It was hard to believe it had been just one day since I had last been in this city. My third time overall. I was quickly learning that I was not a big fan of the big crowds of colorful people, or their smells. The fact that our little group was silent and constantly on edge every time a person drew too close didn't really help with that feeling of unease.

"Holy crap, there sure are a lot of people outside when it isn't raining!" August exclaimed. He beamed wide as he stared up at the big yellow sun in the sky, using one of his hands as a make-shift shield from its rays. "And, oh, man, I cannot get enough of this sun!"

Okay, so most of us were on edge. The witch was probably the exact opposite of cautious, and therefore a big reason why Hornroot would not slacken the grip he had on my leash.

            "He is drawing the eye of every last know-nothing in this city," the old familiar's voice hissed in my head.

            There was no mistaking that. Anyone that didn't look his way seemed to be the target of his pointless quips or questions. Like "Where's the best places to eat?" or "Where did you get that shirt/pants/pair of shoes?"

            "Talk about this weather, huh?"was definitely his favorite thing to say to unsuspecting passerby's. While most were just polite and smiled uncomfortably, the few that didn't were quick to move on after coming face to face with the suspicious yellow eyes of Hornroot.

            "Yeah, well, what do you want me to do about it?" I returned as I tugged back on the leash to give him the hint he was being a tad bit too rough. "Go complain to the Lady. She's got him on a tighter leash than you've got on me."

            "Ah, my apologies." I breathed out a sigh of relief as the collar around my neck slackened. "Our Lady does not desire my input on this matter. My complaints have fallen on deaf ears."

            I tried, again, not to feel bad for the old bird. But why did his voice have to sound so dejected as it echoed around in my head? For that matter, why did it seem like he was looking for some sort of comfort in the first place? From me, of all people?

            "I wouldn't take it personal, Horny. I think the Lady is dealing with more than just an overstimulated witch. Maybe she just needs time to sort everything out in her head first before asking for advice, or something."

            And here I was making up crap that might make him feel better. Oh, God. Don't tell me that rotten, old owl and I actually managed to bond after all this time? No, no. Definitely not.

            It was just...Seeing what Lady Louise did to him last night—what it turned him into—made me realize he wasn't just some mindless slave. He was still a person. Well, mostly one, anyways.

            "I would hope you are aware, by now, that nearly all of your thoughts can be heard, whether you vocalize them or not, yes?"

            I tried not to meet the eyes that were now burning into the back of my head. "I may have forgotten for, like, a second. But what am I supposed to do about it, not think about anything?"

            "That would be a good start."

            This time I did shoot a glare back his way, but he seemed to have chosen just then to take an interest in a bakery we were passing. He wasn't as good about hiding the way the corners of his lips turned up, just a fraction.

            "Not everyone can be as empty-headed as you," I shot, ignoring my own desire to smile. Not that I could, really. But saying those words made me realize something. "Speaking of, why am I not hearing your every thought? Not that I'm not grateful for the experience—"

            "You must learn to separate the thoughts you wish to vocalize from the ones you do not. It takes years of practice, and still does little against those who are actively searching for the thoughts you are trying to hide."

            And, just like that, I was reminded of last night. Of the deal I made with the Lady. And now we were here, in Son's city. Everything was moving so fast, all of the sudden.

            "There's something I don't get," I thought to Hornroot before I let the 'thoughts I didn't want to vocalize' get too out of hand. "If my thoughts, and the thoughts of all the familiar's, could be heard this whole time, why'd Wildwood let it go this far? If they knew about us from the start, then why...?"

            Why torture us like that? Why put on such an elaborate act? I swear, if I ever get my hands on that Edgar again—

            "You are making assumptions again, Foxy," Hornroot cut in before I could get any further. "This form of communication is not something created by another Knower. It is something tied to familiar's exclusively—and by extension, their Masters. Thus, it is only those two parties that gain the ability to speak this way."

            "Familiar's exclusively?" I slowed my pace so I was walking beside him. "Fawn never taught us about this. Would have been a hell of a lot more prepared for it if she had."

            "Ah, but Fawn never completed her own training, correct? She has never changed. Therefore, she has never experienced this means of communication."

            "But doesn't the Community know about it?" I pressed. "Wouldn't they want us to know more about it to, I don't know, better prepare us for our futures or whatever?"

            "Now that is assuming the Community knows about it when, in fact, it is one of the few things our Lady and the other free witches have agreed to keep secret from them."

            "But why?"

            Hornroot slowed his pace and, without thinking about it, I slowed mine as well. However, I was caught a bit off guard when he looked down and grinned, ever so smugly, down at me.

            "What?"

            "My, I believe this is the first instance where you and I have had a meaningful and thought-provoking discussion," he said out-loud as he stroked his beard, his grin not going anywhere.

            "And it'll be the last if you keep acting so high and mighty about it," I hissed inside his head before turning my nose in the opposite direction. "Now answer the damn question."

            "Must I?" Before I could turn back and give him more pieces of my mind, he continued. "Did Fawn and the others of the Community truly make it seem as though they and those like our Lady are working together for more than their own personal gain? If given the option, the Community would much prefer all free witches work directly for them just as much as each free witch would prefer to live without the constant eye of Wildwood on them."

            "Ah."

            I was very tempted to end the 'discussion' then and there, just to spite the old bird, but what he was saying was making me think things I hadn't thought of in a long time.

After everything involving Mallard and Minerva had slowed down and we all fell into our routine of training to become familiar's, we all sort of developed our own beliefs on the world of witches. Well, mostly Stallion and Mary did. Their beliefs contrasted so much that their nearly daily shouting matches made me less than eager to try and form beliefs of my own. And Kat and Mutt were never the types to think to hard on stuff like 'witch politics'. They each had their own jobs and that was enough for them.

"But what of you?" Hornroot's voice asked, creeping once again into my thought process. "You are much too out-spoken to not have some sort of opinion on how this all works. Worry not, you can tell me. I can assure you this won't devolve into shouts."

I let out a sigh, or whatever the fox equivalent to a sigh was. It just came out like a short huff of air from my mouth. "Look, I get that you can read all my thoughts and all that, but can you just go back to pretending you can't hear them? It would make my life a lot simpler."

"Are you under the impression that I am here to make your life simpler?" Hornroot countered.

I almost had to try and laugh. "No. God, no. What was I even thinking?"

Hornroot actually did laugh. And not his little, airy nose laugh either. He let out a full out, hearty and raspy, chortle that made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. He was quick to plunge it into a fit of violent coughing, but the damage had already been done.

"Horny?" Lady Louise asked, stopping for a moment to glance back at us. August continued on his merry way forward, apparently not oblivious to anything but us. 

"That was nothing, my Lady. Just something caught in my throat."

"Mmmhm. Sure." The Lady smiled when Hornroot shifted his eyes back to the shops we were passing. "You know—"

"Hey, guys! Here! This is where everyone was saying we should go!" August shouted.

He had reached a store a few blocks down from us and was waving frantically to get our attention. A few people had to angle their bodies away from his flailing and shot him dirty looks as they did.

But the witch did not notice. His bright eyes and big smile were trained solely on us.

I had to stop walking.

It was just like that stupid boy with the floppy hat and big nose. Just like him.

The collar tightened around my neck as Hornroot continued to walk. He only tugged once. "If my Lady says she will help you reunite you with your comrades, then she will. And, despite my many reservations, so will I."

I looked up at the tall, broad, back of the older man in a black suit that was a start contrast from the city and its many colors. The man would not look back at me, but he did not pull the leash again. He waited until I started walking before following after his Master.

"August, wait, we must retrieve my daughter first—!" the Lady called, but either August didn't hear her or chose to ignore her as he turned and disappeared into the store before she could reach him.

Shit. He was way too similar to Mutt.

"Just one more reason I suggest we save his rescue for last," Hornroot said inside my head before forcing us to break into a run. "Come, we cannot let him out of our sights." 

We reached Lady Louise just as she pushed through the strange swiveling front doors of the place. Inside it was very white and bright. Scores of people walked here and there, so many that Hornroot was forced to scoop me up in one of his arms so that I wasn't trampled.

"Excuse me, sir," a woman behind a counter called as he prepared to follow after the Lady. "I'm afraid we don't allow, uh, pets inside..."

The woman's voice faltered as she got a closer look at me and was no doubt coming to the swift conclusion of exactly what sort of 'pet' I was. With a gruff huff of breath, Hornroot angled me away from her while simultaneously trapping her searching eyes in his burning yellow ones.

"Leave it," he growled before proceeding after his Master.

Whether it was the tone in his voice, or just how scary the guy could look, the woman did not try to stop him. More than a few people practically threw themselves out of his way as he walked briskly in the direction of where Lady Louise ran.

"My Lady!" Hornroot called.

"Over here!" his Master answered.

She wasn't far ahead, though she was gripping the railing of a very intimidatingly tall and steep flight of stairs. Despite the short distance we had run, she was practically hunched over and gasping for breath. One or two men looked prepared to help her, but quickly backed off when they saw the crazed old man in a butler suit carrying a fox running in their direction.

"Are you alright?" Hornroot asked, not so ceremoniously dumping me on the floor so he could put a supporting hand on his Master's back.

"I'm fine," she quickly said, brushing aside his hand before gesturing up the stairs. "I believe I saw him run up there. You must find him, quickly."

Hornroot glanced up the stairs before returning his gaze to her. "You cannot ask me to leave your side. Not here. Even for a moment, it will not be safe."

"We do not have time for this, Horny," Lady Louise pressed. "August is in just as much danger as I."

"You are the priority."

Hornroot was disobeying again. He must know it was pointless. Might as well be asking the wind not to blow. When his Master sighed, I braced myself for the next words. The commands.

Instead, she smiled.

"I understand that," she said. She placed a hand on Hornroot's arm and kept it there. The familiar flinched, but did nothing more. "But you must understand that you, alone, cannot defend me against all my enemies. It will only cause you undue pain and suffering, and I do not wish that upon you. For all his faults, we need this witch. Just as we need Alex. Just as we need his friends."

Hornroot's bright yellow eyes drifted from his Master to me. I was unsure what to do or say. This was a complete turnaround from the Louise of last night. The one who snapped and took direct control of her familiar. Was she being more diplomatic for my sake? As a sign of good will?

"I'm afraid nothing is ever that black and white," Hornroot's voice echoed inside my head.

The old familiar offered me a small, sympathetic smile before kneeling down and unclipping the leash from my collar.
"I am putting our Lady in your care until I return. Do not disappoint us."

With that, Hornroot practically flew up the stairs. If I had chosen that moment to blink, I would have thought he had just vanished into thin air.

Without a word, the Lady bent over and scooped me up in her arms. I had to hold in a grunt of discomfort when her arms squeezed just a little too tight around my chest.

"Forgive me for this," she whispered in my ear. I felt them twitch involuntarily at the feel of her cool breath.

Before I could ask her just what, exactly, she was saying sorry for, my focus was forcibly turned to a man pushing his way through the revolving front doors. A man with a gun in one hand, and the leashes of three, massive, dogs in the other.

The woman at the counter sighed, her attention drawn to the dogs and missing the gun entirely. "Sir," she began. "We do not allow—"

Her attention switched to its rightful priority when the man raised the gun into the air and squeezed off a single round.

The sound was deafening, cutting easily through the idle chatter and echoing steps of the crowds of colorful people. Every last one of them in the general area stopped walking and talking at the same instant. Almost at once, all of them turned their attention to the man and his three dogs.

"Sorry to be disruptin' your shopping," the man announced, his loud voice easily carrying through the warehouse-like clothing store. I immediately recognized him as one of the men I had run into in the sewer. Nathan.

Nathan's eyes easily picked out the dark, hunched over, form of Lady Louise and the bright red fox she was carrying. I tensed involuntarily when a wide grin spread across his face. "But this is a matter for Son's army. Everyone but the woman in black and her pet fox shuffle on outta here."

A different sort of dread sunk deep down inside me when every shopper began to calmly leave the building. Like a procession, or something drilled into them over and over, they passed by the man and his gun and his dogs with hardly even a whisper or a glance. A few who descended the stairs shot the Lady and I a curious glance, but nothing more.

Watching the woman behind the counter, and the other people who looked like they worked there, leave just like the others made me finally realize just how bad of an idea this all had been. This was Son's city. We were trapped the moment we stepped inside it.

...