Page 6 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

I finally pick up the scent of home and leap over a fallen tree, my paws sliding against the damp fallen leaves. Pain stings my hip as I fall, a word Cousin Kai taught me that made Mama mad echoes in my head as I push myself back up, shake, and start running again. It is strange to run as a fox. To think like a fox. I can still hear me in my head, but there is something other there too. Something that is sometimes a different voice and sometimes a feeling. Papa says it is my animal instincts. It tells me to sniff the air to pick up hints of something familiar before my mind does. It makes my muscles move to explore the jungle more easily before I tell them to. And it warns me of danger before I realize it’s coming. Though I think that part is broken, because sometimes, it warns me even when there isn’t trouble.

“Siyala!” Mama’s voice is loud as she calls out for me. The sun is gone now, having somehow sunk into night in only a few seconds! I navigate through the dark jungle by memory, Papa having shown me the path since I first learned to walk. Back before he was sickened by the blight. Back when he could shift into the fiercest tiger the island had ever seen. “Siyala Hoku, you better be home in ten seconds, or—”

I burst through the thick jungle plants, light from the torches staked in front of the house bright as I skid to a stop in front of Mama, waiting with her hands on her hips. She looks down at me, the wind rustling her dark brown hair, and though she tries to be angry, I see the way her lips twitch like she wants to smile anyway.

“You’re late.”

I tip my head to the side as I flatten my pointed ears, a whimper tickling my throat.

“Yes, yes. I’m sure you will have a lovely reason as to why you couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to where the sun was in the sky.” Her hand cups the side of my face, and finally, Mama smiles widely. “Troublemaker.”

I yip, gently nipping her palm and making her laugh. Together, we turn towards the house, my stomach rumbling at the smell of dinner cooking.

“Go to your room and change quickly; we have company for dinner.” She opens the door, and the warmth of the house wraps around me, making me shake off the rest of the cold as I pad over the light wood floors. In the corner on the couch, Papa sits with his elbows on his knees. He looks a little less sad as he talks to his work friend, Kenji, both males nodding their heads, and Papa looks up as I pass by.

“My fierce fox,” he says, making pride swell in my chest. “Did you have a good run?” I try nodding, and it makes him smile. Kenji looks at me too, his light brown eyes crinkling with his own smile. The fur down the center of my back rises when our eyes meet, making me shake again before I turn down the hall that leads to my room.

The light is on, a sliver of it showing through the cracked door. Nudging it open with my nose, I see Tiare sitting on the bed, her legs crossed and a book resting in her lap. I make it a few feet in before I stop, drawing my older sister’s gaze.

“Siyala, close the door fir—”

I tune her out as I shut my eyes and call for my magic. With a deep breath, I imagine putting the book back that turns me into a fox and reaching for the one that will return my legs and arms, just as Mama taught me. My ears ring as the ripple of warm magic travels over me. Sometimes, I count to see how long it takes to complete the shift, and today, I’m fully mortal again before I land on the number six. Mama can do it in four seconds, and Cousin Kai can do it in three! Though his sister, Jahlee, says it’s closer to four. Like Papa, she can’t shift either, but I heard Mama say that it isn’t because of the blight.

I open my eyes as I push myself up to sit, my snow-white hair draping over my shoulder.

Tiare sighs, closing her book as she narrows her brown eyes at me—their color reminding me of the chocolate sweets Papa brings home when he visits Molsi for work. “Really?”

I shrug as I stand, testing my steps and making sure I won’t wobble before I head to the closet that holds both of our clothes. Tiare is almost twenty summers old, and said she is excited to move out soon so that she will have her own closet. “Mama told me to hurry and get ready for dinner.”

She laughs, standing to close the bedroom door before turning and leaning back against it. “How was your time in the jungle?”

I look at the clothes I have hanging, grabbing a soft yellow tunic and pulling it over my head. “It was fun. I tracked frogs and chased a few to the water’s edge.” It had been interesting watching smaller creatures react to my animal form. Papa said regular animals know that we are shifters the same as we can tell that they aren’t.

“Did you come across any other shifters?”

“Only Mana,” I answer, scrunching my nose. “He is a skunk.”

Tiare laughs again, and I finish dressing, the smell of dinner quickening my feet. “Wait, wait, wait,” she chides, tugging on the back of my tunic so that I’m gently jerked to a stop.

“But dinner—”

“Your hair is a mess, Sister.” Guiding me to the small desk squeezed between our beds, she pushes me down onto a short stool as I cross my arms over my chest.

“I don’t need brushed hair to enjoy dinner,” I say, looking at my reflection in the small oval mirror on top of the desk.

Tiare snorts, blue brush in hand as she starts working on the ends of my hair. “No, but Mama will appreciate it if you don’t look like you’ve just come home from running in the jungle.” I want to argue, but Tiare is the oldest, and Mama said that she is next in charge after her. So I sit quietly as she detangles my hair, my eyes looking over the pretty dress she wears. Her face looks like Mama’s, but she has Papa’s dark brown eyes. My older brother, Titus, got Mama’s honey-colored eyes, like me. But I’m the only one with white hair, the first in our family to have it since Papa’s great-grandmother. It is a rare color—one Papa says makes me special.

“There. Much better.” She backs up so I can stand. “Now we can go eat.”

I rush past her, the word Cousin Kai taught me said in a whisper that makes her laugh again as I open the door to our room. Only there is somebody blocking my way out, and I run right into them, bouncing back and stumbling over my feet. Papa’s friend, Kenji, catches me, his hands gripping my shoulders.

“Whoa there. Are you alright, little kit?” he asks, smiling widely.

My shoulders round as I stare up at him. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” Letting me go, he steps back against the wall so that there is room for me to pass. “I came to tell you that dinner is ready.” I run past him, back into the warmth of the living room and the kitchen where Mama, Papa, and Titus are already sitting. Titus has already moved out of the house but he comes over for dinner still when his work schedule allows it.

“Tell us what you saw today,” Papa says, smiling in my direction as Kenji and Tiare join us. And together, we eat and talk.