"We picked someone out for you," Milton Lynxley's voice was as cold as the tundra territory he oversaw. It made Pawbert shiver in anticipation of what horrible thing his family had prepared for him next.

His voice came out as a stutter, "I.. I thought you said you weren't wasting a betrothal on me..?"

"I wasn't," Milton said harshly, his sharp nails scraping his wooden desk. The noise made Pawbert's ears flatten against his will. "But I reconsidered after reading a family from the marshland's application."

The rest of the words seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Pawbert was acutely aware that he was starting to disassociate again, but couldn't bring himself to care. His father said something about a tanuki girl. Respectable, traditional family. She should be able to fix him. He swallowed heavily as the realization of what was happening settled in.

Father was marrying Pawbert to someone he doesn't know. And by the sound of things, he liked his future daughter-in-law more than he liked his youngest son already. Not that it took much.

"Dad, c'mon, can't Catrick or Kitty--"

Another slam on the table. Pawbert fell silent, his ears flat and his tail lashing anxiously. His fingers fidgeted with his late mother's ring on his finger. She'd wanted him to have it, even if he didn't remember her. It pissed Catrick and Kitty off. Just another thing they hated about him.

There was a knock on the door.