Welcome back everyone!

That was a bit of a break there, sorry about that.

My thanks for your patience, your reviews and sticking with the story so far!

We're going to have a major breakthrough in this chapter and the bunny x fox relationship is going to change significantly from now on ;) Stay tuned to read more in the future chapters.

Chapter 10

Judy was a mess. Mentally and emotionally.

The doe was laying on her back with both arms over her eyes. A whirlwind of emotions was surging through her mind. From burning anger, through sizzling vengefulness to worst of them all - hopelessness. And all of them circling around one mammal. Though there was one thing she was certain of: she loathed Nicholas Wilde.

Damn him to hell. Damn his smirks, his games and his confident attitude!

But he had her in his paw. He knew that she wouldn't let any harm to be done to her family. The sly bastard, he had it all planned, ever since the auction. Judy was certain that he bought her siblings to use them as another chain around her neck. The bunny hated this situation, but she didn't cry. It was far too late for tears, this situation required a plan how to get Sheila and Tommy safely out of here. And it would be difficult, as she had no idea how to get back to Bunny Burrow from here, plus the fox would surely sent his soldiers to hunt them down if he'd notice their disappearance.

She gritted her teeth.

I need a plan!

At that point her gaze fell on the pistol.

.

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Meanwhile, Sir Nicholas was feeling almost ecstatic, thanks to what just happened with his father and the bunny. He wanted to laugh every time he recalled his father's shocked face hit with a flying pistol. But his good mood was somewhat damped by the pang of guilt he felt when the bunny's teared up expression came up in his mind. He knew that he acted cruel towards her, but he had to stop her from firing that gun. There was no telling what his father would do if a rabbit slave would shoot his son. Burning Bunny Burrow to the ground and spilling salt over the remaining ashes would be the most probable course of action. Still, the expression of betrayal and helplessness on her face brought up most unpleasant memories from the past three years and he cringed in disgust of himself. He was on his way to the kitchen to check up on Benjamin and the little rabbits, but now he stopped in the middle of a long corridor and smashed his fist into the closest wall. Anyone knowing him, whether as a friend, owner or master, would be shocked to see such a display of emotions from this fox, known among the aristocracy for his mask that hid any trace of his true self.

And now that façade was crumbling and due to who? A simple farm bunny. If this were to be widely known, he'd become the laughing stock of the upper class. The amusing part? He didn't care. He would slightly mind just several days ago, but after what happened between the doe and his father… Sir Nicholas knew that, as of now, he had two goals: to deal with his father and provide safety for the doe and her siblings. The noble fox already had in mind a possible solution for the first objective, but the second one was far trickier. The image of Judy's tears burned in his mind, twisting his gut with a crushing feeling of guilt and shame. He'd have to start with an apology…

He straightened up and his face readjusted itself into a mask. From outside it had to look like an effect of some weird magic, when his features smoothened fluidly and covered any trace of the recent outburst. The transformation was so perfect, that it would leave an observer wondering which emotions were the real ones.

Once again, the vulpine directed his steps toward the kitchen.

.

.

„Okay, who wants some cookies?" the cheetah called out loudly, to the cheer of the two small rabbits and laughter of the head cook and several other servants.

He promised them some sweets on their way here, but upon arrival in the kitchen and asking for some he was scolded by Amanda about proper eating habits. And, after giving the kids one of her suffocating hugs, the hippo cook quickly whipped them a nutritious, vegetable meal. Her expression brightened up even more when the rabbits happily complimented her on the taste of the breakfast. She was so fond of the fluffy duo, that afterwards she gave them a short tour around the kitchen and allowed them to eat any vegetable of their liking.

And getting the cookies was the cherry on top of it all.

But their cheerfulness vanished when a red fox appeared in the doorway. Sheila and Tommy scrambled to Amanda and climbed on her shoulders, believing that a big animal like herself would protect them from the vulpine.

"The fox!" Tommy squealed, causing the hippo to shake with laughter.

"Worry not, master Nicholas would never do anything to kids like you two," she scooped them in her arms to place the bunnies on the floor. The kids cast doubtful glances at the noble, clenching Amanda's apron.

"Come on, you two," Sir Nicholas called to them. "Your sister is waiting," he gestured towards Benjamin and the cheetah nodded in understanding.

"Okay, Sheila, Tommy. Say goodbye to Amanda and we're going back," he picked them up and turned towards the hippo cook.

The bunnies waved at her.

"Bye, Amanda!"

"The breakfast was great!"

She waved back at them with a wide smile. "My pleasure. Promise me that you'll stay out of trouble, ok?"

"We will," the children said in unison and Benjamin laughed, as well as Amanda.

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Benjamin took the kids to the noble fox's bedchamber on his own, as Sir Nicholas directed his steps towards the study room and ordered not to be disturbed until dinner time. It wasn't rare since his return for the vulpine to spent a lot of time among books, quills and parchment. Some servants stated that they had seen him write a lot these days.

"Judy!" the rabbits leapt into her sister's arms, tackling her down, all three falling onto the bed. Secretly, the doe was relieved that her bandages had been taken off much earlier, so that Sheila and Tommy didn't know what happened to her ear or fingers. Still, she wasn't able to avoid questions about the scars on her face, to which she replied with a story about a bandit attacking her in the woods. But now she responded to their assault by grabbing their sides and tickling them until they rolled off her, laughing uncontrollably. Seeing their happy faces gave her courage to proceed with the idea she came up with during their trip to the kitchen. It was a most difficult decision. While a successful execution of her plan would grant her siblings the freedom they deserved, if she would fail it meant her death and a life of servitude for the two kids. But the chances of success were high enough for her to take the risk. And even if her soul is to burn burn in hell for doing this, Judy would still do it, as her siblings' safety was her highest priority right now.

This HAS to work! She thought and then focused on playing with her siblings.

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Dinner time came in a flash and two most influential members of the household met in the dining room, which rather was a hall, given its enormous size. If needed, it could house several hundred guests, even those of bigger species. The design didn't differ much from the general feeling of the mansion with walls and ceiling decorated with expensive paintings, frescoes and everything drowned in gold. A long table was placed in the very middle, two luxurious chairs on the opposite ends and a crowd of servants surrounding the room.

Both foxes ate their meal in silence, not even exchanging glances as they dined. None of the servants dared to utter a word and, keeping respectful distance, they awaited orders or to refill glasses with wine if necessary.

That was until the nobles finished eating and the head of the Wilde family clapped his paws twice. Servants stepped up to the table and took the plates. Bowing their heads, they backed away and left the dining room.

The older of the foxes, Duke of Vulpinea, His Grace Albus Theodor Wilde wiped his mouth with a pawkerchief and gazed upon his son.

"I shall be honest with you, Nicholas. I am most displeased with your recent actions," he stated with a scolding tone that matched the words. "First I hear that you spend a considerable amount of money on a worthless slave, then you even let that thing into your chambers, not to mention the farce that happened yesterday at the auction. And what you have done today... Do you intend to throw our good name into mud?" with his brows furrowed, the elderly fox took a glass of wine in his paw and stared at Nicholas. "What did you have in mind, when you committed those acts? Enlighten me, my son."

The younger vulpine took a sip of his own drink before replying and when he did, his voice was much calmer and confident than when he spoke earlier in the presence of his parent. "Father, I believe someone has gravely misinformed you about the events regarding my slave," he dared showing a smirk, an action that surprised the duke. "To address the first matter: indeed, I have bought her for a hefty sum, however I consider it a bargain if you take the infuriated and dismayed expression on Lord Wolford's face into consideration. Not to mention that he was ready to pull out his sword in my presence, just to get his paws on her. And such an act is perfect cassus belli for us if we wish to use it against them," hearing this explanation, the old lord's ears perked up. Sir Nicholas perfectly knew his father's character and how to appease to it. "Furthermore, on our way back we were attacked by a pack of mercenaries, wearing the crest of the Wolford family. I have escaped with my life, but one of our servants was killed. I have found out that it was only a charade and they were only posing as Wolford's mercenaries. This means that there is a third party in the shadows and they do not wish us well. They are most likely hoping that our families will weaken through the conflict. Who are those mammals? I shall find them and drag out their motivation for doing this," with these words, he stood up, placing the tips of his claws on the table. "And as for yesterday, that was merely an eccentric demonstration of our family's power. A message if you will, saying that we are so influential that we can do whatever we want."

Sir Nicholas stared back at his father with a steeled gaze. "And I wish you would refrain from calling her a thing. She is a living, breathing mammal that has a name and that name is Judy Hopps."

Duke Albus Wilde blinked, clearly not expecting such a speech from his own child. His features formed into a displeased expression once more. "Nicholas, I remind you of your place and your lineage," he said in a voice that was border lining a growl. "We have our pride to consider and I will never acknowledge letting lower beings into the same level as us."

A scowl formed on Sir Nicholas' face. "Pride?" he practically snarled. "I take no pride in belittling others just because they were born in a barn instead of a palace."

His father also rose from his seat. "Enough! You talk like your mother. She has poisoned you with her-"

"How dare you say anything about her!" the younger vulpine barked. "You have no right to even mention her!"

The two foxes stood in the empty room, staring at each other with gritted teeth.

It ended when Sir Nicholas slammed his open paws on the table. "I have said what I wanted to say," he turned to leave, but paused momentarily and glanced at his father over his shoulder. "And in the future stay away from my servants, father," with these words of warning, he left the room, leaving the shocked fox alone.

.

.

Judy was still going over the idea she came up with to save her siblings from a life of servitude under the cruel fox. It'll work, it'll work. She didn't have more time to deliberate on that, as the door to the room opened and two mammals walked in. Sir Nicholas and Benjamin. Judy immediately noticed that this time the fox had a sword by his side.

"Miss Judy," he addressed her formally with a serious expression. "We need to talk. Your siblings shall go with Benjamin," the fox gestured towards his servant.

The little rabbits cuddled closer to their sister and Judy, with ears up and alert, shot him a most unfriendly look from her narrowed eyes. "And if I say no?"

Sir Nicholas' brows rose a bit and right after that a small smirk appeared on his face. "Then I will be sleeping here today. On the bed," this reply caused the bunny's ears to flop down.

"You-"

"I expect an answer," he interjected.

You… you fox! She clenched her teeth, but then a thought appeared in her mind that she could use this time alone to realize her plan. And she definitely didn't want Sheila and Tommy around if things would go wrong.

Then Benjamin chimed in. "Oh, come on, Miss Judy. We have a really nice place for kids to play," he offered his warm and honest smile that always had a disarming effect. Even the doe softened up seeing his bright expression.

"All right…" she turned her head to the kids. "I have something to discuss with this fox. No, no, no," she stopped their protests. "You go with Benjamin and have a good time, alright?"

Judy got a hesitant 'yes, sis' in response and the little rabbits slipped off the bed and walked up to the cheetah, who was smiling all this time. When the three finally left the room and the door closed behind them, the atmosphere in the air abruptly changed. One could feel the temperature dropping down significantly.

Sir Nicholas sighed and took a step forward. "Miss Judy…" he began in a heavy voice. "I only wish to speak to you and have no bad intentions or hidden motives," with these words, his paws moved to the belt of his sword and undid it, the weapon now hanging in its scabbard, attached to the belt. With one swing, he threw it on the bed, right beside her. "As you can see, I am unarmed. I only-"

She cast a quick glance at the sword with the corner of her eye, but didn't stray from her original plan. "I'm not interested in whatever you have to say," she cut in and crawled over the bed to the pillows. The doe reached under them and got out the pistol she was given by the fox. He tensed seeing this and didn't move from where he was standing, few steps from the edge of the bed. Sir Nicholas watched as the doe moved to the center of the bed and stood up, facing him.

"You said that you wanted to keep me alive, right?" and without waiting for his answer, the bunny put the gun to the side of her head. "Prove it," she pulled back the hammer.

Sir Nicholas' eyes shot wide open and he reached out towards her while taking another step forward.

"Stay where you are!" her shout made him stop, paw in the air. Under other circumstances she'd relish the sight of this noble obeying her order but she had to focus on her goal. "You will release my siblings and let them go home and you'll make sure that they get there safely. If not," she pressed the barrel of the gun to her temple, "you'll have to clean this bed from rabbit's blood."

It was a gamble on her side, the outcome would be decided by how much he really wanted to keep her as a toy. From his actions until this point she believed that he had too much fun toying with her to just discard this threat. Her finger squeezed the trigger. Your move, fox.

And then he surprised her again.

His initial shock faded away and was replaced by his usual smirk. "My, my… what a naughty bunny," he muttered with amusement. "To think that you'd be stubborn to this degree…" the fox took a small step forward.

"Stop!" her finger trembled on the trigger.

"Well, if you wish to blow a hole in your head… be my guest," Sir Nicholas stated jovially, raising his other paw and examining his claws. Then he cast her a playful look. "Did you already forget that I have two other rabbits at my disposal?"

Her arm dropped an inch.

"Well, while the boy might be useful for some gardening, if your sister grows up fine, she might be a real prize," his tongue slipped out of his muzzle and licked his lips in the most disgusting way.

At that moment, something broke in Judy's mind and her arm moved based on sheer anger, her plan completely forgotten. Her entire being was now focused on one thing only:

Kill the fox!

But he was already lunging forward when her limb started moving and his left paw shot towards the gun.

Judy pulled the trigger and a shot rang out within the walls of the room. She was a quarter of a second late and the bullet only grazed the outside of his arm, tearing the shirt's fabric and burning a piece of his fur. After that, the bullet hit the door with a loud crack.

Sir Nicholas wrenched the gun from the doe's paw and took a quick step back, ignoring his wound completely. Then, the door swung open and both guards leapt inside, alarmed by the sounds, scanning the room in search of the danger.

The noble fox spun around to face them and roared ferociously. "OUT OF MY SIGHT! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ANYONE WITHIN TWENTY FEET OF THIS ROOM!" the armed foxes blinked, hesitating in realizing this order, especially when they spotted the wound on their master's arm. But Sir Nicholas took a step towards them and screamed again with authority. "OUT!"

This time the guards simply bowed and obeyed. When they closed the door behind them the fox cast the firearm aside and turned back to the bed.

Judy was facing him with his own sword in her paws.

It was a bit heavy for her, but the fury burning inside her small body gave her enough strength to hold it up and aim the tip at the noble. Her eyes were narrow and angry, her jaw set and ears flat against the back of her head.

Sir Nicholas raised his paws in front of him and began slowly approaching her. "Miss Judy, please calm down."

"You're despicable!" she croaked and couldn't hold back the tears that formed in her amethyst eyes. A moment later they flowed freely, a representation of her anger and despair. Seeing this, the vulpine's ears fell miserably. "My sister, my little sister…" she referred to his earlier words.

He took another step and now the blade was almost touching him. "Miss Judy…"

"Shut up!" with all the strength she could muster, the doe retreated the sword for a moment before swinging it horizontally, aiming for the noblemammal's head. In other state of mind she'd probably wonder why he did not move or dodge when the tip of the blade met the side of his face and cut it from his cheek, almost to the tip of his muzzle as the force of the slash jolted his head to the side. He whined and grimaced in pain, his paw instinctively rising to cover the wound.

Seeing this, Judy felt a wave of excitement and in her euphoria swung the blade again, intent on decapitating the fox. But he was quick to recover. His paw caught her wrists, twisting them with enough force for her to drop the weapon. Judy squealed as she was pushed back and fell on the bed. The fox climbed atop of her and pinned down her paws on the sides. She wriggled furiously under his grip, trying to break free.

"Miss Judy!" he yelled, but the was no anger in it. More like… care? But she was too entangled in her own emotions to think clearly, as she kept struggling.

"Miss Judy, calm down!" he called again, only to be kicked in the stomach. The fox groaned from another painful experience, but refused to let her go. Instead, he lowered himself so that he could press her legs to the bed with his body weight.

"No! Let me go!" Judy kept thrashing her head, keeping her eyes shut, tears dropping on the bedsheet and down her cheeks.

"I am sorry!" Sir Nicholas yelled straight into her face.

This made her stop.

Both mammals were now panting from the struggle and Judy felt something wet dropping on her facial fur. Her first thought was that it was blood from the cut she gave him, but then she dared to look at him and found that the truth was far more shocking.

The once gleaming emeralds were staring at her from behind a veil of great sadness. The fox's face was contorted from pain, but not a physical one. His expression spoke of guilt and shame. And all that materialized in the form of tears that were flooding his eyes.

Tears.

Along with droplets of blood, tears were falling down on her, the two liquids mixing on her face.

"I am sorry…" he wheezed, his voice half choked from crying. "I do not wish to harm you…"

Judy was completely confounded by his reaction and words. But in that turmoil of emotions, anger still burned bright and strong.

"You… you've hurt me…" she hissed through her teeth, but did not avert her gaze.

The fox nodded with a solemn expression. "I have…"

His compliance only fueled her ire. "You've tormented me with your games!" she said straight to his face.

And once again he gave her a nod. "I did…"

"You've used my own family against me!" she began throwing every bit of her suffering at him, her voice rising to a shout.

"Yes…"

"Your own family almost tortured me to death!"

"I know…"

"I am scarred for life because of you!"

"I know…"

Her arms struggled in his grip. "You used me like a toy!"

"You are right…"

Judy ground her teeth, her gaze still locked with his. "You've made me want to die…" she whispered this with a slight quiver at the end, as her emotions overwhelmed her and tied a knot in her throat, the doe's own tears staining the material beneath them.

Sir Nicholas released her wrists and leaned his head lower. One of his paws sneaked under the doe, encircling her shoulders and he placed the other one at the back of her head.

The fox hugged the bunny beneath him, crying right next to her ear, his usual mask completely shattered, as he delicately pressed their cheeks together. "I am so sorry, Miss Judy. I am sorry…" he whispered with a shaking voice.

Judy's heart was totally confused with this and was unsure how to react. Anger still haven't left her and now it pushed her to grit her teeth once again. "I hate you," she stated in a harsh voice, but her body didn't struggle anymore.

"I know that," he replied with a whisper. As he said that, the fox rose up on his elbows and slowly shook his head, blood and tears dripping from his muzzle. "And I deserve it."

As if this was not enough when it came to surprises, Judy flinched nervously when she felt his thumb brushing her fur, wiping the wetness from one of her cheeks.

"Hate me if you wish to, but please…" he pleaded with her. "Tell me what I can do to stop your tears."

Her eyes widened as she took in his entire facial expression. The sadness, the acceptance of her hatred, the eagerness… All of this made her heart beat faster, in a way that was against what her anger dictated. Judy broke the eye contact by turning her head away.

"Get off me…" she muttered.

The faintest sign of a hopeful smile appeared on his face. "If I do that, will we talk?"

"Maybe…" the doe huffed. "Get off me first."