Chapter 64: Episode 064: Impromptu Heat
"Perhaps you can speak with Queen Tanith?" Knox asked. "I believe you can think things through with her, while Princess Gianna keeps you safe."
Rue stared at him. She expected him to try to lecture her. She expected him to try to be the hero. Instead, he simply trusted her judgment. It was a very strange, very quiet kind of respect.
"Once I am ready to go, I will go to the swamps to speak with Queen Tanith," Rue decided.
"Good," Knox replied. "The wolf territory is a death trap for a panther. You will move faster without me."
Caius returned an hour later, his face grim. He had spent the entire day at the palace. Tanith had locked herself in the royal chambers with Iris, the wolf princess seemed better now after talking to Rue but she was still sad.
He didn’t stay long. He walked into the kitchen, downed a cup of water, and then turned to Rue.
"I have to go back," Caius said, his golden eyes filled with worry. "Queen Tanith trusts no one but the Vanguard right now. I need to keep the guards in line before they start fighting each other."
[They wouldn’t actually do that...]
What do you know!
[...]
He reached out and touched Rue’s hair. His fingers were cool. "Come with me to the palace, Rue. It is safer there"
Rue looked at the cabin. She looked at the soft chairs, the warm hearth, and the pile of folded blankets. "I’ll stay here for now, don’t worry I will be there soon."
Caius hesitated. He looked at Knox, who was standing by the door, arms crossed. Caius scowled, but he didn’t argue. He knew Rue was a stubborn. He leaned down, kissed her forehead, and vanished back into the woods.
The next two days were quiet.
They were also entirely strange.
Caius stayed at the palace, constantly stepping in to manage the crisis. Tanith refused to let Iris see anyone, meaning the palace remained closed. This left Rue and Knox alone in the cabin for most of the time.
It made Rue suspect that this might be more serious than she thought.
Knox became incredibly helpful. When he noticed the woodpile outside was getting low, he went out and chopped enough wood to last for a month.
When Rue was busy folding laundry, she would look up to find Knox standing at the kitchen stove. He was stirring a pot of herbal broth he had started from scratch. He used spices he had gathered himself, the scent of fresh rosemary and wild garlic filling the room.
Rue never even realized he knew how to cook.
"It is ready," Knox would say, placing a bowl on the table.
He was gentle with Theron. It was the most surprising thing of all. Theron was a handful. He was a growing hybrid baby who liked to grab fingers and pull hair. Knox would sit on the rug, letting the baby crawl all over him. He would hold Theron up, balancing the baby on his massive, corded forearm, and make low, rumbling growling sounds that made the baby shriek with laughter.
"You are actually good at this," Rue said one afternoon. She was sitting in her chair, finally having a moment to read a book. She watched Knox tossing a small, soft leather ball for Theron to catch.
Knox caught the ball and handed it back to the baby. "In the jungle, the strongest panthers are the ones who protect the cubs. A panther who cannot be gentle with his own bloodline is a panther who is not fit to lead. It is a requirement."
Rue found herself relaxing.
The sharp edges of her personality began to dull. She didn’t feel the need to watch her back every single second. She didn’t feel the need to calculate every move.
Knox told stories. He told stories about the jungle canopy, about the way the light hit the waterfalls at dawn, and about the way the panthers tracked the seasons. He was funny, in a dry, sharp way that made Rue actually smile.
The next day, Knox told a joke about a bear-shifter who tried to climb a tree that was clearly too thin for his weight. Rue laughed. She didn’t just smile—she actually let out a real, honest laugh that surprised her.
Knox looked at her, his golden eyes softening. He didn’t take credit. He just went back to playing with Theron.
On the sixth day, the silence was perfect.
Caius had left before dawn. The cabin was warm, the sun was hitting the floor, and the baby was napping in the crib. Rue was in the kitchen. She was preparing a bowl of steamed root vegetables for lunch.
She moved with her usual, calm rhythm. She reached for the clay bowl sitting on the edge of the wooden counter.
Suddenly, a strange, unnatural spike of heat hit her.
It was not a normal feeling. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of hot coals directly into her chest. Her heart started to slam against her ribs, hard and fast, like a trapped bird.
Rue gasped.
The heat flared, burning through her veins. It felt like her blood was turning into liquid fire. Her vision blurred at the edges, the bright sunlight in the kitchen turning into a hazy, shimmering mess.
Her hands betrayed her.
I hope this not what I think it is!
The clay bowl slipped from her fingers.
She tried to catch it, but her muscles were suddenly weak and uncoordinated. The bowl hit the floor with a sharp, loud crack.
Fragments of clay and pieces of steamed vegetable flew across the room. Rue didn’t see them. She swayed, her knees hitting the wood, her hand clutching at her chest as the heat roared through her again.
She heard the loud shuffling of feet, signalling that someone was coming close, but her heart was roaring in her ears, and then she head Knox frantic voice.
"Rue?"
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