Foxheart

Chapter Sixty-Four

Fox stared at the tiled kitchen floor, his fingers toying with Esme's whistles that hung lightly around his neck. Worry filled him. Worry and anger. It gnawed away at him to the point he felt a little sick.

'Fox?' Bull called as she slaved over the stove.

Fox grunted as he pulled himself out of his thoughts and glanced up. Bull was staring at him, her eyes firm yet worried.

'You've not said a word since you came in, lad.' She pointed out and continued her cooking.

'Nothin' to worry about.' Fox grumbled

Bull snorted. 'Yeah, sure.' She said. 'How's our Vixen holding up?'

Fox's expression twisted into a mix of anger and pain as he recalled the mess of Esme's head. When Dupont told him about the danger of her truth all those weeks ago, he hadn't thought much of it. In fact, he didn't understand the fear of it at all. Now, as Esme constantly cried, her eyes hollowed with agony and defeat and her constant declaration she had killed her aunt, despite the evidence pointing otherwise, he understood. Her brain her been ripped apart and mashed back together, destroying the woman he had gotten to know. Gone was her fire and pride, her smile and snappish remarks; all that was left was a hollow shell.

'Not great.' He said thickly as he throat swelled with rage. 'She's not great.'

Bull glanced at Fox, frowning. 'Well, magic is a nasty thing, it's why we have the Towers, to keep it all in check.'

'But no one is keepin' Denver in check. They're lettin' her do whatever.'

Bull didn't have anything to say to that. 'Well, we'll get the lass better. Lithgow is out there, hunting down a Spirit to confirm Vixen's truth.'

'Don't see why he don't just use that Lord Bulwark.'

'It's tied to the Tower, lad. It's bound to obey him. A wild one is best.'

Fox scowled, wanting to point out that wild ones don't exactly go out of their way for strangers, but he'd already gone around in circles with Lithgow about it. Instead he sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and scowling. He felt tense. Really tense. The longer this went on, the more likely Denver and Sodden would find them. There was no way there were safe here for much longer. It made him twitchy, constantly wondering if the next time the basement door opened he'd be bombarded with magic and burned alive and Esme would be taken and hung. The quicker Esme had her real truth revealed, the better for her sanity and his.

'Want this over with.'

'Aye, we know. We all do.' Bull agreed then whirled around with a place of food. 'Take it to her. Make sure she eats it all. That curse has been making her refuse food since her imprisonment apparently.'

Fox just nodded curtly and snatched up the plate, trying his best to not get too angry about Dupont's cursed depression. Esme wasn't in that hellhole anymore. She was with him and he'd make sure she was safe and cared for.

Fox swept out from Badger's apartment and scurried down through the shop and into the basement, avoiding thieves and blacksmiths alike as they went about their frantic work. He hesitated when he reached Esme's makeshift room. He felt this coil of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. Fear. Was she going to be calm still? Or would she freak out again and refuse to eat? He had to make her eat.

He juggled the doorknob and slipped inside. The silence that met him was both a godsend and a worry. He glanced about, momentarily panicked when he didn't see her, thinking she had done a runner, until he noticed the lump in the bed and the wave of black hair on the pillow and Absolon rotund body dozing in the middle. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was still safe.