Chapter 18
Lucy: Sly as a Fox
Sebastian stared at her, startled. “You love it? I thought you wouldn’t—”
“I know almost nothing about kitsunés and I really want to know more about what…what I am,” Lucy said, biting her lip.
“So I’d love the story, regardless. But we can make it look like the current emperor actually met with the wise vixen, which covers both requirements for the challenge.
And if I can get the sketches done relatively quickly, I can try to take a page out of the first emperor’s book and do some covert spying on our potential assassins. ”
Sebastian’s eyes widened. “No. No, that’s way too—”
“We need to know what they’re up to. And I can be sneaky in my fox form.
Tha—The person chasing me yesterday couldn’t find me at all when I was a fox, and he was looking for me.
These people won’t be expecting me at all, so they won’t think to look for me,” Lucy explained, her words coming out in a rush.
“But you were hiding in the courtyard,” Sebastian protested. “There’s a big difference between an outdoor space and an open and airy workspace. How do you even know if you can find a place to hide?”
“I won’t know until I try,” Lucy said, lifting her chin. “Please, Seba, don’t argue with me. I’m going to do this one way or another, but it would be so much better if I could do it with your approval.”
Sebastian sighed. “Do you really think you can get in and out with no one seeing?”
“I really do. Mai and Aiako are so focused on their petty fights that they’re not looking at their surroundings. And Emilio and Tomas will be too busy creating their own material to notice me,” Lucy said.
Sebastian nodded, conceding her point. “Fine. But if you sense any danger, get out of there, fast. I won’t put you in danger, not even if it’s for a good cause.”
Lucy pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I will not be in danger, you silly fairy. I can take care of myself.”
Sebastian’s eyes darkened. “Usually,” he admitted.
He ran his fingers through her hair. “Be careful, vixen.” Lucy found herself leaning into his touch.
It felt so right to have him so near. She closed her eyes, just basking in his touch, until he realized what he was doing.
He straightened and quickly stepped away from her, clearing his throat.
“Why don’t you go now and see what you can find out while I start on my designs? ”
Suddenly bereft of his touch, a chill took over Lucy’s body. She could only nod and back away, never taking her eyes off of the fairy. “Right. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Sebastian nodded, still staring at her. She thought she heard him say, “Please be safe,” as she closed her eyes and concentrated on turning into a fox.
The change came even quicker than before. When she opened her eyes, she had shrunk to a sixth of her normal size. Sebastian watched her with wide, admiring eyes. “I’ll never tire of seeing that,” he admitted. She winked at him and stole out of the room, her bushy tail flashing behind her.
Lucy slunk down the hallway, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She headed toward Mai and Aiako’s workroom, her reasoning being that, as they both had ties to Coleur and reason to dislike the emperor, they might be the people to monitor.
To her dismay, however, they’d firmly shut the door and trying to open it would draw too much attention.
Determined not to fail in her first assignment, she turned and headed in the other direction.
She could see Tomas and Emilio striding down the hallway, but they weren’t close enough yet that they would notice her.
She slipped into their studio and found a place to hide amongst their masses of supplies.
Piles of fabric, both used and new, lay in careless piles all around the room.
It was easy to slip underneath. Their nonchalance and misuse of the textiles shocked her; Sebastian had similar bolts of cloth, though of higher quality, but he’d carefully arranged them so neither of them could accidentally mess them up.
However, she didn’t have time to think about the tailors’ carelessness, for they walked in just as she buried herself in the fabric.
“Man, I can’t wait to get out of these clothes,” Emilio said, tugging on the ruffled neck of his tunic. His accent was gone, leaving a lower-class Moyaran accent in its place. “How do these rich mongrels wear these?”
“Shut up,” Tomas growled, shutting the door behind him. “Those ‘rich mongrels,’ as you call them, have ears everywhere.”
“Who cares if they hear us? We’re not—”
“The boss will care if you get us kicked out,” Tomas said. “He’s already gonna be mad that we lost the poison and didn’t win the first competition.”
“We didn’t lose the poison,” Emilio was quick to reply. “We just put it somewhere in the workroom.” He glanced around. “It’ll turn up.”
Tomas scowled but didn’t argue with his partner’s logic. “How the Sheul did those idiots from Moyar manage to come up with that design in the first place? They aren’t even supposed to be talented designers.”
“I heard that the Lees got sent back with their tails between their legs this morning. Rumor has it that it was just the two whelps that created that design,” Emilio said.
Tomas shook his head. “Just another reason for the boss to be mad at us. He’s going to hate that she got any recognition for her work.”
“Well, he’s not going to take it out on us. I’ll make sure of it.” Emilio started pacing the room. “We should move up the timetable. Use our ‘special cloth’ for this round. The parade is more public, anyway.”
Tomas stroked his non-existent beard. “You might be right. Issak said he could be ready within an hour’s notice. If we give him a whole day’s notice, I’m positive that he can work miracles.”
“Should we ask the boss first, though?” Emilio’s tone was mockingly deferential. “After all, he did tell us to keep him appraised of all updates.”
“Yeah, like the fact you lost the potion last night? Or the way we nearly got sent home this morning?” Tomas asked, arching an eyebrow.
Emilio’s cheeks glowed red. “Well…I guess we don’t need to run this by him. After all, he’s a busy man. He doesn’t have time for us to tell him everything.”
Tomas smirked. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Though they’d decided to use the ‘special cloth,’ neither man moved to the pile of fabric.
In fact, they both sat down on opposite sides of the room.
Emilio ensconced himself on the window seat and retrieved a paperback book from a hidden pocket in his tunic.
He flipped it to a dog-eared page and settled back, as if he didn’t expect to move for a while.
Tomas sat near Lucy and pulled out a knife and a block of wood. Lucy’s heart skipped a beat, staring at the sharp knife, but, thankfully, the man didn’t seem intent on using it on her. Instead, he began carving the block of wood, letting shavings of wood fall to the ground.
One of the shavings fell near Lucy, and she felt her nose begin to twitch at the familiar scent. Horror washed over her as she recognized it. The scent of cherry wood always made her —
“A-choo!” The loud sound coming out of her tiny body startled her. She froze as the two men jumped to their feet, looking at around wildly.
“What was that?” Emilio demanded.
“I don’t know, but it came from that pile of old rags,” Tomas growled. He put his block of wood aside, but kept a tight hold of his knife. “Do you think we’ve got a spy in here, Emil?”
“It’s possible,” his friend said with a crafty grin. “Let’s have a look, shall we?”
He marched over to the pile of cloth and began kicking his way through them. His foot made contact with Lucy’s ribs and she couldn’t hold back a yelp.
Thick, calloused fingers wrapped around her fur and dragged her into view.
Suddenly, she was much closer to Emilio’s face than she’d ever wanted to be.
She scrabbled to get away, but her feet couldn’t find purchase.
He smirked and called over his shoulder, “Look what I found here, Tom. A little bit of vermin.”
Tomas stalked closer, a cruel smile on his face. “A little bit of food is what you mean,” he cooed. “A creature like this is good eating. We’ll take it back to the boss man and have him lock it away until we’re out of this forsaken place. And once we get back to camp, we’ll—”
“What’s going on here?” The two men whirled at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Lucy craned her neck to see the speaker, but couldn’t quite make it.
“Oh, your highness!” Tomas said, bowing. “We’re so honored—”
“Where did you find that?” The speaker stepped into view and her heart beat half a step faster. It was Robin, the only person in the palace, other than Sebastian, who had seen her fox form.
“Just some filth we found making a nest in our fabric,” Emilio said, tightening his grip on Lucy’s fur. She yelped again.
“Oh, you found her,” Robin said. “Thank goodness. I’ve been looking all over the castle for my pet fox.”
Emilio and Tomas shared a horrified look. “Your pet fox?” Tomas asked incredulously.
“Indeed. She’s been my constant companion for quite some time now.” Robin’s tone was carefully measured, but Lucy thought she saw a flicker of anger in his eyes. “I’m quite grateful to you for finding her, but I would like her back now.”
Emilio shook his head. “No way. Finder’s keepers.”
Now the anger was clear on Robin’s face. “You misunderstand, sir. Release my pet. Now. I will not ask again.”
Tomas elbowed Emilio. “You’d better do it, man,” he murmured, so low that Lucy was certain only she and the other tailor could hear.
With a show of great reluctance, Emilio placed Lucy in Robin’s waiting arms. Robin ran his fingers gently through Lucy’s fur, calming her racing heart. “Thank you, gentlemen. I shall leave you to your designs now.” Without another word, he strode out of the studio.
Robin stayed silent as he strode toward Sebastian’s workspace, entering without so much as a knock.
Sebastian looked up, startled from his sketches as the young prince entered, kicking the door shut behind him.
“Good morning, Mr. Doyle,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I believe I have come across a friend of yours.” He thrust Lucy into Sebastian’s arms. “I don’t know if she is Red Riding Hood or Lady Quinn, but I would implore both of you to be more careful in the future.
Next time, I may not be so lucky as to pass by just when she needs help. ”
Sebastian frowned, drawing Lucy carefully against his chest. “I don’t—”
“Don’t play me for a fool, Mr. Doyle. I assure you, I’m not one. I grew up with a kitsuné running through my home. I know better than anyone in this place how to differentiate one from a normal, run-of-the-mill fox,” Robin snapped.
“That wasn’t what I was going to say,” Sebastian said, his voice taut. “I was going to say, ‘I don’t know how to thank you.’”
Robin blinked in surprise. “Oh. Very well.” He cleared his throat.
“I should get back to the emperor. I wish you luck, Mr. Doyle.” He turned to leave, but before he did, he threw a parting shot over his shoulder.
“I’d check her ribs if I were you. Rossi was not nearly as gentle as I was.
” Without another word, he stomped out of the room, leaving Lucy in Sebastian’s arms.