Being a pet rabbit wasn’t a bad way to live. Thaniel made sure Pandy got the best fruits and vegetables from the kitchen, which was run by a bosomy woman named Marta who thought rabbits belonged in stew, but doted on the small boy. Pandy got to hop around in the garden, though at first Thaniel would leap on her if she made any motion toward the surrounding bushes, and once or twice she was fairly certain he crushed her skull. Fortunately, that never seemed to be a lasting problem, and over the course of a few weeks, boy and bunny became fast friends.

  Pandy quickly learned that Thaniel was five years, ten months, and a constantly growing number of days old. He and his father lived in a crumbling manor with three servants, two of whom were only there during the day. Pandy thought it was very funny that two people needed three others to take care of them, but as she got to know Thaniel’s father, she understood.

  The Father was a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a tendency to walk into walls and forget meals. He would have been the perfect archetype of the absent-minded professor if he wasn’t constantly doing something Very Unfortunate in the small tower he’d made into his laboratory. Pandy wasn’t exactly certain what the Very Unfortunate thing was, but The Father sometimes returned home far into the night, usually dragging long, heavy objects with a strong resemblance to corpses wrapped in carpets. Pandy quickly decided to stay out of his way as much as possible.

  The third member of the family was Lian, who was twelve, or perhaps thirteen. Thaniel adored Lian, and Pandy was fairly certain Lian returned the emotion, just in a more distant kind of a way. Lian spent most of his time away at school, and only came home on occasional weekends and long breaks. Pandy’s arrival happened to coincide with the weekend before finals, which quickly led into the summer holidays, and Thaniel was very sad when he confided that Lian would be spending the summer with a friend, rather than coming home.

  “Next year, I’ll go to school, too,” Thaniel said, offering Pandy a limp clover, which she dutifully chewed. “But I’ll go to Falconet, not Kestrel. I’m too little, so by the time I can go to Kestrel, Lian will have moved on. I’ll never get to go to school with him.”

  He sighed, slumping forward so one of his golden curls drooped over his eye. Pandy momentarily wished she had hands so she could tuck it behind his ear and give him a hug, but then he flopped backwards in the sun-warmed grass, arms and legs splayed out so one hand nearly smacked her round bunny tail.

  Pandy thumped one of her big back feet in irritation. If she’d been a normal rabbit, she would have run off or been killed half a dozen times already. Early on, Thaniel even forgot she existed and left her outside overnight, which she spent huddled beneath a tumbled wall, listening to owls and foxes just outside her small, safe haven.

  Still, other than a few minor inconveniences like that, her new life had been easy and safe. Thaniel was kind, if easily distracted, and he’d only tried to put her in clothes and have a tea party once. Even that hadn’t been too bad, other than the fact that her tail had been twisted inside the handkerchief pretending to be pants, and she hadn’t been able to get it straightened out.

  Hopping closer to Thaniel, Pandy wriggled her head beneath his hand, so his fingers trailed down over her silky ears. At first, the boy didn’t respond, but then he rolled over on his side and began to stroke her fur. To her surprise, he was sniffling softly, and tears stood in his eyes. He was a very happy child generally, even if he was more than a little wild, and it was unusual to see him cry when there weren’t any adults nearby to twist around his little finger.

  “Daddy and Lian wouldn’t be gone all the time if Mommy was here,” the boy confided, reaching out to cuddle her against his chest. “Everybody loved Mommy. We had a whole house full of servants when she was alive, and sometimes people even came to visit. Daddy ate dinner with us every night, and Lian was tutored at home, so he was there all the time, too.”

  Pandy perked up her ears. She was very curious about Thaniel and Lian’s mother. All she knew was that Mommy had died when Thaniel was almost four, which would make it about two years ago. Since then, things had gotten progressively worse, with the vast majority of the staff quitting, The Father spending most of his time locked away in his tower, and Lian spending as little time at home as possible.

  Staring up at Thaniel’s teary eyes, Pandy thought, What happened to her? as loudly as she possibly could. Not that she’d ever had even the slightest inkling that Thaniel could hear her thoughts, but she somehow couldn’t quite give up trying.

  Tears trickled down Thaniel’s face, soaking Pandy’s fur, and she fought her instinctive desire to wriggle away from the moisture and the too-tight grip. She didn’t actually seem to need to breathe, which was a good thing, because the little boy was gripping her so tightly that she wouldn’t have been able to anyway.

  “Mommy and Daddy argued sometimes,” Thaniel confided, “but they always made up. Mommy said it was important to always say sorry when you fight, and that arguing just meant you were mad, not that you didn’t love each other any more. But one time, Mommy got really mad at Daddy, and she took me and Lian in a carriage without him. But the horses got scared, and the carriage rolled over, and Mommy…”

  The little boy’s words were choked, and tears and other goop were well and truly soaked into Pandy’s fur by now. She hoped that he would give her a bath, which he seemed to enjoy doing, because there was no way she was licking herself clean after this.

  Thaniel shifted Pandy in his arms, sitting up so he could pull down the collar of his shirt, revealing the beginning of a jagged pink scar. She’d seen this a few times before, but Thaniel was shy even in front of her, going behind a screen to change into his nightgown or get dressed in the morning.

  “Lian broke his arm, but I got hurt real bad, and Mommy died. Daddy came and got us, and by the time I got better, the servants were almost all gone, and Mommy was buried. Her grave is in the garden by Daddy’s tower.”

  Thaniel sighed, wiping his face with his sleeve. “I ‘spect things will get better when I go to school in the fall. I can make my own friends, then.” He sniffled one more time, giving Pandy a worried look. “I don’t know if you can go with me, though. I might have to leave you here with Daddy and Marta.”

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  Pandy’s eyes widened. The Father would forget all about her, and Marta would probably try to eat her, though she suspected she wasn’t particularly edible anymore. Of course, there was George, the gardener, and Cassie, the maid who also nominally looked after Thaniel during the day, but they weren’t much better, and definitely wouldn’t take care of Thaniel’s ‘pet’. George was an odd one, which was saying something in this house, and Cassie did as little work as she could get away with.

  Thaniel glanced away, looking out over the garden. “Do you…want to go back to the forest?” he asked, as if the fluffy white bunny in his arms could answer. “Daddy and Lian and Marta and Cassie all think I should let you go.”

  Actually, Marta thought Pandy should be dinner, so ‘going free’ would be slightly better. But what would Pandy do without her warm bed, fresh carrots, and safe house? Well, safe enough, anyway, so long as she didn’t wander the halls after dark.

  Pandy no longer needed to breathe, though she usually still did – out of habit, if nothing else – but she also didn’t sleep, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t force herself to do so. That led to many long hours spent watching Thaniel sleep, at least after she caught The Father and George hauling the corpse-like things through the house once or twice and decided wandering wasn’t a good idea.

  Pandy shook her head, feeling her ears waggle around on top of her head. They would be sticking straight up, and her red eyes would be wide and frightened. She knew because she had also spent a good number of those long nighttime hours staring at herself in the mirror in Thaniel’s room. She was a very cute rabbit, and honestly wished she could cuddle herself just like Thaniel did.

  Thaniel giggled. “Maybe I can sneak you to school in a suitcase. You don’t make any noise, and you never get into trouble, so I’m sure it’d be all right. We could-”

  “Young master, there you are!” Cassie’s voice was higher-pitched than usual, and her soft, cow-like brown eyes were wide. She was really a very pretty girl, with brown ringlets trailing down in front of her ears, and a lacy cap over the rest of her hair. She generally disliked spending time outside, saying that the sun was bad for her complexion, but here she was, hurrying toward them through the grass.

  Thaniel dropped Pandy and jumped to his feet, brushing at his clothes. Cassie was really the only person who got after him for anything, and it was usually because he’d gotten mud or grass on his clothing. She was the one who did the laundry, and she didn’t appreciate the extra work.

  “The lord is looking for you,” Cassie said, pushing away Thaniel’s hands so she could whack firmly at his rear, then tug sticks out of his tangled curls.

  “Daddy?” Thaniel squeaked. The boy wasn’t afraid of his father, not exactly, but he didn’t bother the man unless it was something urgent, either.

  “Of course I mean your father,” Cassie muttered, straightening Thaniel’s shirt and pulling the collar closed so she could do up the top button. “What other lord would come ‘round this unholy place? If it wasn’t for the pay and me saving up for my trousseau, I wouldn’t be here either.”

  Seeing Thaniel’s lower lip quiver, Pandy hopped over and pressed one paw on the boy’s foot. He looked down at her and started to bend over to pick her up.

  Cassie snatched at his freshly tightened collar, making him choke as she said, “Leave that filthy beast here. If it runs away, well, that’ll be one less thing I have to clean up after.”

  As if Pandy created any work for the girl, other than some inadvertent shedding. She didn’t even poop, which led to a question of where all the food she ate went, but Pandy spent as little time as possible thinking about all of the things that every living thing did, and she…didn’t.

  “Come along, Master Thaniel,” Cassie said, turning and hurrying away. The girl lifted her skirts high enough to show her pretty ankles and sensible black shoes, all in an effort to avoid the tall grass, which George hadn’t cut yet this week.

  Thaniel hurried along after her, and if Pandy could laugh, she would have. There was a long smear of mud and grass stains right across the rear of his blue knickers, and Pandy couldn’t help but feel a vindictive amusement at the amount of effort Cassie would have to put in to clean them. Usually, Pandy had nothing but sympathy for her fellow sufferers at the hands of ill fortune, but Cassie was so lazy and obnoxious that it was difficult to like her.

  Once the two were far enough ahead, Pandy hopped along after, finding that her ungainly gait propelled her forward more than fast enough to catch up. Rather than doing so, however, she hung back, watching and listening as Cassie led Thaniel around to the front of the house.

  The Father waited there, dressed in unusual finery. His hair was actually combed, and his face freshly shaved. His coat barely showed wear, even at the elbows and cuffs, and his shoes had been buffed to a high gloss. When he saw Thaniel, his face brightened, and Pandy was reminded that he really did seem to care for his sons, however absent he was most of the time.

  “There you are!” The Father held out his arms, and Thaniel ran into them with barely any hesitation. The Father picked Thaniel up, perching the boy on his arm with surprising ease. Given how rarely he emerged from his tower, Pandy would have guessed that he had very little muscle tone, but he hefted the forty-five-pound child without difficulty.

  “I’m going away for a few days, Thaniel,” The Father said. “Cassie will sleep here while I’m gone, so you don’t need to worry. I sent a letter to your brother, so perhaps he’ll come back to spend some time with you as well.”

  For the first time, Pandy wondered if Lian was avoiding his father, rather than simply enjoying spending time with his friends. Would the older boy take the opportunity to see his brother without paternal presence?

  Thaniel’s expression was conflicted. There was concern, probably over being left essentially alone in the big house, but it warred with excitement at the thought of seeing his brother. “When will you be back, Daddy?” he asked.

  The Father grimaced. “I’m not exactly sure. More than three days, but less than a week, I hope. Marta will still prepare your meals, George will watch over the house, and, as I said, Cassie will be here to tuck you in.”

  Thaniel leaned in, wrapping his little arms around his father’s neck, and planting a kiss on the man’s gaunt cheek. “I’ll be all right,” he said bravely. “I’m almost six. I’ll be going away to school in the fall, anyway, so I should get used to being away from you.”

  Now clear sorrow showed on The Father’s face. “Yes,” he said. “But how will I get used to being away from you?”

  Pandy had never heard him say something so close to a statement of love, but Thaniel’s embrace just tightened. “It’ll be all right, Daddy. I’ll think of you every night, and we’ll always be under the same starts. That’s what Mommy said.”

  The Father gave a choked little chuckle. “Stars, Thaniel. Under the same stars. And yes, she did say that.” He set the boy down, and Pandy hopped over beside Thaniel, sending up little puffs of dust as her big feet whapped the ground. She stared up at The Father, and he stared back.

  Finally, The Father crouched down, setting his hand on Pandy’s head, just between her ears. “Remember,” he whispered, “act as you seem, and,” he hesitated, closing his eyes as his fingers pressed deep into her fur, “protect this child.”

  Something seemed to clamp down on Pandy at his words, trying to find a purchase that simply wasn’t there. It slipped away again, leaving Pandy wide-eyed and still. Protect. She was a rabbit. How was she supposed to protect anyone? But she would, even if it took the last of her strength and whatever remained of her very small life. Whether or not the Father had commanded it.