Tales of Ayre

Evaliena was true to her word. Despite the tiredness, Jace was feeling. She gingerly grabbed and lifted him into a linen filled basket. His body refused to let himself fall into a deep sleep, with every sound pricking his ears and stabbing at his mind to wake up and check. Boards cracked and creaked at random intervals while winds howled at the keep’s structure. Sleep soon took him.

The wind never stopped howling. It was still dark the next time he woke. His ears perked to voices echoing through the stone building. Voices he did not recognise. He raised his head to check that Evaliena was still in the room. Her bedroom had very few amenities. A circular futon like bed with piled up covers, a trunk, a pot? And a large bookcase of fashion to the ones he saw before. The place smelt of her, a soft floral scent that pervaded the senses. There was also a pungent, burning wood smell he couldn’t describe.

Jace rested his head back down, closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep, focusing on the voices below. There the clacks of metal on glass and wood mix in.

“Is that the heart of it?” A younger feminine voice spoke. “You found a kit just wandering around the forest?…Cinnamon will not be pleased.”

A mature feminine voice spoke. “Cinnamon is never pleased with anything. These oats are good, by the way, Sandal.”

“Thank you.”

“He’ll have to accept that someone younger than himself will be around for a while.”

“Brought another stray home with you again, Sandal?” An old masculine voice articulated. “Tell me the story later. I need some food in my gut first.” A chair scraped, and a pan sizzled.

The younger feminine voice spoke again. “And another male being here is just going to make things worse.”

“Girl.” The masculine voice spoke again. “You are here at Sandal’s discretion. You’re quite welcome to go back home.” The younger voice grumbled before quieting down. “So, is this stray of yours still asleep? Where are they?”

A sudden pressure swept across Jace’s body, causing the hairs along his back to prickle, then it went away. “He’s sleeping like a lamb, Cedar.” Evaliena responded. A kettle whistled, and the sound died down.

A scream of frustration sounded out. “Here comes the storm.” The older feminine voice dripped with sass.

“Where is he!” a mature masculine voice shouted out. The heavy stomps on the wood came closer and closer. “Where is he!?”

“Boy! Do you have to shout every time?” Cedar spoke.

“Where the hells is he, Sandal?!” Cinnamon spoke.

“You Will Calm Down.” Evaliena responded.

“You know what my situation is!”

“Who I bring into my home is my business, Cinnamon. Don’t strut around like you own the place.”

“Bah.” “He’s in your room, isn’t he?!”

Concern grew within Jace. There was a scuffle down below.

“You do not dictate the rules here.” He heard muffled gags and choking. “You are stretching my patience, Pup. If you don’t control your rut, I’ll send you back to your clan.” Someone or something slid and hit the floor. “Now, do you want breakfast or not?”

The older male laughed heartily.

“Fine!” Cinnamon spoke with a venom tinged tone.

The older female spoke once more. “Well, now that you’ve been thoroughly put in your place, the little one upstairs is an orphaned pup.” Cinnamon cursed and profusely apologised. “So you were saying earlier, Sandal?”

“Well.” “The kit is still in shock. He hasn’t quite understood the immensity of his situation yet.”

The older male coughed. “If they’re orphaned, it’s better to be honest with them or..”

“I’m well aware, Cedar..” What did Evaliena mean by still in shock and orphaned?...

An overwhelming dread fell upon Jace’s mind. What colour was in the world had drained. The sound deadened. The questions tumbled through thick and fast. His heart rate raised. The tears welled. Is he stuck here forever? Is he stuck like this forever? Will he ever see his family again? He felt… small…

And

He

Couldn’t

Hold the tears

Back.

“He wasn’t really asleep, was he?” a voice he couldn’t make out spoke.

Evaliena had Jace cradled and tucked against her. He sobbed incoherently as the emotions flowed to dampen Evaliena’s shawl.

“That wasn’t a conversation he should have heard.”

The vixen was bouncing and patting his back, trying her best to soothe the pain. “It’s okay, you’re not alone, little one.” She repeated occasionally.

“Ancestors, you think?” Evaliena barked softly at someone. “Just go do your chores. I need time here. It might take most of the day. To calm him down.”

“Why is he glamored?”

“One issue at a time, Baysil. Go.” Evaliena said sternly.

The sobbing continued for a while. Jace’s voice was hoarse as he coughed out every tear now. The flow slowly stopped as he exhausted his built up emotions.

“It’s fine. Just let it all out.” Evaliena cooed softly.

“Oh, is it fine?” Jace said quietly, as his voice was raw. “I’m never going to see my family, my friends, the games I played…” His tears had long run dry. “You told me to go die in the forest…”

“That last one. I may have chosen my words poorly.” The vixen continued her almost motherly cooes. “While you’ve lost everything. You’re still here, you have time, you can rebuild your ties anew. A whole other world to explore. And you won’t be alone.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes.” Evaliena affirmed. “You’ll need to accept the new reality you find yourself in. You have all the time you could possibly need. Within reason.”

“B-but who would look out for me?” Jace whimpered.

“If you want, I can fill in. I’m not so heartless to leave a pup or a child to face the world alone until they are ready themselves.” Evaliena reassured. “Besides, it’s been a while since I had someone to teach and watch grow.” She let out a soft laugh.

Jace wiped his face against Evaliena’s fur and sniffled. “Thank you.” He wheezed out.

“Now I’m going to have to teach you how to shift your glamour.” Evaliena spoke softly. “Can’t have you walking around on all fours, lest that young man down stairs thinks you’re a wildling.”

Jace was still shaking. The only words he could process were shift and glamour. His throat was raw. “What’s a glamour?”

“Will you be fine if I set you down?” The vixen asked. Jace softly nodded. She put Jace down in the basket he slept in the night before and put her hands on her hips as she turned around. “It’s better if you see for yourself. Fair warning, my clothes won’t stay on.” She stepped away a few paces.

Jace watched Evaliena’s yellowed furred back. The shift was eerily quiet, apart from the light bristling and brushing of silken fur as her form shrunk. Her curves flattened and her limbs thinned while she slowly dropped onto all fours, keeping the same yellow, white, and brown fur pattern. She turned her head to Jace and sauntered over with only the bare hint of a smile. The change dampened any facial expression she wore. She had left her shawl on the floor where she transformed. She looked regal and majestic.

“That is… unsettling…” Jace coughed.

Evaliena strode around Jace’s bed and laughed. “You have quite the vocabulary, little one.” She was bigger, much bigger. “The last time anyone had seen me like this… and knew that it was me was centuries ago.” She purred proudly and gave her body a thorough shake, then a four-legged stretch with her forelimbs pushing forward.

“But enough prancing through the hills and fields.” She jumped up and transformed back into her original anthropomorphic state. Her brown socked feet landing with a thump. Jace thanked that he was too tired to register just what he was staring at. “I hope you’re ready for breakfast, unless you’d prefer to sleep in all day?” The vixen reached down and gingerly picked up Jace. She felt soft, like a fluffy blanket.

Jace’s stomach growled.

Evaliena’s bedroom existed on the second floor. Its door opened into another donut styled room with a fireplace built into the central pillar. The same wood as the living area covered the floor. Dusty, Canvas covered furniture filled one side of the floor. Evaliena moved and slowly took the wall hugging staircase down to the first floor. The smell of burning wood, old tobacco, cooked porridge, and seared meat pervaded the air. Gently lit by the soft orange glow of the crystals.

There was a person wrapped in several layers rocked in a chair next to the hearth. All Jace could see was a pair of fading to grey black ears perked and moving. As if to listen to Evaliena’s footsteps on the stairs. They were wearing a collection of coloured garments. Far too many from what Evaliena told Jace that was considered usual.

A voice erupted from the figure in the chair as they rocked. “Is the pup becalmed now?”

Evaliena kept walking. “He’s here now, Cedar.” She responded. “How was your breakfast?”

“Wonderful, as always. I wish my mate could cook half as well as you do.” The old male lauded. Jace kept his quiet. Cedar raised an arm, which was mostly covered by fabrics. The black furred paw looked frail as it held a dark wood smoking pipe. He took a deep puff and smoke blew out soon after. “Sandal, you said he’s stuck in his travel form?”

“I did.” Evaliena glanced down at her cradling arms. “It will not take me long to get our little guest out of it. But first he needs food.”

“You have ample mammaries, Sandal, use them.” Cedar seriously intoned. Or was it a jest?

Jace hid his face so that one could see the fluster on it. He also felt the subtle motion of a shrug from Evaliena, the likes of which one would do if they heard a terrible pun. “It’s been centuries since the last time I nursed any children, and he’s too old for that.” Jace curled up even tighter. Cedar let out a low chuckle.

The yellow vixen laid down near the hearth and moved up to prepare Jace’s breakfast. The old fox sitting in the rocking chair leant over to examine Jace. “A grey fur? You didn’t say they were a grey fur. Say boy, what’s your name?”

Jace raised his head and looked over his side at the old fox. “It’s just Jace, sir.”

“Sir? My, you have manners. Townsfolk?” Cedar interrogated. Jace didn’t understand the slang. The old fox stroked their chin with their free hand. “If it helps, pup, I can tell you’re clearly learned.”

Cedar looked old. His movements at the moment were slow and deliberate. Fur that was a silver black that was fading in colour, and it was quite limp and frail looking. His brows were thick and shaded by his old pinprick eyes. If the old fox had a mane, there were bare wisps of it left. The chops on his face were skinny and his muzzle was narrow. Cedar looked and sounded every minute of his age, but there was a practised elegance to it.

“I’m Cedar of the Silvers. Spellblade extraordinaire.” Cedar spoke and politely bowed from their chair.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, I guess..” Jace mumbled.

“You are long past your prime as a spellblade, and you gave up winddancer to your last apprentice decades ago.” Evaliena said as she began chopping and seasoning away at a small piece of meat.

“It doesn’t make it any less true.” Cedar responded smoothly. “Boy, I slayed many men and monsters in my time. And laid quite a few vixens, too.” Evaliena groaned and Cedar let out another crude chuckle.

“I don’t think talking about your exploits is appropriate right now.” Evaliena walked on over to the hearth and threw the meat into a hot prepared pan.

“I don’t mind.” Jace rested his head on his flank.

Cedar tilted his pipe excitedly to Jace. “See. see?” he cackled at Evaliena. “I also understand what you’re going through, boy, waking up one day with suddenly everyone you knew is just gone and being in a strange place.”

“In your case, it was because you bedded a clan leader’s daughter. It was Chief Willow’s, if I remember correctly.” Evaliena jabbed. Cedar just scoffed and brushed it off cheerily. Clearly, they both went far back together. “You were extremely lucky nothing became of that.” She flipped the piece of meat over.

Jace was all too clued in from the amount of fantasy books he had read. Some of which he should not have had.

“Anyway, just let him eat. I don’t want him choking on his food, from you regaling everything that happened in your youth.” Evaliena spoke sternly as she slid and sliced the cooked meat into a wooden plate to serve to Jace.

Cedar took another long puff of his smouldering and pungent pipe. And ignored Evaliena to spill his story.

Jace took his time, chewing up the pieces of the perfectly seared meat with his teeth before gulping them down. Cedar rambled on about his various adventures and conquests as a travelling spellblade. Protecting those too weak to fend for themselves on the road, or slaying a monster or two. And in one instance, participating in a feudal lord’s war as a mercenary. All the while Cedar down a cup of pungent floral tea, Jace not being allowed a sip. Being stuck on four legs.

Jace didn’t understand half the things Cedar was talking about. “If I may ask, why are you wearing so many layers?” Jace was genuinely interested, as it was the opposite of what Evaliena told him to expect.

“Pup, when you get my age of frailty. You sort of stop being warm.” Cedar spoke plainly. “I don’t have Sandal’s lineage, so I’m not immune to the effects of getting older.” He cuts a glance at Evaliena, who was washing some dishes. “And it’s been a good run. I can still kick your backside in scrap if you push it.” Cedar’s smile allowed his teeth to glint.

Jace finished his meal, got up on all fours, and stretched. “A few more decades and you’ll finally be out of my fur,” Evaliena quipped.

Cedar slapped the armrest of the rocking chair and snorted. “You will not get rid of me that easily, Woman! Ah.”

“Jace.” Evaliena called him to attention. She had a tall mirror standing beside her. “Would you come over here? I’m going to teach you how to release your glamour.” she gestured to the window.

“Well, Don’t let this old man keep you here.” Cedar waved his hand dismissively.

Jace padded over to Evaliena. “What’s the mirror for?”

Evaliena looked at the mirror. “Oh, this is just a normal mirror until I cast a spell on it.” Spells, leaping incredible distances, the glowing crystals, so much magic and wonder in this place.

Jace peered into the mirror. There was an orange and grizzled coloured fox staring back at him in the mirror. He noticed there were differences between that of a usual fox. As if that mattered to him now…

“Ready little one?”

Jace nodded softly. Evaliena clicked her fingers and tapped the mirror. Its reflective surface shimmered like quicksilver. The ripples eventually stopped, and Jace became surprised by what he saw. The imposter in the mirror made a similar expression. “So, weird…”

Evaliena raised a brow, and an ear as she watched Jace’s interaction with the mirror. “First time seeing your other self in the mirror?”

“It’s like a funhouse mirror…” Jace’s impostor was standing on two legs, standing on their toes. An anthropomorphised appearance compared to his current form.

“There’s two options.” Evaliena added. Jace looked up at her. “I could throw you in the mirror and fix you that way. Or.”

“Or?”

“She’ll teach you the traditional method.” Cedar who was still looking at the hearth’s fire. “You’re not one of us. But for every step in our world you take.”

“The further I step away from mine?…” Jace felt his feet go cold.

“Cedar, not now, please.” Evaliena let out a tired sigh and rubbed her cheek.

“It’s only the truth, old girl.” Cedar took a puff of his smoking pipe. “But if it’s as I suspect, that door home has already been closed.”

Jace took an audible gulp and looked back into the mirror with his imposter staring back at him. “What’s the traditional way?”

“Take a good look at your reflection in the mirror.” Evaliena told Jace. her tone taking on that of a one skilled at teaching. “Then close your eyes and imagine that form.” Jace followed the instruction. “Picture it as a winch or a tapestry, and grab that loose thread with your mind.” Jace tried to imagine grabbing a loose thread from the image in her mind. “Now pull it.” Evaliena spoke firmly.

Jace gripped and pulled at that thread. “And keep pulling.” Jace listened. His body started shifting ways he couldn’t describe. Feeling both unnatural and natural at the same time with the ease with which he pulled the thread. A hand pulled into his two back feet him from behind as changes spread. The hand held him firm as his balance adjusted. The changes stopped, the picture in his head gone. Jace blinked open his eyes and looked around. Everything felt smaller.

But he was still short, as he was now looking straight at Evaliena’s belly. “Ack!” Jace jumped back and fell on his backside. Cedar let out another laugh. “He’s gonna need some pants made.” Cedar teased.

Despite the teasing and saying it was unnecessary. Jace did not feel completely comfortable unless he had clothes for both his top and bottom half. Evaliena hemmed to size a temporary kilt, small clothes and a simple poncho for Jace to wear. Another display of the yellow vixen’s skills as she worked with needles, thread, and a thimble.

Jace sat on the floor next to the hearth as he waited for Evaliena to finish her work. A heavy blanket over his legs and belly.

“Fussy, townie child.” Cedar commented, he had put his smoking pipe away.

“You didn’t have to stay here all day, Cedar.” Evaliena pointed out. “I distinctly remember you had business to take care of.”

“What, and miss out on the entertainment I received today?” Cedar chuckled. “I’ll go to the sapphires tomorrow. They won’t complain if I’m a few days late.” Jace, intrigued, wanted to ask the old fox what it was. “And you, boy, before you get your hopes up. It’s none of your business,” His inquiry immediately shutdown

With nothing to do. Jace watched the fire burning in the hearth as the winds howled against the keep’s walls. His eyes became heavy. He could barely stay awake as he slumped to his side.

The nap was peaceful. However, he had his sleep interrupted as someone was fawning over his side. Jace slowly cracked open an eye. His sight was hazy at first, then sharpened. The individual crouching at his side had black socked arms, with chestnut and white fur. They wore a simple shawl, not the dyed and embroidered fabric that Evaliena’s had. Jace’s eyes wandered down before he closed them. He sat up and wiped his face with his forearm. The stranger’s arms retreated behind their back.

“What.. are you doing?” Jace spoke groggily.

The stranger spoke with a certain lightness in her voice. “So this is what you really look like, huh? You’re quite cute.”

“Uh, thanks?” Jace pulled up the blankets.

“Don’t harass him, Baysil. You still have your chores and studies to finish.” Evaliena reminded the younger vixen. Baysil stood up and turned to Evaliena, harrumphing and crossing her arms. “I don’t run a hospice, young lady. Now go.”

“Oh, fine.” Baysil stomped off. Her bushy tail raised with irritation. Reminding Jace of Evaliena’s warning about her people. Jace sniffed the air. Cedar’s scent had left. There was the smell of fresh bread and beer? And there were other scents in the air. Two of them inviting and the other musky and provoking. That last one probably belonged to Cinnamon.

“Pah.” A voice he heard earlier in the morning. It dripped of sass. “She’ll learn.” Jace blinked at the other female fox in the room that wasn’t Evaliena. She had a fiery orange coat with white. She was curled up in a heavy blanket near the hearth. Sitting on a fur skin rug. She looked and winked at Jace. “Name’s Burr. it’s nice to meet you Jace.” She greeted him kindly.

Jace scratched his arms and groaned. “How many more am I going to meet today?” “And it’s nice to meet you, too. Burr.” The mature vixen nodded.

“There’s a few more. They rarely come up here though and prefer to stay in their dens.” Evaliena explained. Jace didn’t look, but he could hear the faint scratching of a pen on rough paper. “Your clothes are ready, by the way. I thought I just let you sleep.”

“Say Sandal, how old did you say he was? He doesn’t look and smell much older than seven.” Burr commented.

“I’m fifteen years old.” Jace shook the rest of the sleep from his mind.

“You’re not fifteen, pup,” Burr said as she teased him. “Baysil was sitting next to you for a while and you had no reaction. Slept like a log.”

“His mind is fifteen, but his body is definitely younger. Such an odd case.” Evaliena spoke absently. “But it’ll make my job easier.” Jace wanted to argue, but he couldn’t argue with someone that was six centuries old. The gap in experience was simply two wide. So he conceded.

“Will I also be put to work as well?” Jace asked earnestly.

“Oh. most certainly, a young, strong lad such as yourself will be clearing latrines, tarring up the roof and pulling the vegetables out of the patch, readying them for winter storage.” Burr happily expounded. Jace felt like he was going to hurl upon hearing he was going shovelling waste. “Oh, Have I said too much?”

“Please Burr, don’t make the pup sick in here. And you won’t be doing any of that, Jace. I have spells to deal with those. Besides, I need to teach you letters since Burr here certainly can not do that.” The yellow vixen assured.

“The cheek.” Burr snorted derisively to almost laughing. Something told Jace that Burr has had children of her own.

“But anyway, yes, you’re physically younger than you suggest you are, Jace.” Evaliena said, clarifying.

Jace cursed and then felt ill at the suggestion he’d be going through growing pains again. Burr cackled. Jace asked why that was a good thing. Evaliena responded. “It gives me time to prepare you for the world.”

It was the end of the day. Evaliena had forced Jace to run around the interior of the keep for several laps. He didn’t like it. Unlike when he was on four legs. On two legs, his fur got damp and heavy with sweat instead of him baking from the inside out. Therians were a strange chimaera of concepts in Jace’s mind.

The clothes she adjusted fitted Jace adequately. But he had to admit defeat on the small-clothes. They were grabbing and yanking at the fur across his lower regions. He’d just have to get used to it. He ran into the last Reynard that slept in the Keep. Cinnamon, a red furred individual wearing a simple undyed kilt, gave him a courtesy nod of acknowledgement and did not say a thing to Jace.

Evaliena forced Jace to help with laying out the supper for the night. To watch a two sectioned enamelled pot come to boil with the help of a small cluster of orange crystal. “Why not boil the pot above the hearth?” Jace asked.

Evaliena walked on over, carrying two wooden bowls filled with various whole spices, salt, herbs and aromatics. “Because we want to be sitting around it.” She replied with a smile. The two were the only ones in the living area. “It’s an occasion. For you, I might add.” She poured the bowls deftly into the two separate sections of the pot.

An ever so inviting set of smells emanated from the pot as it bubbled. He smelt smokey, peppery and sweet scents from the broths as the flavour leached out and clouded the water with a deep red and a pale cream. There was also a subtle onion and garlic scent in there, too.

“I’ve had… a similar meal before.” Jace leant back, watching the glowing crystal spark and stutter.

“I guess this would feel comforting?” Evaliena walked away to cut up various accoutrements to go along with the meal. Meats, leafy greens, mushrooms.

“Where’d you get all these spices? And the meat.” Jace wondered aloud. “It mustn’t be easy keeping regular supplies of these?”

“Jace.” Evaliena kept expertly chopping along. “What would you do if you could go wherever you want in a single step?”

“Shopping, I guess?” Jace answered in an idle tone. “See the sights?”

Evaliena snickered. “Then you know how I maintain my stash. Also, it helps that I have a wide knowledge of herb lore. Jace, could you grab those cushions over there and place one down for each of us?”

Jace does as asked. Getting up from the floor and returned to the pot with six well used cushions that, in his mind, stunk. “I guess it explains some more expensive looking things…”

“You won’t find flavours like this outside of caravanserai, ports, and cities.” The yellow vixen added. “But that’s not to mean the food in other places is bad.”

“You have to teach me how to cook, please.” Jace gave Evaliena a pleading look. She laughed and teased a promise that she would.

The rest of the evening. Jace was a new member of the hermitage’s supper meal. He was quiet, as he had nothing to add to the conversations spoken around the pot. Cedar told a few stories, not his, but of legends of this new world. Jace got a taste of a common beverage called small beer. It offended his taste buds. Much to the amusement of Burr and Cedar. The drink tasted mildly of honey and strongly of hops and malt. Apparently, small beer was what most people drank alongside tea instead of water.

The older three were making Jace feel welcome. Cinnamon and Baysil, however, felt as if they were trying their best to ignore him. Cinnamon’s scent was offensive, as if hostile specifically to Jace. He put on his plainest face to ignore Cinnamon for now.

With the meal over, Jace climbed back upstairs to Evaliena’s room. He didn’t have a proper bed, just a basket to sleep in. Wanting to test his ability to glamour. He forgot to rebalance himself, landing hard on his hands? paws? He grunted, slumping on the cold wooden floor as a painful jolt that went through his forearms. A few thoughts crossed through his mind. Could he adjust other things about himself with this ability? Maybe another day. He didn’t want to get stuck while experimenting.

Climbing into the basket. He tucked himself in the folds of linen. The winds outside howled loudly. Breaking against the study walls of the keep. The wooden beams creaked and cracked with their natural expansion and shrinkage. He tucked head in. Covering his nose so the air took his body heat as he breathed.

Something interrupted his sleep. His body paralyzed as something’s teeth grabbed the back of his neck. The scent pervading his nose was familiar and calming. “You’re sleeping with me tonight.” Evaliena’s muffled voice said. She shifted and placed Jace in her bed. It was soft and smelt of down and of her. She curled her larger four legged form around Jace.

“Why?” Jace didn’t open his eyes, too tired to wake up.

“It’s going to be cold tonight.” She purred and wrapped her arm around his side. “It’s my wish that you feel welcomed here.” She cooed softly.

“Can I ask a few questions?” Jace yawned.

“A couple, then it’s off to sleep with you.”

“Why does Cinnamon stink so much?”

Evaliena rumbled a chuckle and stifled herself. “Cinnamon is in a rut. His body is yearning for a mate, and he’s lost control of his scents. With no suitable partners around, he’s understandably irate.” “Don’t worry about it. He’ll be moving on from here soon.”

“Why is he even here in the first place?”

“That’s between me and him.” She responded softly. “Any more questions?”

Jace wondered if he would go through the same thing, then mentally hit himself for thinking that. Of Course he would, why wouldn’t he? So he changed to his other question. “Can you do other things with glamour?” At least he could have his questions answered now, he thought.

“You can.” She explained as she yawned. “But by the time your body fully matures, what forms you come up with will eventually fix in place.” She paused for a moment. “But that’s partly a lie we tell youngsters, so they don’t completely break themselves with experimentation. ”

“Break Themselves?!” Jace exclaimed concernedly.

“It’s not pretty and often not survivable.” She spoke gravely. “I’ve seen it happen a few times… The kits weren’t quite the same after I helped reverse the damage they caused to themselves. I don’t think any of them ever used their glamors after that, either.” Jace could imagine the permanent scarring that must have caused. It made him feel sick.

Jace audibly gulped. Evaliena pounced on the implication. “So, you thought you would want to try playing with your glamors?” Evaliena smiled. “Tempted by what the other side feels and offers, huh?” she gently nudged.

Jace’s body warmed, and he hid his head under his arms. “No, no, nothing like that at all!” Unfortunately, that only made him curious about what she meant, on top of feelings of embarrassment.

Evaliena let out a long laugh at Jace’s expense. “You’re not the first or the last. It’s more common than you think and highly discouraged, but most kits decide they just like being the way they were born.” She nuzzled the back of Jace’s head. “Now rest you. I’ll give you a fortnight to settle in. Then I’m handling your education and putting you to work.”

Jace could barely sleep that night, suffering nightmares of ‘breaking’.