Free Foxheart by Claire Legrand Page A

arrested for witchcraft and was gravely injured. His name was Filip, and he recognized Quicksilver for what she was. Together they escaped and fled into the wild.
    Soon after, the Wolf King heard of their escape and gave chase. Every hour on the road made Filip and his tiny mouse monster weaker, but they managed to teach Quicksilver about magic—its shape, its taste, and most importantly, how to work with Fox to use it.
    One cold night, with the Wolf King nearly upon them, Filip and his monster promised they could send Quicksilver and Fox somewhere safe, in thanks for helping them escape. Just as the Wolf King attacked, Filip and his monster made the ultimate sacrifice. Even though Filip knew it would kill his monster and leave Filip himself defenseless before the Wolf King, he sent Quicksilver and Fox back to an earlier time—a time when many witches still lived, and the Star Lands were bright with magic.
    Quicksilver took her birth name, Anastazia, for she felt that she should leave behind the relics of her old life. Anastazia decided that if no other witches would challenge the Wolf King, she would. Once she had been the best thief in all the Star Lands. Now she would be the best witch—and nobody would get the better of her, not even a king.
    When she realized the Wolf King was searching for the skeletons of the First Ones’ monsters, she began searching for them, too, and found some of them, and lost some to the Wolf King when they battled, and stole some back from him, and fought him again, and lost, and won, and hid herself away, and this went on for long decades, while Anastazia crafted spells that extended her life far beyond that of any normal witch, and the Wolf King became desperate and dangerous.
    Anastazia fought until she was a frail old woman—and then she found her younger self, the twelve-year-old orphan thief Quicksilver. Anastazia brought Quicksilver back in time, to an even earlier point than she herself had traveled, and taught her younger self how to use magic, and how to fight the Wolf King. And this happened again, and again—a cycle of war fought through the endless ring of time.
    Anastazia and Quicksilver searched and stole and battled, for decades and centuries and lifetimes, over and over, and in none of these lives did they manage to defeat the Wolf King—though they often came close.
    Each time—
    â€œDid you come close to defeating him in your lifetime?” Quicksilver interrupted. “You, yourself?”
    â€œYes, tell us about your battles,” said Sly Boots, leaning forward with shining eyes. “What was the worst one? And I mean worst as in, a really exciting one, not one where the Wolf King got the best of you and left you for dead, wounded and defeated. . . .”
    At the sight of Anastazia’s furious expression, Sly Boots trailed off and hid his face behind his pillow. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I got carried away.”
    â€œIndeed,” Anastazia snapped. “And yes, I came quite close to defeating him during my own lifetime, thank you very much, Quicksilver. This is the last time I’ll tolerate such cheek from either of you, remember that.”
    Then she cleared her throat, muttering to herself, “Ruining the ending. Interrupting me. Children . Nasty little creatures, truly.”
    Each time, Anastazia hoped this fight would be the last, and each time, it was not.
    Until, perhaps, now.
    Silence fell. Sly Boots looked at Quicksilver, at Anastazia, then at Quicksilver again.
    â€œIs that the ending?” he whispered. “She yelled at us because of two measly sentences?”
    â€œSo here we are, Quicksilver,” said Anastazia, her body sagging against the pillows now that her story had concluded. “You and me—the next pair in this war, just as we have been many times over.” She paused, drew a long breath, and fixed her tired violet eyes upon Quicksilver’s matching bright