Page 56 of Sky’s Edge

Was it going to have to be me who saved King Tanyn from certain death at the claws of a snow lynx?

It was then I was certain I couldn’t believe my ears because I heard loud…

Purring.

And it was then, on his back, his arms around the beast, my body emotionally froze (rather than temperature froze), because right there, in front of me, Tanyn Firefierce was smiling, beautifully, broadly and carefree.

He took his feet, taking the lynx with him, and held the beast on his hip with its limbs dangling across Tanyn’s front and back, like it was a toddler.

If that wasn’t adorable enough, Tanyn was covered in snow, from his dark hair to his booted feet, and he didn’t seem to care.

“Catla, I want you to meet Avie,” he introduced me to the creature like it was actually a toddler. “Short for Avalanche,” he went on. “One of our rescues.”

I saw nothing damaged on this gorgeous, furry thing with its white pelt with black spots, golden eyes, with those tufts of black fur spiking from the tips of his ears and the biggest, fluffiest paws I’d ever seen.

I loved him on eye contact.

“How much does he weigh?” I asked.

“Just under twenty-five pounds.”

Carefully, I alighted the SnowSprint. “He looks like he could sleep in bed with us.”

Tanyn hefted him up higher on his hip, and the furry baby started purring again.

“He probably would. Alternatively, he’d eat our toes.”

Gingerly, I offered a gloved hand for Avalanche to sniff.

He did not.

He dismissed me and rubbed his face against Tanyn’s shoulder and neck.

With his free hand, Tanyn dug his fingers into the fur at the creature’s ruff and started scratching.

The purring got louder.

“He loves you,” I whispered.

“I nursed him from an injured kit,” he replied.

“I thought you said they were mostly wild.”

“The others are. Or most of them. If they come to us as kits, they’re like this.”

“There are more you wrestle in the snow with and hold like they’re your children?”

That smile came back, huge, free and cheerful.

It hit me so hard, I nearly went back on a boot in the snow.

“Yes,” he answered.

“There doesn’t look to be anything wrong with him,” I noted.

Tanyn put him down, and only then did Hurley jump out of his basket so the two animals could sniff each other, then pounce and play, sending out great swells of snow all around them in their tussle.

“Kits with significant injuries that take significant time to heal, by the time they’ve healed, they’re more tame than wild. There’s nothing wrong with him. He was fully restored. But he’d come to depend too much on beings. He can hunt. He can defend himself. But he comes to the pen often, and even to the citadel for company when beings are around, or for a juicy steak he doesn’t have to bother with killing.”