Page 51 of Fox of Fox Hall

“Beautiful,” Conall murmured, kissing thecorners of Fox’s mouth and the tip of his nose before raising hishead. “And yes, you were right to tease me; Iwasafraid toask for your favor.”

Fox shook his head in absentminded refusal ofeven the idea of saying no. “Because ofhim? I didn’t ask tosit by him.”

Fox’s mouth was adored again, given severallingering, aching kisses to leave him on his toes and make him slowto open his eyes. He didn’t know what Conall saw, but he let out alittle satisfied growl for whatever it was.

“If you don’t stop, I won’t be able to leave,”Fox warned him breathlessly.

“…Never understand him,” Conall muttered, hishands tightening. “I couldn’t do it.” He released Fox but didn’tstep back. “You’re feeling better now? All day I was glancingtoward that box, worried for you.”

“For me?” Fox put his palm over the bruise andpushed to give Conall a harsh reminder. “Focus on yourself and whatneeds to be done. Please,” he remembered to add. “I can take careof myself.”

“As can I, and yet you grumble at me even now.”Conall took Fox’s hand from his chest and held it.

Fox lowered his head. Conall continued to saythings and leave Fox to feel as though they were facing thetournament and the king together. He might do that with everyone;the other knights admired him for a reason. In the same manner, hewas going to sit Fox down and end the affair and insist they werefriends. And Fox was going to let him.

He ducked in to kiss the back of Conall’s handthen pulled away. “Win tomorrow. Don’t waste my ribbon. It wasexpensive.” Then he was out of the tent and heading back the way hecame.

ChapterTwenty-One

Fox surprised himself by falling asleep themoment he put his head on Conall’s pillow, and woke at dawn toready himself for another long, hot day of anxious waiting andtorment.

Kaladas was quiet, nearly empty with most if notall of the knights gone. Fox bathed alone and ate alone, and didhis best not to think of the coming days. To avoid the silence, hejoined some of the servants in a cart headed for the tournamentgrounds. He was out of place among them in his fine doublet ofwhite and green and his costly hose decorated with vines of ivy,but told them amusing stories of some of his worst appearances intaverns to put them at ease.

He did not wait around at the royal box. Heintended—hoped—to walk and wander throughout the day if he couldget away with it although at the moment there was only one place towalkto. A line of boundary markers had been set up not farfrom the seating and shades for the spectators, indicating no onefrom the crowd was to pass that point. Some of the event spacesfrom the day before were being taken down and the healer tent wasbeing moved forward. Fox considered that with a tail he allowed tolash because there was no one to see, least of all Conall.

The knights were a mass of armored bodies in thedistance, not yet fully separated into their opposing ‘armies’although every one of them wore either a surcoat of white or asurcoat of blue. Fox highly doubted the sides were that easy todistinguish in an actual battle. But no one in an actual battlewould have been fighting with blunted weapons, so he kept hisirritated thoughts to himself. He also doubted the knights would beholding back much, blunted weapons or no. He didn’t think it was intheir natures. Even the friendly Byr Shine was trained to hurt andkill.

Occasionally, one of the flagbearers in thedistance would raise a flag, but no one moved, so Fox forcedhimself to relax and remember that nothing would begin untilDomvoda was there. Then it would be hours of clashing metal,thundering hooves, and yelling. Back and forth all day, as eachwar-leader fought to capture enough of their opponent’s people,beat them back behind their own lines, or otherwise rout them.Sometimes, one of those events would happen but then the seeminglydefeated side would rally and strike back, which was why theblasted thing lasted so long.

Fox was in no mood to handle Domvoda now anddefinitely would not be by the end of the battle. He took a breathand stopped his tail, then draped it over his elbow so he could besure it would be still.

“I see you had the same idea,” Byr Falnyaobserved, although Fox was so startled by a question coming frombehind him that he didn’t recognize the speaker until he’d turnedaround.

Falnya was in short breeches and hose decoratedwith lilies that had been accented with gold thread. His tail wasin a questioning position. His gaze was on the knights in thedistance.

“Good morning,” Fox greeted him stiffly but notrudely. “The king has arrived already?”

“Oh no.” Falnya glanced at Fox and rolled onewrist. “I came early to encourage Shine, but I’ve missed her.”

“Family,” Fox commented, “has always seemed anice idea, although the people at court keep their finer, gentlerfeelings about their relatives to themselves.” If they had any.“And other families bicker and adore each other in turn, so I can’tbe certain. But it remains a nice idea. I’m sure your cousin wouldhave appreciated your encouragement.”

Falnya gave Fox a longer look. “We’re not reallycousins,” he revealed with a faint smile, as if this was somethingother byr would have immediately known. “Not how you might considersomeone a cousin. We’re not related by blood more than any otherbyr might be related to one another. By marriage a long, long timeago, or someone ancientwasa cousin, but it is so farremoved that they might as well be a stranger. But Shine’s familylive near us as well, so I’ve known her for many years. To byr,‘cousin’ used in this way means distant family but also connectedas friends.”

“Ah.” Fox refused to blush because it wasn’t hisfault the byr were ridiculous. “You can’t say ‘friend?’ Byr arethat removed from their emotions even when far from the capital andthe court? It isn’t as though it’s a crime to be fond ofsomeone.”

Byr Falnya turned to face Fox, his expressioncurious. “Do you claim all your friends so openly here?”

“All my…?” Fox stared blankly back at him untilFalnya gestured toward the field full of posturing knights.

“Oh.” Fox quirked a smile. “They aren’t myfriends. We are friendly through circumstance. Outside of Kaladas,they are still byr and I am still not.”

Falnya drew his eyebrows together thoughtfullyand did not return to his search for Shine. “You’re very consciousof your place.”

Fox bent down to dust any grass or dirt from hisslippers. “Anyone like me would be, even if not reminded everysingle day.” Which of course he was, in a thousand small ways.

“There are many who tell tales of you,” Falnyareplied after a slight pause, even seeming to hesitate when Foxstood back up. “They assume you have planned, or perhaps plan, onbeing consort. That all of this is Domvoda trying to resistyou.”

Fox lowered his arm, dropping his tail in hisshock. “What?” he demanded, surprised his voice was even and not ascreech. “Who at court would seriously think that? Even if I wantedthat—a street musician as consort to the king? Fantasy. I couldn’teven be bearer, not a real, acknowledged one. Not that I wouldhave,” he added quickly out of reflex, then tossed his head.“Really?” He should have laughed although it wasn’t funny. “In allthe gossip and rumors, I am successfully scheming to be consort?The Foxas Domvoda’s real or pretended beloved? And he can’tresist me?” He scoffed. “How unsettling it must have been to arrivehere and discover me banished from his side instead.”

---