Felix

"Bring another bowl."

Silas immediately rose to fetch one. He did not question the order. His body obeyed before he had time to think.

Avery filled the second bowl and held it out.

He accepted it in a daze.

"That's yours. Have more if you're still hungry."

A beastfolk body was certainly different from a human one. Judging by her borrowed memories, Avery had practically eaten breakfast straight from the pot, yet she was already lightheaded with hunger again.

She blew across the rim and took a mouthful of scalding gruel.

It was not good. And this body was naturally carnivorous. Going so long without meat had left her weak all over.

Silas stared at her.

Usually, he ate her leftovers. A little thin gruel diluted with cold water was his food for the day.

Today she had given him an entire bowl.

He did not dare taste it.

"What are you waiting for? Eat."

Avery watched him holding it helplessly. She had not been the one to hurt him, but she was in this body now. To Silas, she was the person who had done all those things.

She might not be able to change very much. But she could stop hitting people. She could at least let this pitiful boy live a normal life.

"I... I can't eat this much."

Wood did little to keep the heat from his fingers. He felt the bowl burning against them as he spoke.

As far back as he could remember, apart from the few times Ronan had smuggled him food, he had never had so much in his bowl.

And it was not cold.

It was hot. Freshly cooked. Food.

Steam rose toward his face, making his eyes feel damp. He blinked, but the food did not disappear. The heat against his fingertips told him it was still there.

Avery studied his painfully thin frame. When he bent his head, the bones at the back of his neck stood out one by one.

"Eat it anyway."

He bit his trembling lip.

Eat it anyway.

Nobody had ever said anything like that to him.

He had never eaten his fill, either.

That evening, for the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to have food sitting solidly in his stomach.

One bowl was enough. Years of hunger had left him unable to manage more.

Avery finished the greater part of the pot herself.

By the time they had eaten and tended to the fire, the light was fading. Voices drifted from outside. The gathering party and those who had visited the traders must be returning.

"Avery? Are you home?"

The voice at the door sounded strangely familiar.

Silas, who was cleaning the bowls, shuddered and edged toward the corner, as though he wished he could make himself so small that nobody would see him.

Avery went to the doorway.

A boy in spotted leopard hide stood outside the yard. His large eyes were bright and catlike. The moment he saw her, his face lit up.

Oh.

She remembered him now.

Felix. The chieftain's child.

Related by blood to Beastmeet's former ruler, the original Avery came from a powerful line. Her mother had had only one child and spoiled her thoroughly. Otherwise, perhaps her life would not have collapsed so completely.

Even after losing everything, though, she had retained enough calculation to look for a male mate whose family might help her.

She was good-looking, and years of plentiful food had left her arms strong and firm. Growing up in Beastmeet had given her a broader knowledge of the world than most people here. It had not taken much flattery to win the chieftain's son over.

"Avery, did you sell Silas? How many crystals did you get?" Felix asked eagerly.

He had wanted clothes from Beastmeet for ages.

A few days earlier, Avery had told him that Silas had come of age and developed a power mark with his first awakening. Selling him would bring in several white crystals. If there was enough left over, she would take Felix to Beastmeet and buy him clothes woven by spiderfolk.

He had been delighted.

The Leopard Clan was neither rich nor especially strong. Even when his mother led hunts for direbeasts each year, they obtained few crystals. Those belonged to the whole clan and had to be saved for salt. She would never let him spend them.

He had visited Beastmeet with her. The spiderfolk's woven garments were neat and beautiful, nothing like the rough hides they cleaned themselves and wrapped carelessly around their bodies.

Avery frowned.

"I'm not selling him. I'm never doing anything like that again. And don't come looking for me anymore."

Felix stared.

Why was she suddenly treating him like this?

His mother had said he was fortunate to have Avery's attention. She came from Beastmeet. Once she reached maturity and joined the hunts, her gifts would become apparent. Blood did not lie. Sooner or later, she would return to the city. If he went with her, he could leave this little clan behind, too.

He had felt rather pleased with himself. His future had seemed promising.

Yesterday she had spoken so sweetly to him. Today she was cold.

All because of a snake!

"You promised you'd take me to Beastmeet and buy me spiderfolk clothes!"

He stamped his foot.

His voice carried. Avery noticed heads appearing at a neighboring stone house.

"That was what I said before. I've changed my mind. Don't come back."

She waved him off, hoping to keep this from becoming any more public.

Beastfolk were wary of outsiders. They might admire the great mixed-species cities, but a small clan cared much more about sharing the same animal ancestry.

Ronan and Silas were snakes. Among leopards, neither was welcome.

People were not supposed to sell other beastfolk without permission, but nobody cared what happened to those two. If Avery sold Silas, people would merely praise her for using an outsider to support her household.

As the chieftain's son, Felix was accustomed to attention of his own. His eyes widened at her rejection. Then he pursed his lips, turned, and marched away.

Avery ignored the curious neighbors and went back inside.

Silas was crouched beside the stove opening. Burned wood left ash and debris that had to be cleared, or the buildup would make the next fire harder to light.

He noticed her approaching feet.

He had heard what she said.

She was not selling him.

For the moment, he seemed to have somewhere to stay again.

It might not truly be his home, but it was a place where he could remain alive.

Night was colder than day. Even with the windows covered, Avery could feel air slipping through the leaves.

The grass on her bed was not especially soft. Some of the stalks were hard enough to prick her. She smoothed them down, pulled an old bearskin over herself, and went to sleep.

Silas and Ronan shared one worn hide. When they slept together, they could borrow each other's warmth. Alone, Silas could only shiver beneath it.

He wrapped it around himself and pressed into the corner. Once his body warmed the stone, even the wall became another small source of heat.

He thought about Avery.

At the trading ground, she had been shouting that the crystals were not enough. A moment later, she had refused to sell him.

Then, that evening, she had let him eat his fill.

He could not understand it.

Her changing temper felt like a pot of boiling water poised above him. All he could do was lie beneath it and wait to discover whether she would pour it over him with renewed force or decide even that would be a waste and carry it away.

He touched the single power mark on his left cheek.

After the terror of last night and the despair of the day, he was exhausted. His eyes slowly closed.

Then he began to dream.