Page 46 of Apples Dipped in Gold

Finally, in the quiet, I put my hands on my hips and glared down at the fox.

“That was horribly rude,” I said.

He coughed, and blood sprayed the floor.

“Fox?” I asked, taking a step closer and kneeling.

He coughed again and then sneezed, shaking his head before sitting back and looking at me.

“If you think that was rude, then you don’t know pixies,” he said.

He licked his paw while scrubbing his face.

I studied him for a few seconds more before letting my attention drift to my surroundings. In the chaos of waking, I hadn’t had time to think about where I might be, but now I saw that I was in a tree. Sunlight streamed in through the surrounding branches where round beds hung, some small, some large.

I had never seen anything so strange.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We are in the Kingdom of Larkspur,” said the fox. “In the palace of Cardic, the second brother.”

“Lore’s brother?” I asked.

“Unfortunately,” replied the fox.

“Why?”

“Who can say what the Prince of Poison was thinking,” said the fox. “But I suspect he thought you would be more comfortable sleeping in a bed than on the forest floor.”

That was…thoughtful given that the last thing I remembered before drifting off was his anger. I lifted myhand to my hair, touching the comb the goblin king had given me.

“Keep it, wild one,” said the fox. “You will need it.”

I wanted to ask why exactly I would need a comb but decided against it. I was rarely ever given anything, and I did not want to throw away the gift from the goblin king anyway, even if it did upset Lore, which I still did not understand.

Would I have been such a terrible choice? he’d asked, but was it that he wanted to be my betrothed or that he wanted to ensure I would journey with him to the wishing tree?

Speaking of the Prince of Nightshade…

“Where is Lore?” I asked.

“Either dead or alive,” said the fox. “Which, I do not know.”

The fox’s answer was unhelpful, but I suspected he knew that as he rose and trotted off down the hall. I followed him, entering what I guessed was the main entrance of Cardic’s castle. It was beautiful. The walls were carved with intricate designs, with careful attention to the windows and doors, which were framed with leaves and flowers. A set of stairs was carved into the trunk, spiraling up and around. I craned my neck, wondering how far they went and what might dwell on the other levels of the palace, but dizziness overwhelmed me. I looked down, where the fox waited at my feet.

“Does Lore have a castle?” I asked, curious.

“He does,” the fox confirmed.

“What does it look like?”

“I am certain I do not know,” replied the fox.

I was surprised.

“If you have never been to his kingdom, how did you meet the prince?”

“We crossed paths while he was hunting. When he took aim at me, I asked him not to kill me, and in exchange, I would help him obtain his greatest desire.”