End of One Problem, Start of Another

Morning comes as the sunlight breaks through the windows. I go to sit up but I can't move. My eyes open to the bright light causing me to flinch. I am stuck in the chair. I'm pinned under the warmth of another body. She fell asleep on my legs, or so I thought. I was sitting up but now I'm leaning back with a body blanket. The fireplace is still lit as well.

She must have woken up, fed the fire, and somehow managed to get me to sit back without me waking up. I haven't slept well for almost a week. Coercing me in my unconscious state probably wasn't hard to do. She's leaned against me to my right with her face nuzzled into my arm covered by her coat.

"Hey…" I whisper into her ear trying to ease her awake. "Madam Odette…" She's completely unresponsive to my words. My right arm is pinned under her so I have to mess with her using my left. I tickle the tufts of fur near the inside of her ear. It twitches lightly slowly getting more violent the more I mess with it. Her breathing changes as she starts to wake up from the annoyance. Her body tenses as she stretches her legs. She groans as she begins to move about.

As her body shifted I feel a strange sensation in my arm she was laying on. It's numb from the lack of blood flow. As she shifts I can feel it begin to warm up and the needle feeling begins to crawl from my fingertips to my shoulder. The sleepy fox rolls over laying on my chest to rest her face against me, "Good morning, Red."

She's still not awake. Her words are slow and slurred while her body acts sluggishly. "Good morning, Madam Odette." I try to be as polite as I can be while clenching my paw into a fist trying to get the blood flowing again. Every movement from my shoulder on is just needles. Anything that touches it is a weird mix of numb and stinging pain. It's one of the most uncomfortable feelings. But if it was Madam Odette, I would bare it.

She does one last stretch before she moves to where she can stand up. Her paws hit the cold wood floor sending a shiver up her spine. "Is the floor always this cold?"

"Has been since winter rolled in."

"How do you deal with it?"

"Thick socks."

It may sound like a joke but that's what I do to deal with it when it's really bad. The cabin was well-built. There are no drafts when the wind blows but when the ground is frozen, so is the floor. Madam Odette tip-toes around the cabin, "If I spend any more time here I may have you install heated floors."

I can't tell if she's joking or not. If she isn't I would not mind it but something tells me it would be on me to pay for. Even so, wouldn't be opposed to it. I'm quickly learning that winter around here is rather harsh.

As I laze in the chair getting the feeling back into my arm, I hear Madam Odette walking around. I hear the click of her heels again as she gets her shoes back on. I stand up to meet her at the door with a polite smile. "Leaving so soon, Madam Odette?" Her head rolls as she looks at me, "It's already much later than when I prefer to begin my day."

"Ah yes, the day-to-day responsibilities of Madam Odette."

"You joke, but a lot of people rely on me to make a lot of decisions."

"I know, I know. You're a very important figure."

She bids me a good day as she heads into the breeze and snow-covered ground. The pathway is still cleared but the snow on the ground is still blinding in the sunlight. That freak storm buried almost everything in the yard. The yard team did an amazing job getting everything packed up for winter before it got really bad.

In the meantime, I'm under house arrest. Not by any court order but by Madam Odette's order. She wants to make sure that nothing can happen while the deal with Uncle Thomas is taken care of, I haven't heard anything yet but I was told that no news is good news.

I'm learning very quickly that cabin fever is a real thing. I'm glad that Madam Odette and Anne are both helping how they can to break the boredom. While they work I am nose-deep in a book or taking a nap. I keep coming back to one thought. I was brought here to be trained by Madam Odette but in the entire time I have been here, she hasn't taught me much of anything in terms of magic.

She and I have had plenty of conversations just about life. She's taught me how things around her house run which in turn has taught me organization and even some business practices of hers. But even so, I was told I was brought here to learn from her.

Recently I've been thinking about this quite a bit. The idle time gives me a lot of time to do that. Every time I tell myself "you're just overthinking it" to let it go but I keep coming back to that thought. It makes me wonder how in tune she is with me. I tend to begin to question and she shows up or sends support.

But the nights are quiet while the days are long. I can hear the wind howl at night as the blistering cold begins to move in. I keep myself warm with the burning fire. I've got it to where it can go all night keeping the small space heated. Morning comes and I clean out the ash, replace the logs, and use the still-warm coals to reignite the fire for the day.

It's become routine. Boring, everyday routine.

I miss home…

It's hard right now with everything going on. I'm just stuck here for the moment. It could be weeks before I can do anything again.

Why?

Why did this happen?

I don't even want this power. This role. But fate thrust it upon me as my burden to bear. I wish I could pass it along to someone else.

As I sit on my bed with the morning sun coming in again I look behind me at the two tails sprawled on the bed. With just a thought, I can make the tip of one, then the other move. I've grown accustomed to them as if I were born with them.

In my groggy state, I go to stand, my paws hitting the cold wooden floor. The fire hasn't died out just yet but it's close. Once it's started again it quickly begins to heat up. I fall into my recliner with a hefty huff as I sink into it. I've beaten it in enough that it's comfortable. It's been molded to my butt so it fits perfectly.

As I look over to the bookshelf wondering what to reread next I hear a rapping at my door. I can tell who it is before they even enter. Only one person knocks so daintily and that is none other than Madam Odette. Her heels click against the wood as she enters. It's now a habit that as she walks in I stand up to greet her, "Good morning, Madam Odette."

"Good morning, Red. Did you sleep well?"

She's very polite as she enters. She takes off her shoes on the mat to help control the snow and slush from damaging the nice floors. It only takes her two long steps to reach the bed and take a seat sinking into the blankets. I just lean against the back of the recliner. I'm still in the comfortable clothes I sleep in. A pair of warm mid-length shorts and a thin, light blue shirt.

At just a glance it's easy to tell she has something on her mind. I take the initiative and prod her a bit with a simple, "What's on your mind?" I'm trying to be a bit more casual and friendly with her when she comes to me. I don't address her as "Madam Odette" with every sentence as I have been trained to do.

Her face goes through a small range of emotions before she inhales to relax. "I have some good news for you and what you may think is bad news. The good news is you are released from your house arrest. The matter with your Uncle Thomas has been settled and nothing further will come of it, legally speaking. I don't know how your family will treat you though or how they will explain this to everyone else."

She doesn't look me in the eye as she explains this. There must be something or something that happened that did not go favorably. She does so much for me and I cannot reciprocate. "So now! The 'what you may think is bad news' portion!"

"There's more to that?"

"But of course!"

She's perked up for what may be bad news for me. I'm a little uneasy with her smile. She stands up walking over to me with an odd sway in her hips. I've seen it before, or so I think I have. This time almost feels nefarious. "Red, do you still want to learn magic from me?"

Is this my moment? Is this finally it? "Yes, I do!"

"You sound excited. That may change once we get started. I'll begin preparations. You should study up on some survival techniques in the meantime."

I can feel my heart sink at the thought of what she may consider "survival techniques." As she turns her tail wraps under my chin before pushing my head up. "Also, think of something warm to wear. It gets rough at night."

She leaves me in confused silence. I'm not sure what to expect. I can only prepare for the worst. She says she's going to teach me magic but she also is going to make it survival training…

Am… am I going to die?