Mirchie’s grave was at the entrance of the woodlot, marked by three stones stacked on top of each other. That was also over 11 years ago, when Adrian and I were both six, so when I arrived where I thought it was, that gravesite was long gone.

  I frowned and sharpened my vision. The gray tones I was seeing the world in thanks to [Mortis Visio] sharpened, allowing me to see the notes of death. I turned around with my eyes wide open, seeing a dire eulogy of cicadas play out in both color and sound. This was still the wilderness, and the strong ate the weak. I stared at the ground, though, expecting the gray melody.

  It never came.

  Eleven years was a long time, and whatever lingering vitality I was able to sense was long gone. I could dig up the entire woodlot to figure it out, but...

  I pulled out my coin pouch and poured it into my palm. 1 gold, 80 silver remained after buying all those seed makers. A new rabbit was 2 gold, and it was one of the cheaper animals you could buy. Twenty silver off...

  Wait a moment. By Amaril’s hand, wait a darn moment.

  I opened my second pouch and poured out 240 silver pieces—the small amount I’d earned from selling the common carrots way back when this started. I had initially wanted to sort clean gold from dirty, since each coin was minted under the Queen’s name and properly tagged and measured. I heard the first bandits and criminals used to shave the edges off and remake them, so the Queen standardized the size and minted her face to stop it.

  Each coin had a mint number, and because of that, the tax collectors—especially the [Wizard] types—had some form of divination that could see the history of a coin through this number. It wasn’t often used, but I’d imagine it would be when, let’s say—a random [Farm Girl] suddenly made more gold than her pa did in his entire life?

  I’d have made a good [Scholar].

  I shook my head and turned back around. The crops were planted, the fields were watered, and I had time to kill. Tomorrow night I’d have my harvest, and I’d meet Count Elias. While I wasn’t scared of his powers because of [Blighted Blood], I’d still like to be more powerful before meeting a vampire. If things went wrong, I didn’t think my bone daggers were going to do anything.

  Guess I was buying a new rabbit, then. And... I could only [Animate Familiar]. I’d need a dead rabbit, and it was going to rot and show its bones and everything...

  I’d burn that bridge when I came to it, I guessed. I gulped and began to walk.

  Laura’s Husbandry and Dairy was the go-to place for all your animal needs. It was another farm, and while that normally would mean competition, it was run by Ma’s friend. Because of how good of a [Rancher] Auntie Laura was, she became the go-to place to buy animals and animal products of high and cheap quality—which meant she never really competed against Pa on the open market.

  During the winter, I’d help out in the stables. Mucking the barn and slinging hay with Addy were odd Winter Veil memories. Even back then he wanted to show off how much stronger and faster at things he was than me. He’d do dumb things like try to muck out the entire barn without me, even though we both got paid the same. I think he was trying to prove to Auntie Laura that he’d earned more.

  But it was still the same 50 silver, some candy, and hot chocolate. Laura’s house was the best.

  It smelled like animals, and while the horses were unfamiliar to me, I could still see them grazing in the meadows. I’d love to have my own one day, even if it was just a mule. That’d make gathering crops and moving about so much easier.

  And a mule was 100 gold pieces. I didn’t want to think about an actual horse.

  I shook my head and walked in through the front doors and was immediately assaulted by that familiar, animalistic scent. Laura had all kinds of animals: quick, furry rabbits; lake-water-smelling ducks; salty fish; sweaty horses; cows that smelled like dung and grass.

  All of them mixing together created a scent that Addy and I dubbed “animal farm.” It was the pigs that were the worst.

  “By Flora’s breath, as I live and breathe... is that Lil’ Red?” Laura’s husky voice called from behind the counter. It sounded strong, but it had begun to crack with age.

  I turned quickly to face her, and she was still a mountain of a woman. I was fairly tall at an inch shy of six feet, but Laura? The town used to joke that Farrow Sterling married an amazon, since while Farrow was a humble 5'8", Laura Sterling towered over him at 6'5". While age showed on her face and her once-brunette hair was turning white, her arms were like barrels and her legs were tree trunks; a girl who started as a [Ranch Girl], became a [Rancher], and then probably a [Wrestler], since she could hold down an ox.

  If anything, aging made her shorter, and because of that, bigger-looking in comparison.

  I raised my hand nervously, but Laura had already crossed the table to come toward me. “Lil’ Brown already said you were back a few weeks ago. I was wonderin’ when you were gonna hop by. A shame what happened to your folks, and the Queen’s Men burdening you with the debt? Ain’t right—Amaril’s law says the children don’t carry their parents’ debt...”

  I frowned but met her eyes. “Hi, Auntie. Yeah... but the property can carry it. It’s how they get around it. Uhm, Auntie?”

  “That’s just a loophole and they know it. Look, let me know if you need any help. [Pastor] Farrow and I are close, and he can speak to the Queen’s Guard on your behalf.”

  “...No duh, you’re married to him,” I said, then shook it off. I definitely did not want the Church’s help. “I want to buy a rabbit.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Oh? Gettin’ into rabbit farming, Ash? Smart of ya; told your pa he should diversify his fields, and animals are so much more fun to care for than crops.”

  “Oh... no. I don’t even have a rabbit coop yet. I’m barely a [Farmer]. I don’t have anyone who’d train me into [Rancher], let alone [Ranch Girl]...”

  Laura said nothing, but her face scrunched, her eyebrow raised, and her lips went thin. She watched me for a moment, then exhaled, rolling her eyes.

  “...So I want just a singular bunny. Preferably a black and wh—”

  “Oh, blessed Elora, grant me the strength to deal with these two...” she interrupted. “I can understand not wantin’ to be trained by your aunt, because Elora knows you inherited your dad’s pride and your mom’s brain and won’t take an inch of help...”

  She took an annoyed breath.

  “...But why is it that whatever the both of you do, it’s just to get back at the other? Of course it’s a black-and-white one. Let me guess, you’d prefer if the left part of her face had a black patch, and the right part had a white? And a pink nose?”

  “You remember Mirchie?”

  “Of course. Where do you think Adrian got it from?”

  “But that was so long ago!”

  “I mean, he bought it for the same reason you’re buyin’ it.”

  “A fam— a pet?”

  “No. If you wanted a pet, you’d have grabbed the first thing you saw—like a cat, in your case, Ashley. You want it because he wants it.”

  I glared at her. “No, I just know how to take care of rabbits,” I countered, then glanced at the back. “Look, I’ll take any, okay?”

  Laura just laughed and shook her head. “Oh, Elora, you two are so cute,” she muttered. She rolled her shoulders and whistled to the side. A tall, muscular man appeared from the back, his black hair clinging to his head with sweat. His brown eyes looked a lot like his mother’s as he looked down at me.

  “Ms. Ashley!” Mark called, coming toward me.

  “Wow, you’re so tall now, Marky,” I said, raising my arm to rub his head. “And you look like a handsome version of your mother!”

  “Awh, shucks. I’m still learnin’ bein’ a [Ranch Boy]—Ma’s puttin’ me through the wringer. Anyways, what did you want, Ma?”

  “Lil’ Red here wants a pet rabbit. Why don’t you show her our other guest and maybe they can figure this out.”

  “Uh... you sure that’s smart, Ma? Like, Ms. Ashley would rip her eyes out. And she’d rip the curls out...”

  “What—who’s back there?” I tried asking.

  “No one,” Laura tried, but Mark, ever talkative as he was, responded quickly. “Melly is.”

  My fingers dug into the flesh of my palm, but I forced a smile. “Excellent. Anyways, Marky, let’s get this over with.”

  “You look so beautiful—did you just come back from a funeral?” Melissa asked warmly, her hands holding my forearm and being a step away from a hug.

  I was wearing my black dress with the emerald brooch. The farming outfit looked better at the farm. Melissa wore a flower-blue dress, and her long blonde hair was tied up with a simple bow.

  My hand touched her forearm in response, and she instinctively pulled away. “How are you so cold?” she pouted, before easing her reaction and letting me touch her.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think I’d look as lovely as you,” I barbed. However, I didn’t think I had an actual insult underneath my words.

  Mark sighed. “Ugh, why is it you two? You’re fine on your own, but together...” he muttered to himself, leaning against the rabbit pen.

  Melissa’s head shot over to look at him, her blue eyes wide and her lips with that practiced, fake smile. “Oh, come now, Lil’ Mark.” Marky shifted uncomfortably at the name.

  “I’m the tallest boy in town, Melly. I haven’t been shorter than Ashley since I was twelve!”

  “And what, you’re fifteen now? Your older sisters know how to play nice.”

  “No, you two do not,” he said flatly, which made both of us roll our eyes, and Mark made a pointed gesture. “Swear to Flora, you two are nutters. Paladin-boy really has his taste in women...”

  Marky turned around to look through the rabbits, which left Melissa and me together.

  “So, why are you he—”

  “My husband wanted me to get you our wedding gift early. My brother wanted Adrian to vouch and sponsor him to the Military Academy, so my wedding gift for him is helping his...” She paused, her face returning to her resting bitch-face of that fake smile. “...sister. Told me a lovely story about his pet rabbit being murdered by a girl who didn’t listen to the ‘don’t take her to the woodlot.’”

  “Excuse me?” I began, but pulled her into a hug. This was all performative, and while my skin felt cold, I could feel my blood boiling and my heartbeat quickening. I could also feel the same from Melissa, whose heart pounded against her chest and whose skin was actually warm.

  She smelled like fabric, though; nothing like mud, sweat, and carrots.

  “What? Addy told me he bought a rabbit like Mirchie when you were younger and it died a few months later. Lil’ Mark already told me it was your fault since you took it out of his pen and brought it to the woods to find wild carrots.”

  “It was my rabbit...”

  “...Your family doesn’t even own a rabbit pen,” she said softly, then released us from the hug. “...So he suggested that I buy you a pet rabbit. His Level 4 [Farm Boy] quest was to get a familiar as well, and he thought you’d appreciate the gesture.” She didn’t have to say this next bit, but I knew she wanted to.

  “With how money must be so tight for you and all, it’s the least we can do,” she offered politely. She knew it would annoy me. We both still held onto each other’s forearms as Mark pointedly ignored us.

  “You know what, Missy, that’d be mighty swell of ya. Flora bless your heart,” I affirmed, curling the “bless your heart” in that pleasantly southern way.

  Melissa smiled too, her eyes wrinkling. “So great! I’ll have to tell my husband we got you—”

  “But I can’t make a living rabbit my familiar, Missy.”

  She looked at me with confusion. I knew what I was implying, but my mouth was speaking faster than my head. Or maybe my heart?

  “Only a [Farmer] can start that spell, and I’d need help for that—do you know any?” I continued.

  “Oh, hey! I can [Bind Familiar] for you, or Ma can—” Mark offered from the back.

  “Be quiet, Lil’ Marky,” Melissa said.

  “Shut up, Marky,” I said.

  He rolled his eyes and looked to the side. “Always these two...” he muttered. “Much rather have Jasmine or Mary talking my ear off...”

  “Adrian would absolutely love it, too. In fact, why not tonight? Come for dinner?” Melissa beamed. Her tone was happy and positive and fully inviting.

  “I would love to come! What time—want me to bring anything?” I responded in kind.

  “No, no, we insist! I’ll have it handled. 6:00 PM sharp.”

  “Not even a pie?”

  “Nooo! You’re our guest, it’d be rude. When you invite us over for dinner when you’re back on your feet, we can trade recipes then. For now, just wear something less... funeral.”

  “I only had the two dresses, Missy.”

  “Elora’s laces... alright then, just come in that. And if you’re going to be my ‘sister-in-law,’ at least support my shop and buy new dresses,” she groaned.

  A black-and-white rabbit flopped between the two of us, making Melissa jump back, but I reached to hold it. “So, which one of you two nutters is paying for Mirchie Jr.?” Mark asked. “I don’t want to hear your constant bickering, so one of you give me the 2 gold and then you can argue about it after. I have work I need to do.”

  “I—”

  “Of course, Lil’ Mark,” Melissa said, opening her pouch and dropping two gold coins right away, smiling at me. “6:00 PM. Tonight. I’ll see you there, Ashy.”

  Mirchie Jr.’s nose scrunched as her eyes flicked up to me. Mark looked down at me, too. “So, you sure you don’t want me to [Bind Familiar]? It’d get you out of this dinner... No? Yeah, silly me for tryin’ to get you two not bein’ dramatic for once.”

  I sighed and looked up at Mark. “I mean... I know you could, but...”

  He groaned. “Ma! Ms. Ashley is in one of her moods again.”

  “THEN STOP BOTHERIN’ HER, YOU LUG,” she shouted from somewhere near the front.

  I rolled my eyes but held Mirchie Jr. close.

  Five hours till dinner.