The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 17: Cooperation

Caught by surprise, the mage gave a start. Her head swiveled around, and she stared at me through my cage bars. I assumed she was performing a magical scan to determine what I was and whether I posed a threat, but what she asked was –

"Are you a prisoner here, spirit?"

As if I were a damsel-in-distress princess whose father King Catfish would reward my rescuer with half his kingdom! I nearly burst out laughing. Luckily, catfish couldn't make much in the way of facial expressions, so she probably interpreted it as me staring at her glassily.

Both Yulus and Nagi were gaping, stunned that anyone would assume I was a prisoner just because I lived in a cage.

"Were you kidnapped?" pressed Floridiana. "Have you been hurt?"

Well, technically, I had been snatched up and stuffed into a cage, and my pride had been injured repeatedly....

No, no, no. I waggled my body from side to side. Projecting the ignorant innocence (or innocent ignorance?) of a fairytale maiden, I trilled, Not at all! His Majesty treats me very well!

That, as intended, sounded distinctly unconvincing, especially to someone already inclined towards delusions of heroism. "I – see," Floridiana said, pointedly examining my cage. A mercenary gleam lit up her eyes: She was calculating whether she could extract a reward for returning me to my real family. "Spirit, where is your home? Don't be afraid to answer honestly. I won't let anyone harm you."

Every member of the Water Court bristled.

I hesitated, partly because I didn't know modern geography and partly because I hadn't decided how far to push my act. I was trying to disentangle myself from the Black Sand Creek Water Court to search for better karma sources, but was this the best way to do it?

The pause gave Yulus the chance to snap, "Her home is here, of course! She was born in this very river."

"Of all the effrontery!" Nagi jumped in, smacking the floor with her tail for emphasis. "Attacking our guards, barging into the Water Court, and now accusing His Majesty of kidnapping like a common criminal? This offense is intolerable!" Rearing back, she bared her fangs and prepared to strike.

Oh dear. A human getting injured in a fight over me was the surest path to negative karma.

Frantically, I flapped my fins. Clickclickclickclickclick. No no no! It's all a misunderstanding! I'm perfectly happy here! I was born here and His Majesty adopted me! He treats me very well!

"Then why are you in a cage?" The question was addressed to me, but Floridiana was glaring at Yulus.

I – uh, to keep me safe!

"To keep her safe," retorted Yulus at the same time. "Human, do you not cage songbirds and leash hunting dogs? Because you do not wish your pets to escape into the wild where they cannot survive on their own?"

Nagi snapped her jaws in warning, but it was too late.

"She's a pet?" Floridiana studied me more closely, performing the magical scan she should have done when she first entered the room. Apparently she forgot she was underwater, because she gasped, sucked in a mouthful of water, and choked. "That's not a spirit!" she sputtered. "What is that?" Her muscles bunched.

Oh no, she wasn't planning to dive at my cage, snatch it, and run off with me, was she? That would be suicide.

Clickclickclickclickclick!