The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories (14 page)

“
Hush.” Taypha put a paw to his muzzle. “Don’t say anything yet.”

He got stiffly to his feet, stooping at the shrill complaint of his muscles. His back was stiff and his legs cramped, but he managed to follow Taypha at a good pace.

“
Benton came to see me,” the bear said. “He went back and found Alexan…we’ve been out looking for you all night.” When Jonas didn’t say anything, Taypha continued. “You shouldn’t have run. Are you okay?”

Jonas nodded. He felt a growing relief that he would not have to endure the trip over the mountain again, that he would not have to worry about how the rest of his life would go. He was headed for jail, and that was fine. After all, he had killed Alexan, unintentionally or not.

The guard station was a small building, but solidly built in reddish stone. The doorways and front windows were made of a matching reddish wood that looked more faded and worn than the stone itself. Above the doorway, a sign read “Divalia City Guards, Fourth Division.” Jonas walked placidly up the stairs and let Taypha lead him into a small room with one barred window, high up.

“
Shackles?” the wolf guard who followed them in said. He swung a key ring from one grey-furred paw.

Taypha shook his head. “He won’t cause trouble. I’ll vouch for him.”

“
All right.” The wolf left, and Taypha knelt beside Jonas.

“
Jonas, I’m going to come back with the head of the guard unit. He’s Benton’s mate. I brought you here because of that. Just…don’t say anything that will get you in trouble, okay?”

Jonas nodded without really listening. He looked up at the window after Taypha had left, at the bright sunlight outside, and felt a pang of regret. If he’d never left Tephos, he would be miserable, perhaps, but certainly better off, and Alexan would still be alive. How much suffering had his foolish decision cost? All because he thought he deserved better, because he thought that he could be a good mate. Well, here he was, getting what he deserved. He sat down and looked away from the window.

It was probably an hour before a well-muscled cougar in a more gaudy uniform stepped through the door and closed it behind him. From his seat on the floor, Jonas looked up. The captain was striking, his uniform neatly pressed, and he walked with a noble assurance. His scent was clean and imposing, and beneath it Jonas could detect Benton’s scent as well. The reminder of the small fox heartened him until he remembered Benton’s hesitation when he’d asked for help the previous day.

The cougar squatted down beside him and gave him an encouraging smile. Jonas felt the small comfort of relaxation that came from meeting another of his species, and returned the smile.

“
Hi, Jonas. My name’s Jherik. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Jonas started haltingly, but got the whole story out. “I must have…kicking him must have broken his chest. I didn’t know what to do.” He didn’t tell Jherik about his prayer to Felis to help him, nor about his intention to leave Alexan as soon as he could. Those things sharpened the edges of his guilt, even buried in his mind; he didn’t think he could stand to have them voiced aloud. He also didn’t tell Jherik that Alexan had brought home a crown for him to wear, for fear of sullying Alexan’s memory.

“
I don’t know if there’s anything you could have done,” Jherik said.

Jonas raised his eyes to the other cougar’s. “What’s going to happen to me?”

Jherik sighed. “I don’t know. He was a respected merchant. You might be able to make a case for self-defense, but I have to admit I’m not convinced.”

Jonas nodded. He wasn’t either.

Jherik left him in the cell after bringing him a small meal. To his surprise, Jonas found that he was hungry, and he wolfed down the bread and cheese. When it was gone, he settled back against the wall. His paw came to rest on a pocket of his pants, and he felt a small bulge beneath. Reaching in, he drew out the golden pendant Alexan had given him.

It still looked beautiful, even in the half-light of the cell. He ran his paw over it again, and remembered the fox’s face when he’d handed it to Jonas, and the tears started again. He clutched the pendant, rocking back and forth, and when he’d cried himself out, he curled up in the corner and held the pendant against his cheek.

They brought him another meal late that night, but no news, and when the light faded, he slept.

His sleep was untroubled by dreams, but when he woke, he had a moment of disorientation when he thought that he was back in Alexan’s bedroom and the dead fox was just in the other shadowy corner. He thought he could see the glassy eyes staring back at him.

A guard outside pounded on the door. “What’s going on?”

Jonas shook his head. “What?”

“
You yelled. What’s going on?”

“
I did?” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. It was nothing.”

“
Hmph. Keep quiet, then.” He heard the guard walk away. Jonas stood up, stretching his legs, and thought he might as well do his exercises, since he had the time and space. The workout let him clear his mind, and so he went longer than he usually would, until he nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Then he pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his muzzle on them, and tried not to think about the wagon of rabbits heading west, or of how long it might be until someone came to get him, or about whether he would rather be executed for murder or released onto the streets of Caril.

Around midday, by Jonas’s estimation from the shadows on the floor, the door opened again and Jherik beckoned to him. “Come on,” he said.

Jonas stood on unsteady legs and followed him out the door. They passed several guards and a pair of prisoners before arriving at a small office.

“
Can you write your name?” Jonas nodded. “Can you read? Good. I wrote up this report this morning. This says that we took you into custody and have investigated the case and found you innocent of any crime. Alexan’s death was an accident.”

Jonas shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“
We’re letting you go,” Jherik said patiently.

“
I know, but…what changed between yesterday and today?”

Jherik leaned back. “I went back to my commanding officer with our report and your account of what happened. He said, and I agreed, that if we could find someone to vouch for your character, and there was no family member to press charges, we could let you go. We contacted Alexan’s only surviving relative, and he wasn’t interested in pressing charges. And then, this morning, your character was vouched for.”

“
By whom?” Jonas could barely get the words out. Someone had stood up for him? Said enough good things about him that Jherik was ready to let him go? Then he caught the lingering scent of fox in the air, and he knew even before Jherik answered.

“
Benton. He said he’d known Alexan for a while and had gotten to know you well enough that he was sure you wouldn’t do anything intentionally to harm him. He said you were planning to leave him, and my commander pointed out that while that might mean you were planning to kill him, you probably wouldn’t have said anything in that case. You didn’t tell me about that part.”

“
No.” Jonas shook his head.

“
Why not?”

There was a chair just in front of him, and he stepped forward to sit in it. “He’d brought me here, been so kind to me, and I felt so ashamed about leaving him. I thought…there was no point in saying it now that he was dead.”

“
You’ve no reason to be ashamed, from what Benton said. I only met him a few times, but from what I heard, Alexan didn’t sound like a very nice character. No disrespect intended, of course.”

“
There were sides to him that nobody saw. When he wasn’t trying to impress his friends, or worry about his success…” Jonas trailed off, aware of the weight of the gold pendant in his pocket. He wasn’t sure whether he’d be allowed to keep it if he told Jherik about it.

The other cougar shrugged. “I suppose you knew him. Anyway, this is where I sign, and this is your signature affirming that I’ve explained the report to you.” He scratched a signature on the bottom of the document and then tapped a blank section of the parchment as he slid it over to Jonas. Jonas took the quill and wrote a neat “Jonas” in the space Jherik had indicated.

Jherik examined the signature. “No family name?”

Jonas hesitated, then shook his head. Jherik shrugged. “Okay. Benton’s outside. He wanted to wait for you.”

“
All right.” Jonas wasn’t quite sure what to do. “Are you joining us?”

“
Nah. Too much work.” Jherik grinned and patted him on the shoulder. “Go ahead. You’re free to go.”

“
Thank you.”

He felt curiously light as he walked out of the guard house, past the guards in uniforms who barely gave him a glance, past the prisoners and supplicants out into the daylight. The day was warm and the small fox on the front stoop stood with a smile when he saw Jonas walk towards him.

“
Hi.” Benton’s tail was wagging.

“
Hi, Benton. Thank you. I guess you helped get me out.”

Benton smiled. “You deserved to be free. I know you wouldn’t hurt Alexan intentionally. I just told Jherik that.”

“
Why?”

“
What?” Benton looked puzzled.

“
Why did you vouch for me? You barely know me. For all you know, I could’ve murdered …him.”

“
Shh.” Benton waved paws as a goat turned upon hearing the word “murdered.” “I did it because I know you didn’t. I mean, I know you’re a good person and you deserve to have someone stand up for you. I didn’t know if anyone else would.”

“
And Jherik believed you because you’re his mate?”

Benton’s ears tilted. “He believed me because he knows me and knows that I’m a pretty good judge of people.”

“
I don't know if I am a good person.” Jonas looked down at the fox. “I was going to leave Alexan. And…” He didn’t even know the name of the other fox, the one whose secret he’d sold, the one who’d collapsed in his arms in the dream.

Benton took his elbow and guided him down the street. “I saw the way Alexan treated you, showing you off like a piece of jewelry. I guess he had the right to, but you had the right to leave, too.”

“
He loved me,” Jonas insisted.

“
Maybe. I’ve seen love that looked awful strange.” Benton let go of Jonas’s arm, and the cougar paused for a moment before he continued walking.

“
What do you get out of this?” he asked as he followed the fox. “You changed your mind about me living with you?”

“
What?” Benton laughed. “One cougar is plenty for me, thank you. No, I just thought you needed help and it didn’t look like anyone else was going to give it. Mikka…he and Alexan used to be close. I haven’t seen him in a while, though. Taypha didn’t know what to think. Phineas just wanted to get his paws on the house.”

Jonas thought he heard a faint growl in that last sentence. He followed Benton into a pub, still trying to understand what the fox had done. During most of the lunch, he wondered whether Benton’s motives could really be that simple, and at the end of the lunch, he was forced to admit that he could not see any other reason for what Benton had done than the one the fox himself had presented.

That disturbed him, mostly because he was forced to look back on his own life and realize that he had never done anything like that. His kindnesses to Alexan had been out of fear he might be put out onto the street. And then, as if the fox could read his thoughts, Benton said shyly, “I never thanked you. For the other night.”

“
What other night?”

“
When Alexan made you…you know. And I didn’t want to.”

“
Oh. You’re welcome. I just knew you wouldn’t enjoy it much.” He smiled. “Or at all.”

“
I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble for it.”

Jonas touched his cheek. “No. Not too much.”

“
Good.” Benton drank the remainder of his ale and looked thoughtfully at the cougar. “So what will you do now?”

“
I don’t know. Did you have a chance to look around?”

Benton shook his head. “I’m sorry. I asked Jherik about the guard, but he said there’d be complications, since you’re a cougar and everyone would expect you to be a noble, and it might undermine the authority of the others.”

“
I can’t fight anyway.”

“
What can you do?”

“
Only…”