Not much to say except enjoy!

“What did you say?” Fritz asked, his heart pounding in his chest as she inched away at his alarmed expression. “You're not with them. Just tell me that.” He nodded. And she walked closer to him, she held out a shaky hand and he took it and shook it. “I’m Esme. Esme deeth.”

He nodded slowly. Esme, the name was beautiful. Her eyes narrowed when he didn’t respond to her right away. He dragged his eyes away from her face and looked down. “I’m Fritz, Fritz Vlum.”

“Pleasure.”

“Yes.”

Fritz looked back up and searched her eyes for a hint of worry. He found none. Her eyes were only filled with intense thought and even fear. She was still grimacing at her injuries. She glanced at her arm then back into Fritz’s eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. “What did they write.” Fritz frowned at her, feeling horrible having to be the one to tell her. He cleared his throat before saying, “Weak. It says weak.” She flinched but didn’t scowl, instead she looked upset. “Fitting.” she grumbled under her breath. “Of course they would say so.” Fritz’s brow furrowed. “Excuse me, but who is they?” He expected her to become angry and turn away from him but her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away. “They. They are the rabbits trying to get to terrilain. Trying to kill Bleston.”

“What?” Fritz gasped. She nodded, composing her face into a glare. “They killed my family. And probably yours. They are wicked.”

“Who is their leader?” Fritz asked, sitting heavily in the mud. She joined him, soiling her dress farther, but she didn’t seem to mind. “I’m not sure. All I know is that I killed their last one a bit ago. The new one looks too young to be messing with this junk. Only slightly older than me. He does seem like he is not going to deal with this fairly though. He seemed unstable.”

Fritz nodded, then remembered the map. “I’ve been searching for Terrilain for a year and I haven’t been able to find it.” He said frowning.” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously again. “Who told you about Terrilain.” She said, trying to get back to her feet. She was unsuccessful and she plopped back on the ground with a huff. “My brother.” Fritz responded, once she had settled herself on the ground again. “Who's your brother?”

“Prince Vlum.” Esme’s eyes widened, making her thick, long eyelashes seem longer than before, then they filled with tears. She scrambled to her feet and paced, her face in her hands, trying to compose herself. Fritz stood too and moved to hammock. Esme seemed to give up as she turned away, hiding her face. “Are you al-” Fritz broke off as she stumbled over to a tree and pulled a thin knife out of nowhere. She thrust it into the tree with a sob and crumpled to the ground. But her tears didn’t seem to be one of sorrow, but of frustration. “This is so stupid!” she managed to gasp before dragging the knife down and out of the tree. She turned back to him, her eyes wild with pain. “They're dead. All of them. Prince, Rose, Richard, burr, Frank, Kent, and my sister.” She choked. “They're all dead. I’m the only one who was fast enough to get away.” Fritz blinked in shock. He expected to feel deep sorrow, expected the tears to well up, but they didn’t. He felt no emotional pain, but she obviously did and she was trying to hide it. “It’s okay.” He promised crossing the clearing to her. “It’s okay to be upset, you lost your sister and your friends.”

“And you lost your brother!” she said, avoiding his gaze. “And you aren’t a mess.”

“I never really knew Prince. As sad as it is he was no brother to me, just another rabbit.”

She nodded, but didn’t look at him. “Hey,” He said, going to lift her chin to look at him. She clenched her teeth and avoided his touch. “If you need to talk, I’m here.” He finished, shocked by her avoiding him. She shook her head. “I don’t talk.”

“You are now.” She smirked, showing a smile Fritz had not yet seen. “Fine.” She said, turning to him. “What do you want to hear?” Fritz smiled at her sadly. “What were the other rabbits like?” he asked, going to help her to her feet. She ducked away from him and used the tree to shimmy to her feet. She walked slowly to the hammock and sat. Fritz sat next to her. “Well, my sister, Carne, she was the best, always so happy! and she was beautiful!" Fritz wanted to correct her, tell her she WAS beautiful. But he stayed silent. She continued, "I wished I could be like her. But I was not. While she was graceful I am not. I can’t even kill correctly.” Fritz flinched with her. “Maybe that's a good thing.”

“Not when your me. Anyway, Burr was my best friend, he was ready to give anything to bring this mending some speak of. He was always so enthusiastic about the future!" Fritz nodded politely. "And Kent.” She looked away. “Kent was the love of my life.”