we went. Servants sat at tables, poking at their food, staring listlessly, or laying in beds evidently sleeping even though it was well into the morning.

We continued down the hall and Ren quite nearly ran into a servant that walked out of one of the rooms. “Whoa, sorry," Ren said.

The man stared up at us, slack lipped. “You…you should not be…down here. You…" He shook his head as if confused. 

“Yeah, sorry, just got lost," Ren said, offering him a hand up.

The man stared at his hand as if he had never seen one before, then his face took on a queer aspect, looking both perplexed and terrified all at the same time. “I…I did not do it! Pockras did it! He…he should feed, not me, not me, not me! I didn't! It's not my turn!"

“Hey, easy, no one is-" Ren started

“No!" The man shouted and scrambled back to his feet, turn turned and ran down the hallway. 

.