Belo~ved mine, belo~ved true
Tell me what so weighs on you
May I shoulder that burden, too?
When there's nothing we can do
Just hold me close, so close in lieu
Beloved mi~ne, beloved true~
The Hopps Estate on Primrose Court of The Burrow, in the kingdom of Forestdwell, weathered fires, bankruptcy, earthquakes, droughts, and plagues… but never once in their long and noble heritage had they suffered so terrible a misfortune. The Willowbranch was condemned as a cursed ship, blood-soaked and marked for ruin by the Devil Himself; a calamity of such magnitude that no reputable insurance company would touch it. It was still on their heads to afford the rites of her proper disenchantment, lest his curse taint the very seas of that great kingdom. There was still the recompenses to the families of the captain, her crew, and the guards… along with the prestigious family of the fiancé who was killed. For it was surely the ill fate of the Hoppses which brought that ravenous horror upon them, and they had plenty to atone for. So, the Appleblossom's sister ship, the Fig, was sold to keep them out of the poor house.
Siblings and cousins married out into more fortunate households, several of which took pity on Diocles and his warren, for despite such a thing to happen… the Hoppses was a long and noble heritage, and more than that, they were still rabbits. It simply meant that they would be back in the dirt for a generation or three until the Stars Above shone on them once more. Luckily (arguably so), Diocles maintained friendly relationships with mammals who were… not as devout in their Tenets and opted for a less traditional method to their investment, and as it so happened, the Hopps patriarch had a good head on his shoulders to survive even the illest omens. All that he and his warren needed was time to recover.
Time… was not what Lovey needed for she had it in droves and it passed like the wind. Her ears gathered word of what Bag-o'-Bones did outside the walls of Forestdwell, his dominion growing with each week; ships were devoured, villages plundered, mariners converted into his crew, pirates sailing under his colors, and the Royal Navy of Liondon was kept busy all around the world by unspeakable atrocities (she even folded clippings in her diary). The veil of his myth lifted as the Hoppses' claims that he was a rabbit of all things (a notion promptly dismissed because "everyone knew that he appeared as yourself, the primal darkness lurking within") was proven as fact. The fact that he was a rabbit did not stop his savagery, though, and the daylight no longer deterred the Blood Pearl…
The world outside rang of innocent voices cut off by monstrous slaughter, crying out to anyone who would listen but left unanswered.
The world inside whispered of rot and a rapturously enslaved populace, praising any addition of a single link to the chains around their necks.
It was all she could do to wake each morning, clean her face and ears, put on a dress… and not weep for the powerlessness to do anything about it. Lovey's coffers were drained, invested directly into the Estate, as did the rest of the Hoppses who stayed; economies had to be taken and the help was dismissed with glowing references, many finding employment in more financially stable households, whether inside or out of The Burrow.
The house seemed so empty… but not all was bleak… Lovey, along with several of her siblings, dedicated their free time to chores instead of hobbies; some studied modern advancements in business, technology, and agriculture, instead of purely academic interests; by the grace of the Stars Above, there was enough in the scholarship fund to send a single Hopps to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Liondon (rather than the usual dozen), a niece of Lovey's whom she always cherished and one of her brightest students. Otto was both saddened and relieved that she was chosen over him, being one of the top two prospects, if only because it meant he could stay in Forestdwell to "keep an ear on things" (even though he was not yet of age).
But perhaps the brightest star in their night sky was not only the beauty of Mr. Pibbers's gardens but the fact that Ms. Sasha had left her job at Mr. Earwicket's theatre to keep the tidiest house for the Hoppses (who needed a few modifications in the kitchen to accommodate her size). She was happy for whatever salary the Hopps Estate could manage, for it was well-known in not only The Burrow but the bordering communities that the Hoppses were always good to those in their employ.
Diocles was reluctant of such drastic changes, after all, bucking tradition on account of dire fortunes was unbecoming and illogical. But then, it seemed he developed the habit of articulating his thoughts aloud on his morning constitutionals through the garden - when Mr. Pibbers was quite dutiful in his care of the flower beds - and found it to be the best time for "very good advice" to "simply come to him". Tangentially, the Hopps patriarch was sure to express his gratitude for having such a lucky fox as Mr. Pibbers as politely as possible, by looking him directly in the eye, for even in their dark times, he proved a true ward against any further misfortune to the Hopps Estate.
Perhaps most nettling of all, it was difficult to keep up appearances and some of the other rabbit families… constructively critiqued in their own way but the Hoppses managed to stay just above water, at least, for the time being.
"Daddy," Lovey then addressed her father one day, curtseying at the door of his study, "may I have a minute?" From the suds wiped off her arms and onto her apron to the handkerchief around her ears, she was the epitome of the humble housebunny; after all, she and her sisters had just helped Ms. Sasha wash the kitchen after lunch.
"Of course, Lovebird, come in," he happily bade, setting down his pen and standing to offer a chair in front of his desk, doing his best to smile even though he calculated the upcoming month's budget (which always made him pale in the ear). She sat and then he sat, reclining in his chair a bit, "Goodness, you've certainly an eager bounce to your step," he noticed with a quick quirk of his brow.
She loosed a breath. "It is an issue I've thought long and hard on, and one of great import… even if I can only hope that it is a candle with wick enough still to light," Lovey attempted and flushed in her ears. "Daddy, I…" she said, gathering her ladylike composure anew, "I was wondering if I might have your blessing to… accept a suitor…?"
Diocles's ears and eyebrows nearly rocketed off his face, sitting erect as he removed his reading glasses. "This is magnificent news!" he calmly rejoiced, almost bouncing in his seat as his paws folded on the desk, "It is celebratory that any son or daughter of mine finds love, my dear, so tell me, who is this potential mate that I… perhaps have not yet met?" he implied.
Lovey blanched some and pursed her lips. "That's the thing… I was hoping you might provide me with a… with a husband," she petered off.
The paternal head canted its evident confusion. "Lovebird, I'm afraid you've lost me. Decision was never your lacking and dozens of suitors have passed by you before," he kindly critiqued, settling in his chair again.
"Yes…" she conceded, "thus, my concern. I am no longer famed as I once was… and there is speculation that I…" Lovey shuddered and crossed her fingers with a bow of her head to speak softly, "that I engaged in some manner of wager or… or congress with Captain Redbeard…"
Her father was quick to circumnavigate the desk and wrap an arm about her shoulders. "Heed not those forked, wagging tongues, Lovebird, they did not see what I saw: you braved his evil influence and turned his head," Diocles assured, touching under her chin to lift her eyes, her paws then around his wrist, "For a single, fleeting instant there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes… I'd daresay that for the first time in his entire wretched life, someone blessed him. That is powerful, my dear, and you saved us all from a fate worse than death. Never be convinced otherwise. Now," he then said caressed her sadly beaming cheek, "tell me what business is this of courtship?"
Lovey gently nodded and folded both paws in her lap. "It happened the other day… Jeanine, Katherine, Tiffany, and I were dumping out buckets of water at the sluice when we encountered a fluffle of young bucks across the way (I think they're of the Carrotwrights over at #2) and as it was a warm morning, my sisters did as young does do and flirted from the other side of the sluice. Well…" she tenderly blushed, "I caught eyes with an older brother but… I recognized him as already mated and if I recall correctly, expecting his first kit soon. He seemed in quite a state, as if only just realizing that he was flirting; I almost thought it scandalous until he quite guiltily beckoned his brothers away and so I followed suit with my sisters. That event played on my mind ever since, Daddy, that perhaps…" she hesitantly suggested, "I might still be viable as a wife?"
His paw wrapped around hers again. "Lovebird… I beg you not feel obliged to mate for this family's sake… we are not so desperate as to revert to such barbaric traditions as selling off our daughters and sons as breeding stock," he said, both trying not to tremble; the shadow of other… cursed, unnamed families was too terrible a past to simply forget, "Should you find a buck who brings you happiness and love, then by the Stars Above, you have my blessing… but I shall never permit a Hopps or any mammal in our charge to be used as goods."
"Thank you, Daddy," Lovey responded, truly feeling a weight lifted from her, "your integrity has always emboldened me. But I must insist… not to be used as goods but because I know you would choose a husband that will be good to me… good for this family…" she said and then lamented, "I have let too many honest, handsome rabbits pass me by, so dedicated as I was to my singing that I assumed the world stood still for me and me alone. I entrust my life wholly to you and know that I will love whomever you find."
"I must protest," Diocles answered, holding her paw tighter still, "your mother was so much better at matchmaking," and gently huffed, "Why do you seek now to court? I hope that is not because your heart is leaden with what happened with the Willowbranch; you exhibit every sign of a rabbit distressed."
She frowned and shrugged somewhat. "I am distressed… and have not been able to even touch my piano in all this time… but after that day at the sluice, however briefly… I felt that I could hum a soft hymn…" To which his eyes brightened. "Please, Daddy, you must know many eligible bucks… perhaps it is time I am a doe rather than dream of it?"
Diocles sighed but smiled, leaning in his plush cheek to tickle her kiss with his whiskers. "Very well, my dear. I shall permit courtship… but on a single condition…"
It was handled with the utmost care and delicacy for while an opportunity to court a young maiden was superb to any young buck in The Burrow, when Diocles first spread rumor and then officially offered up the paw of his daughter, Laverne Hopps, it shook the foundation of rabbit society in Forestdwell. The Estate was spruced up to accept suitors and though many sought an attempt, the competition was promptly thinned by the most prestigious and Fortunate bucks in the kingdom, along with some a day's message down the merchant lines. Diocles's condition was simple: his blessing for mateship would be given to whoever returned the song of the Silver Belle.
The procession lasted nearly three months with half of the suitors arriving in the first few weeks but proving themselves either boorish or pompous or some other manner ill-fitting of husbands. Their lavish gifts and bridewealth hardly passed Lovey's preliminary probing as to their innermost intents; it did not help their case that the lot of them considered their "gifts" as antes and freely released them from their possession as soon as rejection was returned. It did seem, indeed, that they were all as shallow and arrogant as they appeared.
"Aslan's Mane…" Mr. Pibbers marveled through a window of the drawing-room, wherein the suitors were received, promptly gawking at a tapestry from the most recent attempt, "this couldn't possibly be from the 4th century."
"That is the claim," Diocles answered, inspecting the other side of it through a jeweler's lens, "I will need to have it inspected… if he thought to use a forgery I might have a case for fraud."
The fox sniffed at the fabric, propped up by the elbow of his false-paw arm while cradling the weave with his good one, before touching the very tip of his tongue to it. "I'm no expert-"
"So you say," Lovey teased.
"But I would bet my tail that this is authentic," he coyly judged, not bothering with his simpler accent in front of the master of the house.
"Which is still hanging out the window," Diocles calmly critiqued as he nodded at the fox's haunches after removing the lens from his eye, "Do decide whether you are coming or going, Mr. Pibbers, if you insist on avoiding the door. Also, I thought these suitors bored you?"
The gardener's upper half promptly retracted back through the window in a comfortable squat. "They do, Master Hopps, but I came about to let you know that the calcium nitrate budget still has some leeway before the end of month and thought to add some color to the southern flower beds," Mr. Pibbers explained, "Would you prefer I plant something in an orange or a blue?"
"What shade of blue?"
"A rabbit of refined taste. Either lilacs or forget-me-nots would look delightful."
Diocles mulled it over with a groan. "Which do you suggest?"
Mr. Pibbers grinned, hooking an elbow on the windowsill to talk behind his paw. "Lilacs; the southern gardens are most visible by the Dimples at #5 and the lady of the house is bitterly jealous of anyone with better lilacs than hers."
"Oh, lilacs, please," the old buck chuckled, which was shared by his groundskeeper, and then turned to his daughter, "I would extend my apologies for allowing that pompous cad onto the Estate, Lovey, but I'm afraid he's the nephew of an old friend of mine and you are being picky."
Lovey sighed, still fuming after the conversation with the potential suitor. "I'm terribly sorry, Daddy, I know this was my idea but never imagined so many educated bunnies mispronounced 'egregious'; the irony is almost too much…"
"And he is a pompous cad," Mr. Pibbers off-handedly reminded, "What a shame that he and the rest of those fops scared off all the down-to-earth, grammar-conscientious bucks."
"Away with your slyness, Mr. Pibbers," Diocles playfully shooed, "you've lilacs to plant." The fox had already tipped his cap and bowed himself out but did not go very far before poking his eyepatched-head back in as the Hopps patriarch was handed two more envelopes. "Actually, you can stay a moment longer; I know you enjoy the suitors' letters and we have two late-comers," he said, "How odd, this one does not have a sender's name."
The fox hummed and hawed, gradually inching away, "Tempting but I really must tend to those flowers…" he said but as Diocles flapped the missives to push their mystery-laden scents toward the window, the scarlet scalawag was drawn back in like a moth to flame, both elbows hooked onto the sill with a wagging tail, "Aye, Master Hopps?" A polite chuckle was shared between the two rabbits as their dear gardener and friend made a choice of which envelope to first inspect, "Now then, let's see who this next candidate is…
"Hmm…" he enunciated, daintily clasping it to sniff and then examine the handwriting, "Ink and parchment specific for long-term voyages; not cheap, so they are likely seasoned mariners and learned scholars who have been abroad for several weeks… no doubt they sought to find the perfect gift for you as soon as word hit their ears about your availability. Why else wait so long to post a letter? And this is securely sealed," he mused, returning the letter only long enough so that Lovey might open it, "so all his aromas should be preserved, as well as could be with paper, of course," and then learned all he needed by breathing in.
Lovey (whose spirits had lifted little by little during the past few weeks) stood beside her father with an exchanged giddiness; she'd long confided in him the true identity of their housefox, no facet or secret left obscured… and while Diocles had reacted exactly how Mr. Pibbers said he might, at least initially, it surprised them both that the Hopps patriarch thanked his each and every lucky star that they were blessed with so clever a fox as he (and his flowers were the best in The Burrow, bar none). He'd surely proven a boon to the Estate when no manner of falsehood remained between them, and his slyness sent a subtle thrill up the rabbits' spines.
"Clean… groomed…" he hummed, "he favors the quality of his stationary over that of his cologne and keeps a tidy writing desk, what with his lack of spilled smells," and then carefully slid the still folded letter out just enough to sniff inside it, only to smirk, "Well well, I never thought I'd meet another bunny who upheld such a strict script as to not drag or brush their paw across the page as they wrote, but does not press hard enough to indent the paper. Surely, his letter will be a delight to read," Mr. Pibbers decreed and tucked the paper back in to return it to whom it was addressed, "Not that I would be so uncouth as to read a lady's mail."
Diocles accepted the envelope as Lovey read the missive, grinning from ear-to-ear as he identified the sender. "I recognize his name, now, a rabbit of the Liondon nobility; one of the lesser houses, in fact," he said and then added in a stage whisper, "I always found the higher sort quite stiff."
"Daddy," Lovey playfully chastised before reading through the letter with a curious flick of her ears and a giggle (in her most ladylike manner), "Oh goodness, he's using Clawcer to satirize maritime law! I know I shouldn't laugh but it is awfully clever. Oh!" she gasped again, "He signed his name using the King's Script; I'm not familiar with this rendition of it, though, must be specific to Liondon," she speculated, "And you're correct, Mr. Pibbers, his handwriting is artistry; not half so as yours, of course, but certainly an honorable mention. Mr. Pibbers?"
Either rabbit addressed the ashen fox outside the window growling in agony as he clutched his mutilated arm, every muscle seizing along it.
"The phantom pain!" Diocles fretted and then pointed to the daughter who delivered the mail, "Go fetch some water, hurry!" and she was off before he beckoned a few sons digging up a stump in the garden, "Help get his shirt off!" He and Lovey leaned out the window as her brothers aided in opening the fox's shirt to remove a sleeve and unlatch the false-paw from his arm.
Luckily, there was a trick for those with phantom pains and all Mr. Pibbers need do was focus on opening and closing of one paw while mimicking the motions with his other, as best he could, and though his arm tried so desperately to unclench what was not there, it did release in time. "A thousand gratitudes…" he weakly offered as his claws raked the still trembling muscle of his arm, huffing and cringing less with each second, and accepting the drink of water when it was provided, "That is the worst I'd yet felt it…"
"What happened?" Lovey worried, reaching out the window to touch the back of his head… and almost immediately petrifying with the fear still in her dear friend.
"The second missive, that handwriting…" Mr. Pibbers warned, neck craning to her and pointing a wary finger, "it's him." He need not say a word more as to whom that letter was from yet all those within earshot froze with fright. He was the sole mammal named as equal to Captain Piberus Savage, locked in conflict prolific but no more material than the shadows and mists in which it was confided… The very blaggard who forced Captain Savage to watch his crew be ravaged all those years ago but in the end, could only claim the fox's hook as a trophy… the same curved steel implemented as a cane… and a tool of execution…
Still sealed, the letter lay face down near the window where it had been dropped… Diocles picked it up first as he looked to his disparaging daughter. "Lovey," he said, "I can burn this here and now." His voice was strong… but his countenance hid the terror they shared.
She stood a bit straighter - as a lady should - and steeled herself. "No," Lovey decided and held out her paw, "even the Devil Himself is bound by the promises he makes… Forestdwell is warded against his rage and I place my faith in the Stars Above." So, she accepted the letter and then opened it as any other but… such ephemeral confidence she might have gathered in his absence truly meant nothing to the hint of his return.
Diocles rushed her to a chair before she collapsed. "It cannot be…" he gasped, reading what she did, "that fiend… he claims sole ownership to Lovey's voice and song… and fancies himself her fiancé!" All bunnies gathered at the window and the door collectively gasped and some dared to faint.
"Can that bypass the ward?" one rabbit worried.
"Is he coming here?" another dreaded.
"Certainly not!" Diocles then declared, "As Lovey's father and initiator of the challenge, I have ultimate say as to who may or may not vie for her paw in holy matrimony… And my decision is that he is not allowed!" He fumed as he examined the envelope before shoving the letter back inside, "And since he deemed it unnecessary to provide a return address, a lack of response shall imply denial," Diocles reasoned, as was custom for the Tenets and rabbit society, "Even so, we should take the proper precautions." He then put that envelope inside a box, which he put inside another box, addressed it to himself, and handed it off, "Here, as the youngest present, you are to bury it upside-down at the northwest corner of the garden beneath the second plum tree and then stamp the dirt three times." The young rabbit nodded as they repeated the process out loud and scampered off without another word. He and the rest of the Hoppses let out a relieved sigh and made the sign of the Four-Leaf Clover… all except Lovey, who was still quite shaken.
The weeks progressed as Lovey worsened and worsened, unable to even rise from her bed for family, worship, or the songs that Mr. Pibbers wrote for her. Yes, the letter was buried and all appropriate rites implemented to stay the dreaded Captain Redbeard (so named for the gore pouring down his jaw) but such was not the only cause of her dismay… The demon was right, her voice was exchanged for the safety of her family… he had truly taken that and everything else from the Hoppses, yet still, he wanted more; a realization too terrible for her heart to bear. What's more, the box beneath the second plum tree was dug up to further dispel the cursed letters he continued to send to Lovey and each one cinched the vise around her heart, though she never dared open them.
In time, that charming young noble from Liondon scheduled a visit and the house was prepared for him. All of Primrose Court and even the whole Burrow was atwitter as to his arrival, for it seemed he hailed from a prestigious lineage indeed; a grandson of a head administrator for an executive of the Liondon Parliament and a second cousin of an assistant to the Royal Treasurer of Forestdwell. He was clever, kind, humble, thrifty, studious, devout, educated, athletic, classically trained in both the piano and violin and if eyewitness accounts were correct, quite handsome. He arrived with a large crate that carried what he insisted came from a hidden village of foxes in a remote corner of the world; it was the slimmest chance that his weather eye caught sight of the secreted place and by his reckoning, the greatest gift for the Stars Above to bestow on the world.
Ms. Sasha Sleek, one of Lovey's dearest and longest friends, took it upon herself to ready her finest dress, wash her with the best-perfumed soap, and touch her up with the best makeup. In appearance, at least, Lovey was ready to entertain the noblest rabbits of the kingdom and true, the tenderness and love which Ms. Sasha doted thereupon livened her spirit enough to meet at least one rabbit that day, it was evident to all that she could handle no more than that. So, it came to pass that Diocles, Lovey, and the bright young buck were in the drawing-room, like so many before him but unlike his predecessors, he held a riveting conversation about… absolutely nothing at all and yet, Diocles found that he needn't input a single word as his daughter did all the talking.
And then came the gift.
It was perhaps the first time in over a month that any real color shone beneath Lovey's silver fur, for it was the first time in over a month that any real emotion surged within her heart. From the very depths of her being did a voice rise, a voice strong and true, one that the Hopps Estate had not heard ring through its halls in many a moon… but it was no song of the Silver Belle. No… it was the clarion call of the Steel Horn.
"How dare you…" Lovey seethed as she stood from her chair, pointing first to the "giftfox" he brought, a vixen chained, in rags, and with a vinegar-laced sack over her head, "How dare you!" she then rebuked, blasting through any rationalization of his, "You think to earn my favor, the favor of any rabbit in this household by bringing me a chained doll… No!" she quickly corrected with furious tears, "You would have treated a doll better than you did her! Get out and never darken our doorstep again!"
Large, stalwart brothers had answered her call, grabbing the noble by his arms to escort him from the premises and Diocles was sure that he went all the way to the door. As the blaze simmered and Lovey was comforted by her sisters and Ms. Sasha, she was suddenly aware that the vixen stood nearby still, tail tucked between her legs as she attempted to remove the pungent blind.
"Oh, my goodness!" Lovey gasped and rushed over, "Get that key there!" she instructed of a sister while Ms. Sasha removed the vinegar-sack, "A thousand apologies, Miss, I didn't-" She'd turned for only a second to receive the key for the shackles when she looked up at the blinking face of the vixen, stunned to utter stupidity as their eyes focused and locked… Those beautiful, amethyst eyes that she'd seen in every mirror of her life, only then realizing that as she held the vixen's paws to unchain them, their fur differed only in cleanliness.
The part of their conversation where the noble explained how it took him weeks to find "the right one" and how he "didn't have time for proper preparation" suddenly recalled to Lovey so vividly. She recalled most of all the giftfox of King Wapitius, that older tod who might as well had been the king himself, but as a fox rather than a stag. She wondered if that was how Wishes first felt upon seeing his giftfox…
"There I stood… a fox in chains…"
"She doesn't have a name," Ms. Sasha reported, taking great care to dry off the newly-bathed vixen.
"No name?" Lovey speculated, pacing as she did, "She is already well into her prime, how can she not have a name? Exactly what manner of village was she found in?" the rabbit then rhetorically asked.
The dark-ear-tipped vixen spoke again in a strange dialect that sounded… adjacent to the more common tongue in Forestdwell but was an obscenely accented pidgin assembled from the proximity of its speakers. If anything, it was a token of her cleverness to have picked up as much as she had… though it required someone as sly as Ms. Sasha to decipher it.
"I'm not as keen on fox cant - mink that I am - but as best I can figure, she's either 'truth' or 'prudence'," Ms. Sashsa then groaned, "though I think she's just being 'honest' because she only refers to herself as 'kit number seven'."
"Well, 'seven' must have certainly seemed the luckiest of the lot," Lovey bitterly remarked under her breath and of no one present, "If only Mr. Pibbers were here, he could discern the exact location of her village by that stupid rabbit's flowery description of the clouds…"
"He'd do wonders with figuring out exactly what she's saying, too…"
The mysterious maiden was quite patient as the mink brushed her sleek pelt, shy in every way except about her body (it seemed). Her eyes were bright with curiosity but courteous, observant as she seemed to wait for the exact moment to act or speak… as soon as she could determine what to do or say. At present, she was guided into a chair.
"Bless me, the state of this fur…" Ms. Sasha tsk'd, "I'm still floored how it could be so similar to yours… it plays tricks on me mind that it feels and smells the same."
"And you're positive it doesn't?" Lovey worried, "I've heard of bloodwitches and the like with the power to cause such things…"
The mink waggled her grooming scissors before implementing them. "Of course not, Lovey, she's still very much a fox and you very much a bunny; not at all the same," she assured, transitioning to an ethereal musing, "Though I must admit… I've wondered how you might look as a mink or a fox and I can't deny that Seven here is as close as I'll ever see."
"'Not at all the same'…" Lovey repeated and then approached to study the silver-furred, purple-eyed vixen… who reciprocated the studying stare, "I wonder about that."
"How d'you mean?" Ms. Sasha conversed whilst grooming.
"Oh, just…" she faltered, the thought edging her mind, "I'm not sure…"
A soft, teasing harrumph whisked Ms. Sasha's tail to brush away some clipped fur. "So where is that wily flowermonger at, anyway? A fine time to be so inconveniently absent but I suppose with the Estate's luck as it is, a stroke of mercy that there aren't two foxes present."
"And poor Otto is inconsolable," Lovey lamented, to which Ms. Sasha agreed, "but Mr. Pibbers seeks for that King's fox I told you about. I feel terrible for rejecting his message when I did; in retrospect, he and Wishes were sincerely concerned for my well-being after what transpired on the Willowbranch… fool that I was to let my emotions get the better of me…"
"Don't beat yourself down, Lovey," Ms. Sasha said, pausing for a moment, "this has been a hard time for us all and best I can figure, you forgot that 'Wishes' is your king and not a close friend that you can reschedule on a whim," the mink then teased and leaned over to playfully snap her teeth behind a long ear. They both giggled (and the vixen watched). "Alright, up you," she gestured and continued lower on the vixen's body, alternating between comb, brush, and scissors with ease and precision.
A paw cradled Lovey's mouth and tapped a cheek. "I cannot recall ever seeing you tend to another mammal, Sasha; you're quite masterful," she commended and then giggled again, "Really, though, you needn't groom her for her wedding."
Ms. Sasha lightheartedly chuffed as she sat the vixen back down (after a very light touch of perfume) and retrieved her makeup kit. "Oh, Lovey, this isn't half so much as what I've done for Ellie when she and Gus were unlocked; this is just getting Ms. Seven here up to code. After all, I'll need to take her dress shopping, won't I? Can't have her walking about Musty Dale like she's been stuffed in cargo all month; I have a reputation to uphold."
Lovey started with a gasp. "Of course, she hasn't a thing to wear," she realized and regarded the discarded sack with disgust, "I should have some money set aside to-"
"I wouldn't dream of it," she immediately cut off, "there's plenty of quality dresses I can touch up on the cheap; as you said, this isn't for her wedding." Ms. Sasha then spoke a bit more discreetly, "And don't you worry about a single thing, Lovey, I'll take Ellie along so we won't get so much as a sidelong glance, not with a tough girl like her."
The rabbit dismissed such a concern with an airy swat. "I fully trust that you and Mrs. Turntide can handle a day in Shift Down by your lonesome," she said and then asked, "Why, should I be concerned?"
A facial shrug preceded the roll of her shoulders. "Ah, my apologies, I forget that rabbits can't smell it like us shifties can. It must have been what that suitor meant that she wasn't 'prepared'," she implied, "It's why I dabbed the perfume, to let all those tailchasers know what's what. Not a worry for ladies like Ellie and me, she's mated and I'm Placated, but this vixen has had neither cut nor chemical. Us ladies must look out for each other."
They both took a step back to admire the mink's craft after the vixen pulled a robe over her. She'd sputtered and spat several times whenever makeup somehow got into her mouth - whether it was the fur-powder, lipstick, blush, perfume, or eyeshadow - but the end result was an absolutely stunning display of subtle and natural beauty that put life in her cheeks and an air of refinement to her face.
"Exquisite," Lovey gushed and clapped her paws together, "oh, Sasha, I did not compensate properly you for your work at the theatre."
She dismissed so fanciful a trifle with a titter. "The work is its own reward."
"Truly, if the Hoppses should be graced with Fortune enough to invest again in this generation or the next, I would be honored to sponsor any boutique of yours."
Ms. Sasha swooned and cradled her cheeks at such a thought. "Well, that's for the future but as it stands, I'll fetch a dress to lend our dear Ms. Seven, and I think I know just what she needs," the mink pondered and whisked out of the washroom.
A soft sigh lilted from Lovey's lips before she retrieved the burlap sack and twine that once comprised the totality of the vixen's wardrobe; it was folded, the rope coiled, and then set aside for disposal (or repurposing as a sack for potatoes and other such vegetables). As lucky and holy as "seven" was to the Hexward Tenets, it was not a fox name, necessarily… and Lovey could already see the face on Mr. Pibbers if she allowed this new vixen to be known as such… but what to call her…
"Truth."
"Prudence."
It became more and more a matter of "providence" to see a vixen so closely resembling herself… chained.
How could she not see it before?
How could she not recognize what stared her in the face?
They were all "chained" in fear, from the smallest mouse to the biggest elephant… from the lowest housefox to the Grand Stag himself. Predators feared retribution for acting in accordance to their nature; prey feared to act as anything but a homogenous herd. They would be cast out and isolated… feeling naught but oneself… no connection to any other mammal… a living death…
Such warring fears overwhelmed Lovey's heart at the Gaudere… every virtue in her rebelled against the Court's torture of that lion but every instinct trembled at opposing them. Their intoxication might have hindered their memory of her opposing some "ancient ritual" but They were still there, ever-vigilant and ever-critical. Lovey steeled what she could against the memory of that beige rabbit and their team of emotionless workers, acting with such dispassionate conviction.
The mountain she set to climb alongside Mr. Pibbers proved an impossible task, indeed, affirmed as she was as to the chain choking her own neck. Perhaps he knew all along but had no way to communicate it with her head buried so deep in the ground…
Noise stirred Lovey's reverie; a welcome distraction from past mistakes. The vixen had risen from her seat and opened the window to lean out (and being a fox in a rabbit's washroom, looked a bit silly). Lovey then noticed that she still had her robe on… but unfastened. It was a testament to her ladylike bearing that Lovey so promptly covered ground and affixed the vixen's modesty without tripping over her own dress.
"'Trudence' is a portmanteau of 'truth' and 'prudence'," Lovey clarified as she sat with the vixen affectionately nicknamed Trudy, her father Diocles, and a very nervous bunny of a lower noble house from Liondon; his fur was like sifted dirt of a dry summer with harlequin patches and his jacket a more utilitarian combination of green and ochre. Tea, cakes, and pickled vegetables were all set out for an afternoon meeting in a gazebo with the former-suitor, once banished from the Hopps Estate but permitted into the gardens for a single chance to redeem himself in the family's eyes.
He quite politely acknowledged the identification with a momentary grunt. "I did not know that was her name," the noble rabbit confessed, affording himself a single courteous sip of tea but remaining as still as possible, "your name, I mean, and quite lovely it is," he then corrected in direct address to the vixen, "It was my understanding that you were called by your birth order, 'Seven', at least, as per your parents' explanation."
Trudy simply smiled for she was the most at ease of the four. "Yes, I shall admit that its significance was lost in translation," she said, her diction audibly improved under Lovey's masterful tutelage, "but Lovey was clever enough to discern a name for me, lest I be known by a vocalization unique to my species, however beautiful such a sound would be. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," the vixen continued and then paused to consider the correct way to address him, "Sir Flanders Lapis."
Sir Lapis was then his most nervous as he presented both paws in placation; any noble bearing of his was promptly dropped. "Rest assured, the gratitude is all mine!" he pleaded, "Eternally, at that, to allow me this opportunity to make amends."
"Well," Diocles abided as he savored a slice of pickled beet, "your thanks should be directed towards Trudence, she advocated on your behalf."
He started. "Truly?"
Both Lovey and Trudy nodded. "She presented quite the case," the former explained and smiled to her dear vixen as she touched her arm, "I would have certainly enjoyed her just defense if I were not the one it was directed at but I am no less proud of her."
The father chuckled at the vixen's modesty. "If a fox such as her were allowed in the practice or enforcing of law, the Burrow would be the safest community in the kingdom. By my reckoning," he then continued, returning to the topic at paw with a cool warning, "it was a mercy to let you scamper off with both of your feet. Do you know why, Sir Lapis?"
Sir Lapis blanched. "I do not, Mister Hopps."
"Simply put," he said after a sip of his tea, "the Hopps family was beset by such egregious misfortune because the Willowbranch's deck was bloodsoaked long before Captain Redbeard sunk his fangs into her, the same with the Appleblossom and the Fig. After that cataclysm, our longest-standing business partners fled from the Hoppses' unluckiness - and who's to blame them - but took with them secreted dealings in 'legal' slave trade; this, I discovered only after a harrowing audit of every cent and number on our ledgers. Now," he asserted, "while I would never - not in a hundred years - deem what happened to us a blessing-in-disguise… it certainly forced us to reevaluate everything. Not that I would boast anything of the sort to the rest of Primrose Court… after all, we are still rabbits and do not so crassly demonstrate our private affairs."
The noble's paws wrung.
"Why do you fidget so?" Lovey asked, "You were quite cool-headed when you reminisced about your battle with that water serpent and we are nowhere near as deadly. Technically speaking, we haven't even a proper case against you."
He cleared his throat. "By my reasoning, Miss Hopps, my intentions for today are misinterpreted and I only now realize how tremendously I have injured the members of this household," he explained as best he could, "You see… I sought Trudence's forgiveness before returning to Liondon but… it seems my list of sins is greater than I anticipated."
Mild confusion and curiosity were exchanged between the Hoppses. "You are not making any sense, Sir Lapis," Diocles then said, "just how did you expect us to receive an enslaved fox as a gift?"
Noble paws wrung further. "Trudence was not the gift I chose for Lovey," he revealed, "I had acquired permission from an elder of your village to bring back a tiny piece of the gargantuan geode. Your species has been nestled in its protection for who knows how long and so you see it more like plantlife than a wonder of aural resonance, as we rabbits can hear it. 'Surely,' I thought, 'this would help Miss Hopps find her voice again.' I must have tapped a tuning fork against a hundred thousand crystals before finding the right one; I hardly had time to clean it before hurrying back.
"Unfortunately…" Sir Lapis lamented as he smoothed the fur on his head, "I was in such fervor to set sail from Liondon that I overlooked the exact demeanor of the captain and his crew. He muttered some repugnant thing under his breath as soon as he saw the crystal-furred foxes but immediately played it off as dark humor. Displeased though I was as to his irreverence," he continued with mounting regret and disdain, "there was no chance of finding another, more trustworthy crew without losing the village forever; we circled the jagged rocks hiding it for four days and never dared to brave its labyrinth until I caught the geode's chime again, assuming our small ship could navigate it. When our weather eye spotted the crystal's glint, we knew Fortune smiled on us. That was when the captain's true colors showed.
"I managed to converse with the elder, who was a learned vixen, to explain why I was there… thinking on it now, I suspect she knew about the other's intents before I did and reasoned they could handle them well enough should the need arise," he thought, "It didn't take long for them to complain about mounting inconveniences…"
Diocles sipped as he listened and politely cleared his throat to interject. "What say you, Trudy?"
Trudy politely chuckled and helped herself to a cake. "We knew what they wanted and made any endeavor on their part woefully difficult," she humbly boasted, "'Twas the most fun our village has had in years, according to Papa. All the while, Flem busied himself with the crystals and we thought it endearing," Trudy idly considered and then caught herself, "Oh! My apologies, Sir Lapis, I did not mean to be so casual."
An involuntary snicker (as all genuine laughter is) escaped Lovey's mouth before she could smother it but regained her ladylike demeanor immediately (especially when a kind but withering look was paid by her father). "'Phlegm'?" she then wondered aloud.
'Flem' blanched but smiled as he rubbed his neck. "It is short for 'Flemish', as in, 'Flanders'. The captain and crew were quite fond of it… as is the entirety of my siblings, cousins, and friends. Do not consider it an insult, though, 'Flem' was the nickname of a grandfather of mine, 'great' in both relation and achievements. He was a giant of a rabbit and overcame the 'bunny curse', so something of a family hero; sadly, he was lost in a train accident but his daughters have shown no sign of passing the curse onto their children or children's children, of which I am one of many."
"Your family overcame the bunny curse?" Lovey then awed, "You never thought to mention such a miracle?"
Again, he rubbed his neck. "Only he truly overcame it and Lapis bucks have always been resilient to it but since the curse is not prevalent in the Hopps line, I hardly deemed it of importance."
Diocles hummed. "Are there any other astounding tidbits that you did not deem 'of importance', Sir Lapis? Trudence already elaborated as to her own lifelong wish to see more of the world," he explained and the vixen agreed with a nod (if a bit abashedly), "which explains how the village let you leave alive with one of their daughters."
"I snuck aboard when no one was looking and then was ambushed by the crew," Trudy said, "I thought you'd be happy to see me, after all of our talks… well, suppers together, but feared I made a grave mistake in judging your character. Why did you never look inside the crate I was hidden, Flem?"
Flem's paws wrung all the worse. "We had two crates prepared; one with the crystal I found along with some traded fabrics and the other with what the captain claimed was a songbird, one of many that flew about the geode. I have crippling ornithophobia, you see, and would not dare go near the crate… he said it was a marvelous find for the Liondon's Academy of Science, though," he exposited and crossed his arms in thought, "Our crates must have been switched by accident when we docked at Forestdwell."
Lovey quietly sipped as she continued to watch the noble rabbit. "Flem," she then said, "your ears keep twitching and your pitch hints at suspicion. Are you alright?"
"Well," he said and cleared his throat, letting his ears freely scan the surrounding gardens, "I cannot shake the feeling that someone is eavesdropping…"
The Silver Belle beamed quite demurely, as though amusement and confidence radiated off her with but a single grin. "He certainly is," she calmly said, and to her father's chuckling, spoke a bit louder, "though I explicitly warned him not to." The faintest rustling of a hedge was then heard before all was silent again. "You see," Lovey continued as she set her teacup down, "it was not only Trudy who played your advocate but also our housefox, Mr. Pibbers. He bent both my ears to hear your side and I agreed on the condition that he would corroborate your claim," she said, "He must have interpreted that differently and should be headed to the docks as we speak."
"I suggest you blame him for this little setup," Diocles added, "Sincerely, I was more than happy to accept that you bringing an enslaved fox into my home was, in fact, an accident… perhaps even a blessing-in-disguise. By my reckoning, the Stars Above rescued this fair vixen from a terrible fate and you were their herald."
The noble's lips pursed as his foot thumped the gazebo's wooden floor. "Be that as it may, I should feel affronted by this invasion of privacy and perhaps would, Miss Hopps, were I not seeking forgiveness," he then sighed, "It's better than I deserve for my mistake. Shall we, at the very least, say that business is concluded and we can walk away on neutral terms?"
"Not at all," Diocles responded if a bit jovially, "but do not jump from your pelt, Flanders, from what all I have seen and heard, your only fault is that you trusted a foul company. I could not, in good conscience, condemn a fellow rabbit who fell victim to business partners secretly engaging in the slave trade."
"Am… I forgiven?" Flem asked.
"I forgive you, yes," Trudy answered, "Though we did not know each other very long, you seemed to me of good heart."
"As do I," Lovey agreed and then continued, "but if any reparations are to be made, it would be that you help us reunite Trudence with her family."
Noble paws wrung fiercer, still. "I'm afraid cannot…" he confessed and withered at their remorse, "I stole back onto the ship and burned the captain's maps as soon as I found out who was in his cargo. They can never find that beautiful place again… but it seems no one else shall, either… I did manage to locate where the crystal and fabrics had gone, though," he considered, "If I cannot yet bring you home, Trudence, then may I offer you a piece of it, so to bring comfort during your stay?"
The vixen nodded solemnly. "If I could but get close enough, I surely would be able to detect the crystal; I still could even when sailing away," she considered and then considered again, "You say 'yet'…?"
"It will take some research," Flem said, perhaps a bit hopeful, "There is a decrepit map at my family's manor that initiated my search of that sea, where phantom songs rang out across the waves and deterred all who sailed too close. I wondered if there was some truth to it, some scientific fact for its incorporeal melody and do remember the steps I took to find it. Time is all that I need to reassemble my notes." His face brightened when Lovey's did (though it was not directed at him). "A cargo ship leaves for Liondon tonight and I can be on it."
"A cargo ship, tonight?" Lovey doubted, eyes meeting him full-on, "You needn't be over-charged and unaccommodated aboard a cargo ship on our account. Isn't there a rabbit sloop sailing for Liondon in a week's time?"
He politely shrugged as he explained, "Yes but with my traveling funds as they are, I could not afford room-&-board until then and safe passage the whole way. Do not fret over my comfort, Miss Hopps, I have been curled inside a ship's cabinet before and shall be so again."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Diocles interjected, "I know the captain of that fine vessel and shall speak to them your behalf. In the interim, I extend an invitation that you stay on the Estate," he offered and then coyly inclined towards his daughter, "provided there are no objections?"
"Of course not, Daddy," she giggled in all her ladylike demeanor before smiling to their then houseguest, "and please, call me 'Lovey'."
Flem flushed from cheeks to ears, though he handled himself quite well, a sentiment shared by the Silver Belle. "As you wish, Lovey."
Fortune had not forsaken the Hopps Estate. Gone were the days of their mercantile exceptionalism and prolific presence of investors, but they still had a few Stars shining on them. Some young Hoppses were trained to peddle flowers by their dear housefox, Mr. Pibbers, whose gardens knew no equal in The Burrow or Shift Down; in fact, it was from the back of Big Gus's grocery cart that most of their business came as they traveled along his routes, earning pennies at a time but theirs was a welcome addition of color to every delivery. Additionally, it seemed that the mysterious "Mr. Unnamed", whose songs then numbered in the forties, was writing again and his lyrics all the sweeter, all the more passionate… It even seemed that the Silver Belle might once again chime.
Denizens of The Burrow gathered at the Hopps Estate for a small concert one evening, much to the surprise of all within earshot. The gardens were bright and the halls festive, not on the virtue of an invitation but the playing of instruments and the singing of songs which attracted those of Primrose Court (though some were still quite wary of any lingering misfortune). For a time, Lovey was the starlet of her own little drawing-room theatre and her own little familial orchestra, a far cry from the prestige of the operatic stage yet welcome all the same. A need for food arose soon enough, for there were more guests than they anticipated in the height of the event, and by the good graces of the rest of Primrose Court, steamed vegetables, fried delights, and baked goods came in a sort of potluck.
As Lovey's singing came to a close to rest her still recovering voice, she reflected as she stole out into the night for a breath of cool air. It had been nearly a month since Sir Flanders "Flem" Lapis stayed at their home and his last letter from aboard that sloop to Liondon showed no signs of cutting off contact… but the fact was the sloop arrived but he did not, having disembarked at one of the ports along the way. And what a shame, too, what with Diocles about ready to not only permit their marriage but pay for it! At least he was courteous enough to send the crystal and fabrics to Trudy, which livened her spirit in ways that Lovey could not comprehend. And Mr. Pibbers's songs were as beautiful as ever, so like when he first wrote them…
Lovey then wondered where Trudy was at and swept her long ears about. She spared one more glance at her family attending the guests on their departure before slipping into the moonlit gardens. The night was full of sounds for the season, enough to keep a heart entranced but Lovey did not have time to sit and marvel… not when concern for her dear Trudy bubbled anew. She had taken a fancy to that charming Mr. Pibbers, as many ladies before her, but he reverted to his old ways of avoiding contact. Not in any malicious way, Lovey knew, only that he was so… busy all the time. However, as she also knew, it was best to not chase a fox, for they will not leave their loved ones for long.
It was that old storage area along the side of the manor - where she first discovered the duplicity and brilliance of Mr. Pibbers - which was presently cleared but he still used to clean his tools (and himself) at the end of the day. Her ears tickled with footsteps and voices as she crept down the stairs and peeked around a corner, the draining water still running as she then spotted Mr. Pibbers washing beneath it, but unlike the first time, he still wore trousers and his back was turned, hunched over the drain. And she saw Trudy, her tail bristling as she only seemed to have arrived, as well. Lovey knew she shouldn't do so naughty a thing as eavesdrop but…
"Mr. Pibbers," Trudy greeted, arms crossed.
"Aye," he plainly responded, as calm and collected as ever.
"Good evening," she continued after a pause.
"That it is."
The vixen's foot tapped before folding her paws behind her back and inclining. "We missed you up at the party," she politely attempted.
"I very much doubt that," he politely countered, head never lifting, "Primrose Court would be aghast to see two foxes in the same room together. It was best that I kept my distance."
"They asked to see you, though."
"Yes, I'm quite sure they asked to see this mangy composer, whose songs they adore and praise to the high heavens," Mr. Pibbers stoically retorted, "I heard Lovey sing them and that is gratitude enough for me."
"…I wanted to thank you for them," Trudy then said.
His head did lift and ears flick, but still, his gaze was averted.
"Never had I heard such beautiful music… the family says it's as if that Captain Redbeard never cursed her." The vixen took a step closer.
"Aye," he placidly agreed as he stood, to shake the water from his paw and stretch out his back.
"Lovey said that it was she who inspired you to write those beautiful songs." Trudy stepped closer again.
"Aye."
"And that you plant those beautiful flowers for her."
"Aye."
"And that… those songs and flowers became all the more beautiful when her voice returned."
"…Aye."
Trudy stood just out of range of his tail's swaying tip. "Mr. Pibbers," she said, "I am told that you are witty and a delight to converse with. I heard it from Sasha, Big Gus, and every rabbit I've yet met. But to date, I have only experienced this 'wit' or 'delightful conversation' secondhand while I was in another room."
His head bowed and tail curled so she dared a step closer.
"You were the first fox I had ever seen outside my village and yet… I have never met you," she nearly accused, tail bristling again as she tried to see his elusive face, "Why? Why do you not look at me, even as I seek you out and stand in your presence?"
"Because…"
The water flowed to fill the silence.
"The flowers… the songs…" he continued with a weak gesticulation, "they're for you."
Both Lovey and Trudy held their breath.
"Never had I been so willing to give all that I am to a single mammal, Trudy…" he said and looked over his shoulder to her with that single, brilliant green eye, "Were I to look upon you, I would know what my nose and ears and heart told me from the outset: that I would fall desperately and irrevocably in love with you." His whole body then turned to face her and with his one good paw, he grasped hers, "If I were to touch you… then every moment spent apart would be an unbearable agony…"
Lovey's ears flushed bright red such that she feared their glow would be visible.
"And…" Trudy attempted to say as she was guided to his bare chest, "if you were to kiss me?"
He smiled in such a way that it took all his steel and composure to not burst with jubilation. "Then I would know that there truly is good in this world… and that I am worthy of it."
Though Lovey did not linger to watch, she did see that Mr. Pibber's head ducked as Trudy was brought up onto her toes. She felt her heart might burst with joy and love, so much so that it could jump from her mouth in a song to explode in the night sky as a new star. So, the Silver Belle hurried back to the manor… inspired to finish the newest music of her dear friend Mr. Pibbers, his forty-eighth still-unnamed ode to beauty and truth… A song so grand that it could only be their final aria.
Author's Notes:
"Clawcer" is the Zootopian analog to the "Chaucer Tales".
The "phantom pain" mentioned here is the "phantom limb" phenomenon which affects those with missing limbs. Basically, their mind thinks that they're clenching a fist that isn't there but they can't unclench it (because it's not there) so it just hurts for no discernible reason. One therapy is to use a mirrored box to reflect the good hand and trick the mind into thinking that there is still a hand there and that it is releasing.
While the process that Diocles described here is a Tenet/superstition with no real-world reference (to my knowledge), the "box inside of another box... mail it to myself" is a reference to Yzma from "Emperor's New Groove", because I that whole line of thinking was utterly hilarious.
Sasha's surname "Sleek" is a reference to the character Trisha Sleek from my friend NieveLion's story, "To Mend a Broken Heart".
"Shift Down" is a collective term for Musty Dale, The Caern, and Fell End.
Isolation as a form is punishment/torture is an idea explored previously in Neverwere Moments, namely concerning Gideon's isolation in pred-therapy. All mammals need some kind of connection with another mammal, even the solitary ones, as an empathic lifeline so a lack or severance of this connection has serious ramifications not only on an emotional and mental scale but ultimately, physical.
"Crystal-furred foxes" is a nod to the crystalline foxes from "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". The idea behind Trudy's species is that they, like the foxes of the Knottedwood, seclude themselves inside a differently electromagnetic field resulting from some natural phenomenon (in this case, a giant geode). Within the geode, the foxes have a certain crystalline bristol to their fur the longer they are away from it.
The Flem/Flanders name refers to the largest breed of rabbit, the Flemish giant rabbit which comes from Flanders, Belgium; for those curious, "Flemish" effectively means "from/of Flanders".
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