Chapter 10
PROVE IT
AFTER KAL LEFT, FELíNE DID what he’d invited: made herself comfortable.
The more she poked about, the more she realized how uncomplicated a life this complex man craved.
He had few possessions—certainly not prone to excess the way her own family was.
His collection of books—the history of Ilistaar, a copy of the godscripts, a complicated alchemical dissertation, and a map catalog among them—was impressive.
But aside from an assortment of weapons, tools she couldn’t name, and his wardrobe, Felíne found nothing particularly intriguing.
Eventually, she settled into the deep cushions of the leather sofa and buried herself under a plush blanket.
The initial refreshing simplicity of Kal’s home had provided a tantalizing peek into his life. But now, without him there, it felt hollow. He hadn’t even been gone a full hour, and Felíne missed him. She shouldn’t.
“Miss Kitty?”
Felíne sat up and twisted toward the voice.
“Miss Kitty? Hello?”
Felíne threw off the blanket and strode to the front window. She could see Penn’s white-blond head bobbing as he walked toward the cabin, a heavy pack over his shoulder. She smiled at seeing his boyish face.
Just before she turned for the door, Felíne caught sight of something else. Something that gave her pause. Not far from Penn, crouched low along the inner border of the hedge wall, a large creature tracked the young shurii with glowing eyes.
“Penn!”
Felíne bolted to the door and wrenched it open. Just as she ripped her hatchet from its sheath, a shaggy form launched at the boy. Felíne scrambled toward the porch stairs. “Penn!” she shrieked again. “Look out!”
Penn whirled at her warning, and the monstrous creature collided with him from the side, taking him to the ground. Felíne saw the tangle of limbs under a thick, shady pelt as Penn tried to shove off the animal’s bulk. She ran for him, Daybreak raised over her head.
Oh gods, if a grimalkin killed the boy on her watch, she’d never forgive herself.
Penn managed to right himself, wrestling the beast back. He laughed.
Her steps faltered. He laughed.
Felíne skidded to a halt. The creature launched at Penn again, but not in attack, she realized. A long pink tongue lolled out of an elongated black snout, smearing the side of Penn’s face with saliva. It wasn’t a grimalkin at all. It was a wolf.
“Get off, you hellhound,” Penn grunted, shoving at the shaggy black and gray mass.
“Are you alright?” Felíne asked.
At her voice, the wolf swung its masked face around and trained luminous yellow eyes on her.
“Fine, miss. Just caught me off guard,” he said, pushing to his feet.
Felíne didn’t dare move. The wolf’s gaze was locked on her. “Is this a friend of yours?”
Penn scratched the giant canine behind a triangular ear. “He’s Kal’s more than anyone’s. Here, put out your hand. He guards the house, but he won’t bite. You’re an invited guest.”
Felíne tentatively lowered her hatchet and extended her hand, palm up. The wolf stalked forward and sniffed her. Felíne barely breathed. After a tense moment, he touched his nose to her fingertips. She released a shaky breath. The wolf’s attention returned to Penn and the contents of his pack.
Penn hoisted it out of reach. “See,” he said. “He knows you’re a friend.”
“Kal didn’t tell me he adopted a…pet.”
Penn chuckled. “I think the wolf adopted him, to be fair. He roams the wood, but for whatever reason, he’s taken it upon himself to protect Kal’s house like it’s his own den. He doesn’t seem to have a pack.”
They reached the house. “What’s his name?”
Penn marched up the steps, narrow shoulders bobbing toward his ears. “Doesn’t have one.”
“Do you think he’s hungry?” Felíne inquired, glancing back at the nameless wolf. “Should we find him something to eat?”
“Kal says not to feed him,” Penn called from inside. “Says it’ll make him lazy and encourage him to stay.”
The wolf watched her for a beat before padding around the cabin and out of sight.
Felíne closed the front door behind her and perched on one of the stools near the kitchen counter.
She watched as Penn unloaded his pack. He’d brought enough food to feed an army, plus fresh, fragrant soaps, a wide-toothed comb, several lengths of colorful ribbon, an assortment of cosmetics, and three new outfits—one a lovely yellow dress stitched with small indigo flowers in the skirt.
Felíne raised a quizzical brow at Penn’s haul. “Kal asked you to bring me all this?”
Pink crept into the boy’s cheeks. “Well, he told me you’d need ladies’ things. I have four older sisters.” He shrugged. “If you don’t like the dress, I can—”
Felíne took the garment from him, offering a reassuring smile. “It’s perfect, Penn. Thank you.”
He ducked his blond head and mumbled, “It’s nothing.”
While Penn stocked the cold cellar with perishables, Felíne organized Kal’s barren pantry with the bread, crackers, rice, and a bag of salted meat, all of which had been emptied onto the counter.
The quiet pushed her into the depths of her thoughts, a place she’d become loath to visit, but needed to all the same. Kal was gone. And when he returned in the next day or two, he wouldn’t be alone. Rask would be with him.
Felíne’s skin prickled with cold sweat at the prospect of that confrontation. The more she pondered her options, the more she realized she didn’t have any.
Just one.
Finally, Penn poked his head through the cellar’s opening, pulling his lanky form over the top rung of the ladder. Felíne asked with forced nonchalance, “How long have you lived here, Penn?”
“In Meress? My whole life.”
Felíne stacked a jar of dark burgundy jam to the right of the bread bag. “So, you know it well.”
Penn settled at the counter. “Oh, yeah. It’s grown a lot in the past ten years. We’re constantly taking people in. I helped build many of the newer homes on the north side.”
It was said with no small amount of pride. “I don’t know if Kal showed me the north side of town,” Felíne admitted, “but the homes are beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like them.”
Penn’s smile was unreserved. “My dad’s one of the master builders. His team has constructed most of what you’d see in the city.”
“This house, too?”
“Nah,” Penn said. “Kal built this house himself. He consulted my dad on some of the particulars, but the work was his own. Took him ages.”
Why was she not surprised?
“Is that what you plan to do? Become a master builder like your father?”
Penn ducked his head. “He wants me to. But I want to be a warrior. Like Kal. I want to fight to free the people.”
Felíne’s lips parted, and she hesitated. “From Asteros.”
Penn nodded, a slight flush coloring his cheeks.
“Kal has worked for years to give the people of Meress a fighting chance. Smuggling goods and information out of the capital to help our cause. Training our men and women. When we win, it’ll be because of what he’s done.
He’s helping pave a better way, a better future for all shurii. ”
Felíne schooled her features to conceal the sadness that rocked her. Not if she didn’t get home. If she didn’t break that damn curse, there wouldn’t be a future for the shurii. “You’re very brave, Penn, for wanting to help.”
He flushed a little at the compliment and straightened in his seat.
“You have the advantage here, I’ll say that,” she mused. “I hear the Asterosian army is formidable, but even their number would be lost in this maze of a forest.”
Penn swelled. “Exactly. They’d be like sheep lost among wolves. Only those who live here know the safe way through the wood.”
Felíne leaned forward with interest. “You mean, you can navigate Stillwater Wood?”
Penn huffed. “Of course.”
“I don’t believe it,” she argued. “This place is a labyrinth.”
She’d touched an adolescent nerve. “I swear,” Penn insisted. “I snuck out all the time as a kid. Right under the scouts’ noses. I know all the best routes.”
Felíne lay on the skepticism. “You’re telling me you could teach someone how to make it out of the forest without getting lost? And how to avoid the sentries?”
Penn waved a hand. “Easy.”
Felíne’s face broke into a dazzling smile. Penn stared. She really wasn’t playing fair.
“Prove it,” she challenged.
Penn’s returning beam was all the confirmation she needed.
She was going home.