Rian gasped as he stepped into the still green and blooming even in late autumn glassed-in rose garden.

"Yes," he said immediately. It would just be for the winter, and he knew his employers wouldn't have given him a second glance without the recommendation of their absent gardener.

But it would be a winter where he'd be warm and could tend to roses and not have to hide his horns.

"Then get to work," he was told, and Rian nodded. He set his pack on the path and smiled.

Roses! All winter!

Rian didn't need another word; he'd work happily.