82 A Much Needed Talk

⊱————-　Ofris' PoV　————-⊰



A long sigh slipped my lips as I bend forward to reach for the cup Garen had placed down on the table in front of me. The reddish tea in it was still steaming hot, but I took a few sips anyway. It helped me clear my mind and avert my attention from the guy that kept staring at me, waiting for his answers.

I had done my best to hide her, at least I had believed so until a few minutes ago. But Rika had shown herself to him and he was fast to connect the information at hand. Even he who had never seen her before, would realize she was the Foxkin everybody talked about.

With her reddish-brown hair and the white tips on both her tail and her ears, she couldn't possibly be mistaken for a random beastkin. Added to the fact that Garen knew I despised the idea of owning a slave, he probably realized immediately that she was something entirely different, especially since I had tried hiding her from the eyes of others.

Sure, this could still have meant she was my lover, but in the end that was even more impossible than her being a slave. I didn't love her. I liked her to be around, I had missed her when the king had send his men to abduct her and I found myself anxious and sleepless when I knew she wasn't feeling well, but that wasn't love. At least not the kind of love men and women shared...

Rika, to me, was barely more than a small girl. She was of marriageable age, but I couldn't imagine her at the side of a man, smiling and gently caressing her stomach that helds his growing child. She was nothing like that. She was too lively, too rash, too... anything.

If I had to decide, Rika's human self was closer to what her fox form made others think about her than to a woman who would marry a man and create a family.



"So... who is she?" Garen asked me when I was just about to take another sip.

"I found her in the forest..."

"So that part was true."

"At first I had thought she was a slave that had run away from her master, but the townhall had no records of her. It was as if she had appeared out of thin air."

"Is she the Foxkin they cannot stop running their mouths about?"

"... yes."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because I want to hide her."

"From me? I thought you knew me better."



I couldn't help but sigh.



"Not from you," I explained. "From everyone! She is worth a fortune, not only as a Foxkin, but also as a woman. I know way too many people who wouldn't think twice about selling her to some noblemen who aren't afraid of breaking some laws to get what they want."

"Is she that special?"

"Hensin wants to marry her to his son. That alone makes her a tool of power. But there are those legends, too..."

"About the Foxkin? I heard they were able to heal any wounds, cure any ailment and even bring back the death. Is that girl..."

"No," I cut off his thoughts, "she is nothing like that."

"But if she is so sought for, why is she with you? You cannot possibly dream of protecting her from all of them!"

"The mayor planned on confining her in the townhall."

"But wouldn't she be save there?"

"I wouldn't want her to be locked away like that..."

"Then what about those nobles?"

"They probably believe she still is in the capital, with the king and his son."



Garen picked up his tea and emptied half of it in a few big gulps. For a minute there was nothing coming from him but silence, then he placed down his cup to face me once again.



"So those nobles do not know where she is," Garen concluded.

"Yes."

"But why do you drag her with you when you go teach those boys?"

"I am afraid, Garen..."

"Afraid? That she wouldn't be there when you come back?"

"Yes."

"Why would she run away?"

"Because I messed up..."

"You messed up? Tell me about it."



I told him. Not only about Rika and the goddess, but about everything that had happened in these few yet eventful weeks. Obviously, I didn't tell him about Shiro being a goddess. Instead I described her as what she had claimed to be: Rika's mother. And to some extent she even was mother-like, though she was too selfish and cruel for her to ever become a real one...

Garen listened to all my rambling without saying as much as a single word. It was only when I described that woman's worst crime that he spoke up.



"So you are saying her mother tried to marry her off?"

"Yes. She wanted her to... create a family."

"Do the two know each other?"

"They lived together for some time."

"As lovers?"

"No. I- I don't think she loves him."

"What does her father say?"

"She doesn't remember her father."



I didn't even know if this was the truth or not. Rika had never told me about her real family. At first, she had told me that she had lost her memory, but the truth was something entirely different: she didn't come from here. It was that goddess who brought her here, without her family, without her friends and loved ones.

She did all of this and more only so she could abuse Rika for her own gain. How could I ever forgive such a woman?



"That doesn't explain why that girl would run away."

"...I attacked her mother."

"You hit her?"

"You really think I would hit a woman?"

"No," Garen answered with a sigh. "But you seem to despice her a lot. I never heard you talk bad about someone before."

"After she had told me about her plans I really wanted to, but instead I..."

"You?"

"I forbid her to ever see Rika again."

"..."



Garen emptied the reminder of his tea all at once, before coming up with an answer. I saw the change in his face when he placed down the cup. Just a single glance at it was enough to understand what he thought about the whole story. He wasn't fond of my decission. Not at all.



"You meddled with their relationship without considering her feelings before," his judgement came soon enough.

"That may be true, but-"

"If it really was so bad for that girl, don't you think she would have talked her mother out of it instead of siding with her? Maybe she loves that man? Or she didn't want to hurt her. Isn't she the only family she has left? My wife wants a niece too, and not only one! She wants tons of them running about the house and messing up with my work! It is just the way they are."

"This is something entirely different."

"That doesn't change the fact that you try to tear apart their family without talking to her before."

"..."

"You can still fix it, Ofris. She is waiting in the workshop. Just talk to her and try to find a solution. I'm sure she will listen."

"I will..."



⊱————-　Extra　————-⊰



Ron: I want to pet her, too!

Halrim: But it is my turn!

Gokan: You pet her for a whole minute already!

Malco: You counted the time?

Gokan: Of course I did! And it is my turn now!

Ron: But you pet her before!

Gokan: So what? She wasn't purring before!

Malco: Why does she even know how to purr?

Gokan: She can do everything! Even playing cards! Why wouldn't she purr?!

Malco: I guess you are right. Still it is Ron's time now!

Gokan: This isn't fair!

Ron: It is! You can have her later!

Gokan: How much later?!

Ron: Tomorrow!

Gokan: WHAT?!



⊱————-　❈　————-⊰



Garen: Why do they...

Garen: They have no idea.

Garen: She is a girl! They can't just rub her belly!

Garen: Why don't you say something?!

Ofris: ...