Page 20 of Fox of Fox Hall

“I’ll be off soon,” Fox assured him, awakeenough to worry if that was true, since his legs were weak andannoyingly unsteady. “Go to sleep. You need the rest.”

“I certainly do,” Conall murmured against Fox’slower back, smug or acknowledging the truth of what he would facein the coming day. Fox’s day would likely not be much better. Foxdidn’t want to think of it. He wanted to return to sleep as soon aspossible. “Sleep,” Conall said a moment later, sounding close tonodding off again.

“I plan to.” Fox slid slowly to his knees,feeling around the floor for his nightshirt. The bed creaked behindhim, the sole indication that Conall had risen. He appeared infront of Fox mere seconds later, yet somehow wearing a long shirtand holding out another one.

“Do you move like lightning?” Fox askedseriously.

Conall snorted. “I think you fell asleep sittingup. Come here.” He said ‘come here’ but he bent down and hefted Foxto his feet without waiting for Fox to try. The spare shirt wasdropped over Fox’s head and then tugged down around him. Fox ratherclumsily managed to get his arms into the right places, and thenstood there, staring up as Conall got his hair free for him. “Ifyou insist upon leaving, I will have to help you.”

“Oh,” Fox said uncertainly. The dark andConall’s hands in his hair confused him. He had a sudden memory ofbeing woken from an exhausted sleep so that Conall, who had beenhalf-dressed, could clean him with shockingly cold water, and thenscooting against Conall when Conall had curled up behind himbecause it had helped Fox stop shivering. But he might have dreamedit. “My nightshirt?”

“Will need to be laundered,” Conall informedhim, amused at something.

Fox pulled his clingy tail away from Conall’storso. “Insist?” Conall had said that, but Fox knew better.He gave Conall a poke. “This time, I will show myself out.”

Conall’s amusement vanished. “Come along then,Fox,” he said, quiet now, before slipping an arm around Fox’s waistand walking him toward the door.

The hall was very dark, hardly any light comingin through whichever curtains had been left open, the firecompletely out.

“He’s a fool, you know,” Conall said, stillquiet, as he opened the door to Fox’s room for Fox, who didn’t moveforward. “He doesn’t even know what you are.”

Fox tipped his head back to study Conall withsleepy bemusement. “What am I?”

Conall opened, then shut, his mouth. He openedit again a second later to say, “In need of rest.”

“Ha.” Fox stepped into the black of his roombefore turning back to Conall. “That’s you. I didn’t… that is… Ididn’t mean to keep you up so long.” That had the sound of a crudejoke, so he shook his head. “You should sleep, is what I mean. Youhave so much to do. They said…. You have all this pressure on you.I meant… I meant to be fucked but I also wanted you to,” hegestured heavily, “you know. Feel good. Not tired.” Sense seemed tokeep slipping away from him.

Conall regarded Fox silently, his soft mouthlooking even softer. Then he said, low, “The answer is four.”

Fox frowned. “Four?” Nobody should be expectedto be clever at this time of night, regardless of what they’d beendoing previously.

Conall leaned in, putting his incredible mouthto use after Fox fell forward to meet his kiss and sigh. WhenConall pulled back, Fox couldn’t have said how much time later,couldn’t even have tried to guess, he urged Fox backward, furtherinto the room. He only reached for the door handle when Fox bumpedinto the bed and plopped down to sit and stare blankly at him.

Conall smiled. “Rest,” he ordered gently, andshut the door without making a sound.

ChapterSeven

The morning bustle of Kaladas roused Fox enoughto make him pull a pillow over his head. The second time he woke,truly woke, his mind abruptly sharp and focused, was because of aknock on his door.

Byr Rolfi stood on the other side, regarding Foxwith a knowing grin lurking about his lips. He greeted Foxpleasantly and informed him that it was nearly midday, and then,before Fox could panic, went on to tell him that the king had gonefor a hunt that morning and had not yet returned.

A reprieve. Domvoda wouldn’t have expected Foxto be with him during a hunt, even if anyone had bothered to shareDomvoda’s plans with him. Strange that Domvoda had chosen to rideout, but perhaps he was already bored of his Potentials’ companyand had grown restless.

…Unless his potential consorts had gone withhim. But that was a thought for later. Fox thanked Byr Rolfi forthe news and only once the door was closed after the knight did Foxrealize that he was in an overly large shirt that clearly did notbelong to him.

Another thought for later, like any worriesabout Conall possibly being pulled from his bed at dawn toaccompany Domvoda on his hunt. Of more importance was gettingcleaned and dressed and making his way to the receiving rooms.

Alone and truly awake, various pulls and achesmade themselves known, although a look in a mirror assured Foxthat, once dressed, he would have no visible marks from the night’sactivities. He had completely forgotten to attend to his hair,however, or any of the rest of his nightly routine.

He grabbed some things to throw on to keep himdecent on his way to the hall’s outdoor showers—a much more awkwardarrangement when it was the middle of the day, he found—and thenhurried to his room to properly dress and deal with his hair asmuch as he could, braiding it and pinning it up around his ears assome laborers did while working, adding a ribbon as an adornment.Then he grabbed his lute and darted out the door towardSaravar.

He felt rather like he’d sat on a knot for thewhole night, which he very nearly had. His lips curved in a smiledespite himself, and not even slowing to stroll into the receivingrooms could completely banish it.

What could was the information being sharedeagerly from byr to byr that some knight from the western lands,someone from a family Conall might know, had made it to this year’stournament. The knight, Byr Drashnal Tiner et verag, young and boldenough to show up with little notice, had won most of anothertournament the year before. The betting seemed to already beshifting in this knight’s favor, although Fox noticed that some ofthe betting seemed to be more about whether or not the young knightwould capture Domvoda’s interest.

Thatwouldbe an upset, although Fox hadnever seen Domvoda pursue any knights in his time at court. ByrDrashnal must be a pretty creature if people thought that apossibility.

If he was prettier than Fox, he was in realdanger—or was it the Potentials who were in danger? Fox debated thequestion while ignoring the stares he got for arriving late orperhaps for his choice of hairstyle. The ends of the ribbon hungagainst his neck where his curls normally rested, drawing attentionto his bare skin. He rather liked the look and suspected that thebyr liked it as well. If they could figure out a way to imitate thestyle without acknowledging Fox—or the workers it had comefrom—they would, and then it would be all over the capital withinmonths. Although, of course, the byr would wear theirs with jewelsor gold wire.

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