“How do you think he ended up this far north?” Amelia mused.
Roland—Eddy—glanced at Clover, who smirked and shrugged.
The fox yipped, making Amelia giggle. “Sometimes I swear he understands me.”
It worked out in Clover’s favor that she didn’t speak much because lying did not come easy to her. She was terrible at it.
Later that night, as Clover and Amelia sat together in the orphanage living room, reading, Eddy, as she’d come to think of him to keep from saying the wrong name out loud, sat quietly, staring at her.
Is Amos watching?Eddy inched forward and sat at her feet.
“I think he likes you,” Amelia commented. “I’ve seen him looking at you a lot.”
A blush heated Clover’s cheeks. Could it be true? Did Amos really watch her through Eddy when she wasn’t looking? She smiled at Eddy, feeling like a flock of birds rioted in her stomach.
Clover sat at her desk, writing a letter to Amos, when a quiet scratching sounded at her door. Setting her quill in its holder, she crossed the room and cracked the door open to find Eddy waiting patiently on the other side.
She squatted down in front of the fox and grinned. “What are you doing here, little guy?”
His left ear twitched, and he scurried into her room. The little fox turned slowly, taking in her room as if committing it to memory. Very un-fox-like.
“Is Amos in there with you?” she whispered.
Eddy nodded, and Clover tried not to show how much that unsettled her. She glanced around, wondering what he thoughtof her room. It wasn’t much—just a bed shoved into the corner opposite her window, a small bookshelf, closet, desk, and bedside table. She didn’t even have a rug.
He’d given her brother money to give to Clover to buy anything she wanted, but it’d be strange for an orphan girl to have luxurious things or even things not given to her by the orphanage.
“I know it’s not much,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. Eddy cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know what to say when you can’t talk back.”
Eddy turned from her and trotted to her bed, jumping onto the mattress. “I didn’t know you could jump that high,” Clover teased, earning a glare in return. A laugh burst free before she could stop it, and the fox froze, staring at her as a warm sense of awe traveled down the bond. Her eyes widened. She’d forgotten about the bond. Had he felt how nervous she was knowing he was here?Gods, that’s embarrassing.
“I have a letter to finish,” she told thefamiliar, then sat at her desk to distract herself.
Eddy raced off the bed and jumped into her lap. She laughed again. “You’re quick too.” He tried to put his paws on the desk, staring at her letter. Amos’ anticipation seeped into her chest and she gasped. “No peeking.” She bopped Eddy lightly on the nose and set him on the floor. “Amos, you can wait to read it when it arrives.”
Eddy whined, and she rolled her eyes. “I wish you could tell me why you’re in my room.”
The fox turned away and hopped back on the bed, burrowing itself beside her pillow. Her brows rose. “You intend to sleep in here?”
Eddy lifted his head to nod, and giddiness spread through her chest. Clover struggled to force it down so Amos wouldn’tfeel it. She needed to get a better handle on her emotions before she made an idiot of herself on a daily basis.
Once she finished her letter, she walked to her closet to grab her nightclothes. “I need to bathe. I’ll be right back.”
Slipping into the hall, she tiptoed into the bathroom the girls shared. Clover bathed later than the other girls, since she usually snuck out to train or see her brother and Franny, though she took tonight off.
Staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, she fidgeted nervously. The long-sleeved flannel nightgown couldn’t have been more unflattering if it tried. The thought of Amos seeing her like this made her stomach twist, but she didn’t have a choice. Had she thought of it before she left, she would’ve made Eddy close his eyes until she was under the blankets.
Breathe.It doesn’t matter if he thinks your nightgown is ugly.
Tiptoeing back into her room, she held her dirty clothes in front of her like armor. Eddy lifted his head to look at her. “Close your eyes. I don’t want you to see my nightgown.” He whined, but she shook her head. “It’s hideous.”
Why did you say that? Now he’s going to know you care what he thinks.She glanced down.Maybe the gods will take mercy on me and open the floor to swallow me whole.
No such luck.
Eddy huffed and laid his head down, closing his eyes. Quickly tossing her clothes into her laundry basket, she crossed to the bed and slipped under the blankets. The little fox opened his eyes and stood, maneuvering himself until he was under the blanket and snuggled against her side.
Grinning to herself, she slipped into a dreamless sleep.
