"Aren’t we going to stop? It’s snowing hard." Yuzu asked.
"I hadn’t noticed." Kit blinked snowflakes from her eyelashes. "And no. We are not stopping." The last few days speaking with Yuzu was…nice.
But the journey was nearing its end. Timmy was right about Yuzu staying with me, though. If she drags Tell along, maybe Mother Mae will marry them off too. Kit smiled. "We decided where we are going after I see my home."
"Where? I am coming with you—as long as it is warm." Yuzu hugged the blanket she had thrown over her cloak.
"And if Tell doesn’t?"
"You are a bad teacher if he doesn’t."
The girl is more confident. "If he does, you will end up marrying him."
Yuzu’s face flooded with more red than the cold could cause. "M-marry?"
"Timothy’s aunt won’t have you practicing without marriage vows." I barely escaped. I doubt she could. Timmy doesn’t know the half of what his aunt told me. Kit shrugged. "She’s a nun. A Mother Superior."
Yuzu squinted at Timothy. "A nun?"
"Who do you think married us?" Will marry. The thought filled her with warmth and her stomach with acid. Who said we have to go immediately? It’s your fault, muttonhead. As if he’d heard, Timothy turned and hooked her with his hazel gaze. She swallowed. "Damn you, Timmy," Kit muttered. "I never—" Sudden pain flared up her leg and burst into multicolored splatters in her vision. She fell to her knees and saw an arrow protruding from her thigh. She gritted her teeth and looked up to see Jan burst from the trees and dodge Tell’s sling as it whistled toward his head.
"I’m sorry, Sunflower, but I cannot have you run again." Daeric stepped out and lowered a short bow. His white fur cloak fluttered.
Yuzu yelled and bowled into the man. They crashed to the ground in a puff of snow. Timothy shouted something before he fell to Jan’s sweep this his legs. Immediately, Tell attacked Jan with a knife in one hand and his loaded sling in the other. His shape blurred with the falling snow. Kit clenched her jaw, grabbed the arrow with both hands, and pulled. Agony lanced black across her vision. Not. Now. Her will kept her from blacking out. Her skirt’s fabric tangled around the shaft, but it came free. She staggered to her feet and stumbled toward her fallen shepherd. Her leg collapsed under her, but she kept the bloody arrow in her fist.
He lay on outstretched on the ground. Above him Tell struggled to hold off Jan’s attacks. Jan’s spear darted, driving Tell steadily backward until he was standing over Timothy. Tell lunged in an attempt to get inside of Jan’s reach, but the spear whirled and cracked Tell on his upper arm.
"Why did you betray me, son?" Jan asked.
"Like you noticed. You never look at me." Tell lunged.
Jan danced back, twirling Tell’s loaded sling around his spear. "Always the same complaints. When will you become a man?"
Tell took another hit with the blunt end of the spear. "When will you stop trying to avenge Mom? Sh-she wouldn’t have wanted—" The spear crashed into the side of Tell’s head. He crumpled.
"You know nothing of Koto. You don’t know anything about her," Jan said.
Timothy groaned and tried to stand up. Jan twisted and drive the butt of his spear into Timothy, sending him back into the snow. Jan caught the whirling spear and thrust the dark iron head into Timothy.
Timothy’s yell ripped at Kit and drove her back to her feet. She raced toward Jan, heedless of the pain in her thigh, and threw the arrow. It wobbled through the air only to have a steel blade appear from the curtain of snow and slice it at the last moment.
Captain Tredere sheathed the blade. "What are you boys doing wasting time with these people? You never could obey orders."
Kit’s leg gave out again. Something heavy thumped into her back and pinned her to the ground. She shivered against the frigid dampness seeping into her clothes. Snow and forest debris obscured her view.
"Don’t think your pattern will continue," Daeric said above her. "Father, I tried to tell you. I had found the one we looked for."
"I told you, son. We are done with that foolishness. I expected it out of Daeric, but you, Jan."
"Father, it’s Koto. She’s come back to us." Jan’s voice arced over crunching boots. "We can…"
Kit’s eyelids felt heavy. Cold. A dim part of her mind spluttered. Father?
"Enough." Tredere’s voice rattled Kit’s fading awareness.
Suddenly the weight lifted. On instinct, Kit rolled. She crashed into a tree. The shock restored some of her senses. Captain Tredere had Daeric pinned to the ground.
"We were to get our revenge. I didn’t waste my time kissing rings and selling my soul to murderers so we can dally with the fool notion of bringing the past back. Shut your mouth, Jan. You are just as bad as he is. They are dead. I don’t know why I ever let either of you off your leash. I had hoped I’d taught you both enough sense. Especially after Koto," Tredere said. "You didn’t see what I did. Koto had it easy. Burn me if I didn’t love the girl too. Don’t look at me that way, son. She was my daughter. Blood or no, she was as much a daughter as you damned boys are my sons."
Kit blinked snow away. Snowflakes began to blanket Timothy’s unmoving body. Nearby lay Tell. I feel so weak. She clenched a hand over her wounded thigh and dragged herself along with the other. Her teeth chattered.
"But, Father—Kit is—" Daeric said.
"What was I telling you? It doesn’t matter. Gert should’ve kept an eye on you. Where is that bastard? Not another word, Daeric. Your lack of focus put everything in jeopardy. That damned Inquisitor has me figured out, how I would send out patrols for you to kill. I should have killed him that first night."
Kit worked toward Timothy, feeling her strength ebb. The sounds of Daeric, Jan, and Tredere arguing faded. Only Timothy mattered. He lay on his back. There’s too much blood. Dark crimson covered his chest. His pale face turned toward her. His lips tinted blue. "You’re hurt, Kit."
"Be quiet, woolhead." She pressed down on where blood pooled on his shoulder. "You are hurt worse."
"Some heroes we turned out to be." He wheezed a laugh and grimaced. "A lot of talk but little ability. We wouldn’t make much of a story."
Hot tears thawed her frozen cheeks. "I swear you’ve been nothing but trouble. I knew you would be from the moment I saw you fall down that hill."
"We did that a lot. Falling down metaphorical hills." His eyes fluttered.
"If I have to stay awake, you have to, shepherd." She pressed her forehead to his. "You still owe me."
"What?"
"For fleas. For my tail getting tangled. For your good nature."
"H-how do I owe you that? Seems you owe me one for….for…that."
Kit heard something behind her.
"Someone—" Jan cut off.
Kit twisted to see Kyle barrel into Daeric. A spate of soldiers crashed in from all directions with Balwar at their head. The Inquisitor thrust his arms out, and the air cracked with the sound of gunfire. Jan wrenched, and crimson bloomed on his chest. Tredere freed his short sword and stabbed and hacked at the soldiers around him. They came on, heedless of the blade, and dragged the man down. Kyle bashed Daeric across the face.
"Sis," Yuzu collapsed beside Kit. Blood ran from Yuzu’s hairline and down the right side of her face. "You’re bleeding."
Kit’s vision tunneled. "Tim…help."
Yuzu hissed and thrust her hands over Kit’s, adding pressure. Timothy didn’t react.
"Truss the former captain," Balwar’s voice leeched into Kit’s sluggish mind. "See to the wounded."
"Leave that one alone. He’s Tell, right?" Kyle asked.
Kit’s head slumped. She heard Yuzu say something, but it didn’t stick in her mind. She poured every bit of strength she had into her hands. Into her shepherd. Must stop…bleeding.
"Balwar," Kyle’s voice quivered in Kit’s dimming awareness. "I need…."
"Sis? Sis…"
The scent of ammonia shocked Kit awake. Her vision and hearing flared from
a pinprick to a torrent. Crimson. Movement. Cold. So much cold. Within and without.
Balwar shoved a vial to Yuzu. "Stop the bleeding, and use this to keep her awake. Cold can kill her if she sleeps."
Yuzu grabbed Kit’s shoulders. "Come over here, Sis."
Kit struggled against Yuzu’s grip, but the girl dragged her away from Timothy. Kyle knelt beside him.
"You really need to leave the heroing to me, Timothy," Kyle said. "Get a fire going, boys. Now."
Yuzu laid Kit against a tree and lifted her skirt. Kit felt too weak to resist. Yuzu muttered and tore strips of cloth from her cloak. Kyle opened Timothy’s coat and shirt. The shepherd’s thin chest almost matched the snow. Don’t you die on me, Kit thought.
"Heat that knife." Kyle thrust a blade at the nearest soldier. "I hope this works. I’ve never done it myself. Hold on, Timothy."
A pair of soldiers shoved Daeric to the ground. His shoulders strained against the ropes that bound his arms behind his back. "If you would have listened, he’d still be alive. All I wanted was to bring us back. You could have had a home with us. Lived with us. Had children. You could have been our Eve."
"Shut your mouth," a soldier said as he threw Tredere beside him. Tredere’s face was a mass of bruises. "You are both lucky we are under orders not to kill you." The soldier spat on Tredere. "The Inquisitor told us you were the one who burned our friends in that fire. He figured it all out." The soldier tapped a key that hung from Tredere’s belt with the butt of his halberd.
Tredere rose to his knees. "It is the least you deserve for what your kind did."
Balwar stood over them, fingering his crucifix. "And what would that be?"
Tredere laughed. "Look at where we are, fool. You know what happened here."
Daeric opened his mouth, but Tredere cut him off. "Quiet. If you had followed orders, we wouldn’t be here. You are no son of mine." Daeric looked as if Tredere had stabbed him.
"Watch them," Balwar said. "We will take them to stand trial for their crimes."
"And what crime is that, Inquisitor?" Tredere asked. "Defending what is left of our homes? Executing murderers? Who will make you stand on trial?"
Balwar skewered Tredere with his glare. "For killing men you were responsible for."
The scent of burning flesh seared Kit’s nostrils. Kyle’s back prevented Kit from seeing anything. She tried to get up. "What are they—"
Yuzu shoved her back and tugged at the bandage she was winding around Kit’s thigh. Kit groaned against the pain. "Leave it to Kyle, Sis. He won’t let Timothy…."
Tell stumbled over to stare down at Tredere and Daeric. "What is it, boy?" Tredere looked up and spat blood. "I hope it was worth it to you to betray your own kin."
Without a word, Tell wrenched the men’s bandanas from their heads, threw the cloths to the ground, and backed away. Soldiers cursed and crossed themselves. Balwar didn’t move. He continued to stroke the crucifix that dangled from his neck. Yuzu gasped. White-tufted fox ears swiveled among the men’s tangled red hair. Kyle glanced over his shoulder for a moment before returning to Timothy.
I wish Kyle would move. I can’t see him.
"Foxes," one of the soldiers said. The soldiers trained their weapons at the two bound men.
Balwar held up a hand. "You have nothing to fear from them. They are powerless now. They will answer to God for their crimes."
Tell slipped away from the soldiers and knelt beside Kit and Yuzu. "They had cut their tails off to hide. I’m such an idiot. I should have told you what we are before all of this. It might have helped. But when you grow up with something…"
"What about Jan? Wait. So you have a tail?" Yuzu asked.
Tell nodded and looked away. "I—I will go. I’m sure you don’t want to have…anything to do with a demon like me. Jan called me son. For the first time. In anger, but still. " Tell looked over his shoulder and wiped his cheek. "I need to go before these soldiers notice I am a fox too. I hope Timothy….I will go."
Yuzu grabbed his arm. "Don’t go."
The soldiers not tending to the wounded all circled Tredere, Daeric, and the Inquisitor. They didn’t pay attention to anyone else.
"Go." Kit leaned on the tree and used it to leverage herself to her feet. "While they aren’t paying attention to you. Before they ask how you know." She limped toward Timothy, leaving Yuzu and Tell behind. A small fire burned close to her shepherd.
Kyle finished knotting the cloth he’d used to bandage Timothy’s chest and used a cloak to cover him. Kit fell to the trampled ground beside him. "Is he…?"
"He’s a stubborn one." Kyle wiped his brow on his sleeve. A knife steamed on the ground next to him. He studied Kit. "You two are quite the pair. I hope you are done trying to be heroes. Just leave that to me." He looked down at Timothy. "I was always having to bail him out of trouble. But he always helped me feel younger than I am." He touched his chin. "Not all of this gray is because of age, you know."
"Will he…?"
"I’m not a doctor. I’ve only seen this done once for a cut. It didn’t get his heart, but one militiaman I knew who had a wound like this had trouble breathing for the rest of his life. The other…died." Kyle wrapped an arm around Kit’s shoulders. "Don’t you worry. He’s got you to come back to."
Kyle’s bravado told Kit just how dire Timothy’s situation was. "How did you know where to find us?"
"I told you where to go. I dropped you enough hints, didn’t I? ‘I will see you again soon,’ remember?" He shook his head and rubbed Kit’s shoulder. "I should have just come out and told you."
Kit shrugged. "You did what you could."
Kyle let his arm drop. "It’s too cold to be out here. We need to be careful moving him." He turned toward the soldiers standing nearby. "Boys, we need a sled for my friend. " The soldiers saluted and went off to their task.
Kyle touched Kit’s shoulder. "Stay with Timothy I have to see to our prisoners. Don’t worry. Timothy will make it." He patted her shoulder one last time before standing and walking away. Kit laid a hand on Timothy’s cheek. His skin felt like touching ice, and his breath came in shallow gasps. You lived through that illness. You will live through this.
Timothy’s chest stopped moving.
Kit froze.
His chest didn’t rise again.
No.
She laid her head against his chest. A flutter. Only a flutter. She lurched back and slammed his chest with her fist. "Beat. Don’t leave me, Timmy." She hammered her fist down. Again.
He has to breathe.
She tilted back his head, opened his mouth, and forced air into his lungs.
"Breathe. Don’t you dare leave me." Tears streaked her cheeks. She forced more air into him.
His hazel eyes remained closed.
Chapter 9
Kit felt the cold wind on her heart. Memory stretched beyond the ruined gate. Vines grasped at the blackened stone, and ice crystalized on slumbering trees. Belafonte’s ruins formed a grid of once-straight streets that were now choked with saplings reaching through the snow. Few buildings stood, and those that remained testified of fire. A single straight road cut through the center of the village, toward the mountain that loomed over the trees. Kit guessed it would only be a few more years before the forest completely engulfed what was left.
Daeric, Tell, and the rest were right. Ghosts haunted Belafonte.
Kit meandered through the streets, waiting for a memory to pounce, and not caring if it did. Soft pine needles under the snow hushed her steps. Her exposed ears froze. The wind sawed at her legs with ice, and her tail felt heavy. It had felt wrong to walk through her home covered like some thief. She didn’t care if anyone happened to see her. The cold didn’t matter. It was preferable, distracting.
The price for coming here was too high.
She paused at a toppled home. A low stone fence peeked above a snow drift, separating the wide ruin from the street. The chimney still stood. Kit stepped over the wall and entered.
A fire danced in the hearth. A woman worked on an embroidery hoop nearby. She looked up as Kit entered. "Kitsune, dear. You are going to catch your death of cold. Go put on some dry clothes."
The red-haired woman looked strong and tall. When she smiled her green eyes crinkled.
"I was following Daddy," Kit heard herself say. Her voice sounded strange.
"I thought as much." The woman sighed. "You can’t do that."
"Why not?" Kit wanted to shiver but refused.
"Young ladies don’t hunt."
"Why not?"
The woman put aside her hoop and knelt in front of Kit. She smoothed Kit’s ears. "Kitsune, ladies have to mind the house and the children. That is work enough."
"I don’t want children. I want to be a hunter."
Kit’s mother chuckled. "Stubborn just like your father."
Kit blinked, feeling disoriented. The hearth stood empty. Wind whistled through gaps in the stone walls. Did I…live in this house? She rubbed her temples and crossed into a room that held a skeletal sapling.
"Now, Kitsune, I don’t want your mother to know." A man gripped her small shoulder in a strong hand. His red hair fell over his eyes.
Her small hands held a knife made just for her. "I won’t tell her, Daddy."
He winked. "Ladies aren’t supposed to have hunting knives, but when you get to be this tall." He held a hand a head higher than Kit stood. "I will take you with me."
"Really! You swear."
He laughed. "I swear."
She pulled the knife a knuckle’s width from its sheath and smiled.
"Kitsune! Urien! Dinner."
Kit wiped her cheeks. "This was my house, wasn’t it?" The stones didn’t answer.
She stumbled over what was left of the north wall and sat down. Her tail curled around her knees. She sat for a time, rolling her fragmented memories in her mind. The blurred images she had of her mother and father sharpened. Her father’s strong hands and her mother’s kind eyes stood out. Her father’s face remained hazy, and she couldn’t remember what her mother’s hair looked like.
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