Brian figured he might not get any deal at all from the older villagers, and he didn't mind doing a little work. He followed the boy over to a large stable down the street, and inside. The place was pretty typical for a town stable, with a blacksmith shop next door, and about 30 stalls. More than half were occupied with a mix of horses, and he could see a large corral out back with donkeys and mules. The boy grabbed a manure fork and then scowled at Brian. "I'd get out of those clothes unless you don't care if they get dirty." He gestured at the stall he had gotten the fork from. "There's one of my old loincloths in there, or you can just go naked. Nobody cares."
Considering the filthy state of the boy and his clothing, Brian decided it would be good not to wear what might be the only clothing he had. Going naked was a little too much, though, so he went into the stall and stripped, then put on the even more ragged and filthy scrap of cloth the boy had offered. It really didn't do much to cover anything, but at least it was marginally better than total nudity. The boy handed the muck rake to Brian and pointed at the end of the stable. "Start down there and work your way up this side. Muck out the shit, carry out the straw they've pissed on, put in fresh straw, and fill the water bucket. You take the left side and i'll take the right. When we're all done, I'll tell you where to find the wizard."
Brian nodded and walked down to the first stall, which was empty. but dirty. It took a couple of tries to figure out how to use the muck fork, and the stink was unpleasant, but he got the stall done. The other boy was finishing up his second stall already. Determined to do better, Brian picked up his pace. He started scooping up the soiled straw and carrying it out back, ignoring the filth that began to cover his arms, chest, and legs. The work got easier, and buy the time he was past the halfway mark he was catching up to the stable boy.
He was a little surprised at how quickly he had figured out the best way to handle the muck fork, and how satisfied he was when he left a clean stall. Instead of shortcutting, he made sure the stalls were as nice as he could make them. The work was not even all that tiring - he felt like he could do this all day. The smell didn't bother him any more, and using his hands to push manure onto the fork became second nature. He was sweating, and had to push aside the tangle dirty hair that fell over his eyes to wipe his forehead with the back of a filthy hand.
The stable boy finished his side just a few minutes before Brian, and walked back to inspect the work. "Good job! You're a natural!"
Brian grinned at the praise, feeling a strong sense of accomplishment. He liked cleaning stalls. He liked horses. He liked being a stable boy. A flicker of confusion made him frown. But... he wasn't a stable boy, was he? No! He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He was an elf fighter, or at least, that was his character. But when he looked down at himself, he saw the streaked and dirty body of a pre-pubescent boy, no more than ten. Running over to a water bucket he stared at his reflection in the still surface. The face looking back belonged to a stranger. A homely, filthy stranger. He had a pug nose, big ears, and a protruding lower face with jutting brows that gave him an almost ape-like appearance. His hair was a tangled mess that looked like it had never been washed, and the rest of his body was no better.
The older stable boy came up behind him and tousled Brian's hair with a chuckle. "Welcome to the stable, little brother!"
Brian shook his head again. "No! I'm an elf! I came looking or the wizard! You made a deal with me!"
The boy nodded. "Yep. Head over to the tavern and ask for Llandros the Wizard. He's always there. If he doesn't turn you into a mangy dog for interrupting his bar time, come on back. We have to get up before the sun, so you'll want to be in bed before dark."
Brian was confused. He knew he had come here to find the wizard, and he remembered who he really was and all about the game Tye had drawn them into. But being in this stable felt comfortable, and the reflection of the dirty, ugly boy looked just right to him.