Earlier that afternoon, while Derpy remained at the training ground, Sera had discovered that the paths through Petal Fields were wide enough to walk without touching anyone.
She had not realized how much that mattered until she found herself choosing the space between Revy and Tina. Flowering branches reached over the walkway without closing it. Petals gathered in the seams between the stones. Farther off, wolves crossed the grass with baskets and folded cloth, speaking with the familiarity of people who expected to be there tomorrow.
Sera slowed to look at them. She had been moved through too many places where tomorrow belonged to whoever held her collar. Here, the sky was open. She could see where the paths went. Nobody had told her to keep her eyes down.
“It’s very pretty here,” she said. “I never knew a place like this could exist.”
Revy turned toward her, a loose red curl brushing her cheek. “A sheltered bird knew but one tree, until another—”
The rhyme stopped. Revy pressed her lips together, then coughed into her hand.
“You’ve been sheltered in one place,” she tried again. “Then a bird came and took you away.”
Sera glanced at Tina to see whether she understood. Tina was watching Revy with an expression that suggested the unfinished rhyme interested her more than its meaning.
“Sorry,” Revy added. “I’ve always talked in riddles and rhymes around my kind. I don’t usually have the courage to speak normally unless I’m flustered or worried. It’s a habit.”
She shook her red woolly mane away from her face. The curls fell back almost immediately. With a small sound of annoyance, she gathered the thick wool into both hands and worked it into a bun, exposing the little sheep ears that had been half-hidden by it.
Tina’s gaze followed the movement. Her cheeks warmed. “Very pretty.”
Revy chuckled, catching the compliment before Tina could look away. “You can look, but don't touch. My heart belongs to Derpy. Whether he wants family beside him or something more, I serve him. He's the god the wendigo worship.”
Tina turned toward the flowers. Her restraints shifted with her arm, the chain giving a little clink that sounded unexpectedly heavy in the peaceful garden.
“I never got to make a move on him,” she admitted. “He’s been so stressed. I keep thinking there will be a better time, and then something else happens.” She glanced back at Revy. “I wonder if he would go on a date with me.”
Sera lowered her eyes. David’s face came to her before she could stop it. She could picture him seated across a table, listening while someone else spoke. She had once believed that if she took care of enough things, he would never need to look elsewhere for anything.
The thought made her reach toward her collar.
A bench stood beneath a tree ahead. Sera welcomed the chance to sit, settling between the two women and folding her hands before either could notice where they had gone.
“Tell me,” she said. “How are you going to train me? How will it help me protect David?”
Tina leaned back, careful of the metal against the bench. “Well, I’m not exactly sure yet. I don’t know what you’re capable of. We should probably start there.”
Sera studied her. Derpy had made the arrangement sound certain. Travel. Learn. Change. She had agreed because each word seemed to point somewhere, but now the person meant to train her was deciding where to begin.
“Whatever we do for your training,” Tina continued, looking from her to Revy, “it’s going to be okay.”
Sera began explaining what she knew how to do. Revy’s attention moved past her shoulder before she had reached the second sentence.
Two wolves stood near the next turning. Sera had seen them earlier without giving them much thought. They had stopped speaking to anyone else. One watched the bench while the other leaned close to him, his mouth moving beneath a smile.
“Beautiful,” Sera heard. Then something about having her for themselves.
She went quiet. Revy rose, her skirt settling around her legs. For a moment, Sera thought she would tell the wolves to move on.
“Little wolves who stand at bay,” Revy called, “come speak with us this lovely day.”
The two exchanged a look and approached. They were panting heavily, though the short distance from the turning gave Sera no reason for it. She drew her feet closer beneath the bench.
“You three have certainly improved the view,” the first wolf said.
Tina lifted her chin. “We were looking at the flowers.”
“So were we.” His grin moved across all three women, leaving no doubt what he meant. His companion nodded toward Revy’s bun.
“That red wool suits you. You should wear it like that more often.” He turned to Tina before Revy answered. “And you look as though you could make a hunt interesting.”
“Depends what’s being hunted,” Tina replied.
He laughed. The first wolf rested a hand on the back of the bench near Sera’s shoulder. He did not touch her. She still shifted forward to get farther from it.
“You’ve been quiet. What’s your name?”
“Sera.”
“Pretty name. Are you staying with a pack?”
She looked toward Revy, then answered for herself. “I’m traveling with friends.”
“Then let us show you around. We know where everything is.”
“We already have plans,” Sera said.
“They can wait.” He leaned closer, making the refusal sound like a detail she had misunderstood. “You should spend some time with us. We’ll take care of you.”
A hooded figure passed behind the wolves. Sera caught the sweep of the cloak, then lost sight of it when the second man stepped nearer. The bench had seemed large enough for three. With both wolves standing over it, she no longer knew where to put her hands.
“I didn’t say I wanted that.”
“You’re nervous. That’s all.”
“We’re claiming you,” his companion said.
Sera stared. He said it with the confidence of somebody announcing where he had put his belongings.
“You can’t just decide that.”
Revy looked down at her. “Tell them no.”
“I already did.”
“Then tell them again. Plant your feet.”
Tina stood. Revy stepped back from the bench, drawing Tina aside with her. Sera watched the distance open and waited for an explanation.
“Where are you going?”
“We're here,” Revy said. “Show us what you can do.”
The first wolf smiled as though somebody had given him permission.
His hand closed around her wrist. “Come on. No reason to sit here.”
She pulled back. He pulled harder, lifting her from the bench before she had properly put her feet beneath her. His companion moved beside them, and suddenly there were two bodies between her and the direction Revy had taken.
“I told you I had plans.”
“Now you have better ones.”
His thumb pressed against the inside of her wrist. Sera tried to turn her hand, searching for a way to loosen the grip, but he kept walking as though her resistance was something to accommodate rather than answer. The flowers blurred while she looked over her shoulder.
She could not see Tina.
“Let go.”
“You’ll settle down.”
The narrower path ahead had fewer people on it. The second wolf was talking about where they would take her, using words like stay and ours without once looking to see whether she agreed.
Sera stopped moving her feet. The first wolf turned back. His smile had thinned.
“Don’t make this difficult.”
He drew her close and reached with his free hand to hold her there. Sera twisted, pushing against his chest. Her ears flattened. The grip on her wrist tightened until she could feel each finger separately.
“I don’t want to go with you.”
He reached again.
Metal struck metal beside her. Tina caught the wolf, tore him away, and threw him clear of the path. His hand left Sera’s wrist so abruptly that she stumbled after it. Her knees folded, and she landed on the ground with a breath that would not finish leaving her chest.
Tina planted herself between Sera and the two men. Her hands remained ready, but she did not chase the one she had thrown. She watched the second until he stopped moving toward them.
“Stay back.”
He looked at his companion. Neither approached again.
Tina crouched beside Sera. “Are you alright?”
Sera held her wrist against her body. A petal lay beside her knee. Somewhere close, people continued walking, and she could not understand how the garden had remained so pretty while she had been frightened in it.
“I never did this with David.”
Revy came toward them. Sera looked up before she could begin speaking.
“I did his laundry. I cooked his meals. I sewed his clothing. I made him feel welcome.”
Revy stopped beside Tina. Her bun had loosened slightly, but the amusement she had worn at the bench was gone.
“You wanted me to understand what I did to David,” Sera said. “Is that why you let them?”
Revy's mouth opened. No rhyme came out.
“I thought you could practice refusing them. We were close enough to intervene.”
“I was already refusing.” Sera held up her wrist. “He didn't care. And you let him take me.”
Tina looked at the marks forming beneath the fur. Her ears lowered.
“She's right,” she said.
Revy's gaze remained on Sera's wrist. “I thought if you felt how someone could make your choices disappear—”
“Then ask me to listen. Don't help somebody do it.”
The words came out louder than Sera intended. She waited for Revy's teeth, for the answer that would remind her how much stronger the wendigo was.
Instead, Revy took a step back.
“That was wrong,” she said. “I should have stopped them when you said no.”
“So should I,” Tina added. “I'm sorry.”
Sera pressed her wrist against her shirt. The apology did not take away the memory of being pulled. She was not ready to tell them it was alright.
Sera looked down. She had cooked for David, washed his clothes, made a place for him—and threatened lives when he wanted to spend time elsewhere.
“I know what I did,” she whispered. “That doesn’t make this right.”
“No,” Revy said. “It doesn’t.”
Tina offered her hand and waited. This time, Sera decided when to take it.
They left the narrow path together. Revy kept a little distance, leaving Sera room to choose where she walked.
“We could make it seem as though we're Derpy's wives,” Revy suggested after a while. “If the wolves think we're already with someone, they might leave us alone.”
Sera stopped. “Does he get to choose that?”
Tina looked at Revy.
“We would ask him first,” Revy said. Her ears reddened. “You're right.”
“Are you two trying to play house?”
“A little,” Tina admitted, then glanced at Sera's wrist. Her smile faded. “That can wait.”
The answer surprised Sera more than the excuse she had expected. It did not restore her trust, but she could at least understand it.
“What I'd like,” she said, “is to learn how to get somebody's hand off me.”
Tina nodded. “We can start with that. Slowly. You tell me when to stop.”
Sera looked down at their clothes. “And something clean to wear.”
“That, too.”
She stayed near them on the walk. Staying near did not mean she had forgotten. For now, it meant the three of them knew what had happened and could not pretend it was a lesson she had asked for.
They found Teal near the fitting rooms.
“Hey,” Tina called. Okamihana’s daughter looked up, and Tina stepped close to whisper in her ear.
Teal listened without interrupting. Her gaze passed over the gauntlets, chains, and clothing before moving to Revy and Sera.
“If it’s clothing you want, I can have all three of you fitted,” she said. “That’s one thing off my festival list. We need to get you girls dressed appropriately. I’d rather begin the preparations now.”
The practical answer gave Sera something small and manageable to concentrate on. Clothing. Measurements. An ordinary room with somewhere to sit. She followed when Teal led them inside.
Mk.1 found them before the first fitting began.
“Friend Derpy made a place for us,” she announced. “His crest is in a clearing. Dragon and wolf, with the red thorn. He wants Revy and Tina to bring Sera.”
Revy turned toward the door.
“He went through a seam,” Mk.1 added. “He said he has a date with Pest and her sisters. He promised I could come next time.”
Tina and Revy exchanged a look. Sera had no idea what a date with somebody named Pest involved, but it apparently explained the lack of a stated time.
“Show me where,” Revy said.
Mk.1 traced the way with both hands until Revy recognized the turning. Then she bounded back to watch for his return.
“Tell him we're here if he comes looking,” Tina called after her.
Teal set down the measuring tape. “If you're staying, choose who begins.”
Tina went first.
Under the fitting room’s light, the pink of her cropped top looked brighter. Buckled straps passed over her shoulders, and a broad utility belt rested above her purple shorts. The red-and-black gauntlets made her hands look heavier even when she held them still. Chains shifted against the restraints with every adjustment of her stance.
Teal sat before her and studied them. “Hmm. I don’t know if these are essential, but we need to lose them.”
“May I?” Teal asked, lifting one hand toward the restraints.
Tina studied her, then nodded. “If you can get them off.”
Teal gripped the metal. It cracked so suddenly that Sera jerked back in her chair.
Tina yelped. “Those were supposed to be unbreakable!”
Teal set the broken pieces aside and reached for the measuring tape. “Hold still.”
Revy gave a startled little chuckle. Tina looked toward her, then at the pieces on the table. Her hand rose to the place where the restraint had rested, touching the fur as though she needed to check it was still there.
Teal began taking measurements. She worked around Tina’s broad shoulders and powerful frame without asking her to make herself smaller. Sera watched Tina slowly stop bracing for each new touch of the tape.
“I have just the thing,” Teal said. “Blue or white?”
Tina looked toward the fabric. Neither color seemed to offer an answer quickly enough.
“White,” Teal decided.
Another wolf brought it in. A spider woman followed, gathering the threads and setting to work beside Teal. The gauntlets came off. The chains were set aside. Tina’s arms looked different without the metal around them, though nothing about their strength had changed.
Sera waited with Revy while cloth moved behind the fitting screen. Tina asked a question, then another. Teal answered both with the patience of somebody who knew the garment before it had become one.
The first fitting carried them further into the afternoon. Outside, the voices on the path changed as people finished their work.
When Tina stepped out, Sera forgot the complaint she had been preparing about the wait.
Ivory-white fabric followed Tina’s figure before opening into a softly draped skirt. Fine pleats ran down the bodice beside a row of small buttons. Gold leaves edged the sweetheart neckline, and short sleeves rested over her shoulders without hiding the striped fur beneath them.
A slender gold belt circled her waist. At one hip, a gold flower gathered the folds beside trailing purple ribbons. Ruffles fell down that side of the skirt, shifting around her legs when she stopped in front of them.
Long white gloves had replaced the gauntlets. Gold floral sandals fitted around her large paws, leaving the dark claws visible. Matching earrings caught against her purple hair as she turned her head. Her thick striped tail curved behind her, free of the chains Sera had grown used to hearing before she even saw Tina coming.
She was still enormous. Still strong enough to lift the wolf from the path. But she held one gloved hand near the neckline and waited for their reaction with an uncertainty Sera had not seen from her before.
Revy’s ears had gone red. Sera felt hers warming, too.
“You look like you’re getting married, Tina.”
Tina looked down at the dress. She smoothed a fold near her waist, then walked back to sit beside them. The skirt settled over her legs. She arranged her tail carefully so it would not disturb the draping, and the absence of rattling metal made the small movement feel strangely private.
Revy was still staring. Tina noticed. This time, she did not look away.
Teal and the seamstress emerged behind her. “Who’s next?”
Sera looked toward Revy. Revy looked back. Neither answered before both glanced at Tina again.
Teal waited, then folded her arms. “If you don’t choose who goes next, I’ll have to put your fittings on hold. I still need to do my sister Hydra’s. She’s quite troublesome.”
Revy, Tina, and Sera tilted their heads together.
“Your sister?”