Page 43 of Apples Dipped in Gold

As I did, the fox hopped onto the bed.

“What do you think you’re doing, Fox?” I asked.

“I am going to rest, Prince,” he said. “Be at ease. I am just a fox.”

The creature curled up, resting his chin on his tail. I glowered, my eyes falling to Samara, who had slept so soundlessly from the moment I took her into my arms in the Enchanted Forest. I marveled at how peaceful she looked. This was her, unburdened by worry or fear, and it was beautiful.

I brushed a stray piece of her hair from her pretty, rosy lips, and then she sighed and turned her head away.

I glared at the fox.

“You had better just be a fox,” I threatened.

He opened his eyes long enough to roll them and then went back to sleep.

I left, turning to find my brother watching.

“So how did you come into possession of her?” he asked.

I ignored him, making my way back down the hall.

“Did you slip her belladonna and steal her away?”

“I did not slip her belladonna, and I did not have to steal her away,” I snapped. “I rescued her from thieves outside the Enchanted Forest.”

Cardic pursed his lips. “Well, that isn’t very exciting.”

“Luckily, I do not exist for your entertainment.”

“You exist for nothing, Lore, save this girl. Perhaps now that you have her, you can become interesting again.”

I ignored him.

“You used to be an adept hunter,” he continued. “Do you even remember how to string a bow?”

“Would you like a demonstration?” I asked. “I’ll send an arrow right through your eye.”

Cardic scoffed. “Even your insults have gotten dull.”

I walked ahead of him, back through the foyer of his palace and into the adjacent hall. I started to open doors.

“What do you think you are doing?” Cardic demanded.

“Looking for wine,” I said. “You have to have it here somewhere.”

“Don’t open that!”

But it was too late. The door was open, and I was surprised. I turned to my brother and pointed at the room.

“Why do you have a library?”

It was a nice library, with rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves and leather-bound books.

“Because Iread,” he said.

“Since when?” I asked. I had never seen Cardic with a book in my entire life, not even when we lived with Mother and Father in the Elder Kingdom.

“Since…a while,” he said.