I turned around in shock. What I had thought was a statue of a black fox now stared at me with blinking silver eyes. He hopped nimbly off the pedestal where he’d been sitting and padded toward me as I stood with my back to the desk.

  “Cervis is quite protective of his innermost thoughts,” the fox said. “How would you like him poking around in your private journals?”

  “I suppose I wouldn’t like that,” I said, clutching my book in my hand and wondering how it would do as a weapon. Was this creature a korrigan? “Who are you? What are you?”

  A heckling laugh barked out of the fox. “Why, I’m a fox! What did you think I am?” He laughed again. “Not every creature of the Palewood is as magical as you might want them to be. I understand your petty human brain fears anything unknown, but surely you recognize a fox.”

  I stared at him. Sure enough, he had the spindly legs, slender body, and pluming, white-tipped tail. But he didn’t have the color or behavior of any fox I had known. “All the foxes I’ve met were orange- and none of them spoke.”

  “Perhaps not to you.” He sat down at the end of the bed. “If you must know, I am Nyx, a night-fox. Cervis keeps me around because I saved him from being devoured by the Palewalkers his first night in the Wood.”

  “By the what?”

  Nyx snorted. “You truly don’t know anything, do you? What’s that book you’ve got? Tailoring? My, my- and she can’t even sew. I’d recommend you check out a few more books than that before you go wandering off on your own. And I can assure you the library’s books will do you better than sniffing through Cervis’s private journals.”

  He padded off again, contempt fluffing his fur, and I felt a flare of irritation in my chest. What a snooty animal! Absolutely horrid personality. Why did Cervis keep him around? A lifetime with that snob- surely there are better ways to repay a favor?

  I turned to the Light that had hidden behind my back during the encounter. “Lead me to my tower, please. I’d like to get a move-on in settling in.”

  By noon, I had a simple set of tunic, pants, and boots, fashioned from the ostentatious fabrics in the basket. My selections included an indigo velvet, and cinder-hued wool. I attempted to weave an embroidery pattern the book recommended to add flare to the simple design; it wasn’t quite symmetrical or as flowery as that depicted in the book, but the picture was moving, and that made it very hard to replicate. Once dressed in my new finery, I returned downstairs to peek in the mirror there. It fit quite well- the sleeves and pants were just a smidge too short, but that was barely noticeable. It wasn’t flattering, but nothing I had worn in years was intended to be so.

  By my instruction, the Lights led me to a room containing a large bath and a vanity table, as well as a cupboard full of soaps. When I asked it to, the stone basin in the room’s center filled with hot water, and I inserted several of the flowery soaps from the cupboard before stripping of my clothing and sinking in. It was leagues better than bathing in the cold river by our cottage.

  After the bath, my stomach reminded me it had been hours since the feast back home, and I dressed once more and asked the Lights to lead me to the room with the table. As I entered it, I saw Cervis coming in the other side. He observed my outfit with notable disdain.

  “Why do you wear that rather than the fine dresses I stored in the wardrobe? And where did you get that?”

  “I made it on my own,” I said. “I have never liked dresses, and I refuse to start now.”

  Cervis let out another contemptuous snort, as he had in the woods. “I understand your father sent you for your spirit rather than looks, but I had thought surely you must take some pride in your beauty.”

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  I took a seat at the table, trying to ignore his words. “Well, perhaps you should ask for a refund, then. I’m what you’ve got and I’ll not change.”

  He shook his antlered head and turned to the other end of the table, where a plate of leafy green mash awaited him. On my end of the table, there appeared a bowl of mutton stew, a golden roll of buttered bread, and a goblet of cider. I glanced from my meal to Cervis’s, and felt an unexpected stab of pity.

  “Is that all you get to eat?”

  He looked up in surprise. “Deer can only eat plants.”

  He said no more, turning back to his plate, and I didn’t press. But my mind began to turn with thoughts on how awful it must be to only eat a pile of leaves, every single day. To only have a snobbish fox and a bunch of hovering Lights for companions. To live in a beautiful world and have no one to share it with. No wonder he had gone looking for a companion.

  I continued to eat, and as Cervis finished his meal, he looked up and spotted the Light hovering around my shoulder. “I see you’ve met Sol.”

  The Light drifted into view at its name, and I cocked an eyebrow at it. “I thought you said you didn’t have a name.”

  Cervis chuckled lightly. “Most of them have names. This one arrived here nameless and afraid last Midwinter, and I named him with his permission. Perhaps he is now refusing the name I gave him, in hopes you’ll concoct a better one.”

  The Light shrank slightly, as if afraid at these implications, and I chuckled softly. “No- I think ‘Sol’ will do fine as a name.”

  I stood from the table, having finished eating. “Farewell, then, Cervis. I’ll likely be in the library. Sol, are you coming with?”

  The Light bobbed excitedly and circled me once, coming to hover beside my face. Cervis nodded. “I have one more rule for you, before you go.”

  I turned to Cervis. “Don’t go outside the walls or I’ll die, don’t follow the korrigans or I’ll die, ring the bell if I need anything. What else could there be?”

  Cervis was unamused by my deadpanned recounting of his rules. “You must be in bed by sunset. At dusk, the Lights will all disappear, and you will be lost in the palace. Make sure this doesn’t happen.”

  I stared at the Stag, and then nodded. “Very well. May I go, then?”

  “Farewell. Enjoy your studies. Oh- if you see a black fox, tell him I need to see him.”

  I nodded, feeling no call to mention I had already met Nyx. I couldn’t help but feel some curiosity for why Cervis needed him, though. “Will do.”

  I left the dining room, allowing Sol to lead the way to the library; several other Lights we passed joined in alongside him, swarming to be part of the adventure. I spotted movement in the gardens below, but I was too high up to discern what it was- something tiny was flying around the carnations. I would have to investigate that later, but for now I supposed it wise to actually take Nyx’ advise and learn more about my new world.

  I spent the rest of my first day hoveled in the room of floating books, listening to strange birdsong from beyond the walls and skimming through countless books. Titles like Runes & Sigils: The Acolyte’s Companion and Beetles, Birdflies, & Other Insects jumped out at me, and I would flip through these before being distracted by a wandering volume about creatures of the Palewood or small-folk folklore. In this manner, I discovered what korrigans were- small creatures that appeared almost human-like, but had owl wings rather than arms and sharp beady eyes. They were excellent to keep pests out of gardens, but they were also inclined to mischief. They answered to an Owl Queen somewhere in the forest, but before I could learn more about them my stomach rumbled to remind me it was dinner-time, as the sun was nearly setting outside. Cervis’s rule rang in my ears.

  I ate dinner alone, with no sign of Cervis anywhere around the palace or grounds, and then returned to my suite. A silken night-gown of shimmery, opalescent fabric hung among the splendorous dresses, and I took down the night-gown. The one time I would trade my pants for a dress was to sleep, though I was accustomed to a frayed, hand-me-down linen robe, not a finely-woven silk gown with lace embroidery. It would have to do, I decided, and headed for the bedroom. I wondered briefly where Cervis slept.

  Exhausted from the long journey and longer day, I fell asleep with ease, and slept dreamlessly for long hours. But it was as the bed shifted next to me close to midnight that I woke once more. By the dim moonlight outside- the Lights had all left the room- I could see the silhouette of a man lying next to me.

  For a while, I lay paralyzed with fear, but he didn’t move or speak. He began to snore mere minutes after laying down, and I stayed statuesque until I was sure he was asleep, and then convinced myself it must be a dream.

  I woke in the morning alone.