de


    Meanwhile, back at the manor…


    de Gushiken had very few rules in life. Likely because he’d had so many growing up with his politician father and socialite mother, so when he left home, all those things he hadn’t done before became his favorite things to do. A new way of life.


    He tallied the few and only rules he had left.


    1. Bring as many strange or unique animals into the house as you please.


    2. Leave mud on the floor anytime it’s possible.


    3. Be best friends with a dragon.


    4. Be best friends with some humans, too.


    5. Wear colors so loud that your father can feel the defiance all the way in the capital.


    6. Never shy away from telling someone how you feel.


    “My brother is here.” Rebecka Erring…or Fortis, or…well, whatever name she was going by these days appeared at his side in a pale-yellow frock. She looked like a daisy. A perfect, angry little daisy. “He’s here, and he’s looking at the thorn hedge.” She began pacing the courtyard, and de tried to make sense of her concern.


    “Is that not…what you wanted?”


    Her normally tight bun rested on her neck, and de’s hand itched to tug on the pin to watch it fall all the way down her back. But he didn’t. Yes, he was a jovial fellow, but he still quite valued his life.


    “I could hardly tell the boss no, and better Rnd than Raphael. At least Rnd is less judgmental.”


    de frowned. He didn’t like that she had agreed to something she was notfortable with. Though he cared deeply for his boss, that didn’t mean the man didn’t scare the life out of him. Still, Rebecka mattered more than petty intimidation. “Do you want me to tell the boss to kick rocks?”


    Becky raised a brow, biting her lip to keep from smiling. She’d been doing that around him a lottely. As good a sign as any. “That would be intolerably disrespectful, and he would murder you on the spot. Or worse, fire you.”


    “You think he ever fires people with actual fire?” de mock whispered.


    A startled giggle that sounded a little like off-key bells sang through her rose-colored lips. A blink of an eye, and then it was over. de made a note to blink significantly less in the future.


    Coughing into her hand, Rebecka stiffened when Rnd Fortis, the middle child of the Fortis siblings, walked out to the courtyard from the side door. He looked much like Rebecka but also not. His high cheekbones were just like hers, as was the shining light-brown of his skin and hair, and the same shape of sses sat atop his nose, which had a lighter scar running across it.


    “Bex.” Rnd smiled, his energy warm as he wrapped his arms around his little sister. Rebecka stiffened against the touch, and de’s fist twitched at his side. “You left so quickly we hardly had a proper greeting. Rudy wanted me to tell you he beat Reid in a spar and that he lost a tooth.”


    Rebecka frowned. “What? I thought Rudy had already lost all his baby teeth.”


    “He has.” Rnd winced. “Hence the dentist visit that followed quickly after. Mother was furious, of course.” He chuckled and then stopped when he saw Rebecka’s dark expression. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought her up.”


    Rebecka seemed to be struggling for something to say, which was fine. de never had that problem. He stood, adjusting his orange vest with blue flowers. “Hello, Rnd. And how are we this fine day?”


    Rebecka looked to de, her brown eyes gleaming. It was an innocent expression of thanks, de knew, but his heart stuttered like she’d just kissed him right on the mouth. If he ever did convince her to kiss him, he feared it would hospitalize him.


    Rnd sized de up, a friendly grin on his lips but a guarded rigidness to his shoulders. “den.”


    Fluffy appeared at de’s side, his head tilting down, and Rnd leaped back, adjusting his crooked sses. “Dear gods. I forgot about you. Hello… Fluffy, yes?”


    Fluffy nudged his head into Rebecka’s arm, and she looked at de’spanion with a tender-eyed affection that made de feel a little like someone was strangling him.


    “Well, Rnd?” Rebecka asked, bringing them all back to the reason Fortis was here in the first ce. “Did you find any inconsistencies in the thorny grove?”


    Rnd’sposure wavered underneath Rebecka’s stare, and de found himself sympathetic to the man’s plight. “No. I scanned the entire grove, which I’d like to point out is illegal to have grown in the first ce.”


    Rebecka rolled her eyes, a loose hair falling against her cheek, and de watched it with an embarrassing amount of attention. “We work for The Viin. It’s not exactly aw-abiding business.”


    Rnd’s gaze softened on his sister as he removed his gardening gloves and tucked them back into the pack at his waist. “I’m proud of you, Bex. I could never imagine you doing anything rebellious like this, but you’ve really grown into yourself here. I know Mother made it seem like a negative, but I want you to know that we love you.”


    “Th-Thank you, Rnd.” Rebecka’s voice was lighter, sounding surprised. “That’s—that’s kind of you to say.”


    “Oh, and Rudy wants to know if your boss can light his hair on fire at will.”


    de bumped Rebecka with his hip yfully. “We could get some oil and give it an honest try!”


    Rebecka rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. So, he’d won. “The illegal thorn grove, Rnd? Please. We need to be sure the manor is secure so there are no more break-ins.”


    “Right.” Rnd’s throat bobbed and he wrung his hands. “As I was saying, I scanned the entire thing, and the magic’s all intact. Nothing amiss except…”


    “Except what?”


    “It’s apparent to me that someone has managed to go around the magic.”


    Rebecka frowned, blinking her wide eyes rapidly. “I don’t understand. We had two intruders. Even if one of the workers is responsible, nobody can make it in or out of the grove without the magic word to part it.”


    Only The Viin knew the word.


    Rnd shook his head. “There wasn’t any disruption to the magic itself, but I did find some physical damage—a small clearing through the thorns, justrge enough for one or two people, no more than that. It’s small, hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. But it’s there, and by the footprints in the dirt below, it’s been used, likely since it’s been grown. And by the newer ones, it likely still is.”


    Oh gods. de’s smile faded into something hard, anger burning beneath his skin, rising to prickle at his neck and stifle his breath.


    Rebecka looked at him, panicked and wary. “The person who’s behind this…”


    Rnd finished her sentence. “Is closer than we thought.”