Foxheart

Chapter Sixteen

Two happy days passed for Fox. He had plenty of food, and good food at that, clean clothes, a cool place to sleep and no more stresses of being found by the Hunters and the Tower. He enjoyed his time in the highest floor of the Dusklight, hidden away in Elenore's rooms; safe and relaxed.

Fox had been in Elenore's bedroom many times. As far as he was aware, he was the only man she has ever let inside. All her clients were taken to the private rooms on the second floor where she would earn her ridiculous amounts of money and tease out valuable information for the Doe.

Her room was filled with various silk curtains, books and small expensive trinkets and a massive vanity table with various brands of expensive make-up. Beside her bed sat her knitting tools, a hobby she took up as a child to make herself warm jumpers and hats and never grew out of it. A large set of white doors hid away a huge walk in closet where her array of dresses, shawls, shoes and coats were neatly tucked away and another set led to her own private bathroom.

What was new however was the woman sitting on Elenore's massive bed, curled up in the corner and staring out the ornate window to watch the people below as she held Absolon to her chest. The sounds of laughter and flirting drifted in with the cool night air and smell of tobacco as the Dusklight was alive with activity in the late afternoon. With not a lot else to do in Elenore's room, people watching was the best past time.

Dupont didn't look too happy with the last two days of ease. In fact she was incredibly annoyed since she entered Elenore's room yesterday. She would sleep and watch the world go by with little words, always touching her new short blond hair with confusion. She had been grating on him worse than usual in their time together, despite how little they spoke to each other. It was the little things, the excitement for the fine muslin dress Elenore chucked at her and the food the servants brought. It truly showed how awful his bedsheets, clothes and food was to her during her short stay in his home and what she was used to; the best and the richest. It annoyed him.

He tried to ignore her and instead focus on the article of the Grand Wizard's murder. The more he knew what the police and the Tower, the better. It didn't tell him too much he already knew, only confirmed that the Tower's release of all twelve Squadron of Hunters was necessary after Dupont's apparent show of power. It also warned people to stay away from the Lake Tranquil and the River Oak as the Spirits are under Dupont's control and have become aggressive. Measures are put in place to track them and ward people away but the Tower will not disperse them until they've been reassessed again after Dupont's capture and her control released as they have not shown any aggression to civilians, just Tower Wizards. Apart from that tid-bit about Tranquil and Oak still being in play, there wasn't much else.

Fox readjusted himself in his makeshift bed of pillows and sat up, tossing aside the newspaper he was reading.

'So your Spirit friends are okay for now. Nothin's happened to them yet.'

Dupont turned her head and pulled her gaze from the window gradually, as if she was very slowly realising he was speaking to her. He clenched his jaw a little. 'They're not dispersed?'

'No, whatever that means. Take it you mean dead.'

'No, dispersed. They are reverted back into the earth to grow into a Sprite again.'

'That don't sound so bad.'

'The personality changes though. Who they once were, the memoires and connections, are gone. In a sense they die but are more reborn and reshaped.'

'Well nothin's happenin' to them yet. They're waitin' to catch you to see if they're a proper threat.' Fox said then teetered off into silence when she only nodded. Dupont made no effort to continue the subject and instead jiggled Absolon gently, making him laugh, before turning to gaze outside again.