Crispin walked quietly through Anemone Wood. Last night had been a night of Riding Stars and he wondered anxiously what they foretold. Since he had found the baby squirrel a few years back, the Riding Stars had become even more mysterious. He still found himself wondering about the young squirrel whom he now saw playing with a hedgehog under the watchful of Apple. When he first found the baby, Urchin he named him, he had been reluctant to let Apple raise him but he knew now that she was a fine parent and would never harm the baby at all.
He was walking to the house where his best friend lived. Padra had been a page like him and made a member of the Circle but since his mother died a couple of years ago, his friend had spent more time at his father's home to help raise his young brother Fingal.
At last he made it the house by the river. He knocked once and strode in. The place was clean except for a stray cloak thrown in the corner. Crispin smiled; he knew the cloak was Padra's. Padra had never been an organized person. His room in the tower, even though hardly lived in, was always a mess with cloaks, papers, and an unmade bed. Arran constantly made fun of him for it but Crispin suspected Padra enjoyed her name-calling.
He left the house and sat by the river. Where there's water, there's always an otter or two. He decided he would wait for Padra to swim along because he had something he needed to talk about.
About ten minutes passed until Crispin saw a figure glide through the water towards him. "Crispin! What are you doing here? You haven't been waiting long, have you?"Padra asked cheerfully. Crispin wished he had reason to be so cheerful.
"No, only a few minutes and I didn't mind. I needed time to think. Where's Fingal?"
Padra looked at him suspiciously. "He's with Dad, thank the Heart. I need a break. Now, what do you look so upset about?"
"It's Ember, Padra! What's wrong with her? She follows me around all the time and acts like we're madly in love with each other but we're not! I don't know what to say to her because I'm afraid of what she might do. You know how sensitive she is." He was right, too. Ember was extremely sensitive. Once, when they were small, she ran home sobbing her eyes out when Husk found her first during a game of "Find the King, find the Queen, find the Heir of Mistmantle" and told her she was it next. The simplest things caused her to break. His mother had said she was simple minded and he should take care to be extra kind to her and he always was.
"Just talk to her. Don't tell me she's so simple minded she can't stand a talking to. She's stronger than you think and she's going to have to find out sooner or later because I doubt you're prepared to marry her to save some hurt feelings. The longer you wait, the more it will hurt her later on and we definitely don't want that." Padra replied, drying his fur on the grass.
"But what would I say? 'Sorry Ember but I don't love you like you think I do. You're a great girl and all, but I'm not the one for you.'"
Padra grinned at him. "Yes! That's perfect. But you should add 'We can still be friends' or something and talk gently, not like the way you did just now. I thought you were going to kill me."
Crispin groaned. "Why does she have to like me? Why can't she like Husk or Heath or anybody else?"
"Because she has had a passionate love for since we were two years old, that's why."
Crispin smiled slyly. "Like you have had for Arran, but she openly hates you for it."
Padra glared at him. "Why do I bother helping you? You may be surprised to know that she doesn't hate me and I don't love Arran and I never have!"
Crispin couldn't resist. Arran was the only subject Padra ever got riled about. "Hm, really? Because I remember a time when you tried to kiss her when we were four and another time when you walked into a wall because you had been looking at her instead of where you were going and another time when…"
"Alright, enough already! Plaque, an animal can't have any privacy these days, can he? It just so happens to be none of your business." With that Padra stood up and walked inside the wooden house. Crispin rose and followed, shutting the door behind him.
"You better pick up your cloak. You know how Conan gets." Padra's shoulders dropped and he bent to pick up his cloak. Since his mother had died, his father had become obsessed with a clean house, probably because she had always kept it so clean.
He sat down at the small square table and said, "There's something strange going on. Something with the sea. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels… different. I don't know what it is."
Crispin looked at him. "Like a storm? You know the feeling before a big storm? Is that it?"
"Yes and no. I don't know, maybe it's me. Everything is changing and nothing seems to be going right. All of these laws, Husk, the queen and her miscarriage, the nursery. I hate it."
Crispin nodded. His childhood had been collapsing these past few years and it seemed his world too. Husk was growing dark and the king was becoming easily influenced by him. He, Padra, Brother Fir, Arran, Lugg, and Mother Huggen secretly opposed his new culling law and the danger was real. If they were caught, they would surely be arrested.
The last thing he needed right now was Ember having false illusions about their relationship. He didn't want to hurt her but he knew Padra was right. He would have to talk to her.