Enjoy your pissing on things, Tom replies as I trot out of the stables behind my boy.
I follow Toffee and my boy along in silence, enjoying our walk through the brisk morning. Most of Brucia is still asleep, but there are people beginning to wake in the deepest parts of the city.
The faint glow of lanterns bleeds through windows into the street at the bakery and my stomach growls at the smell of fresh dough. We pass the butcher who sometimes has treats for me, but his window is still dark. No treats this morning.
At the gate, the guards stand around like sleepyheads and don’t even notice the elf prince and his war hound as we trot on, passing under the stone arch and across the drawbridge into the wide, wild world.
There, nothing sleeps. Crickets sing in the tall grass off the dirt path. Field mice scurry around looking for somewhere to hide. I track a beetle for a little while, nose to the ground, until it sprouts wings and flutters away. Then I have to run to catch up with my boy.
When we reach the Y in the road, he takes Toffee to the right. I pause, the fur prickling at my neck. Mercia’s estate is the other way.
“We’re not going to Mercia’s estate,” Faelyn says.
My stomach complains. It would’ve been breakfast time when we arrived, and Mercia and Aryn have no shortage of children willing to drop me scraps.
Where, then? I ask, trotting up behind Toffee carefully. I don’t want to get kicked.
“Don’t worry, Brick. I’ve got some snacks for you in my bag.”
As hungry as I am, snacks aren’t my biggest concern. I can guard my boy just fine against most things, but what if something goes wrong? I’m not as young and spry as I used to be. No one will know where to look for us if something happens.
I’m on high alert as we veer off the road and into the high grass. It’s too early and too cold for snakes to be about, but the world seems to have gone silent, as if the crickets and mice can sense a predator I can’t see or smell.
The twinge of color in the sky deepens, brightening to a tapestry of pink and orange. The shadows become shallower and soon the grassland stretched out before us is bathed in the gold light of dawn.
I bound through the tall weeds, knocking dew from the plants, and kicking free fluffy white balls of flower seeds. Some of the seeds stick to my fur, but the rest dance in the sky before flying off. A yellow butterfly lands on my nose and I try to catch it, but it flaps away.
A little further on, I catch the scent of two rabbits and start to lead my boy to their hiding place. When he doesn’t follow, I spin around and bark excitedly, but he keeps riding, disinterested in my find. In fact, he seems disinterested in everything around him.
It’s like he’s got somewhere else to be, but that’s not how hunting works. I start to wonder if he’s confused. My boy is usually a very good hunter.
We come up on a lake with a sandy beach and some trees beyond. There are ducks in the water, and I want to chase them, but I hang back, not wanting to leave my boy.
Faelyn dismounts near the beach. It’s a little cold for humans to swim. He doesn’t have enough fur to keep him warm, but I’m game if he is. He doesn’t go to the water though. My boy pats down the horse before plopping down in the grass with his bag. As soon as he opens it, my stomach rumbles again. There’s some of last night’s ham sandwich in there; I can smell it.
He grins and takes out the sandwich, unwrapping it from the paper. “You want this, boy?”
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I bounce around, panting and making excited little barks until he laughs and tosses the sandwich. I catch it and gobble it up in just a few bites before I go sniffing about for crumbs.
For a little while, he just sits there, arms wrapped around his knees, watching the sun come up over the lake.
Are you waiting for something? I ask once I get bored with nosing through the dirt for crumbs.
Faelyn doesn’t answer me.
I’m starting to really worry about him when a familiar whistle cuts through the air. Faelyn jumps to his feet and returns the whistle. A bush near some trees shakes, and I trot forward, ears perked, ready to leap on whatever comes out. But when I see who it is, I relax and let out a happy bark, running to greet him.
Will is a few years younger than my boy, but he might as well be my other boy. We’ve been having adventures together for years. My favorite days used to be the ones we all three spent together. I’d guard them while they took long walks, or went riding together, and then we’d sit under the stars, watching them all come out. There used to be sleepovers, too, but not anymore. Now, Will doesn’t come to the palace, and Faelyn doesn’t go to see Will at his house. The only times we’re all together are moments like this one, out in the middle of nowhere.
The air always smells like sadness on those days with a twinge of regret. I don’t understand what’s happened between them to change everything, either. All I know is that now, when my boys come together, they only have time for each other. They don’t play with me anymore.
“Will!” Faelyn sounds relieved to see him.
“Did you miss me?” Will says with a lopsided grin and throws his arms around Faelyn.
They embrace and lock lips briefly before Will pulls away and asks, “Did she see you?”
He means Talia, my boy’s half-sister. She’s not allowed to leave the palace after she used her magic to make some boy at the mage school cut off his finger. Talia thinks that because she’s not allowed to leave, Faelyn shouldn’t leave either, but she’s not the boss of him. She’ll be queen one day, but not yet.
My boy shakes his head. “Only Orin, and he knows to keep his mouth shut.”
“Faelyn…” Will sighs.
“I don’t want to talk about Talia,” Faelyn says, and they go back to kissing each other.
For a while, I pace around them. Someone’s got to keep an eye out for bears and monsters while those two clean each other’s teeth with their tongues. But I get bored and trot off to check on those ducks when they fall in the grass together.
There are three of them in the pond. Maybe if I’m quick and quiet, I can get one by the neck. Then I can show my boy what a good hunter I am. Then he’ll remember. He’ll pat my ears and tell me what a good boy I am. Maybe Will and my boy will even cook up the duck and I can have some. We can sit around the fire and watch the stars come out, just like we used to!
I hunch down, muscles coiled tight, and wait for the perfect opportunity. Then, I strike, rushing the ducks as they swim into the reeds. The water is deeper than I realized, though, and there’s a giant splash as I leap in. The ducks scatter. Though I try my best to get one, they all get away.
Might as well go for a swim, then.
The water’s brisk, and it gets even colder the further out I go. It’s not quite time for frost yet, but it will be soon. When the snow falls, I wonder where my boys will meet.
It’ll be too cold to go stripping half naked for a roll in the snow, even if they build a fire. They need four walls, a shelter, a safe place. Why isn’t home safe? Maybe because of Talia. She doesn’t like Will. She doesn’t like anything that makes my boy happy. But why can’t they go to Will’s house? He lives with Aryn and Mercia. I like going there. It’s a busy place with lots of children who will play with me, but I haven’t been there in such a long time. I’m starting to forget what it smells like.
On my way back to shore, I spot a fat little catfish and dive for it. He tries to whip away and stir up the mud, but my jaws closed around him. What luck! We can have a fish supper now! Even better than duck.
Proud of myself, I carry the still wriggling fish out of the water and trot over to where my boys are lying, still kissing each other. I’m a little annoyed when they don’t notice me standing there with my prize. Maybe I can get their attention if I give them a chance to participate in catching the fish. I even decide to make it easy by spitting the fish into the grass. It flops there and starts to wriggle away, but the boys don’t even notice. I whine and they don’t even look up. They’re too busy grunting to hear.