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The Stone

Chapter 65

Corene lay on the bed, trying to cover her naked breasts as they rose with her gasps. Jonathan came to her and without a word, helped her get dressed and pack a quick bag. He was so tight-lipped and angry, she was too afraid to speak to him, and as it was clear that they were now free to leave, she didn't bother explaining.

A male fox was waiting for them in the hall. He was hiding behind a curtain when they came and dressed in a fox's clothing: tan riding breeches and a coat. He was ready to use magic to make Corene invisible as they stole her away, but Jonathan told him there was no need, and they went on.

They met the others back in Jonathan's bedchamber, where a golden dog -- who Corene could only assume was Jonathan's servant Ben -- sat on the edge of the bed beside Prince Florian as he slept, his red shoulders naked above the sheets. Corene couldn't understand why the young prince was there but didn't have time to wonder as she saw yet another fox -- this one female -- dressed in riding breeches and a waistcoat as she paced the room impatiently. Glancing around the room, Corene saw the tattered remains of the foxes' deerskin clothes on the floor, saw empty syringes and spilt wineglasses, cigar stubs and the wet stains of lovemaking on the bed. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to yell at Jonathan, accuse him of sleeping with the prince -- and the foxes as well for all she knew! -- but she reminded herself of the king and how Jonathan had stood there watching him making sensual love to her even as she screamed for more. . . . and his betrayal seemed small in comparison to that.

And she felt so stupid. She thought she would wind the king around her finger, get him to admit that Donica was dead, get him to finally share what was on his mind, confide in her, trust her. But when she thought about, he hadn't told her a thing. Only that Alexandria wanted her dead and he feared now for his child's life. He then proceeded to take off her clothes and make love to her in front of her lover, and the fact that she thought she ever had control over him was suddenly absurd. She had always been in his thrall, even when she thought she had control. And she was able to run with Jonathan now only because he was letting them run. She stared at the carpet as she realized: she would never really be free to go.

Perhaps the king would even make visits to Howlester. Perhaps he would come there and have his way with her, visit the child, check up on them. A shiver went down her spine at the very thought. She could run, never go back to Howlester. But could she ask Jonathan to abandon his family for her? His home? His life? Jonathan had made it clear: he intended to find his family in Rorchester.

"You'll never be free," Candy Cane whispered behind Corene. "Of me."

Corene swallowed hard and hissed, "Shut up."

Ben gave Corene a curious look.

"We're leaving," Jonathan said to the room. "Now."

Ben sprang up. "Master Jonathan . . .?" He looked at Corene again uncertainly.

Corene cast her eyes down and swallowed angrily. She could feel the burn of Jonathan's infuriated stare and ignored him. It was obvious to Ben that they were furious with each other, that something had changed, but Jonathan waved away the servant's unspoken questions.

"We won't need magic or any of that rubbish," the marquis said. "The king has freed us. Let's bloody go before he changes his mind."

They managed to pass through the castle unchecked. The many Great Danes lining the halls simply watched them pass, and it was clear the king had ordered them to let Corene and Jonathan walk out. They made it all the way to the stables, where the king had ordered a carriage prepared for them.

Corene laughed hollowly as the footman stepped down and unfolded the little stair for them to climb in. It was just too good to be to true. Just too easy. Things were never easy in her life, and when Jonathan passed her a baffled look, she thought he should have known better. Things were_never_ this easy. She noticed the horse's agitated nickering and the way the driver and the footman fidgeted nervously. Something was clearly wrong. Seems about right, Corene thought dispassionately. Why should anything ever go right?

"Shit," muttered the female fox. "We've got company." She sneered.

Corene followed the fox's gaze and wasn't surprised to see Alexandria was standing not ten feet away. The princess was wearing tan riding breeches and a red riding coat, and a dark cloak was wrapped around her shoulders, as if she had been waiting for them all along. She looked as if she had dressed hastily or perhaps in a fit of rage. Her mane was loose and tumbling everywhere in the wind and there was a furious glint in her eyes. She had a rifle in one paw and a smooth egg-shaped stone in the other. Corene frowned. The stone had a red symbol on it and was clearly some magical fox device. Where in the world had Alexandria gotten such a thing? She who loathed foxes and their magic?

A stable boy cowered in the horse stall behind Alexandria, a little pup who looked like a herding breed. He was sniffling and crying and in terror of the princess. He stepped from the shadows of the horse stall, and Corene gasped: the side of his face was freshly burned. The flesh was black and twisted and the boy's ear was gone. Corene couldn't understand why, but somehow, she knew Alexandria had burned him. The princess jerked her head without looking at the child, and he fled sobbing toward the castle. She then took a careful step, holding the stone before her and aiming its red symbol at them, the rifle still in her other paw.

"Oh god," whispered the female fox when the stone began to glow red. She glanced at the male fox, and it was clear from their horrified expressions that the stone was something not so nice.

Alexandria smiled.

"Look out!" the male fox shouted but too late. Light shot from the stone, and the carriage behind them exploded with fire.

Everyone was sent flying from the blast.

The driver snapped into the wall and collapsed to the ground like a broken rag doll. The horse bucked and screamed, unable to flee as it was hitched to the carriage. Its hoof caught the already-dazed footman in the head, and he went tumbling through the dirt.

Jonathan snatched Corene in his arms, shielding her with his body as they flew threw the air. His back hit the wall, and even as they dropped to the ground, he fumbled frantically to shield her from harm, so that she landed on top of him, her back against his chest.

Corene lay crumpled against Jonathan and coughed in the rising smoke. The carriage was still blazing away, with the horse shrieking horribly as fire licked over it. Peering through the smoke, she saw the carriage driver and the footman. The driver was dead. He lay on his back, his fur singed, his tail gently burning away as he stared unseeing at the sky. Beside him, the footman crawled painfully through the dirt, his paws shaking, blood seeping from his temple.

Ben had managed to tackled the female fox out harm's way, but as they both tumbled through the dirt, she hit her head on a water trough and blood sputtered down her face. Ben clutched at her limp body, tears rising in his eyes from the dust and smoke as he frantically coaxed the vixen to wake. But she didn't. The male fox crawled to them and took the female in his arms. He waved his glowing paw over her head, and Corene was relieved to see the vixen sputter weakly.

"You," said Alexandria and dropped the stone to the dirt, "aren't going anywhere." She lifted the rifle in both paws and slowly advanced. Her bright, pitiless eyes were fixed on Jonathan, but the rifle was aimed at Corene's face. Corene's heart stopped. She felt Jonathan's body tense. He coughed against the smoke and said hoarsely, "Xandria --"

"Don't!" the princess screamed. "Say. A word." She stood over them, aiming the rifle down at their faces, and her eyes were bright with tears.

Jonathan fell silent, but he slipped his arms protectively around Corene. This sent a furious shiver through Alexandria and she cocked the rifle.

"How did I know it would come to this?" the princess said. "I lay in wait, knowing that you would come here with those savage creatures and your precious fat cunt. I told myself you were decent, that you didn't care about foxes, that Corene was dirt to you as she was dirt to me." Her paws trembled angrily on the rifle. "But Adrian was right. Here you are, helping the vermin. Helping her." She glared at Corene and took a shuddering breath as sudden tears filled her eyes. "Daddy is just like you. Too caught up in her big tits and tight pussy to see me standing here, better and stronger than she'll ever be. Or is it that she's pregnant?" She aimed at Corene's belly, and Jonathan tightened his paws over it. "M-Maybe if I just kill the child, then Daddy will see, then you will see --"

"Xandria," Jonathan said hoarsely, his voice choking against the swirl of smoke. "Don't do this. Please."

The princess laughed her tinkling laugh, and for a moment, Corene was reminded of her laughing girlishly as she sparkled with jewelry at supper, the impish daughter who put ice on Corene's nipples to make her father laugh.

"Is that all?" Xandria said with a sneer. "Aren't you going to tell me how you never meant to hurt me?" Her lip trembled.

Corene bit back her anger as she thought of the maid back at Howlester, whose heart Jonathan had broken as well. Why he hadn't expected to one day find one of his victims aiming a gun at him was beyond her.

"Xandria," Jonathan said unhappily, "we both knew what we were doing was never supposed to be anything more . . . We both knew."

Alexandria shook her head slowly behind the rifle. "No. I never knew I wouldn't love you! You think love is something you can predict or avoid?"

"Do you think love is something I can just give to you?" Jonathan said patiently.

Alexandria's brows pinched together in a sad frown. "Why c-can't you?"

Corene looked at the princess and almost pitied her. She was a spoiled brat who thought she could have anything from anyone, if she just made loud enough demands and cried. She wasn't in love with Jonathan after a few weeks of sex. She only wished to possess him, to finally have her way, because not having her way was simply _inconceivable_to her.

Corene's heart pounded when Jonathan climbed slowly to his feet. He raised his paws, and he stepped close to the princess, until the barrel of the rifle almost touched his chest.

"Jonathan!" Corene hissed fearfully. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced over. The male fox had passed the vixen's limp body off to Ben and was creeping slowly toward Alexandria, his paws glowing with magic.

Princess Alexandria was furious to see Jonathan standing protectively in front of Corene. Her paws shook angrily on the rifle again. "What would it take," she said through her fangs, "to make you risk your life for me the way you risk everything for her? She's pretty. I'm prettier. She's smart -- I'm smarter! She's a rundown nutter who used to be a princess -- while I could be a fucking _queen_someday!"

"Xandria," Jonathan said, softly coaxing, "put the gun down, love."

"No!" the princess wailed at once.

"Put the gun down," Jonathan insisted gently, "and we'll go back inside --"

"NO!" The princess swung the rifle around and fired at Corene. Corene screamed as Jonathan leapt in the bullet's path and took it. Blood splattered her dress as he dropped to his knees and tumbled over on his back. Blood spread in a dark pool across his chest. She could hear horrified screams and sobs tearing from her mouth as she crawled to him, clutching feebly as his bloody clothes. "N-No! Jonathan! Don't die!"

"C-Corene . . .?" the marquis whispered. "It's . . . getting dark. . ."

Corene dropped her forehead on his chest and wept hard, ignoring when his blood soaked her white mane.

The princess cried out in disgust and Corene looked up to see Alexandria reloading the rifle. She froze in horror. The princess was lifting the rifle to fire again when magical energy blasted her off her feet. Corene watched as Alexandria screamed and went tumbling through the dirt, mane flying and tail flashing, before rolling to a stop.

Corene looked over, her mouth hanging open. The male fox was on his feet, glowering, his paws still glowing with magic. He stared at Alexandria's crumpled body, as if waiting for her to move. When the princess was still, he came and knelt beside Jonathan.

"Help him," Corene sobbed. "Please!" She tried to stop the blood with trembling paws, and it caked her fingers as Jonathan stared blankly at the stars.

The fox's serious eyes danced over Jonathan's wound. He carefully placed his paws over it, and Corene watched, the tears trailing over her lips, as white light glowed from his fingers. The light glowed brighter and brighter, and the fox frowned as he worked. But Jonathan wasn't breathing, and Corene sobbed hard. Someone touched her arm, and she realized with a jolt that it was the footman. The wound was gone from his head: the fox had healed him as well. He smiled reassuringly at Corene, but she knew she wouldn't be reassured until Jonathan was safe again.

The marquis gasped and blinked, shattering Corene's worried thoughts.

"Oh, thank god," Corene sobbed and hugged his neck as he struggled up. She kissed him again and again on cheek, and he muttered, "It's alright, love . . . it's alright."

"It's not alright!" Corene cried. "I almost lost you!" She looked at the fox and said emphatically, "Thank you! Thank you so m-much!"

The fox was startled by her gratitude, but he nodded. He was about to speak, but his ears pricked forward when Ben shouted, "Look out!"

Corene looked past Jonathan and gasped. Alexandria was staggering to her feet. She lifted the rifle and came marching at them with it pointed at their faces. "He's mine! Mine, you stupid slut!" She fired at the fox, but he lifted his bloody paws, and as the bullet shot loose of the barrel, a shield of white light sprang in front of them all. Alexandria gasped as her own bullet ricocheted off the shield of light . . . and lodged in her forehead with a splat.

Corene screamed as blood splattered across the stars and the princess collapsed in a heap.

Ben abandoned the limp vixen and scrambled to Jonathan, strained and anxious. "M'lord?" he moaned, helping Jonathan to his feet. "M'lord, are you alright?"

Jonathan braced himself unsteadily against Ben and nodded.

Corene tried to rise as well, and the footman gently helped her.

The carriage was a smoking pile behind them and the horse was dead. The male fox had put the blaze out without anyone even noticing. They saw him squat beside the dead driver, and with a heavy heart, he closed his staring eyes. Then he went to the female vixen and gathered her carefully in his arms. She was conscious but dazed and in pain, and she hung lifeless in his grasp, her mouth sputtering occasionally against the smoke.

"We should go," the fox said calmly. He nodded his head to indicate the stone Alexandria had dropped. "Bring that to me."

Everyone watched as the footman scrambled to retrieve the stone. He hesitated, as if he thought the stone would be hot, but it was quite cool when he finally plucked it from the dirt. He and the fox then performed a clumsy trade: the fox passed the weak vixen to the footman, and the footman gave him the stone.

"But what are you going to do?" Jonathan wondered. He was leaning heavily against Ben, and Corene rubbed his shoulder. He still looked weak and pale and she thought he might fall over.

Corene couldn't stop staring at Alexandria's body. Dark blood was pooling around her head, and her empty eyes were staring at the sky, though they still carried the slight expression of pain. Someone was going to come along, and they were going to see Alexandria's body, and then all of them would be hauled off to the dungeon. No one had come running toward the smoke yet, and Corene found that . . . curious. Perhaps Alexandria had warned the guards away. It suddenly occurred to Corene that she had probably been using the stable boy for target practice as she waited for them.

The fox held the stone in both paws, and as he looked at it, it glowed brighter and brighter. It was glowing red, and the light lit his face ghoulishly from beneath as its ethereal breeze sent his mane beating back. "Now," he said, eyes focused on the stone, "follow me." He turned, and they gasped to see one of the horse stalls swirling with glowing light, like a doorway to some other world.

Corene stared. The fox had created a portal with a stone. Where had Alexandria_gotten_ such a thing?

The fox stepped into the light and disappeared. The footman followed carrying the limp vixen.

Ben hesitated but put his arm around Jonathan and helped him along.

"No," Jonathan said hoarsely. "Corene first."

Corene was on the verge of arguing when Jonathan insisted again that she should go. She clutched at her large belly and stared into the swirling light. It beat her white mane around her face and slapped it across her eyes as she took a breath . . . and stepped into it. And she felt her pup kick as the light blinded her.