Chapter 64: The Plan

Mai woke to unfamiliar ceiling beams and the smell of cheap tea. She was not bound. The bed under her was narrow and slightly uneven, the kind rented by the night in districts that did not ask questions. When she sat up, she found that her cloak had been folded over a chair within reach, and her weapons were on the table, neatly set aside.

The message was clear enough: she was a guest who had been prevented from leaving, not a prisoner in the formal sense.

Two beastkin sat across from her. One was a fox type—lean, red-furred along the visible edges of his collarbones and the backs of his hands, ears angled in polite attention that did not quite hide calculation. The other was broader, dog-blooded, with a steady stillness that suggested he preferred action to talk. Neither wore faction colors, and they both looked like they had been awake for some time.

Mai’s ears flattened in an instant, and rage slowly climbed to her face.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

The fox returned the question without heat. "We could ask you the same thing. You’re in human territory, hood up, asking after a specific human by name. That is not exactly within the rules our Matriarch prefers. By the way, I’m Felix, and this is Dean."

Mai rolled her eyes and swung her legs off the bed. She did not care who they were, she had questions, and they were going to answer her. "What do you want with me?"

"Nothing, particularly," Dean said. His voice was lower, rougher. "We want the fortune teller."

The pace in Mai’s chest changed. "Ohh? I’m guessing you saw me hide him in my pouch," She lashed out, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You’re looking for Asher, so am I. Can you not see that, or did you grab the first bunny in a cloak and hope for the best?"

Felix lifted a placating hand. "Calm down. We know where he is."

Mai went still, stunned by the words she had just heard. However, the man wasn’t done speaking yet.

"There is one problem," Felix continued. "He is a captive."

Her eyes widened. The last of the sleep-fog burned off in a single pulse of focus. "Then take me to him. Now."

"Do not get ahead of yourself." The fox’s ears flicked once. "The one holding him is the human Crown Prince.. Even if we wanted a loud rescue, we are outnumbered, and starting open trouble with the human palace is not a hobby either of us intends to survive. Beastkin do not get to be reckless in this city without consequences that reach back home."

Mai’s hands curled at her sides. "Then why tell me any of this if there is nothing you can do?"

Dean glanced at his partner, and Felix glanced back. Something wordless passed between them—habit, partnership, the particular communication of people who had already argued this through before waking her.

"There is something we can do," Felix finally said. "It is risky, and we must not be seen. We plan to break him out quietly, get him clear of the prince’s people, and disappear before the alarm spreads. We are telling you because you already have a connection to him, you can identify him under stress, and—" a slight pause "—because we need him willing to listen once he is free."

Mai’s eyes narrowed. "In return for what?"

The dog beastkin’s ears shifted, a fraction embarrassed. The fox’s composure cracked along the same line.

"We need him to read our fortune," Felix said. "Specifically, whether our families will allow us to marry. We have not announced anything, and a wrong move with either household could cost us more than a scolding, and a seer who has been accurate enough to attract every faction in the region is worth the risk of a quiet extraction."

Mai stared at them. Then, against her will, heat crawled up her neck. Two beastkin, clearly paired, clearly terrified of their own parents, had kidnapped her off a street so they could rescue a human fortune teller and ask about a wedding. The absurdity of it was almost funny, but given the circumstances, she could barely even smile.

"You are fine," she said, a little too quickly. "You do not need Asher for that. Talk to your families, standing in a rented room and confessing to a bunny you jumped in an alley won’t do anything for you." She exhaled. "But I am on board with saving him. The marriage reading you can negotiate with him yourselves if he is breathing and free."

Dean’s shoulders loosened a fraction, and Felix nodded in agreement. They drafted the plan on the table with a rough charcoal sketch of streets Mai did not know by name. The location was a private house on the edge of a quieter district—close enough to the palace for convenience, but far enough for deniability.

Guard count estimated at six to eight, rotating. One main entrance, one service door, barred windows on the lower floor. The fox had tracked Asher’s scent there the previous night and again before dawn. They would enter through the service side after the next rotation, avoid killing where possible, extract Asher, and scatter toward prearranged routes that did not lead back to beastkin territory.

Mai listened, corrected two assumptions about how humans posted night guards, and did not ask how long the fox had been sniffing after her human. There would be time for irritation later.

They left the rented room before the street fully woke.

Felix led the charge, his sense of smell was more powerful than that of his allies, and the house was not hard to find once the fox took point. However, when they arrived, Mai could barely even call the structure in front of her a house anymore. It was engulfed in smoke, and fire was slowly spreading towards every corner of the structure.

They had arrived too late.