Chapter 69
Something caught his attention as it ran between his feet, though he didn’t react rashly and simply allowed it to proceed on its way.
"A mouse!" Rather than shrieking and running off as he had seen the other girls do on multiple occasions, Emely got down on her hands and knees and then crept about as close to the skittering critter as she could without touching it. "Don’t be scared," she said in a gentle voice, the rodent coming to a hesitant stop as she surprised him further by scooping it up and holding the little thing as if it were the most precious of treasures. "How adorable you are."
Alistar watched with interest as she fawned over her little friend like a parent to a child, attempting to feed it little pieces of grass.
"I don’t think he wants to eat that."
"You mean she."
"It’s a girl? How can you tell?"
"You can’t?"
She placed the mouse down as carefully as she could, the rodent disappearing into the well-trimmed hedges as soon as it was free. Now that her attention was on the bushes, something caught her eye and caused her to rush over to another section where she directed his attention to a small lump of white fur that was tucked away beneath the foliage.
"Look! It’s a baby bunny."
The rabbit was so small that he couldn’t even sense its life signal.
"How did you know it was there?" Mice were common in the central gardens, but he rarely saw rabbits. "Is it alive?"