There were two rooms in the shack’s interior. The main room was where they spent most of their time talking, reading, playing games, or relaxing. The floor was a simple mat with a long wooden table meant for at least three times as many people as them. The legs were scratched and a few well placed candles gave them light. But it was very warm because dinner was being prepped nearby and the heat traveled well.
Right now, Julie and Roxanne were playing cards together. From the peak grumpiness on Roxanne’s face and the smug smirk on Julie’s, it was clear who was winning. They were all just wearing comfortable robes and shorts like the locals.
“Hey Frost you done being the weirdest one amongst us?” Julie asked.
He opened one mildly star eye and looked first up at Roxanne, whose lap he was in. Sitting up slowly he sighed, “Yeah. No nightmares and I feel like a regular person again.”
“What defines normal for you?” Roxanne asked trying to distract her from her frustrations.
He brushed his hood back letting his eyes adjust. Taking a slow breath, the stars vanished from his eyes turning a regular brown. “Something like this. Problem?”
“None. Just don’t lose it in the shack. Things could fall apart under a strong wind,” Roxanne mumbled and scratched her head.
“Come on Roxie. Play your cards. Accept defeat with grace,” Julie teased.
She flattened her ears and hissed at her, “We’ll play our cards when we’re ready.”
“Just saying. Foods probably ready soon and we don’t want it to get cold.”
“You see how bad she’s stalling? Rox’s hand must be trash.” Frost laced his fingers together, humming softly under his breath. The sounds he made were rhythmic and gentle, floating around the room in a familiar song from their shared home. Even now it was comfortable noise.
“Quiet Frosty.” Roxanne whispered picking one card and tossing it onto the table. “But keep humming.”
Julie leaned forward and looked at the card and Frost did the same. Part of her mask manifested along her face. “We don’t know the rules that well but that looks pretty good.”
“It’s definitely good. Rox has to be sweating in her fur right now.”
Julie leaned back and picked up her hand, “Do you really want us to do it to you?”
Roxanne slammed her hand on the table as she growled. “Just show your fucking cards!”
Most people when food was ready would call out to the house to let them know it was ready. But in the shack, Miles didn’t have to do much more than cool the fire in the pit. The subtle drop in the temperature was a siren call. Julie looked at Frost, a massive grin filling her face.
Frost wrapped his arm around his feline friend, “Looks like you’re embarrassing defeat will have to wait Rox. Dinner time!”
Roxanne was ready to call him out but sniffed the air. There were few things that could quell Roxanne’s frustration and one of them was fresh fish, especially when it had been stewed as long as Miles had been working on it. Her eyes went huge and she immediately clambered over the table sprinting to the other room.
The room that Miles occupied was a simple one that had a hole in the ground that was about three feet wide. It was filled with wood and glowing embers. Balanced on iron supports the bubbling cauldron simmered with their fish stew. Miles was presently bringing in a rice container that was also steaming.
Roxanne was the first one there, grabbing a bowl from a stack near the cauldron. She reached for the ladle and stirred the mixture slowly before shoveling a large helping into her bowl. It was thick broth with veggies, peppers, mushrooms, and large chunks of fish floating within. She hung around a little longer to add a few extra chunks of fish before being pushed away by Julie.
Roxanne hissed but took a small bowl of rice from Miles and a pair of chopsticks. She walked to a small table in the corner of the room just big enough for their group. Sitting cross legged she dug in and after only the first mouthful she started to purr, content. Julie and then Frost joined her sitting on either side of her. Miles came by with a tray of teas and then came to sit with them with his own bowls.
“You’ve outdone yourself this time Miles,” Yanriel said as they ate.
“It’s tasty. What are these things?” Roxanne asked picking out a thin red object that she held between her nails. Tilting her head back and forth she stared closely before popping it in her mouth and making a face. She reached down to pick up her small cup of tea and drowned out the spice of it. “Blegh.”
“It’s a pepper Rox,” Frost said picking around them. “They’re a little stronger here than in Noria. Really good with the broth especially if you let them simmer in. Lets the flavors spread to the fish because it’s a little bland sometimes and the vegetables don’t help. If you flake it, it’s a nice seasoning as well. But don’t eat it on its own.”
“Noted,” she said and swapped to her rice.
They ate in silence together and Roxanne glanced out of the window. She could see the paddy fields but nothing else going no outside. She wanted to say more but she just stuck chewing for a long time.
“Is his majesty going to join us anytime soon?” Julie asked as she slurped on the broth. “Or is he going to brood all night?”
“Badou has a lot on his mind,” Roxanne said sipping on her broth slowly. “And we think he wants to talk to the kid as well.”
“Kids barely older than Miles,” Julie said.
Frost nodded, “And the one that Daze killed was his dad.”
“Did either of you know?” Miles asked glancing at Roxanne and then at Frost. It was slight but they both heard the tone of accusation in his voice.
Roxanne glanced at him and shook her head, “None of us knew. But we assumed. Badou. Badou probably hoped for the best.”
Frost stared into his bowl, “Badou’s been pissed since. He confronted Daze again and it wasn’t pretty.”
“Is that why he looked like a house was dropped on him when we left?” Yanriel asked.
“Yes. They fought. He didn’t win but,” Roxanne sighed. “He may have saved the boy’s life at the very least.”
“That’s why he’s with us and not still with Daze?” Miles asked and she nodded.
“And what about the other one? The one that volunteered to join us.” Julie asked.
“Recovering,” Miles looked toward an open door that led away from these two rooms. “Whatever Daze did, it’s not like what he did with us.”
“Think she’ll wake up?” Frost asked.
“She’ll be lucky if she does that much,” Roxanne replied. “We’re all lucky Daze is letting us live.”
“Cause we’re still useful. And he’s close. Once he has what he wants,” Julie drew a line across her neck.
All of them jumped as the door opened suddenly. Badou walked inside and right behind him was the young Zodiac Cancer. Badou’s face was brusied, some old but there was one brand new one. The young man kept his head down and didn’t look at any of them. He stopped just inside the shack and Badou smiled at his guardians.
“Hey guys. Sorry we took so long. Stars make for good conversation. The food smells great. Did Miles cook?”
“Yeah. Its still hot. We’ll make you a bowl your majesty,” he said getting up quickly but Badou waved his hand.
“Sit. Eat. Enjoy,” Badou said. He looked back at Cancer. “We can make our own. You eat fish?”
“Yeah.”
Taking bowls, he filled one for himself and filled another for Cancer which he handed back to him. He took the next set that were smaller and filled them with rice. Finally, he poured tea for them both and they were set. Walking to the table everyone moved. Badou sat next to Roxanne who lay her head down against his shoulder. She touched the bruise on his eye and he smiled kissing her hand away.
Frost stared at Cancer for a long moment and then looked at Badou. He looked at the bruise on his cheek and it was as if Badou felt it. Badou met Frost’s eyes and gave him a smile. It was the smile he was used to. A smile that meant it was handled, despite what it looked like. It was a smile that had started more trouble than it solved.
Cancer sat opposite Badou and pulled apart the chopsticks. He looked at the others and then at Badou. Badou broke apart his chopsticks and started with the stew. The moment he took a bite his eyes widened. “Wow. You really outdid yourself Miles. This is great. Way better than what we ate last week.”
“Last week we were eating leftovers so we hope so,” Miles laughed. “We got to shop since coming back. Fresh fish from that village and even some mushrooms from around here.”
“It shows.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
“Don’t praise Miles too much. Miles deserves it but it makes Invictus have a bigger head.”
Yanriel snorted, “If that’s possible.”
They shared a quick laugh. Miles snorted, “Don’t be too loud. We don’t want them waking up.”
“If they did, we’d knock him back out,” Roxanne growled. “We definitely prefer you to them.”
“Thank you Roxanne.”
Frost finished eating and started humming again. He caught Badou’s glance and saw the silent thanks in his face. And slowly they settled into the rhythm of before. Gentle ribbings from friends and taking seconds and thirds.
Cancer watched them and eventually started trying to eat. The tools were awkward in his hands at first but slowly he got the hang of it. Though he remained quiet he definitely ate like he was starving. Julie had been watching him from the corner of her eye and finally asked, “So what’s your name?”
He stopped eating for a moment and looked at her surprised. But he narrowed his eyes and didn’t respond. Badou looked at her and looked back toward Cancer. “Maybe we can start with us instead. You all know who we are but our name is Badou. The king of Noria. The most recent reincarnated great leader. And the demon inside us is Weiss, the leader of this rowdy bunch.”
Cancer paused and shook his head, “How are you the reincarnated great leader. Pride kidnapped the last one four years ago. I was there. Sort of.”
“A fake. Planted by Daze,” Badou said raising an eyebrow. “Surprised you know about Pride.”
“My brother and some of my friends. We helped stop her.”
Now it was Frost’s turn to be impressed, “You were a part of the group that took them down. And as a kid no less.”
“Indeed,” Badou continued. “Pride and Daze had history. And he guessed her plan so he worked around her, to make sure he could get his hands on us while also ensuring one of his pawns could get on the throne.”
“We guess we can go next,” Roxanne set her bowl down and lay the chopsticks over the top. “Our name is Roxanne. Queen of Noria, wife and guardian to the king of Noria.” Baodu smiled at her and her expression melted entirely.
“She never stops flaunting that,” Julie smirked and only got an eye roll from Roxanne this time.
“And we always will,” she said. “The demon inside of us is named Heine.”
Julie got up to fill her bowl and as she walked said, “Names Julie. Guardian of the king of Noria and that’s it. Our demon is named Yanriel. A great partner. Hey Miles how much more tea is there?”
“There’s more below the floorboard warming. We can get it.”
“No no. We can find it. Introduce yourself while you’re at it.”
Miles made a face but nodded and looked over at Cancer. Though Cancer hadn’t said anything he had been listening. “My name is Miles. Another guardian to the king of Noria. My demon’s name is Invictus. And they’re a bit of a handful. We wouldn’t recommend getting to know them.”
Cancer glanced at the only one who hadn’t spoken. “I’m not like them. My names Frost. The left eye and guardian to the future king of Noria. I’m a mage but,” He closed his eyes for a long moment. “Let’s just say the source of my magic is a bit purer than what traditional mages from our country pull from.”
Cancer sipped from his tea slowly and took a deep breath. “Who chooses this life?”
“We didn’t that’s for sure,” Julie snorted bringing the entire jug over and setting it on the table before sitting and eating again.
“And neither did we,” Yanriel said adding their two cents.
“But you follow Daze,” Cancer finished his food finally and looked at each of them. “He says jump and you all say how high.”
“That’s because he holds our king hostage,” Roxanne said hitting the table hard and her mask started to form around her mouth.
“Take it easy,” Frost said glancing at her. She glared at him but he was right. Again.
Growling under their breath Heine said, “Our leader’s core, their demonic heart, is melded with Badou’s. And it’s in Daze’s possession. If Daze destroys that. Bye bye Badou and Weiss. And none of us want that.”
“Basically,” Frost folded his arms. “If we could kill Daze, we’d be rid of this nightmare.”
“If only it were that simple Frost,” Badou sighed. “We met everyone here while we were lab rats for Daze. I did something right and for whatever reason they’ve dedicated their lives to ours. At our core, we’re all Norians who want to fix our home. But to do that we need Daze dead. And until we can do that, we’re his personal enforcers.”
“Can’t you just fight him? Or sneak in and take it back?” Cancer asked.
“We tried that. More than once,” Roxanne said slowly. “Its never worked out.”
Cancer nodded slowly, “Which is why you worded that deal like that.”
Badou nodded. “More or less. We want to help you. This is all our cards on the table.”
Drinking the last of his tea Cancer set the cup down on the table and looked at each of them. They were looking at him not because they were expecting anything but because this was the most, they’d heard him speak since joining up with them.
“Strange fellows to make your bed with. But having enemies here of all places? Not ideal.” the voice whispered in his ear. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the voice. It started when he sparred with his brother in Arkoria. And it had started coming back since his father died. Touching the pendants around his neck he grinded his teeth together.
“You know what you should do. After all. You are me.”
“My names Cancer. One of the twelve Zodiac of Nerodala. We’re not friends. We’re barely allies. We just want the same thing.”
“Is that your way of giving a yes?” Badou asked.
Cancer looked at him, met his eyes, and didn’t understand why he wanted to trust this man. Everything in him said he should hate him. But he couldn’t. He held out his hand and Badou took it in a tight squeeze.
“Make the right choice.”
“I’ll help you kill Daze.”
“And I’ll fulfill my end of the deal.”
“Good choice.”
They all stayed up a bit longer finishing the last of the food and the rice. Partway through they cracked open a bottle of something alcoholic and that went exactly as they knew it would. Even Frost partook in more than he likely should have. More than Julie thought he even physically could have, that’s for sure. But one by one they fell to drink and were asleep. All but two of them.
Badou sat on the roof, the last of the bottle in his hands as Roxanne lay against him, curled up in his lap. She reached for the bottle absently, her tail wrapping around it and passing it to her hands. She drank and then offered it to him but he declined. Setting it down she purred softly as his hands found their way across the fur on her arms
She wanted to stay content, in this rare moment of quiet, but she could feel his tenseness. Feel it in his hand, in his chest, and in his breathing. Finally, she looked at him and his eyes focused onto hers. “What’s up Roxie? Not too drunk right?”
She kissed him before shaking her head, “We’ve had more and been worse. You know that.”
“Oh yeah. We remember that job we did in Greyhara. That wasn’t pleasant.”
“Was that before or after what we did in the Sanctum?” she mreowed, amused. “Or rather what you did in the Sanctum.”
“You’ll never forget that will you.”
“No.” She didn’t take her heterochromatic eyes off of him. “You feel guilty. For Cancer.”
He sighed. He could never hide a single thing from her. “How can we not?”
“There’s many reasons why it’s not your fault.”
“But we’re still the one who did it. Kid lost his father because of us. We were supposed to be a king better than our predecessors but we’re acting just like them.”
Roxanne shook her head, her tail swishing back and forth. “Do you remember when we first met?”
Badou snorted fighting the urge to laugh. “How can we forget? We almost died.”
She smiled her teeth showing as she traced her nail against his chest. “Tell us about it again.”
“Oh come on Roxie.”
“Just do it. There’s a point.”
Sighing he traced his fingers across the roof of the shack taking himself back nearly two decades. “We were. What. Six? When Daze forced us together. Us the reincarnation of a God and you this scared cat thing from a poor Lyrian village. We hadn’t ever had a friend before and we tried to make you our first. But you had been through a hell worse than we could have imagined back then.”
“We tried to tear your face off,” she smiled.
“And we weren’t really a fighter back then. You could have committed regicide.”
“Oh please. You weren’t the king of anything yet.”
He laughed and counted the stars slowly. “You nearly clawed our face off but we kept trying. Offering you food. Talking to you. We were actually probably a pain in the ass.”
“You were. But. We didn’t have anyone else. Daze made sure of that by separating us from Regina. You made the time bearable. You even did your best to help us deal with Heine. You were our first friend. And then three years later he put Weiss inside you and enslaved you properly. And we were in the same boat.”
Badou shuddered, “We wouldn’t have gotten far without you.”
She looked at him carefully, “Why did you try to help us back then?”
“Cause we saw you hurting. And we wanted to help.”
“Even back then?”
“Even then.”
She got up slowly and sat on his lap staring down at him. “You’re a good man Badou. Regina saw that in you. Frosty sees that in you. We see that in you. All of us know you. Good people get taken advantage of. Forced to do things they hate. But even now you’re still trying to help. That’s the man we love and that’s the man who’s going to lead Noria into a bright future.”
He shut his eyes taking a deep breath. “Thanks Roxie. You always know how to cheer us up.”
“And you always can. We have nine lives. We’ll be with you for a very long time.”
Badou snorted, “Maybe you’ll end up taking over Noria once we’re gone.”
“What makes you think that wasn’t our plan from the start.” She lay her head against his chest and purred as they both laughed. But Badou wasn’t thinking of just Noria. He was thinking of its future and the deal he made with Cancer. If they succeeded it would ensure both their futures.
The Harlequin Library 