Suddenly, instantly, Bitterblue guessed what was coming. She’d wondered about this, like the tiniest light paw touching her mind with curiosity, doubt. Now she took careful control of her thoughts and reactions so that the fox couldn’t feel them. Why don’t you tell me what it is, she said, and let me decide?

The fox had stopped. He was crouched under a short staircase that rose to a shop door and he was pressing himself to the wood siding of the shop, trembling. It was hard to resist the urge to crouch down, pull him out, sit on the stoop, and settle him into her lap, soothing him like a cat. This fox had comforted her when she’d been desperate. He’d risked his own safety to keep her safe.

Instead, Bitterblue climbed the stairs to the shop, because that would look normal to passersby. She shot a glance at Mart and Ranin, warning them not to follow. Then, stepping inside, she pretended to muse over rows and rows of what turned out to be pastries.

Go on, she nudged.

His voice got even quieter. I sort of, more or less, murdered Ferla Cavenda, he said. More, not less. I tripped her. Then I choked her. She was going to hurt you, and maybe Lovisa too.

Well. That was it, then. And it was more awful to hear than she’d expected, because tripping and choking were no small thing to imagine him doing. They were violent. Shocking.

But how different were they, really, from framing someone in a court of law, if the results were the same? And what would she have done, if she’d been a fox?

Oh, it was all such a mess, the things people did to each other, and the decisions that had to be made.

Why did you decide to tell me? Bitterblue asked.

Because you think I’m honorable and helpful and true, he said in a voice like crying. I want you to see who I really am, even if that’s the most terrible fox in Winterkeep.

The Cavenda house created the same illness in everyone, it seemed. Adventure, she said. You’re not terrible.

How can you say that?

Because I know it’s true.

How do you know?

She didn’t have the words for it yet. This fox had been her friend in a desperate time. He’d broken his own rules because he cared for her.