Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ SIX ~~

The owner was feeling up the girl again but I didn't have the energy to tell him to stop. Hungry, tired and aching, I began to consider why I even decided to join this group of misfits in the first place. 

Oh right, I really didn't get a choice. 

"Hawk!" I called out and the pig trotted to underneath the branch I lay on. 

"What is it?" 

"Catch," I said tiredly, slipping off the side of the branch to land on the pig, ungracefully. Moaning, I lay on the pig's back on my stomach, arms and legs hanging over the sides. 

"Geez, you really have it in for your body, don't you?" the pig snorted. 

"Don't judge me. I never knew human bodies could be so fragile," I mumbled.

Every part of my body throbbed, bones and muscles aching. My feet had all but become numb, so I guess that was one consolation to being pain riddled - human bodies reached a point where pain couldn't be felt.  

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Hawk asked but I ignored him. 

The owner jumped from the tree with girl in arms, before placing her gently on the ground. She wandered over to where Hawk had pushed off the young knight and we followed after her. Her white hair was flowing in the wind as she stood on the edge. 

My tired eyes narrowed in on the beautiful blue jewel hanging from her left ear, originally covered by the locks of her hair. Hmm, looks nice. Might take it for myself. 

"So, why exactly are you looking for the Seven Deadly Sins?" the bar owner asked. 

The girl looked out over the countryside. "I want to ask them to help me stop the Holy Knights." 

"Are you serious? Why in the world would you want to do that?" 

"I have many reasons why," I mumbled, sitting up on Hawk's back. I began pulling twigs and leaves from my hair as Hawk continued.

"The Holy Knights are the King's men - they're the knights that protect Liones. They're real heroes." 

"But," the girl whispered, "what if they were behind a plot to start a war in our country." 

War. I'd seen some when I was younger, between both animal and human. Deadly, horrible, a plague on the lands and the bringers of carnage and sorrow. I shuddered and Hawk oinked underneath me. 

"The other day, except for the King himself, the entire royal family was arrested and are being held by the Holy Knights." 

The bar owner's eyes widened. "Does that mean that the King isn't really sick in bed?" Hawk asked.  

Shaking her head, the girl's shoulder's sagged. "That's just a cover story the Holy Knights are using. I don't know what they think they can accomplish by driving the nation to war. But now, they're drafting the people of the kingdom; they're taking men wherever they can get them. They're preparing for war everywhere you look." She paused. "Soon, their reach will extend all the way out here." Her voice was beginning to crack and waver. 

"That's not good," I mused. 

"Yeah, tough break, huh?" the bar owner said. 

I gave him an incredulous look. How could he be so cold to the suffering of others? 

"Wow. You don't have any empathy at all, do you?" Hawk asked, glaring at the bar owner.  

The owner ignored the jab from his pig friend. "So how does all this tie in with the Seven Deadly Sins again?"