Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ THIRTY SEVEN ~~

I rested quietly on the couch, legs hanging off the end and my head nestled in Leraj's lap. For once, my mind was silent, empty, and only the tick of Marigold's old tree clock filled my ears. One of Leraj's hands stroked my collarbone through the fabric of my turtleneck and I knew the other to be holding a book – he'd grabbed it from the pile when we'd gone to rest on the couch together.

The horses had been settled in their bedding for the night by Leraj, a little corral and 3-sided shed behind the bedroom section of the house, and then we'd sat down for dinner together. Leraj had mentioned he had surprise in store for me but as of yet, he hadn't made a move to tell me.

That was okay – I could be patient for once.

A few more minutes ticked by. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, t-

"Okay, that's enough," I said, eyes flying open. I sat up and spun round, crouched right beside him.

He drew his eyes away from the book long enough to raise an eyebrow at me before returning to the page. "And what exactly do you want?" he teased.

"You said you had a surprise in store."

"I thought you hated surprises?"

I hissed at his following laughter and stood, hands on hips. "You promised we'd do something fun tonight. This isn't exactly what I had in mind."

He closed the book with a soft thump and gazed up at me. "Fire or stars?"

"What?"

"Choose one: fire or stars?"

"Why do I have to choose one?" I questioned, perturbed by the strangeness of the question but I had the feeling they related to his surprises.

"I need an answer."

"Fine then," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I choose both."

"But I didn't..." He sighed then cracked a smile. "Guess I should have seen that coming. We're going to a festival in a small village I stumbled upon a couple of days ago. They're holding a WinterFest tonight and apparently that means a castle-size bonfire, traditional dances and food, and your favourite – fireworks." In a softer voice, he said, "And the stars are for after if you aren't too tired from running around like crazy."

My leg jiggled and I did a little happy dance. Fireworks always held a special place in my heart – it used to be a tradition my parents and I held, travelling to different towns and kingdoms to witness their festivals and fireworks. It was one way for me to keep them in my heart. I guess this holiday wasn't turning out so bad. 

Then something very important occurred to me. "I don't have clothes." I gave my turtleneck a quick sniff and my nose wrinkled. I smelt like horses and roses, two individually nice smells that, when combined with sweat didn't make for the greatest perfume. "And I don't think a shower will help my chances if I have to put these clothes back on. You never told me I had to pack for this adventure."

"Don't worry, I sorted it. There's a bag on the bed with an array of clothing in it. I made sure to pick out what you liked."

"We didn't have bags with us. How'd they get here?"

"I organised everything before you met with Hendrickson."

"What?" I snapped, instantly noting his slip of the tongue. "You planned everything before my meeting with Hendrickson?"

The grin on his face froze and frightened eyes darted to me. Lying eyes. Eyes that said 'oh shit, I've been caught'. I grounded my teeth together and stared at him. He tried to avoid me like a guilty dog.