Over the following two weeks I flitted around the manor, doing my best to impress my new masters. I did all my chores on time with a little help from Jack during the first week. My mind felt like a sieve as I struggled to remember my jobs, and the way to each specific room. Yet after my first two weeks there I thought I finally had it all nailed down. It was becoming increasingly easier as every day passed. Not only that but I was having less nightmares from being utterly worn out every night, not to mention the regular spurts of fire I was emitting seemed to wind my system down. Perhaps this had been the key all along. Trying to repress and control my Power had just made it worse while growing up, yet I found that I was much calmer and safer when I released it from my body a few times a day. Lighting the fires in the manor couldn’t have been more relaxing. Each surge of flames felt like a weight being lifted from my heart, though of course I was very tired at the end of each day.
Even when I wasn’t working for my masters I still had the responsibility of Hawthorne. I had managed to keep him a secret so far, but he was becoming quite restless from being couped up in my room constantly. He whined and stared at the little window which was too high for him to see through. I felt awful that I could not permit him freedom without being caught in the act. During the first week he was still so small that I could bundle him up in my cloak and sneak him outside for a bit of freedom, but now he was growing at an alarming rate. By the second week he had doubled in size, and while he was still small and I was able to carry him, I could no longer conceal him as easily from curious eyes. I fretted about what I should do. If I remembered correctly, foxes could grow to the height of a medium sized dog. There was no way I could keep him as a pet in my bedroom much longer. Even if he used his amazing chameleon abilities there was still a chance that someone might spot him.
I had grown very fond of Hawthorne. He responded to his name now, and no longer went to the toilet in my room, but waited until I would take him outside into the snow which I only managed during the very early hours of the morning when no one was up, and Jack was at the market as usual, or late at night.
On my sixteenth night at the manor I lay awake in bed. My eyes stung with fatigue but I was restless. Hawthorn was curled into a ball next to me, gently snoozing. I had come to understand that his fur colour also changed depending on his mood or what he needed. Usually, he was white and chipper; happy in my company. He seemed to understand my situation within the manor. His too-intelligent eyes watched me knowingly as I got up to work every morning, and snuck back into my room during the afternoon and night to bring him water and food I had saved for him at my meal times.
His coat became a dull and depressing grey like my bed sheets when he was restless and wanted to run around outside. I wondered what would become of him if I set him free. The thought wrenched at my heart. Maybe he would prefer it. It certainly wouldn’t be much fun for him where he was now. I watched him while he slept. Perhaps I should tell someone about him. Jack. We had become quite good friends in just sixteen days. We ate meals together, joked and offered to help each other with daily chores. My relationship with Camryn didn’t seem to have taken off so well, but Jack assured me that she was like that with everyone. She was a rather guarded person with a fiery personality that suited her luscious red hair in its perfectly symmetrical curls. Jack was happy-go-lucky, always grinning at something or making remarks. Camryn talked a lot, but never let anyone glimpse at what she was really feeling. I saw behind her round almond eyes that she didn’t trust anyone. Or at least she tried not to. Perhaps she had been hurt badly in the past.
I seemed to be the shy one. I was usually quiet around everyone except on occasions where Jack would provoke me into talking about myself. I usually avoided the reason I had come to Frost Arch. I wasn’t sure if Jack noticed this, but I guessed behind his joking eyes he was still quite perceptive for he always changed the subject when I looked uncomfortable.
I wondered how Jack might react if I told him about Hawthorne. I knew he wouldn’t hand me over to lions, but would he tell me to give him up? Probably. He would think it was best to set Hawthorne free, and deep down I would probably agree.
I rolled over in my bed restlessly, huffing and rearranging my pillow so it was more comfortable. Hawthorne’s head popped up at my movement, and he watched me through his young but intelligent eyes.
“Sorry.” I mumbled as my movement had woken him.
He seemed to disagree with the five inches of space I had put between us for he shuffled closer again and rested his head on my arm. I thought I knew why. To anyone else the room would be cold, but my body temperature was higher than other Mages. I’m sure the warmth was rather nice for Hawthorne. As he nestled himself next to me I wrapped an arm around him comfortingly. I soon drifted off to sleep.
I woke abruptly the following morning to a dark room. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet. As usual everything was covered in a permanent layer of snow, and a thick layer of cloud hung in the sky, though it was not snowing. The cause of my sudden wake, as usual, was due to a hard rapping on my door. Jack was always awake ridiculously early, and took to being my own personal wake-up call every morning. I rather liked it, seeing as it meant I would never sleep in and miss my chores. Jack never entered the room, thankfully, just knocked and sometimes called through the door to make sure I was up. I knew he wouldn’t come in unannounced in case I wasn’t decent. Today he called through my door.