Pendant of Fortune (30 page)

As he stepped into the larger room, Volle could smell the water. Subtle oils in it combined to make a pleasant fragrance that nearly completely concealed the faint sulfur scent, much weaker here than in the hot pool. Beneath that, he could smell many different people; apparently the cooling pools were not separated by Family. As his eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light, he could see two bears, a stag, and a pair of weasels in various parts of the pool. They turned to look at Volle and Dewanne as they entered, then turned back to their own conversations.

Dewanne searched out an unoccupied part of the irregularly shaped pool and settled in, gesturing to Volle to join him. Volyan was staring at the stag and then ran over to where the foxes had settled. He jumped into the pool, but sank down to his eartips. Volle picked up the struggling form and settled the cub in his lap. Volyan had to kneel on his thighs to keep his head above water, but he didn’t seem to mind that. He rested his head back against Volle’s chest.

“
This isn’t very cool,” he said, and he was right. The water was warm, but it wasn’t nearly as hot as the other pool. To Volle, it felt refreshingly cool at first, but he was sure that Volyan was chilly from wandering around with wet fur, and to him, it probably felt very warm indeed. “Why do they call it a cooling pool if it’s so warm? Shouldn’t it be a warming pool?”

“
It’s cooler than the other pool,” Volle said, “so that’s why, I suspect.”

“
Oh.” The cub shifted his weight and Volle felt a paw come uncomfortably close to his sheath, pressing hard into his hip. He put his arms around the cub and held him, to try to keep him from shifting around so much, and Volyan obligingly quieted. “You feel warm,” he said.

“
I’ve been sitting in a hot pool.”

“
What are those things on his head?” Volyan lifted a paw and pointed at the stag.

“
Don’t point.” Volle pulled his arm down hastily as the stag turned their way. “They’re part of him. He’s a stag. They grow antlers out of their head.”

“
Doesn’t it hurt?”

“
I guess not.” Volle nuzzled the cub’s ears. “Haven’t you ever seen a stag before?”

Volyan shook his head. “I saw a goat once but his horns were small and didn’t have branchy things like that.”

“
Antlers,” Volle said gently.

“
Antels,” Volyan repeated.

“
Close enough,” Dewanne said.

Volle grinned again. Between the hot bath and the chatter of Volyan, his other problems seemed little more than a distant memory. He rested his muzzle between the cub’s ears and held him close, and Volyan leaned back against him. Volle felt the twitching of his tail as it tried to wag in the water, against his stomach, and then even that movement slowed. The cub’s breathing became more regular, and when Volle noticed that his eyes were closed, he closed his own as well. He wasn’t particularly tired, but he was very relaxed and his eyes just drifted shut.

“
Vinton.” He wasn’t sure how much later it was that Dewanne’s paw gripped his shoulder gently. “Are you hungry?”

“
Uh?” He blinked his eyes open, and Volyan stirred in his lap. “I guess so.” He looked around the pool. The stag and the two bears were gone. The weasels were still there, and two squirrels had come in.

“
I’m hungry too.” Volyan rubbed his eyes.

“
But we’re all wet.” And naked, of course.

Dewanne chuckled. “That’s okay. Usually we eat a light lunch, then go back to the hot pool and then dry off in the dust baths. You can stay down here for dinner or go back up to the castle.”

The castle. He thought about Streak up there, still in prison; about Dereath, waiting with unbearable smugness for Volle to come take his offer. He felt the peace the pools had brought him disturbed, and frowned. “Maybe I’ll just eat at Helfer’s mansion.”

“
Whatever you like.” Dewanne stepped out of the pool and stood, dripping, on the tile. Volle lifted Volyon off his lap and got up, placing the cub on the tile before climbing out himself. They dressed, again only in shorts, and this time Volle slipped his tunic over Volyan’s head. It trailed on the ground, gathering dust, but Volyan was delighted and ran ahead of them. Twice he tripped and fell, but both times he got up cheerfully, so Volle stopped worrying about him.

Behind the buildings, under the shade of a large tent, a number of wet people sat and talked while berobed otters scurried around the tables and carried ceramic bowls to and fro. As they got closer, Volle was overpowered by the smell of wet fur, so much so that he couldn’t even smell the food in the bowls.

Dewanne found the two vixens, but Volyan got there first. “Mommy!” he cried, and ran toward Ilyana, tripping and falling on the brick walk five feet from her.

“
Voly!” Volle saw the concern, but she was also trying to stifle a laugh. “Where did you get that tunic? Here, put your shorts on.”

The cub, unfazed by his fall, took the shorts and slipped his legs into them, but refused to take the tunic off. “I wanna keep wearing Daddy’s tunic!” he said, squirming as Ilyana tried to take it off, and finally she gave up. He sprang free and immediately tripped again.

“
Here,” Volle said, laughing as he came up to the cub. “At least roll it up.” He rolled up the hem so that it no longer trailed on the ground.

“
Okay!” Volyan waited until Volle had finished, then climbed up onto the chair next to Ilyana. Volle sat on the other side, smiling at the cub’s beaming muzzle as it swiveled back and forth between him and Ilyana. Lord and Lady Dewanne sat across from them. The vixens already had ceramic bowls in front of them, and now Volle could smell the food. It was simple food, some kind of fowl with fruit and a few spices in it, but it smelled pretty good, especially with his appetite.

An otter scurried over and placed two bowls down on the table, one in front of Volle and one in front of Lord Dewanne. He looked down at Volyan and then at Volle and Ilyana. “A small bowl for the cub?”

“
Yes, please,” Ilyana said. The otter smiled and bowed, and scurried away.

Everyone was using their paws to eat, so Volle did the same. The fruit was juicy, but overall the fowl was still slightly bland. Nevertheless, it was filling, and he’d eaten half of it by the time the otter arrived with another bowl for Volyan, about a third full. Volyan dug in with his muzzle in the bowl, until Ilyana chided him gently.

“
So, Volle,” Lady Dewanne said while he was still eating, “will you be returning to the palace with the rest of the nobles?”

“
He doesn’t know yet, Delia,” Dewanne said. “The hearing is in a few days.”

“
Of course, I know that,” she said. “But I have faith in him. Canis will see him through.”

“
Are you not going back with them?” Volle asked.

“
I will be staying on here for a week. Possibly two.” She looked around and coughed delicately. “This climate is very beneficial to my condition.”

“
Condition?” Ilyana looked startled. “Are you…”

“
My wife,” Dewanne said smoothly, “suffers from a number of ailments, and the close air of the palace is not good for her congestion and rheumatism.”

“
Oh, I see.” Ilyana flicked her ears and certainly didn’t look like she understood.

“
You’re going back to the palace?” Volle asked Dewanne.

The other fox nodded. “Unfortunately, my duties require me to return sooner rather than later.”

“
I understand you will be taking Volyan with you.” Lady Dewanne leaned across the table to smile at the cub.

“
Yes, if all goes well.” Volle put a paw between his ears, and the cub grinned.

She turned to Ilyana. “And will you be going with him?”

“
I…” Ilyana turned briefly to Volle and then back. “No.”

“
I see.” And when Lady Dewanne said it, she did look like she understood.

When Volyan finished his lunch, they returned to the hot pool, and this time, because it was empty, Lord and Lady Dewanne sat together away from the arch. Volle and Ilyana sat together, though too far apart to touch, and watched Volyan jump in and then jump out and run around before jumping in again. For a while Volle just soaked in the water, enjoying the heat and feeling no need to talk. Ilyana didn’t either, but she kept looking at him and tilting her ears. He noticed at last that she did this most often just after Volyan had been around them, and so he decided to say something.

“
He’s a delightful cub,” he said. “You must be…you’ve done a wonderful job.”

Her ears came up, and she smiled. “I’m glad you think so.” She sounded relieved, and he knew he’d guessed right about what she’d been thinking.

“
I do. I’ll be…that is, I’m proud to be his father.”

“
He’s been so looking forward to this. It’s hard for him not to have a father. The others…”

Volle nodded. “He said something about it. It’ll be hard for him not to have a mother, too.”

“
Oh, he’ll get used to it.” She waved a paw, but looked away as she did so. “He’s starting to get impatient with me anyway. I keep him down too much.”

“
He’ll miss you,” Volle said. “But I’ll try to visit you more often.”

She nodded. “He has a lot to learn.”

“
Yes. And I think I do too.”

“
He’s very sweet. He won’t be any trouble. And you’ll have a tutor who will stay with him most of the time.”

Volle considered that. “I want to spend some time with him. And where am I going to find a tutor?” He knew of some tutors around the palace, but didn’t know any of them personally and couldn’t have begun to start choosing one for his son.

“
Tish and Tika will help.”

“
They’re retiring soon.”

“
Not that soon. They’ll be around for a little while still. And you can always write to me. I’d…like that.”

He touched her arm. “I will.”

She smiled at the touch, and just then Volyan slid between them. “Mommy!” he said. “I found where the water comes in! It’s over there and I can just get my paws down to it but I can’t keep them there. It’s really hot!”

“
That’s nice, Voly.”

“
Come see! Come see! You too, daddy!” He scampered out of the pool again and beckoned them to follow him.

Ilyana grinned at Volle. “It doesn’t do any good to ignore him. He has a remarkably long span of attention for such a young cub. He’ll come back if we don’t go see it.”

Volle walked behind her, but didn’t watch the curve of her hips or the swing of her tail. He was thinking about having a son to take care of, about all the responsibilities that went along with that. He didn’t know if Streak would be much help (but that reminded him of Streak’s plight up at the castle, and uneasiness stirred again in him, and guilt at being at this resort while Streak languished in his tower cell). But when he saw Volyan’s eager expression and perked ears, he realized that he wanted to try it. And a nasty little thought crept into his head. If Streak didn’t make it—if he had really killed that mouse, or if Volle couldn’t save him—then he would be alone in the palace with his son. Unless he brought Ilyana. Her naked body in front of him gave him a sense of intimacy that almost made that scenario seem plausible, and for a second he pictured the two of them walking through his bedroom at the palace to see something their son was pointing to.

He dismissed the thought. Streak was going to be fine. He would love meeting Volyan and he and Volle would take care of him at the palace. He held that thought as he knelt down next to Volyan.

The cub was pointing excitedly to a little alcove in the pool. “Try it, try it!” They each dipped a paw in the pool and remarked on how hot it was, and Volyan, happy, scampered off.

Ilyana flicked her ears apologetically. “He’s adventurous too.”

“
I’ve noticed that.”

She seemed very much at ease with him, despite their nakedness. He had yet to catch her looking at his sheath, and her whole posture was very relaxed. He felt comfortable as well, and the more time he spent nude, the more used to it he became, even in front of her. They walked back to their spot in the pool side by side and got in together.

The water was starting to feel uncomfortable, but Volle had thought of some questions, so he stayed in. “What else will I need to do with him at the palace?”

“
I have his clothes with me, so you can take those. You’ll arrange for a tutor for him, and you’ll have to get furnishings—a bed and a little desk, at least. I didn’t bring
those
up from Vinton. And…take him around to my family every now and then. My mother keeps asking me to bring him to visit.”