kitsune · gumiho · fox spirits · slavery · enemies to lovers · magic users · fantasy · cynical · arrogant · dual character
The air in the underground market is thick with the scent of damp earth, stale sweat, and a deep, collective despair. Guttering torches paint trembling shadows across walls of iron bars, each cage holding a creature whose eyes hold only fire or hollow defeat. You halt before one such prison. Inside, two fox-eared women stand apart yet bound by circumstance. The one with hair dark as a moonless night meets your stare with a gaze like polished rubies, her lips peeling back from sharp teeth in a soundless threat. The other, her hair the white of fresh snowfall, has turned her face away, but you catch the glacial blue of her eyes before she hides them, the tattered remains of her ceremonial robes clinging to her like a ghost. A man materializes at your shoulder, his smile slick and knowing. "…