He entered the second bath of the bathroom and the blood and mud quickly slid off of his body, "Cassidy, can you pass me soap?" His voice made Elena and Gina jump, Cassidy handed him a piece of soap, "Thank you."
"You are here early, Sam, why so?"
"You know the new lady, Quinn?" She nodded, "Well, her abusive husband came to raid us, and well, I'll let you figure out the rest, Cassidy."
"Oh, well, I can guess what happened."
"Yeah, so I need to wash myself," He sighed, "This storm is actually terrible."
"Well, at least the rooms aren't leaking like last year."
"Sam, are you okay? Are you bleeding?" Elena said, noticing the blood, "What happened?" Gina got out of the bath and grabbed a towel, "Are you hurt?"
"I am fine, Elena, I am fine, well, just needing to deal with something, so now I need to wash myself," He smiled, "Nothing much, how was your day?"
"Dariia helped me read."
"What did you read?"
"Something from her book, it was hard, I misspoke many times."
"Did you count them?"
"27 times."
"You are a fast learner, Elena."
"Dariia told me the same thing," She smiled cheerfully, "I am happy here."
"Glad to hear that."
"How do you afford this?"
"I just do, you don't have to worry about it, and just eat, sleep, drink, learn and live here," He smiled, "But you know," Niala walked, naked, into the bathroom, "Hello Niala."
"Oh," She covered herself quickly, "I d-didn't know you were here," He turned around and looked away as she went into the water, "Sorry, I didn't react well."
"Did you finish the doll for Diana?"
"Yes, and I left it in her room."
"Good, thank you, thank you very much."
"If I can help, I am all for it."
A month later...
Snow had fallen the night before and now left a white blanket over most of the countryside and the plants in his gardens were bare, leaving a thick white layer of powdery snow. His breath was thick in front of him, he and the caretakers had worked a lot to get the ladies ready for the winter and make sure that they were ready as well. He wore fur boots and wore a cloak over his regular clothes. He leaned on the stone railing of the second floor and then smiled, "Another long year, huh, I wonder who I'll save this time," He closed his eyes and thought of how far he got, "10 years is a long time, but I still have time, my lord, please allow me to find the will to continue this until I die and to give me the strength necessary to pursue my mission in protecting those in need."