Ashley
There was once a family of foxes and they lived in a comfortable house on a hill in Eaglecrest, within view of the sparkling glass towers of Millenport. The house belonged to the mother's family, who had never liked the father, and so when the mother grew sick and died, the father and his son moved into a dirty apartment, until the day the father announced that he was remarrying, on the son's tenth birthday.
The son liked the dirty apartment, because he and his father shared a room and got to see each other almost all the time, but he moved his duffel bag of possessions without complaint into the mansion owned by his new stepmother, an immense estate on a bluff in Piny Heights overlooking the ocean. He had a room of his own at the top of the staircase at the northernmost end of the west wing of the mansion, which did not overlook the ocean, nor did it look down to the city of Millenport, but rather looked out over the road that approached, and the dirty highway beyond.
In this new house, his father's room was at the southernmost end of the east wing, with a lovely ocean view from one side of the room and a breathtaking view of Millenport from the other. His father's job was on the other side of the city, so the father spent most of his day driving to his job, or driving home from his job, and the son rarely saw his father at all.
His father had to continue working, for despite living on an immense estate, the family's wealth was declining. The estate was rented out to families and companies from Millenport for parties, so the son was put to work cleaning out the immense barbecue pits. The grey ash worked its way into his fur until he became used to seeing himself all grey when he looked in the mirror, and his two new stepsisters took to calling him "Ashley."
His stepsisters were vain, haughty vixens, one his age and one a year older, who felt they deserved the personal attendant their mother could not afford. When Ashley was done cleaning the barbecue pits and picking up the litter left behind by the weekend (and sometimes weekday) parties, his sisters pressed him into service cleaning their rooms, dusting the main living areas, and scrubbing the bathroom floors. As they grew older, they tried makeup on him, made him hand-wash their best dresses, and made him do their homework. At first, Ashley complained to his father, but his father said, "Without their kindness, we'd be back in that dirty apartment. You should be grateful." And Ashley tried to see it that way, but it was hard. He remembered that his mother had always told him to be kind and repay the kindness of others, and he did his best to do so.
His stepsisters went to Chatelier, a private school, but Ashley had to go to school at P.S. 12, down by the docks. Even though he was away from his stepsisters, he was too tired from his weekends and weeknights of work to make new friends, and he had to come straight home after school, because there was always more work to be done.
For many years, Ashley lived this life, and while it was not as bad as perhaps it could have been, it was certainly not as good as it might have been. Every night, he curled up in his bed and took down the only things left from his mother: a small pine box with her perfumes and costume jewelry (the real jewels being long sold), and a small toy Orca, its soft cloth worn and ashen from many nights of being clutched to a young fox's breast. The Orca was a mascot for Millenport's football team, and it was cunningly crafted to listen to certain phrases and respond with cheers such as, "First down, Orcas!" or "Dee-fense!" or "Touchdown!" Although Ashley had never seen a football game in person, the voice of the Orca and the smell of his mother's box gave him small comfort, so that however bad his day, he usually fell asleep with a smile on his small, slender muzzle.
As he grew, he saw his stepsisters grow and become attractive, if never as attractive as they thought they were. They collected and discarded boyfriends, and Ashley, though he tried not to, envied them the flush of happiness they showed whenever they were with one of their conquests. Watching them, he realized that what he wanted was not a girlfriend, but a boyfriend like his sisters. From his time in school, he knew this was a little strange, if not a lot, and Ashley didn't want to be strange, so he kept his longings to his dreams, confiding only in his Orca in whispers as he lay down to sleep. Sometimes, if he said the right thing, the Orca would respond, quietly, with, "What a catch!" or "Stuffed for a loss!"
It came to pass in Ashley's sixteenth year that a famous family moved to Piny Heights. The father, a well-known public figure, and the mother, a television personality, had one son, a young fox by the name of Prince, who immediately became the main subject of discussion between Ashley's stepsisters. "His fur is the color of fall leaves," swooned the elder. "His scent is as heavenly as the windblown prairie," sighed the younger. "And," they chorused, "he doesn't have a girlfriend!"
In the following weeks, the mornings became twice as long for Ashley. Besides his own preparations, he was run ragged with a chorus of, "Ashley! Brush my tail!" "Ashley! Fasten my pearls!" "Ashley! Finish my homework!" "Ashley! Don't burn the toast!" as his stepsisters patted and primped themselves, hoping for a moment alone with the aloof Prince. From what Ashley heard, this Prince must spend his schooldays in a perpetual cloud of giggling girls. Slumped in his seat on his bus, eyes closed, he imagined the tall, handsome fox striding through the gleaming marble halls of Chatelier, his slightly disdainful expression looking down on the upturned ears below him. Prince would have steely grey eyes that kept his distance from the world, and a haughty tilt to his head that showed his superiority. Ashley liked to think of his stepsisters battering themselves against an obdurate rock, even though he knew it was not a charitable thought and he tried not to rejoice in the image. Privately, in his bed at night, he imagined Prince's stormy eyes turned upon him and resting there, and the vulpine muzzle curving in a smile. But he was a sensible fox, as well as a kind one, and he knew that those could only be dreams, though they were nice dreams that he enjoyed in a number of different ways. Still, he felt a longing grow in his heart to see Prince with his own eyes.
One night in the early spring, his stepsisters returned from Chatelier shrieking in delight. Ashley understood eventually that there was to be a party given by Prince's family as a way to introduce themselves to the people of Piny Heights, and they had chosen his stepmother's estate to host the occasion. Through the knowledge that the next month would bring even more work and even more calls of "Ashley! Ashley!" he felt nevertheless a stirring of excitement that he would finally see this mysterious Prince.
The Friday before the party, Ashley's stepmother kept him home from school, setting him to work scrubbing the patio and cutting the lawn, washing the dishes again and even cleaning the large roasting grills, a job that took Ashley from his cheese sandwich lunch all the way up through his lukewarm vegetable soup dinner. He bore it without complaint, endured the pat on the shoulder from his father, and crawled up to his bed exhausted.
"Oh, Orca," he sighed, lying in bed and holding the toy to his chest, "I wonder if Prince is as handsome as they say he is. I wonder if his grey eyes will push me away as they do the others. I wonder if he will see me at all. And why am I so excited to see him?"
He expected the Orca to say, "Dee-fense!" or perhaps, "The kick is good," but tonight he heard its soft voice say, "Little Ashley, you will see your Prince, and you will know by his eyes why you are excited to see him." The voice was softer than its usual voice, and the words startled him.
"Why, Orca," he said. "You never spoke that way before."
"Dee-fense," said the Orca, and its glass eye seemed to wink at him.
Ashley laughed, thinking that he had been imagining it. Even so, the imagined words seemed to him an excellent thought, which curved his lips into a smile as he fell into sleep.
On the day of the party, he worked twice as hard as he had the day before, preparing a hundred chickens for the barbecue until his fingers were sticky and sore, and then cleaning off the picnic tables, crawling onto the gazebo to clean its roof, skimming the pool, and making sure each changing room had a stack of fresh scented towels.
These tasks done, he trudged upstairs to the demands of his stepsisters, dressing them and fluffing their tails, applying their makeup and arranging their jewelry. They had long since stopped thinking of him as a boy, and he didn't think of them as girls; there was nothing desirable about helping cinch their dresses around their wide hips, or helping stuff tissues down the front of their dresses and judging the symmetry. For their part, they only yelled back and forth, "Ashley! My pearls!" "Ashley! More tissue!" "Ashley! You've soiled this; get me a clean one."
When they were ready, he smiled and told them they looked beautiful, and trailed after them down the stairs, where their mother told them the same thing, only without lying. "Now, Ashley," she said, "I've got a surprise for you."
His heart leapt, because she was holding a bag from Neiman-Marten. He had never had any nice clothes to wear, and he had been wondering what he might wear to the party. But when she opened the bag, he saw that it held only a dress. "What is the surprise, stepmother?" he asked.
"While I was at Neiman-Marten buying myself this dress," she said, "I noticed that they hire out attendants, and I thought that for such an important party, we should spare no expense. So we will have a professional attendant, and you may spend the evening in your room. You needn't do any chores," she said with what she must have assumed was good charity.
Ashley's tail dropped to the floor. "Well, what?" his stepmother said. "Go on upstairs."
"Only," he said, "I was hoping to attend the party with my lovely sisters, and perhaps meet Prince."
At this, his stepsisters laughed and laughed. "Well," his stepmother said, "the party begins in one half hour. If you clean every speck of ash from your fur in that time, then I suppose you may attend the party."
"Yes, stepmother!" Ashley sprang for the stairs, and leapt them two at a time to the bathroom, where he scrubbed and scrubbed at his fur. After five minutes, the water still ran grey with ash, and Ashley scrubbed harder. After ten minutes, the water still ran grey with ash, and Ashley scrubbed harder still. And after twenty minutes, the water ran as clear as could be.
Twenty-nine minutes after her pronouncement, Ashley presented himself again to his stepmother, his fur bright and redder than it had been since he'd come to live in Piny Heights. "May I join the party now, stepmother?" he asked, his tail wagging in delight.
"In those rags?" his elder stepsister said.
"Without any scent?" his younger stepsister said.
"And what a common shade of red your fur is," his stepmother said. "It's quite out of the question. You'd embarrass your family."
Ashley's tail slowed its wagging, and his ears drooped. "You said if I cleaned every speck of ash from my fur, that I might go to the party," he said.
"So I did," the stepmother said, and from her long cigarette, she tapped ash onto the fox's head, between his ears. "But I clearly see ash between your ears, so I'm afraid you must turn around and go right back upstairs."
His stepsisters laughed, each one taking a turn to rub the ash into his headfur. Ashley turned and fled up the stairs, running to his bed where he held his Orca and cried.
"Why are you crying, little one?" the Orca said as he rocked it back and forth.
Ashley held it away from him and looked into its glass eyes. "You did talk!" he exclaimed.
"You have lived long without a friend in this house, but now you have need of one," said the Orca. "So tell me again: why do you cry?"
"I so want to go to the party," Ashley said, "but Stepmother has forbidden it."
"Did you not clean your fur, as she asked?"
"All except for the top of my head," Ashley said.
"Then you shall go to the party," the Orca said. "Come, let us open this box your mother left you, and see what we might find."
Ashley sniffled, but it occurred to him that thinking about his mother, a vague memory of fire-red fur and warm embraces, was preferable to thinking about the party, so he reached up to the shelf over his bed and took down the pine box. He ran his finger pads over the cunning reliefs of flowers in bloom, and then tripped the latch so that the lid flew open.
To one side of the box, three little vials sat neatly nestled in velvet. To the other side, three pieces of sparkling jewelry sat carefully arranged. And in the middle, three colorful scarves sat as carefully folded as the day his mother had arranged them with her own paws.
"These are no help to me," Ashley said. "The vials are clover, daffodil, and rose scent. The jewelry is a set of earrings, a pendant, and a tiara. And the scarves are white, yellow, and red silk. They are all for a girl."
"Come," said the Orca, "bring the box to the attic, and let us see what we might find."
So Ashley carried the box and the Orca to the attic, where row upon row of his stepsisters' dresses, outgrown and forgotten, hung from long racks. "Now," said the Orca, "surely you may find a dress that will fit you."
"Must I wear a dress in order to go to the party?" Ashley said.
"Alas," said the Orca, "there are no clothes in this house befitting a young man. But never fear, little one. You may yet catch the eye of your Prince."
At the very end of the rack, Ashley found a lovely white dress, slender and elegant, that had belonged to his elder stepsister. He tried it on, and found it to be a perfect fit. "Now," the Orca said, "put on the clover scent, the diamond earrings, and cover your head with the white scarf, and you shall go to the party."
"Stepmother will be angry with me," Ashley said.
"Your stepmother will not know you," the Orca said, and indeed, when Ashley had finished, he saw in the mirror a lovely young lady, resplendent in a white dress, with sparkling earrings and a soft white scarf. The scent that rose from her was gentle clover. "Oh, Orca," he said, "will Prince want to meet me?"
"Take your Prince by the paw, and he will be yours for the night," the Orca said.
When Ashley came to the party through the back garden, he found himself quite bewildered by the press of people. Having never been to a party, he did not know how to behave, so he kept quite quiet and looked for the mysterious Prince, his fur tingling with excitement.
He saw his younger stepsister, dancing with a large black wolf. He saw his older stepsister, dancing with a tall yellow leopard. After a few minutes, he noticed that anywhere he went, everyone watched him. His ears, heavy with the unfamiliar earrings, flicked back and forth, listening.
Who's that?
Where's she from?
A skunk cut across his path and coughed. "Do you, uh, want to dance?" he said, but Ashley, not wanting to talk lest he give away his identity, just lowered his head and shook it silently.
A tall wolf in a shirt and tie stepped in beside him. "Hey, darlin', how about a dance?" He lowered his head again and shook it silently.
When he looked up again, the crowd had parted as if they knew his destination. He looked into grey eyes, an elegant arched muzzle, and graceful, upswept ears. Prince wore a tuxedo and a bored expression that was slowly turning into interest as his nostrils flared. He took a step forward and Ashley, out of reflex, stepped backward before stopping himself.
"I don't believe I know you," Prince said, approaching closer. His eyes, grey as smoke, captivated Ashley. His scent, strong and vulpine, enfolded Ashley. And his strong, confident paw held Ashley under the chin, gently. "I'm Prince."
"I know," whispered Ashley, his voice high in embarrassment.
The tall red fox smiled down and offered a paw whose black glove was covered by a black glove. "May I have this dance?" he said, and Ashley, mute, placed his paw in the larger one.
The music spun around them both. He drank Prince's scent as though it were wine, a heady draught that blurred his sense of time, so that when the music slowed and the other fox pulled him close, he could not say whether it had been minutes or hours since they first touched. His fur bristled in panic at first, as he realized that the hard lump of his sheath would mean immediate discovery, but he avoided it by artful shifting, keeping the curve of his hip against the other fox's leg. Prince, not nearly as shy, pressed his own hardness into the soft space beneath Ashley's stomach.
If Prince's scent had been wine, the firm shape of his maleness was a drug. Ashley couldn't stop himself from pressing against it, closing his eyes and imagining the firm swell of it under his paws. His own ached in response, throbbing until he was glad he was wearing a dress, for it would surely have split any pants he owned. He couldn't help himself; when the music stopped and Prince stepped back, Ashley let his paw brush the ridge of fabric.
Sparks lit in the stormy grey eyes. Teeth showed in the curve of his smile. Without another word, Prince took Ashley's paw and led him to the pool, to the changing rooms in the dark recesses of the garden, and Ashley, still astonished at his boldness, followed as if in a daze. It seemed to him another Ashley in another world had cleaned these rooms years ago as he stepped into one with Prince and stood against the wall, while the other fox closed the door and slipped the bolt.
"Now," Prince said, "we shall have some privacy."
He reached out, but Ashley, terrified of being discovered, reached out with both paws and stopped Prince. He smiled in the dim light and shook his head slowly as he reached for Prince's pants and undid them. His fingers trembled inside their folds as he drew out the long maleness and caressed it, and his heart trembled as he heard Prince's breath in the darkness. He knew what to do, being a teenaged boy, and before long, the warm hardness under his fingers shivered, and the body behind it shuddered, and the breaths grew sharp and staggered.
And when Prince was done, his passion in a pool on the floor and his moans still echoing in the small room, Ashley couldn't help himself. He kissed the other fox gently on the nose and then hurried out of the changing room.
"Wait!" Prince called behind him, but he paid him no heed as he fled through the party, out into the back garden, up the back stair, and into his room, where he threw himself to his bed.
His Orca lay near his head. "Did you meet your Prince and take him by your paw?"
"I did," Ashley nodded. "Oh, I did. It was wonderful." His heart beat so quickly he thought it might fly from his chest. "Everyone wanted to know who I was. And he danced with me. And danced. And danced..." And with that, he fell into the happiest sleep he'd known in years.
In the morning, he woke before anyone else. He put his scarf and earrings back into his mother's box, hung the dress in the attic, and walked through the barbecue pits before anyone else had awoken. At breakfast, he was his habitual ash-grey, munching on his crusts of bread while his stepsisters discussed the party with his stepmother.
"Did you dance with Prince?" His stepmother served each of the girls a double helping of eggs and toast.
"No!" his elder stepsister replied, taking a huge bite of her eggs.
"He spent the whole evening dancing with that girl." His younger stepsister bit off a large piece of toast.
"As if there was nobody else there!" His elder stepsister swallowed half a sausage at once.
"And we trying to catch his eye all night!" his younger stepsister said around a mouthful of biscuit.
"How could he miss such dainty beauties?" his stepmother fawned, beaming at her daughters.
"It was that girl," his elder stepsister said.
"Nobody even knows who she was," his younger stepsister said.
"I'm sure Prince didn't invite her," his elder stepsister said.
"Surely not." His younger stepsister snapped her muzzle shut on a piece of sausage and chewed it angrily.
"Well, he must throw another party, then," his stepmother said. "I will call his parents and offer them a discount on the next one. Ashley! Go clean the grounds, I want them spotless by noon."
"Yes, Stepmother." Ashley did his chores that morning, while his memories of the party so delighted him that he replayed them over and over. When noon came, and the grounds were spotless, he did not remember doing a lick of work.
On the day of the second party, Ashley again asked if he might attend the party, and again after he'd cleaned his fur, his stepmother dropped cigarette ash on his head and told him to go back to his room. And this time, once the party had started, he took his Orca to the attic and selected a yellow chiffon dress, bright and sparkling, that had belonged to his younger stepsister. He put on the scent of daffodil and the topaz-studded tiara, and wrapped the yellow scarf around his head.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he trembled, and said to his Orca, "What if he doesn't like me any more? What if he doesn't care to dance?"
"Kiss your Prince with your mouth," his Orca said, "and he will be yours for a month."
Ashley joined the party, and this time heard more whispers, felt more eyes on him, and again found Prince on the dance floor. Once again the music swept them along through the evening, until they were pressed close to each other, and again Ashley trembled at the hard press of Prince's maleness under his stomach. He rubbed against it and curled his tail up behind him, and Prince's tail curled up to match. "You dance divinely," Prince murmured. "And I don't even know your name."
Ashley looked to his left, and saw his elder stepsister staring jealously at him. He looked to his right and saw his younger sister staring jealously at him. The music stopped, and he slid his paw between Prince's legs, as he had before.
The grey eyes widened. Ashley said in his high voice, "After our dance."
They slipped away again, back to the changing rooms, and there Prince reached for Ashley's shoulders, but again Ashley held him back. His paws undid Prince's pants, and this time he dropped to his knees and took the maleness within into his muzzle. He closed his eyes and slid up and down, listening with his ears for the quiet rasp of Prince's breathing. The sounds of the party faded into the background as Ashley applied his tongue and tasted the rich masculine musk of the other fox. He lifted a paw gently to hold the soft white sac that dangled below, feeling it tighten at the magic of his tongue.
And again, he felt that shudder, heard the sharp, staggered breaths, and felt his mouth fill with warmth. He released Prince's maleness and felt the other fox clutch him by the shoulder. Afraid again, he wrested free and fled for the door. Behind him, Prince cried, "Your name!" but Ashley ran unheeding, through the party, out into the back garden, and up the stairs into his room, where he threw himself onto his bed.
"Oh, Orca," he said, "What a magical night!"
"Did you kiss your Prince with your mouth?" the Orca said.
"I did," Ashley said. "Oh, I did. It was wonderful. He danced with me, and danced, and danced." And he fell into a happy sleep again.
In the morning, he again woke before everyone else. He returned the yellow scarf and the tiara to his mother's box, hung the yellow dress in the attic, and cleaned the barbecue pits so that the ash covered the scent and color in his fur. And in the morning, his stepmother and stepsisters again fumed over the appearance of the yellow girl and Prince's preoccupation with her. Ashley listened with an inward smile as they talked about how Prince had eyes for none but her while she'd been there, how they had tried to follow her but she'd left them behind as if she knew the place, and how Prince had talked of nothing else after she'd vanished.
"We can't offer them another discount," his stepmother said.
"Prince said he would throw a party every week if he had to," Ashley's elder stepsister said.
"To find out that girl's name," his younger stepsister said.
"Why can't he throw parties for us?" his elder stepsister said.
"We're as beautiful as that strange girl," his younger stepsister said.
"Of course you are, darlings," his stepmother said. "Whoever that girl is, she would pale like the moon next to the brightness of your beauty. Ashley! Go clean the grounds. I want them spotless by noon."
Again, Ashley did his chores, licking his lips and replaying the memory of the night before. When noon came, the grounds were spotless, but he didn't remember doing a lick of work.
It happened that Prince threw another party a month later as the school year was ending. "He says it's for the end of school," said Ashley's younger stepsister as he was brushing her fur one day, "but everyone knows it's to find that girl again. He hasn't stopped talking about her."
"It's quite tiresome," his elder stepsister said.
"Ashley! Not so hard," his younger stepsister snapped. He had to hide his smile and his wagging tail.
But when the night of the party came, and Ashley hurried through his work to get the grounds ready, his sisters took much longer to get ready. "I want to look better than her when she shows up," his elder stepsister said.
"I wish I had a dress like that white one," his younger stepsister said.
"I wish I had a dress like that yellow one," his elder stepsister said.
"Ashley! Brush my tail again!"
"Ashley! Pull my girdle tighter!"
"Ashley! Find more tissue for my chest!"
"Ashley! Find me a clean handkerchief!"
By the time he ran to ask his stepmother if he could join the party, the guests had already begun to arrive. He ran to scrub his fur clean, and again, she laughed as she tapped cigarette ash onto his ears and told him to run back upstairs. With his Orca, he selected a stunning red silk dress, sheer, elegant, and artistic, adorned with subtle lace around the collars. He put on the bright ruby pendant and the scent of roses, tied the red scarf around his head, and when he looked in the mirror, he saw a lovely girl dressed all in red.
"He likes me as a girl," Ashley thought. "But what if he finds out?"
As if he'd spoken aloud, he heard the Orca's response. "Enfold your Prince in your tail, and he will be yours forever."
Taking heart from those words, Ashley descended the back stairs and entered the party through the back garden. Again, he heard the murmurs as he walked through the gathering, saw ears perking and the glimmer of eyeshine as heads turned to watch the beautiful girl in the red dress. He saw Prince, on the other side of the garden, and swished his way towards him.
His elder stepsister blocked his path. "Wouldn't you like to try some of our punch?" She held out a glass brimming with a red liquid that paled next to the red of his dress.
He shook his head and said, softly, "No, thank you," and stepped gracefully around her.
His younger stepsister blocked his path. "Wouldn't you like to try some of our snacks?" She held out a bowl of chips and pretzel bits.
He shook his head and said, softly, "No, thank you," and stepped gracefully around her.
He felt all their eyes on him as Prince turned to meet his eyes, stormy grey lightening. "You look beautiful tonight," Prince said, holding out his paws. He himself was dressed in an elegant white tuxedo with a red bowtie and cummerbund, but he had not worn his black gloves, and now when he clasped Ashley's paws in his, Ashley felt the warm strength in them.
Again they danced, at the center of the party, and again, when the music slowed, Prince pulled Ashley close and said, "Tonight you must tell me your name."
And again, Ashley felt the insistent press of Prince's sheath into his body as they danced, and again felt his own swell in response. Again, he murmured in his high voice, "After our dance," and let his paw feel the long male ridge under the white pants.
They tried to escape the party, but Ashley's elder stepsister blocked their path. "Prince, won't you stay and dance with me?" she said, her eyes gleaming with desperation.
"No, thank you," Prince said, and moved her aside.
Ashley's younger stepsister blocked their way next. "Prince, won't you stay and dance with me?" she said, her eyes gleaming with passion.
"No, thank you," Prince said, and moved her aside.
A hundred gleaming eyes watched them walk into the darkness of the garden, but none followed. They found the changing room, slipped inside and locked the door.
Prince's paws reached for Ashley's hips. Ashley turned, winding his tail around Prince's legs, and let the taller fox pull his body close. "What's your name?" Prince breathed in his ear.
By way of answer, Ashley pressed back against him. "Make me yours, and I'll tell you," he whispered back.
Prince's body tensed. He tightened his grip, and then his paws left Ashley's sides. Ashley felt the slide of fabric as the white pants dropped, and the hot press of maleness as Prince's paws lifted his dress. A lick, a stroke, and then the other fox was ready. He paused, his paws around Ashley's stomach again. "It's my first time," he said.
"Me too," Ashley responded, and from there on they talked no more.
He thought he'd never felt anything as wonderful as Prince inside him. The fullness, the warmth, the motion back and forth, all combined to transport him until he felt he was floating, joined with Prince in the darkness, clouds rushing by them, stars over their heads. The stars grew brighter and brighter with every thrust and push of their bodies together, until he felt his fur standing up from the electricity between them. The wind, or perhaps it was Prince, moaned past his ears and carried him ever upward, light as a feather and trembling with the force of passion.
Prince tightened his grip, pulling the smaller fox against him and lifting him off the floor so that for a moment, he really was floating, suspended in the air as Prince gasped and bucked behind him. Ashley felt his toes tingle and an unbearable warmth fill him. As he was lowered to the ground and released, he let out a small squeak and stumbled forward, his dress dropping back over his tail.
"Now," Prince murmured, "we are joined. Your name?"
Ashley became aware that the front of his dress bore the marks of his ecstasy. The fear of discovery gripped him. Surely the musky male scent would be obvious if he stayed another moment. Prince grasped at him as he bolted, coming away with the red silk scarf but nothing else as Ashley fled.
He escaped back to his bed, where his Orca said, "Did you enfold him in your tail?"
"Yes, yes!" Ashley sobbed.
"Touchdown!" the Orca said.
Ashley looked into the Orca's glass eyes and rubbed the tears from his muzzle. "Have you abandoned me too, then, my Orca?"
"Touchdown!" the Orca repeated.
Ashley shook his head. "Thank you for all your help, wise Orca," he said, "but he belongs to a beautiful girl, and I, I belong to the barbecue pits." And he put away the red dress, put away the jewelry, and washed off the scent of roses. And in the morning, he cleaned out the barbecue pits until his fur was as ashen as ever, and he barely listened to his stepsisters talk smugly about the girl who'd abandoned Prince the night before, who wouldn't even tell him her name.
After that, there was no more talk of another party. Ashley cleaned the grounds and did his chores, and tried to forget his brief adventure of happiness with his handsome Prince. No matter how he tried, he could not erase the memory of their three nights together. He saw Prince's muzzle in his mind, near in the darkness when he lay down to sleep, in the early morning glimmer when he woke to do his chores.
And so two weeks later, when Prince and his parents visited, Ashley thought at first that he was imagining them, and held the door until his stepmother snapped at him to stop letting in the cold. They apologized for the disturbance, explaining that Prince was looking through the neighborhood for the girl he'd met at the party. Ashley's stepmother asked them to wait while she fetched her daughters. "Ashley, take their coats," she snapped, "and then go fetch your sisters!"
Ashley took their coats and then spent a quarter of an hour attending to his elder stepsister, until her fur was brushed and her tail was sleek. His stepmother's diamond earrings sparkled in her daughter's ears as she walked out into the foyer to meet Prince. Ashley peeked through the door to watch.
Prince looked down his slender muzzle and considered the vixen. "She is beautiful," he said, and held out Ashley's red silk scarf. "Put this on."
Ashley's elder stepsister looked at it and saw the patch of ashes on it, from the cigarette ash that had been on Ashley's head. "That dirty thing?" she said.
Prince shook his head. "She's not the one."
"I have another daughter," Ashley's stepmother said. "Let me bring her down."
Ashley spent half an hour attending to his younger stepsister, until her fur was brushed and her tail was sleek. His stepmother's diamond tiara sparkled on her brow as she stepped into the foyer to meet Prince. Ashley peeked through the door to watch.
Prince looked down his slender muzzle and considered the vixen. "She is beautiful," he said, and held out Ashley's red silk scarf. "Put this on."
Ashley's younger stepsister looked at it and saw the patch of ashes on it, from the cigarette ash that had been on Ashley's head. "Oh, it's filthy!" she said.
Prince shook his head. "She's not the one," he said.
"Won't you consider her anyway?" his stepmother said, her eyes on Prince's parents. "She's a marvelous dancer."
Prince shook his head. "I am looking for a particular girl," he said, and bowed. "Thank you."
"Ashley!" his stepmother shouted. "Fetch their coats."
Ashley brought the coats back and handed Prince's father his coat, handed Prince's mother her coat, and then, with trembling hands, held out Prince's coat. The tall fox took it without looking at Ashley, and put it on. Ashley took one more look at his handsome profile, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Prince's voice called out.
Ashley froze, his paw on the doorframe. "You. Turn around," Prince said.
Ashley turned, slowly. Prince was holding out one sleeve, upon which a smear of ash remained. Prince's eyes were as grey as smoke, transfixing Ashley until he couldn't look away. He said, "Who are you?"
"That's Ashley," his stepmother said. "He's not a girl."
"Ashley," Prince said, and Ashley felt a thrill at the sound of his name. "Come here."
"I'm so sorry about the mark on your coat," his stepmother said. "If you get it cleaned, you may send us the bill. I've told him and told him to be more careful, but some lessons have to be beaten into children."
Ashley took step after step toward Prince, tugged by the relentless grey eyes. Prince held out one gloved paw and gently brushed the ash from Ashley's face. "Put this on," he whispered, holding out the red silk scarf in his other paw.
Without a word, Ashley took the scarf and knotted it over his head. He saw Prince's eyes widen. The taller fox took off his gloves and took Ashley's paws in his. "So that is why your scent was so much more alluring than the other girls," he said, smiling, and then dropped his voice to a soft whisper. "You promised to tell me your name."
"Ashley," Ashley said, and did not protest as Prince reached out and pulled him close. He heard the cry of Prince's father, and Prince's mother, and his stepmother, that Prince would get ash all over his clothes.
"Mother, Father," Prince said, turning and removing the red silk scarf, "this is the beauty who captured my heart."
Ashley's stepmother and stepsisters stared with wide eyes and hanging jaws, but Ashley did not see them. Prince's mother and father wore curious smiles, but Ashley did not see them. He saw only Prince, the soft smile and the eyes as grey as the soft fur under his chin, as grey as the ash that covered Ashley's pelt.
And when he had cleaned himself of the ash and presented himself to Prince's family, Prince's mother exclaimed over the shade of his fur. She had known Ashley's mother, and recognized the flame-red of her fur, living on in her son. Having seen his life, she insisted that he come to live with them. Ashley's father was happy enough to let him go, and although Ashley did not say as much, everyone could see that he would much prefer it.
As for his stepmother, she insisted upon throwing a party in honor of Ashley's leaving her family to join Prince's. One might suspect, given her past, that she was simply trying to curry favor with the wealthy family. And perhaps it was so. But it must be said that at the party, Ashley's stepsisters danced not only with Prince, but also with Ashley, and wished him well as they did, so perhaps the family felt some guilt for their long years of cruelty.
Ashley and Prince lived in Prince's house, which was not a mansion, but a spacious family home, until it was time to get a house of their own. They purchased a small apartment amidst the shining glass towers of Millenport, in walking distance of the sparkling blue ocean. And for all I know, they are living there still.