Page 32 of Fox of Fox Hall

“Frightened?” Fox’s voice went high. “Iwasn’t frightened of…. Don’t be ridiculous. I felt many things atbeing in the king’s court, surrounded by byr, in my nicest andentirely inadequate clothes, hearing the words ‘Dragonslayer’ and‘Byr Conall’, and looking up to see him, butfrightenedwasnot…” His indignation faded as he went silent, then swallowed toease his dry mouth as he had done then, in the exact moment he hadlooked out from the corner a servant had placed him in, across asea of icily disapproving byr, and seen the Dragonslayer.

The byr had been whispering of Fox so that Foxcould hear, and of the king’s past lovers—also for Fox to hear,although Fox hadn’t realized why at the time—but then theirconversation had shifted to the king, and the king’s odd taste inadvisors, and heroes. One hero.

Fox had looked up and seen a mountain dressed inarmor and a prettily decorated surcoat, with gleaming skin and halfan ear gone, his eyes like fires when they’d met Fox’s.

Fox had stared at him like an awed child withhis tail up and his mouth dry as sand, tremors all through hischest. He worried over his clothes—too simple, not prettyenough—and his hair—a wavy mess down his back—and how he could notstop staring and how surely the Dragonslayer would find Foxembarrassing instead of sophisticated.

Then Domvoda had entered the room and Fox hadtorn his gaze from Byr Conall to look upon the king, and the kinghad ensured that Fox was unable to look elsewhere for a long time.Sometime after that, Conall had found Fox outside the king’sbedroom and Fox hadn’twantedto look at him. But even outof the corner of his eye, Conall’s presence had always been enoughto leave Fox shaking.

“I wasn’t frightened,” Fox said at last. “If youare, I’d suggest talking to him. Maybe that meeting will be funnyto you as well.”

“Talk to him?” Byr Shine waved a hand and hertail toward the other side of the courtyard so Fox turned to followthe gesture. Conall and several other knights emerged from thestables, leading their horses as if intending to ride out, probablyto the tournament grounds. All of them were in armor, enough tomake them sparkle in the light. Conall was laughing, something ByrShine evidently thought was intimidating and not beautiful. “Was itfunny for you when you did?”

Conall glanced over at the same moment Byr Shineasked the question, finding Fox immediately. He nodded a greetingto Fox and then also gave one to Fox’s dining companion when henoticed her, sending Byr Shine’s tail whirling. Conall could havebeen any other knight in Kaladas, except for his gaze when itreturned to Fox.

Fox wanted to tilt his head to present his neckor lift his tail right there in the courtyard.

A strong shiver went through him.

“No. It wasn’t funny,” he answered Byr Shinewith quiet honesty, before handing her the last of his breakfast.He left the knights to their business and went to his room tofinish dressing for his day at Saravar.

ChapterTwelve

He took a detour on the way to the receivingrooms, partly to give him time to rid himself of the unsteadyfeeling in his chest, but also to pluck a new rose for his hair.Then he considered whether Conall would be right about Byr Din alsowearing a rose today and plucked a few more to line his braid.

That several more of the small white roses mightmake his braid look crownlike did not occur to him until he enteredthe receiving rooms. If it had, he would have removed them, butsince it was done and byr were already staring at him, Fox schooledhis expression into something pleasantly blank and focused on notreacting to the shocked murmurs around him. He couldn’t be surewithout a mirror, but he suspected his braid was more like aheaddress for a pretty youth at a harvest festival than anything aconsort might wear, not that this would save Fox from moremalicious speculation.

His stomach remained a cold tangle despite whathe told himself, and he kept his gaze away from Domvoda when theking entered the receiving rooms. As a shield from Domvoda’s eyes,it did not work.

In the middle of responding to one of hiscousins who served as an advisor, the king abruptly went silent,and in turn, so did much of the crowd. Fox looked up before hemight be ordered to, met Domvoda’s stunned stare, then bowed hishead over his lute before he began to strum something light. He wasa dutiful servant to the king’s whims and not a street musicianplaying at being the king’s honored consort.

Domvoda’s silence carried on until he wasseated. Fox imagined him looking out over the expectant byr, all ofthem ravenous for Fox’s blood. In the crowd, Byr Din was indeedwearing a rose, though one of deep red and pinned behind an earinstead of stuck in a peasant’s braid. Domvoda would see that too,sooner or later, but Fox had no way to know the king’s thoughts onit unless Domvoda spoke of them. He might understand and mock Foxanyway, or finally send him away for this foolish misstep.

“The heat in the capital is apparently nighunbearable,” Domvoda remarked to the rooms at large. “We willtravel along the river for some time once my tournament hasended.”

It set many in the rooms to discussing the viewsfrom various castles and structures along the river. It also toldFox absolutely nothing: if he was invited or assumed to be, butwould still have no certain place to stay, if his place was amongthe servants from now on, or if he would be left behind to find hisown way back to the capital.

Domvoda did not speak to him as he listened tothe byr talk of gardens and parties to last the rest of the season.Neither did he order Fox to stop playing. His Potentials were asdifficult to read, although Fox only sent a few darting glances intheir direction.

When it was almost the middle of the day and theheat started to seep into Saravar’s walls and the air in thereceiving rooms became stifling, Domvoda, without being prompted byhis advisors, suggested his Potentials walk with him in thegardens.

Fox stayed behind, along with some of the byrwho were less willing to test Domvoda’s goodwill by following himwhen not explicitly invited to. He stopped playing but didn’t risksitting, and ran out of things to pretend to deal with on his lutevery quickly.

Conall was mistaken about how Domvoda thought ofFox. He might tolerate Fox these days, but Fox had finally gone toofar. Domvoda’s already limited patience was running out, or perhapshe pitied Fox and imagined Fox had been angling for his attentionagain. The byr around him likely thought that.

Fox fought not to cringe. He cursed gardens androses, and then the heat and buttoned collars while he was atit.

Fox’s pathetic wishing had nothing to do withthe sudden explosion of thunder that shook the ground or the greatdownpour of rain that fell from the sky outside of the receivingrooms doors, but knowing that didn’t settle his stomach.

When sodden, soaked byr began to stream into theroom, squealing at the crash of thunder and flashes of lightningbehind them, Fox joined them as they hurried away in search of dryclothes. Domvoda would also be drenched as well as proved wrong inhis predictions for the weather, which meant his mood would not beforgiving.

If he summoned Fox, then Fox would go to him,but for the moment, Fox preferred to be forgotten.

A sentiment that carried him to Kaladas but thenmade him freeze, because Kaladas was even more chaotic thanSaravar. Knights who had been out riding or sparring were comingin, mud and water in their wake. Others were throwing on whatevercloaks they had and dashing out to help bring in the equipment ofthe knights who had been staying in the fields… the knights whowould now need places to sleep.

Fox slowed and moved carefully across the filthyfloor in his slippers, intending to head to his room to pack upwhat little he’d unpacked and try to come up with some sort of planfor where to go and what to do. Then Byr Rolfi startled him bytossing him a length of rope as Fox neared the end of the hall.Rolfi was already tying up one end near the fireplace, and Foxrealized they were going to try to dry some of the knights’belongings and obediently carried the line to where Rolfi directed.Although Fox wasn’t tall enough to reach where Rolfi wanted theline to go and had to quickly hand it back to him.

Feeling as useless as his slippers, he went outin search of more logs for the fireplace, or at least in search ofa bigger knight or servant to help him carry them. He was ratheruseless there as well, stumbling in the mud, not able to carry morethan a few pieces of wood at a time while worrying over splintersand tears in the clothes he couldn’t afford to replace.

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