Nothing but Bare Walls

Silas could not understand why Avery had changed her mind.

Only yesterday, she had glared at him and said it was time he paid for what he had done. Selling him would let her and his brother survive the winter.

Her home had never truly been his, but he had never lived anywhere else. The terror of being sold had kept him awake all night.

He had hoped she might wake up and decide against it.

The night before, he had prepared everything for her breakfast. That morning, he had watched nervously while she ate, hoping that if he proved useful enough, she would let him stay.

He had one power mark now. Perhaps next time he could join the hunting party. Perhaps he could bring back meat, just as Ronan did.

But Avery had still taken out the rope.

She had tied it around his neck herself.

He had no home. He never would.

The people behind the trader had been stripped of their clothes and crowded together for warmth. None of them had looked up at him, but he had known he would soon be among them, pressing against strangers for a little heat before being sent off to some unknown place.

There was nowhere he belonged.

And then Avery had said she was not selling him and started leading him home.

When he remained silent, she tugged lightly at his arm and continued walking. He followed obediently, holding himself stiff beneath her hide.

It really was much warmer.

Avery took the longer way home. Fortunately, there were no houses behind theirs. They emerged from the trees and quickly went inside.

Females here commonly had several male mates, so even this little stone house contained three small rooms. Avery occupied the largest. Ronan and Silas shared another, and the third served as a storeroom.

In the main room stood an open hearth with a cooking frame and a simple stone stove.

Avery looked around.

At least the clan maintained communal property such as its houses. The hearth and stove had come with the building.

There was not a scrap of meat anywhere.

This world did have something called a flourpod. Open it up and boil the contents into a thick gruel, and it would fill your stomach. The trouble was that it tasted awful. For a household of natural meat-eaters, living on it alone was miserable.

All they had was a handful of flourpods piled in a corner.

Both hunting and gathering were usually communal activities. Even beastfolk risked their lives by venturing into the wilderness alone. Anything taken within clan territory belonged to the clan and had to be handed over to the chieftain for distribution.

She could not simply walk outside and help herself to whatever she found.

Avery went to inspect her bedroom.

A thick layer of dry grass covered the plain stone bed, with a hide laid over it. Winter was almost here, yet the covering on top was still thin.

She opened the chest.

The good, thick pelts had already been traded for food. The food was gone, too.

A little dry firewood lay in the storeroom.

Only a year ago, the original Avery had still been a pampered child with a mother and fathers to care for her. She had not suddenly learned to work when her circumstances changed. Ronan and Silas did everything, inside and outside the house.

But males could only join gathering expeditions when accompanied by a female. Since Avery refused to go, Silas had no hope of being accepted into the gathering party.

Not enough firewood. No spare pelts. None of them even had proper warm clothes.

How were they supposed to get through the cold season?

Beastfolk generally ate twice a day. Their appetites were large, but a meal sustained them for a long time. Avery had eaten little that morning, and the trip to the trading ground and back had left her stomach growling.

Apart from those flourpods and a little salt in a container, they really did have nothing.

Ronan was away with the hunting party. They would not return until they had enough meat to feed the clan for three to five days. If they traveled far, the expedition itself could take three or four days.

This was only his second day away. Meat would not be distributed for another day or two.

Until then, they would have to live on flourpods.

And after that?

Once the winter hunts were over, people scarcely went out at all. Were the three of them supposed to survive on this?

That was not a plan. That was giving up.

No wonder the original Avery had decided to sell Silas. Everything else that could be sold was already gone. Only people remained.

Without selling someone, they might all freeze to death in this house.

Standing in the main room, Avery let out a long sigh. Her tail swished restlessly behind her as she thought.

Silas had changed into his own clothes. He did not dare linger in his room, and every sigh from Avery made his heart lurch. What if her displeasure gave her some new idea for tormenting him?

His fingers tightened together.

"Maybe... you should sell me after all. Then there would be money to buy things for the house."

He kept his head down, bracing for her anger.

He was used to it.

He felt her gaze settle on him. Years of mistreatment had taught him to hide himself. Being noticed made him shrink instinctively.

She sighed again. It was barely audible, but it landed inside him like a hammer.

Avery did not want to spend her time guessing what he was thinking. Whatever happened, she was not going to sell a person. Since they would be living under the same roof, a few things needed to be said clearly.

"Silas. Look at me."

He trembled. He did not dare meet her eyes, but neither did he dare disobey. He raised his head for a fleeting glance, too brief to make out her face properly.

He had never really known what Avery looked like.

"After Mother died, I didn't know how to keep going. I kept trading away what we had, but we can't carry on like this. Things will only get worse. You and I aren't related by blood, but you're related to Father Ulric. There are only three of us left. If we don't look after this home, we won't have one at all. Can we try to live properly together from now on?"

Silas went still.

This home?

Avery had never treated the brothers particularly well, but the outright abuse had begun after her mother's death.

Before that, it had been Ulric who hurt them.

Ulric was their mother's younger brother, yet he despised them.

Of course he did. Their presence embarrassed him. Their place in Avery's household was awkward, too. They could not call her mother their own mother, and they were not truly Avery's siblings. Ulric was the slender thread connecting them all.

Watching Silas stand there in silence, Avery knew a few words would not change the way someone thought after years of abuse.

Still, they had to live together. She did not want him shrinking from her all day, expecting her to strike at any moment.

Her gaze fell to his thin clothing. He had changed into trousers, but the leather was almost bare of fur. It offered little protection against the cold.

Everything needed replacing.

"Let's make a decent life for the three of us," she said. "We haven't even got warm clothes. Tomorrow I'll go out with the gathering party and see if I can find something to trade for thicker hides."

In her old life, Avery's parents had been so consumed by their careers that they had scarcely noticed whether she was managing at all.

One day, her grandmother had visited and found her standing on a little stool, trying to cook for herself. After that, she had taken Avery home with her.

But her parents had married late, and her grandmother was already old. She had died before Avery finished high school.

Avery had long since grown accustomed to living alone.

Whatever happened, she dealt with it quietly.