A Blaze in the Dark (A New Dawn #1)

Chapter 29 - Fox

Marbles are better than Malt, I always say. And if that can't convince you, my most loyal customer is Prince Felix of Silvermark. One bag of my marbles was all it took for him to cast his sword aside.

Tiny white strands of hair fluttered down Katla's face, covering the table at the same speed as the first dawdling snow was conquering the outside world. Each stroke of the razor revealed more of his pale cheeks and deepened the dark, empty stare in his eyes.

Fox rolled his marbles closer to him and put them into his pouch, first the red ones, then the orange ones, then the rest. Though Katla had explicitly asked him to play quietly, he could no longer obey that wish. "Katla, before we go to the Mage Council, I'm gonna need a shave too."

A shallow sigh escaped Katla's lips as he reached for the whetstone and honed the blade. He didn't spare him a glance. "I think you're a little young to have a beard, son."

"Not true." Fox tilted his head backwards, tapping his finger to his chin. "I have like one hair somewhere."

Katla frowned, his face contorted in a painful grimace that slowly turned into a faint smile. "Alright. Come on here, then." He patted his thigh. "Let's have a look."

In his enthusiasm, Fox leapt up and accidentally smashed his foot into his pouch. It toppled over, which launched the marbles to every corner of the room.

Oops. He would have to take care of that later.

Katla groaned as he landed on his lap. He raised his head to the ceiling, his toes wiggling from excitement. Nothing could stop him from getting his very first shave, like a real man. He was already ten and a half.

"You've gotta sit still." Katla's voice slipped into a gruff bark. "The razor is sharp, son."

"Sorry." Fox grinned sheepishly. He held his hands in front of his chest, pretending he was one of the cat statues guarding Moondale. "Like this?"

"Much better." Katla's greasy fingers touched his jawbone, rubbing out the warm shaving oil. "I see. This isn't gonna take long."

An uncanny shiver ran down his back as the cold blade landed on his skin. He was at Katla's mercy now, and he would never hurt him. The pressure of the razor on his throat increased. He closed his eyes and waited until it was over.

Katla had killed back in Laneby, but that was different. King Ariel had told him to do that, and nobody could disobey the King. Not even Katla.

A warm breath whispered in his ear. "All done."

His stomach tingled with a thunderbolt of curiosity that slew all of his fear. "Did you find the hair?"

"No, but I found a special kind of beard." Katla licked the razor's spine. "I'd say it tastes mostly like shaving oil, but there's a predominant hint of Doe's gooseberry jam too."

"Aww... but I wanna have a real beard like you." Fox pouted. "I wanna shave every day too, or maybe grow the longest beard in the world. I don't know."

"If you don't know, you can't grow up yet." Katla chuckled and instantly one hair on his head turned back to black. "Also because there's still so much I need to teach you before you can become the best magician-warrior Silvermark has ever seen."

"Beyond Silvermark too!" Fox hopped off his lap. "So when you're done shaving, you have to show me how to tie rats so I can bring them to Falcon and start earning coins. Chop, chop, Katla."

"That'll have to wait until after the council meeting." Before he could curl his mouth into another pout, Katla pointed the razor's handle at him. "No, don't give me that look, son. It's you who slept the morning away."