Years of practice restrict Dain's reaction to one startled twitch of his hand. Miss Pants looks up at him, but quickly and easily settles again when Dain makes it clear he's not about to stop stroking her.

Why are you a Shepherd? is a question Dain would have been absolutely sure he misheard, were he still back in Cliffside or Fairport. Why do you want to be a Shepherd? is a question he's answered before, usually for the priests at the orphanage or his instructors as he grew older. Is there something about this village he's missed, or does the instinct to hide vanish when you live so far in the mountains?

"Well," he answers slowly, in an effort to buy himself a little time to think, "I underwent the training, and then I passed the tests... you don't live in the stable, do you?"