Going Home

The cold season in this world was long and brutal. There were few ways to keep warm, and prey grew desperately scarce. Every year, beastfolk starved or froze to death.

The trader was not wrong about that.

But Avery was not about to push someone else into hell just to keep herself alive.

"I'll work it out. I'm still not selling him."

Taking hold of the boy's painfully thin arm, she turned away.

"I'll be here another two days! If you change your mind, come back. After that, I'm moving on to another clan!" the woman called after her.

They were close to Leopard Clan territory. Beastfolk were fiercely protective of their land, so traveling merchants traded around its edges rather than venturing inside. A clan usually stood together. Even though Avery was a female who had not yet come of age, the trader did not dare simply take the boy by force.

Avery had always hated people who kept pushing after being told no. She led Silas away until the trader was out of sight.

The longer she spent in this body, the more its memories settled into place. Soon she knew which way led home.

A year ago, the original Avery had not lived among the leopards. She had lived in nearby Beastmeet.

The settlements in this world were classified rather simply. A community containing more than ten kinds of beastfolk qualified as a Hundredbeast City; Beastmeet was one of those. Larger, more diverse settlements were called Thousandbeast and Ten-Thousandbeast Cities. Generally, the more species living together, the more prosperous the city.

By a strange coincidence, the girl's name was Avery, too. There were no family names here, and whatever form her name might have taken in this world's language, it sounded just like Avery's own.

Her mother had been the sister of Beastmeet's former ruler. After giving birth to Avery, she had never conceived again.

In this world, a female's failure to conceive was blamed on her male mates. Avery's mother had kept looking for new partners who might give her another child, until she met Ulric, a snake shifter who had fled to the city with Ronan and Silas.

Ulric was beautiful, unattached, and badly in need of a female's protection. The two soon became mates, and Ronan and Silas became Avery's brothers within the household.

Then, five years ago, her mother had fallen ill.

No amount of energy-rich beast crystals or medicinal herbs had cured her. Paying for them had only drained the family's resources. When she died a year ago, her male mates took their own lives. Around the same time, the city's ruler lost a leadership challenge.

The original Avery had sold one possession after another, eventually giving up their house in Beastmeet and returning to the Leopard Clan. Somehow, the three of them had scraped through the last winter.

Ronan appeared to be the more gifted of the brothers. At only twenty-one, he already had two power marks and was one of the mainstays of the clan's hunting party.

But he and Silas were outsiders. However much effort Ronan put into a hunt, he never received the best portions. Avery, on the other hand, was a young female, so she could still expect a good cut when meat was distributed.

Surviving without a clan's protection was difficult for anyone. For two males like Ronan and Silas, it was worse. They depended on their place in Avery's household to remain here.

And another winter was coming.

The Leopard Clan held a large territory. Avery walked on, sorting through memories as she led Silas by the arm. It felt as though she were holding a handful of bones.

She had not even had time to wonder how she had ended up here before survival became her most pressing concern.

Pressing a hand to her empty stomach, she sighed heavily.

The icy wrist in her grasp began to tremble.

"What's wrong?"

She looked back. Silas's head was down, his body shivering faintly.

Only then did she register the weather. It felt like autumn back home, with a bite to the wind that called for warm clothes. She wore several thin layers of hide and did not feel particularly cold.

Silas had nothing but a hide skirt.

Until now, she had been too preoccupied to look at him properly. Now she could see injuries everywhere. A rough wound ran from his shoulder across his chest, its dark scabs standing out against pale skin like an ugly centipede.

The original Avery had not coped with the destruction of her family. She blamed the snakefolk for her mother's illness and for leaving her alone in the world. She had taken to beating Ronan and Silas, adding constant insults and accusations to the physical abuse.

None of it had improved their lives. It had only made everything worse.

Already burdened with guilt, the brothers believed her accusations. They never fought back.

When Silas did not answer, Avery sighed again. She untied one of her outer hides and draped it around him.

For such a primitive place, they certainly knew how to dress a hide. The leather was thin, clean, and free of grease.

Silas flinched violently.

His hand rose to the hide, then withdrew as though he had done something wrong.

It still held a little warmth. Avery's warmth.

How could a male simply wear a female's clothes?

She had led him out with a rope around his neck. Everyone knew he was being sold. Now he was returning in her clothing.

He closed his eyes in shame.

"We don't have anything else with us. Wear this for now. You can change into your own clothes when we get home."

The original Avery had meant to sell him. Naturally, she had seen no reason to give him anything extra to wear.

Watching him shiver, Avery realized that every little thing she did seemed to frighten him. He reacted as though the next movement would hurt him.

The girl whose body she now occupied had given him good reason to think so.

His head remained bowed. In the shade of the trees, she could not quite make out his expression. She had only seen his hand touch the hide and jerk away as though burned.

She could feel how rigidly he held himself. Rather than someone wrapped in a garment, he looked like someone ordered to stand underneath it without moving.

Who would have thought a world this ancient could have rules this stifling?

She leaned a little closer to see his face.

Silas instinctively drew back, then forced himself to stop.

She had always called him disgusting. Told him he should be dead. Why was she speaking so gently now?

He could not understand what she wanted. All he could do was wait, trembling, and endure whatever followed—cruel words, blows, or both.

"Are you worried someone will see? It's all right. We live out of the way. We'll take a different path, and nobody will notice. Most people are at the trading ground anyway."

Avery saw his trembling lashes and tightly pressed, colorless lips. She sensibly stepped back.

Confusion flickered in Silas's eyes.

Had Avery really just said that to him?

She never spoke to him in such a gentle voice. Yet there was nobody else here.

He wanted to look around, to check for someone he had missed.

Under her gaze, he did not dare turn his head.