Free Pendant of Fortune by Kyell Gold

your hearing. During that time you should be up here most days. Don’t be obtrusive, but don’t act like you’re hiding out, either. This is a vacation time, so on days when it’s not quite as windy as today, there will be outdoor games.” His ear swiveled back to where the wind whistled against the window, and his nose wrinkled. “Today I believe they are playing chess in some of the rooms downstairs, and some people are playing with cards. Can’t see what they see in those things.”
    Volle grinned. “They can be fun. So I don’t need to do anything in particular?”
    “ I don’t think so. Just be careful. Things may be a little less safe than I’d thought. Still, you have Lord Ikling looking out for you.”
    “ He’ll do what he can. I don’t know how much that is if I’m up here, though.”
    “ Every little bit helps. I’m doing what I can, too, though I can’t be too direct to the King.”
    “ I know. You’re amazing, Tish.”
    The black wolf grinned. “You’ve been talking to Tika.”
    Volle laughed. “Not recently, but I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”
    “ She’s looking forward to seeing you as well, of course.” He smiled. “Be prepared for a long line of questions about your love life. I’ve told her not to talk about anything concerning the hearing, and she complained that all that left her was your social life.”
    Volle flicked his ears. “Wonderful. Well, I’ll be prepared. Is there anything else I should know? In general?”
    “ I don’t think there’s anything else I wanted to tell you. Except: welcome back. It’s been very dull at the palace without you.” He grinned as the fox stretched out in his chair. “Now, maybe you can tell me what happened while you were imprisoned and how you escaped? I know that Dereath tried to get you to talk by sending that wolf to fall in love with you. Apparently it worked too well.”
    “ Much too well.” Volle chuckled softly and then launched into the story of his capture and imprisonment. In the palace, you could always be sure of someone listening behind a door, but here, with fewer people and fewer servants, they could speak more freely. Still, he kept his voice down. Tish interrupted him occasionally, to ask for clarification or more detail, but mostly stayed silent as he told his story.
    When Volle had finished, he nodded, stroking his whiskers thoughtfully. “I always thought that the mobilization plans were very odd. They’d been drawn up very quickly, and not only that, but the—” here he dropped his voice to a whisper, “plans themselves displayed a speed uncharacteristic of the King. So many troop movements, so complicated. But of course, we didn’t know that until afterwards.”
    “ I remember you mentioning something about that, just that it was odd they’d come about so quickly. We figured it was the influence of Lord Fardew. They definitely had the King’s blessing.”
    Tish nodded. “And they are plausible, if slightly extreme. It looked like the beginning of an aggressive campaign.”
    “ Or a trap, you said.”
    “ Yes.” The wolf looked past Volle, his gaze losing focus. “We couldn’t take the chance then, and now it’s irrelevant.”
    Volle smiled. “So that’s my story. Tell me about your son and his mate.”
    Tish leaned back. “Oh, what’s to tell? He was brought up by my wife’s brother because he didn’t like the palace. We should have forced him to live there, but he didn’t want to leave our house. Never had any ambition. Never wanted to be Lord after me. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a choice in that. And since I would like to retire to that same house while I still have enough years left to enjoy my life, he has rather resentfully moved to the palace with his mate.”
    “ But he didn’t come up here?”
    “ He wasn’t invited.”
    Tish could have arranged an invitation, Volle knew. He suspected one had been proffered and rejected. “I see.”
    “ His mate is