The public square was packed with kitsune.
lisa stood behind the Matriarch on a raised platform, trying not to fidget as hundreds of eyes stared at them. The morning sun beat down on her black hair, making her sweat under her formal robes. At least they’d given her sothing nice to wear instead of making her stand up here in her travel clothes.
[This is such a power move. Bringing up here right after the assassination attempt.]
Silviana stepped forward, and the crowd went silent. She wore a flowing white dress that sohow made her look both regal and like she was about to orchestrate an orgy. Her nine tails swayed behind her as she raised her hands.
"My people," she began, her voice carrying across the square without magic. "By now you’ve all heard about last night’s incident."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. lisa caught snippets of conversation, people whispering and pointing at her.
"An attempt was made on my life," Silviana continued. "I stand before you today because lisa Blackfla, heir to one of Syux’s noble houses and the first nim mage in centuries, threw herself between and death."
She gestured to lisa, who gave an awkward wave.
[Please don’t make speak. Please don’t make speak.]
"Matriarch!" A voice called from the crowd. A middle-aged kitsune with silver-streaked hair pushed forward. "Is it true what they’re saying? That the assassin was nim?"
The crowd went dead silent. Everyone leaned in, waiting for the answer.
Silviana’s expression didn’t change, but lisa saw her tails twitch slightly.
"There are many rumors flying around right now," Silviana said calmly. "So say it was nim. So say it was a jealous lover. I even heard one that claid it was a darian in disguise."
Nervous laughter from a few people.
"What I can tell you with certainty," Silviana continued, "is that soone tried to kill , and lisa Blackfla saved my life. Everything else? Baseless speculation designed to divide us."
"But was it or wasn’t it a nim?" soone else shouted.
"Does it matter?" Silviana shot back. "If it was a nim, does that an all nim are assassins? Even given that it was a nim who saved ? If it was a kitsune, would you assu all kitsune want dead?"
The crowd shifted uncomfortably.
"The Shadow Mages of Syux have turned their attention to Yalmir and this is exactly what they want. They want us afraid of each other. They want us pointing fingers and seeing enemies where there are none." Her voice rose slightly. "I refuse to play their ga. And I hope you’re all smarter than to fall for such obvious manipulation."
"How do we know she’s not working with them?" Another voice called out.
"Because she saved my life," Silviana said simply. "Actions speak louder than rumors. And speaking of actions, the Lunar Festival is one week’s ti. Co. Watch. See for yourselves what nim and kitsune can accomplish together."
She turned and walked off the platform. lisa hurried after her, grateful to be away from all those staring eyes.
"That went well," Silviana said once they were inside.
"Really? Because it felt like half of them wanted to lynch ."
"Only about a third. Maybe forty percent." Silviana grinned. "Don’t worry. Rakia will fix everything."
[Why does everyone have so much faith in that chaotic little gremlin?]
---
Rakia’s workshop looked like a craft store had exploded.
Fabric hung from every surface in colors that probably didn’t exist in nature. Half-finished costus littered the floor. Paint jars sat open on every available surface, their contents slowly congealing.
And in the middle of it all, Rakia stood on a ladder, trying to hang what looked like a chandelier.
"LISA!" She let go of the chandelier and jumped down, backflipping and landing in a perfect superhero pose. "You’re just in ti!"
"For what?"
"EVERYTHING!"
Rakia grabbed lisa’s hand and dragged her to a table covered in sketches. They were all different costu designs, each one more revealing than the last.
"So I was thinking," Rakia said, talking at approximately three hundred words per minute, "we start with you in this," she held up a sketch of what was basically dental floss and hope, "and then halfway through you rip it off to reveal THIS!"
The second sketch was sohow even worse.
"What?"
"Okay okay okay, how about this one?"
This sketch at least covered the important bits, though it left her entire back exposed and had a skirt so short it would show everything if she so much as breathed wrong.
"Why do all of these look like stripper outfits?"
"Because sex sells! Also because I’m horny!" Rakia said cheerfully. "But mostly the first thing!"
[At least she’s honest.]
"Look, I’ll wear sothing revealing if I have to, but I draw the line at—"
A blade whistled through the air.
lisa’s body reacted before her brain caught up. She grabbed Rakia around the waist and spun, pulling the kitsune behind her as she raised her other hand.
"Ignis, core, protev in!"
The fla shield erupted just as three throwing knives slamd into it. They lted on contact, dripping molten tal onto the floor.
A figure in black dropped from the ceiling. Another kitsune, this one with murder in her eyes.
"For the true Yalmir!" she scread, pulling out two more knives.
[Oh for fuck’s sake, not again.]
The assassin lunged.
lisa moved Rakia behind her and t the charge head-on. The first knife ca at her throat. She ducked under it and drove her knee into the assassin’s stomach. The woman doubled over but managed to slash with her other knife, catching lisa’s sleeve.
"Illumi, nerca, var fal!"
The blue fla sphere ford in lisa’s palm. She didn’t even need to throw it. She just grabbed the assassin’s face and discharged the spell point-blank.
The woman’s scream cut off as her head basically ceased to exist. The body crumpled to the floor, twitching once before going still.
[That’s... ssier than usual.]
lisa stood there for a mont, breathing hard, her hand still glowing with residual blue flas. She could feel Rakia pressed against her back, one arm still wrapped protectively around the kitsune’s waist.
"... You can let go now," Rakia said quietly.
"Right. Sorry."
lisa released her and stepped back. When she turned around, Rakia’s face was bright red. The usually hyperactive kitsune was standing very still, her ears flat against her head and her tails tucked between her legs.
"You okay?"
"You just... you saved ."
"Well yeah, couldn’t let you die before the festival, right?" lisa tried to give a smile that let Rakia know she was joking.
"No, I an..." Rakia looked down, then back up at lisa. "No one’s ever protected like that before."
Suddenly, lisa realized what just happened.
[Is she... embarrassed? Rakia? The girl who tongued-kissed within five seconds of eting ?]
"It’s not a big deal," lisa said, suddenly feeling awkward herself. "Anyone would have done the sa."
"No. They wouldn’t." Rakia’s voice was uncharacteristically serious. "Most people would have saved themselves first. But you... you put yourself between and danger without even thinking about it."
The silence stretched between them. lisa beca very aware that they were standing very close together, that Rakia’s perfu slled like cherry blossoms, and that the kitsune’s lips looked extrely kissable.
"We should probably call the guards," lisa said, breaking the mont.
"Yeah. Yes. Guards. Good idea." Rakia shook her head, and just like that, the manic energy was back. "But first! We need to hide the body because if my workshop gets shut down as a cri scene we’ll never finish your costu!"
"That’s your priority right now?"
"The show must go on!" Rakia grabbed a paint-stained tarp. "Help wrap her up. We’ll stuff her in the closet and I’ll burn her at night."
"That has to be illegal."
"Only if I get caught!"
[This girl is absolutely insane... and I think I might be into it. What is wrong with ?]
They wrapped up the body together, Rakia chattering about costu modifications the entire ti like they weren’t handling a corpse. Once it was safely hidden in a closet full of what looked like rejected dildo designs, Rakia grabbed lisa’s hands.
"Okay, so now that we’ve trauma-bonded through murder, you MUST wear the backless dress."
"How does that follow?"
"Because you looked really hot when you were protecting and I want everyone to see how amazing your back muscles are when you move! Not to ntion that it cuts so low everyone will get a tasteful peek at your incredible butt!"
lisa felt her face go purple again.
"I... what?"
"Also we should probably add so protection enchantnts to the costu. You know, just in case soone else tries to kill us during the performance."
"That’s actually not a bad idea."
"I have those occasionally!" Rakia pulled out the sketch of the backless outfit again. "So? Will you wear it? For ? Your savior-slash-saved-person?"
[Those puppy eyes should be illegal.]
"Fine. But if my tits fall out during the performance, you’re taking responsibility."
"Deal! I’ll catch them myself if I have to!"
Rakia imdiately started pulling fabric from various piles, holding different colors up to lisa’s skin. She was back to her usual chaotic self, but lisa noticed she stayed closer than before, occasionally brushing against her arm or touching her hand.
That said, as Rakia started taking her asurents, chattering about dance moves and light effects, lisa found herself not minding the closeness.
Even if there was a dead body in the closet.
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