A Fox's Family (56 page)

Aster,
much like her mother, possessed incredible beauty. She was tall, not
taller than her mother, but tall enough that she easily met the
standard set by the matriarch. Her breasts, while also not as large,
were more than large enough. Then again, it was pretty much
impossible to have breasts larger than the matriarch's. The fact that
she also had a twin sister, who was identical to her in every way
possible, only made her that much more attractive to those outside of
the clan.

Too
bad they’d both unilaterally stated that they were only into
each other.

Delphine
was listening to a report from her daughter. While none of the
females of her clan were allowed to leave the clan estate (except on
holidays and extended vacations), she had divvied up the task of
sorting through the information from her various spies to her
daughters. She believed it was important to help them learn and grow
as kitsune.

It
had nothing to do with the fact that she disliked the idea of more
paperwork.

Aster
and her sister had been given the task of sorting through information
that arrived from France. It was their job to keep an eye on the
political climate of that country, both human and yōkai.

She
had been just about to tell Delphine something interesting when
shouting reached their ears.

“I-I
am sorry, Lord Shénshèng,
but I cannot allow you to pass!”

“Please
step aside, young man. I hold no quarrel with you. However, should
you choose to block my path, then I will be forced to take action.”

“Lord
Shénshèng!
Please stop! You have not been granted permission to enter―”

The
doors burst open. Delphine watched dispassionately as one of her
guards, a grandson of hers, flew into the room and landed on the
ground with a dull thud. He had a hole in his chest that steam still
rose from.

“Was
that really necessary,
Shinkuro-kun?”

“I
would like to make a strong suggestion that you never call me by that
name again,” the one known as Shinkuro spoke as he stepped into
the room. “Then again, I have a feeling that my words will fall
on deaf ears, so I shall not bother.”

Like
a good portion of male kitsune, Shinkuro Shénshèng was
an exemplar of their species, combining  all the masculine
sex-appeal of an alpha male with the pretty boy looks expected of a
bishounen
.

Like
most Celestial Kitsune, Shinkuro had blond hair; long golden locks
tied into a ponytail that reached down to his waist. His clothing
shimmered with each step he took. Intricate designs crawled along the
stately garment, symbols of power that were arcane and esoteric. His
robes were resplendent, if a bit ostentatious. Nine blond fox-tails
writhed behind his back in clear agitation, contrasting starkly with
his emotionless facade.

While
Delphine noticed all of this at a glance, she was the only one. No
one else could even look at him—his mere presence commanded
those weaker than himself, demanding they kneel before him, that they
accept him as their liege. It wasn't a technique. Like all kitsune
who were gifted with the ninth tail, his very presence bored down on
those near him when his youki was unleashed; an omnidirectional force
that crushed everyone under its weight.

“Ma…
there is no need to be so angry,” Delphine replied with a
placid smile that did nothing to put the angry man at ease.

Shinkuro
stopped several feet from the dais, right next to Aster. Although his
face appeared calm, expressionless even, his presence, the essence
that made up Shinkuro Shénshèng, showered all those
present with unrestrained rage. The rage of a king. The fury of an
emperor.

“No
need to be angry? After what your granddaughter did to my youngest, I
believe that I have every reason in the world to be angry.”

“Ah,
yes, your son.” The placid smile remained, but the quality had
changed. Whereas before the smile would have put people at ease, now
it had taken on a condescending edge. “The one who went off
without your permission, traveled to America, kidnapped my
granddaughter, and sent his attendants after my family. Is that the
one you are talking about?”

“Please
do not try to place the blame on my son. His actions were indeed
reckless and hasty, but we both know who is truly at fault. You
promised Lilian to me. Though I am loathe to allow a girl bred from
that
Shinkuror
,
that traitor of a kitsune that you called a son to mate with my own
flesh and blood, you still made that promise—and I will admit
that her talent for the Celestial arts is unsurpassed amongst the
youngest generation in my clan, even my own children. That is all
moot now. My son has become a vegetable. He refuses to talk. He
hardly eats. He cannot even go to the bathroom without aid.”

“And
whose fault is that?” asked Delphine. “I did not force
your son to go after my granddaughter. I did not tell him of her
whereabouts. I specifically kept any and all information about her a
complete secret--as per your request, I might add. If anyone is to
blame for your son’s state, it is you for being negligent.”

Shinkuro
closed his eyes. “You believe this to be to be my fault?”

“Of
course. You are the one who did not keep your son on a strict enough
leash. You are the one who refused to do something about him when his
ego led him into making reckless decisions. You call yourself an
enlightened being, however, rumors have been spreading, Shinkuro-kun.
Rumors of your youngest owning sex slaves, of breaking young women,
both
human
and yōkai. It is enough to make one wonder if you Celestial
Kitsune are truly the compassionate beings that you claim to be.”

Shinkuro
opened his eyes, and for the first time since he had barged in, there
was true emotion within them; a fierce and burning anger. “What
you're claiming is preposterous. I would know if my own son was
committing such heinous acts.”

Delphine
shrugged. “You are free to believe whatever you wish. I cannot
stop you. It does not change the fact that rumors have spread. That
you claim ignorance of these rumors is troubling, but that is beside
the point.”

Shinkuro’s
face twitched as he regained control over his emotions. Delphine
smirked.

“You
claim that I promised my granddaughter to your son. However, I
remember making no such promise. I told you that we would try to come
to a mutually beneficial arrangement by setting up mating ceremonies
between a man of your choosing and my granddaughter, Lilian, to see
if she found herself interested in one of them. I never said that
these ceremonies would end in mating. You simply decided to indulge
your son's insatiable lust by trying to force me into giving you that
which is not yours.”

Shinkuro
frowned at Delphine. The pressure he'd been releasing in small
quantities suddenly increased. Those in his general vicinity gasped,
their lungs deprived of oxygen, falling to the floor, hands clinging
to their chests as they curled up into the fetal position. Matters
only got worse when Delphine upped the ante, unleashing her own
oppressive aura.

If
the aura wielded by Shinkuro could be considered divine, the aura of
one who commanded all to bow before him, than the one that Delphine
unleashed was cold and bone-chilling, the tender caress of death’s
embrace. All those in the room felt it, the icy hands clenching their
hearts. The presence Delphine pressed upon them was every bit as
impressive as the one wielded by Shinkuro.

“Very
well. I see that your beliefs on this matter will not change,”
Shinkuro's voice was more calming than a gentle ocean breeze.
However, none of those who heard it felt comfortable. “However,
do not think this is over, Lady Pnevma. You might be willing to try
and slide around your sins, but I am not. You have committed a grave
injustice against my clan and I. Every action has consequences, and
the actions that you have taken this day will have dire consequences
indeed. I hope, for the sake of your clan, that you are prepared to
face them.”

“We
shall see,” Delphine smiled, seemingly unbothered by Shinkuro’s
not-so-subtle threat.

With
those parting words, Shinkuro exited the great hall. Delphine
extended her senses, feeling him as he left the Pnevma estate via the
Shrine Realm Gate.

“Are
you sure this decision was wise, Mother? This is going to cause a lot
of problems for us and our allies.”

Delphine
turned her head towards her first daughter. Daphne was a kitsune
whose extraordinary beauty nearly matched her own. She was tall,
about as tall as Delphine herself. Her long silver hair was tied into
a series of intricate braids arrayed around her head in beautiful
artistry. Her clothing, an off-white toga shaped somewhat like a
dress, showed off her tall, busty figure. Daphne, as Delphine’s
first daughter, was the princess of their clan, and she would one day
take over when the matriarch decided to retire. She had seven tails.

“It
will be fine,” Delphine assured her daughter. “The three
Great Clans of Pnevma, Gitsune and Bodhisattva have never gotten
along. This was simply an attempt to see if we could come to some
kind of accord. To be honest, I did not expect it to work anyway.”

“And
what about Lilian? Surely you intend to punish the girl for her
insolence.”

Daphne
was a firm believer in supporting the clan. Acting in self-interest
was anathema to her, and Lilian’s incredible selfishness was
something she could not abide by.

“Ma,
ma. I think punishing her is a little harsh, don’t you agree?”

“But
Mother! Surely you can’t just―”

“We
shall speak no more of this matter, daughter of mine.”

Daphne
stiffened as the matriarch’s words cut through her like a
knife. Her body shivered in fear. As the oldest and the one who would
eventually lead the clan, she was allowed a certain amount of leeway
when it came to how she spoke to her mother. That did not mean she
could argue with the matriarch, however, especially in a public
forum.

“Yes,
Mother.”

Delphine’s
placid smile put her daughter at ease. “In due time, you will
come to understand that what happened this day was not Lilian’s
fault, my dear. For now, though, do your best to put it out of your
mind.”

“Yes,
Mother.”

“Now
then,” Delphine turned back to Aster, who’d had the good
sense to remain silent while the more powerful kitsune were talking,
“you may continue your report. I believe you mentioned
something about one of the yōkai villages located in the Alps
being destroyed by an unknown party.”

Delphine
leaned back on her throne, resting her left elbow on the armrest and
placing her left cheek in the palm of her hand.

“I
am curious to know more.”

Afterword

Welcome to the
afterword, home of the place where I randomly spout nonsense. Just
kidding.

So, here we are at
the end of book 4 to the American Kitsune series, A Fox's Family. I
feel like this volume, in particular, is a bit of a doozy. In all
honesty, it was the hardest one for me to write, and not because I
was suffering from writer's block or something like that. The content
of book 4 was brutal compared to the other three, I think, especially
for a story that started off as a slapstick romcom anime parody.

A Fox's Family is a
story that has equal amounts of light-hearted humor and dark moments
that show how horrible people can be to each other. One of the
aspects of this story that I wanted to focus on was the difference
between the human world and the yōkai
world—the kitsune world in particular.

One thing that I
wanted people to understand here is that the kitsune world isn't all
tropes and comedy. Kitsune are a very long-lived species. They can
live for hundreds, even thousands of years. Many of the kitsune that
were alive when slavery was legal in the human world, and where the
sex slave trade not only thrived but was considered perfectly
acceptable by societies at large, are still alive today. These
kitsune govern their world, and they have a policy that a lot of
people who are stuck in their ways, unable to adapt to change, tend
to follow—if isn't broken, don't fix it.

I also wanted to
present a contrast between the relationships of Kevin, Lilian, and
their family with the relationship that Jiāoào
had with Maddison and the girls that he enslaved. This
was done to show the massive difference between cultures, but also to
show the difference between characters.
I
think showing how Lilian and Kevin's relationship has progressed, and
then comparing the way that Kevin and Lilian treat each other over
how Jiāoào
treats the
girls under his yoke shows how much Kevin and Lilian care for each
other.

Jiāoào
made this story incredibly hard to write. If you hated his guts every
time he showed up on the page, don't worry—I hated him, too. He
was honestly one of my least favorite characters, but I think he made
a good villain—for a spoiled brat.

Whelp.
I think I have done enough writing for now. I hope you all enjoyed
this book. It traveled away from the comedy of my previous three
books, but I like to think that this didn't detract from this story.