Usually, he didn’t have so much time here.
Usually, he had to run back before he could properly cuddle her.
He smiled now as she sniffed all over his face and neck and arms and shoulders and down to his pockets, looking for more presents. After the creature started whining again, he pulled out the piece of meat he’d stolen from the kitchen. Unwrapping it carefully, he fed it to the little thing, which immediately began making happy yipping and yelping noises again.
Then her sharp, white teeth got a grip on his gold ring and Caelum drew his hand away sharply. He waggled his finger at her nose.
“No, no,” he scolded. “You can’t have that.”
The creature complained it its meeping and muttering voice, but went back to snuggling against Caelum’s chest. She rolled onto her back, this time in his arms, and Caelum stroked her velvety soft fur and rubbed her round tummy some more. She waved her little paws around, wagging her bushy, warm tail, and Caelum grinned.
One of his father’s drakai told him about the firefox burrows.
Of course, the drakai didn’t speak English very well, so it really called them something else, something that sounded liketulikkoin their thickly-accented tongue. It said they lived by the river so they could fight with one another on the river rocks without setting the forest on fire. He also said Caelum should bring them “something shiny” to make friends.
According to the drakai in question, a young male named Uric, the nest existed out there for centuries, like a magical rabbit warren under and around the dead English oak.
Caelum had named this oneCwn Annwn,after the Welsh hellhounds he was also particularly fond of, but he called her “Gwen” or “Gwenny.”
They were friends.
Gwen was the only fox who ever came out to look at him, and that was only after some coaxing. It wasn’t until the third day of trying that the firefox summoned enough bravery to emerge all the way out of her hole to look at the gold letter opener and piece of beef pie Caelum had brought to tempt it. He’d almost resorted to using magic to force one of them to come out, but then he first saw the tip of her black nose and waited.
The next day, he also saw her alert black ears, and glowing red eyes.
The third day, she’d come out to take the letter opener from his fingers.
Caelum had been pleased.
He hadn’t wanted to use magic. He’d wanted it to be his friend.
The young firefox came out faster the time after that, and faster still the next. Now all it took was a whistle. Sometimes Caelum brought presents, sometimes he couldn’t find anything he thought the fox might like, nothing that wouldn’t be missed, and he just brought her something to eat. Now the fox came out whether he had a present or didn’t, or even if he forgot food.
Caelum decided that made them friends.
The thought gave him a funny, warm feeling in his belly.
It also worried him.
He wasn’t supposed to have friends. His father was very clear about that.
When his mother had people over for tea and cake, or his parents threw one of their lavish parties, Caelum wasn’t allowed to go. He wasn’t allowed to be seen by anyone who came to the castle. On those rare occasions when his parents’ friends brought their young witches and mages to the Black Tower, the rules were even meaner. He got sent to his room and locked in, with strict orders not to use magic, not to make a sound, and absolutely not to break out, either by the windows or door, or he’d face punishments worse than any he could imagine.
Even with those dire warnings from Rolf and his father, he’d managed to sneak outonetime, just to look.
His father found out, of course. The next time they had guests, he locked Caelum in the dungeon under the family crypt.
Caelum wished he’d brought more gifts for Gwenny, with his father gone so long. He wanted to give his friend another shiny thing.
A button. A key.
A coin.
He considered calling the drakai, Uric, and asking if he could bring a spare spoon or something else Gwenny might like,something of a particularly shiny gold his father wouldn’t miss. He hummed and thought, then decided against it. His father always seemed to know where his servants were, including the drakai. He always seemed to know what they’d been up to.
He snuggled the creature a while longer.
He eventually got worried about the time, the mud on his clothes, his father’s unpredictability, the spell he’d put on Rolf, and decided to go back.
