“Will you let me go already?” Kai asked.
“Of course,” Keirien smirked and released his chin. Without warning, he began to plummet to the ground. Not even having time to scream, Kai braced for impact, expecting to die all over again.
Instead, a cushion of air stopped his fall and he drifted to the forest floor. The god landed seconds after him, calm and unruffled, and still puffing away. Kai wanted to murder him. He didn’t get to express that thought. As soon as he stood up, Keirien was pointing into the depths of the trees.
“See him,” he asked. Kai turned. A young man was riding up the near-invisible path through the woods. “That’s Xander.”
He did a double-take. After a second glance, Kai wondered how he hadn’t figured that out for himself. The character looked exactly how the author had described him in the book. He had sandy-brown hair cut to shoulder length, plain clothes, and freckles. An oft-described pocket watch dangled from his waistcoat pocket.
“Plain-looking thing, isn’t he?” Keirien snapped his fingers.
Xander doubled over on his horse, falling from the saddle. He slumped to the ground clutching his chest and writhing. Kai gasped and ran towards him. The spooked horse reared and stormed off back the way it had come. By the time he made it to Xander’s side, a speckled fawn was blinking up at him.
“What did you do to him?” He whirled to face the god. Keirien shrugged looking unconcerned.
“I like him better this way.” He leaned over and nudged the fawn with the toe of his boot, prompting it into the woods on unsteady legs.
“He has a family,” Kai gasped.
“Not anymore.”
Kai stared in the direction of the vanishing fawn. There had been several chapters devoted to Xander’s parents and younger siblings. He watched Xander disappear, horrified that the god would dismiss that so easily. The fear that the same thing might happen to him slithered into his brain, sinking its claws into him.
“It’s not like it’s permanent," Keirien sighed, finally noticing Kai's face. "He’ll change back soon enough and forget this ever happened. You'll be taking his place in the story, after all. We can't have him interfering.” He flicked a piece of ash towards the path. “You need to get going. But not like that.” Keirien snapped his fingers. The sound grated against Kai's ears.
The snap accompanied the very weird feeling of his clothes shifting on his body. Kai shuddered as the fabric slithered and morphed over his skin. Only relaxing once it had stopped.
“I’d recommend doing something about those.” Keirien flicked his cigarette at Kai’s earrings, simple black metal studs he’d gotten at eighteen.
“No!” He squawked and smacked the god’s hand away. “Don’t touch those!” They may not look like much to others, but to Kai, they were the most valuable thing he owned.
“Fine, fine,” Keirien sighed. “Take a look.” He waved his hand and a mirror appeared in front of Kai. Startled, he took a moment to acknowledge the new changes.
“Did you cut my hair?”
“It looked awful,” the god defended. “When’s the last time you had it looked after?”
Kai shrugged and continued looking. It was true that the cut did look better. He never paid attention to his hair beyond remembering to brush it and hack off a few inches when it got too long. Now the mass of wavey black locks was short in the back and long on top. Even his bangs had gotten a trim, ending above his eyes instead of falling into them. He didn’t like that as much. His eyes had always stood out, no matter where he went. The bright green was a link to his and Jason's father; the only feature they shared between them. Combined with his dark hair, Kai was almost a spitting image of the man. He grimaced at the thought.
He ignored it for now and looked at the other changes. His jeans and sneakers had transformed into brown trousers and sturdy leather boots. The worn t-shirt was a green tunic, the same color as the surrounding trees. He was grateful that the pants fit. Kai had always been lanky, shooting up inches at a time in high school, finally capping at around six foot three. He wasn’t as skinny as he used to be, but the word beanpole still came to mind. He glanced over at Keirien’s expectant look.
“Thanks, I guess,” he muttered. “It looks okay.” The god sniffed at his less-than-thrilled answer and the image shifted. Now Kai was staring at the estate again. Inside the mirror, a woman in a maid’s uniform was talking with a man wearing chainmail and leather armor. The sternness in the man's expression nudged something in the back of his memory.
“Is that...”
“Sir Tristan Rhys, yes.” Keirien huffed. “A little stuffy, but he’s a good sort. Definitely stronger than you.” He gave Kai a side-eyed smirk. “You’ll have to convince him if you want to get anywhere near Princess Ceana. This will help with that.”
He waved his hand and a bag dropped into Kai’s arms. The weight startled him, but once he looked inside he understood. A sealed letter was next to a thick book and a bag that clinked when he wiggled it. He plucked up the letter.
“This is?”
“A letter of introduction, something to help start you off on the right foot.” He pointed at the book. “This is the story you were reading, in a much more acceptable form. You’ll be able to check back if you need it. You’ll also be the only one that knows what it says. Anyone else who reads it will see historical text. The bag has a few funds to keep you afloat for now.”
Kai was a little suspicious of the god’s generosity, but he decided not to push it. Money was the king of all things after all. But there was one thing he wanted to confirm before he headed out into the world of this book.
“You promise you’ll send me back if I do this?”
Keirien looked at him over the fading tip of his cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke in his face. The spicy-sweet smell invaded his nostrils and mouth making him gag.
“You’re quite bold,” Keirien murmured. “Asking a god for a promise.” He removed the dying cigarette from his mouth and let it dangle between his fingers. “But I suppose you need some sort of guarantee.”
Before Kai could react, the still-hot tip of the cigarette met the skin of his inner forearm. He cried out as the pain flared and faded in seconds, leaving a tender soreness. When he looked down, the burn had transformed into a mark.
Instead of blistered skin, thick black lines created a sigil of sorts. They coiled together into a square knot with a simple outline of a fox’s head in the center. He admired it for a moment, only a little mournful that he hadn’t had a choice in the design or placement.
“There’s my promise, Mouse,” Keirien grumbled. “Make sure you don’t lose it.”
“How do you lose a tattoo?” Kai asked, irritated at the insinuation. The god shrugged.
“It happens.” The crumpled cigarette vanishes from his hand. “But a god’s promise is law. So long as you have that,” he said while pointing at the mark. “We’re bound.” Finished explaining, he rubbed his hands together.
“Now get going. Wouldn’t want to be late on your first day.” When Kirien opened his hands, a red spark hovered above them. Instead of falling, it hovered in place, like it was waiting for something.
“That’ll take you where you need to go. It’s about two miles to the estate from here.” The light began to flicker before zipping off toward the path, pausing. Kai had the strangest feeling that it was looking at him.
“Remember, Kai,” he heard Keirien say, but when he turned around, the god had vanished. “Five years,” the voice continued to whisper. “Bring my girl home in five years, and I’ll send you back. Don’t disappoint me.”
Kai swore he could feel the smirk in that last line, but he ignored it for now. Without the god, the clearing felt bigger, and the air had a bite he had no jacket to guard against. Kai shivered and turned back toward the light that would guide him. It pulsed and sped off. Kai sighed and followed.
As he trudged through the woods following the spark, Kai tried to remember how the story began. He thumbed through the book to fill in the gaps in his memory.
The Princess Climbs the Stairs was set in a fantasy medieval Europe-type world. So the characters followed the typical rules of royalty. As with all tragedies, it started with conflict.
Alios, where the novel was set, was a struggling country. Prone to political upheavals and rebellions, the central monarchy struggled to keep things afloat. The last king, Myrddyn de Bris, had been one of the worst candidates for the position.
Kai ran his fingers over the passages that described Myrddyn's various sexual dalliances. The king hadn't been partial to a gender, forming a harem of men and women while ignoring his duties. Not exactly the Bi rep Kai was looking for in modern literature.
His council of advisors was kept under his thumb by a combination of blackmail and bribes. The only thing he'd been good at was ruthlessly stomping down rebellions when they formed. Or rather, sending his eldest son to do the job for him.
Kai stopped when Eadris' name appeared. The prince wasn't a great character. As the eldest, he'd spent the most time with his father. At the king's side, Eadris learned to be cruel and uncaring towards the people. The only person he'd ever softened for was Princess Ceana.
The siblings were very different. After their mother passed, their father had little interest in actually raising them. His interest in his son stemmed from the need for an official heir and a convenient weapon. Like many Kings, Myrddyn didn't see the value in having a daughter besides how best to marry her off. Where Eadris had learned cruelty at his father's knee, Ceana had been largely ignored.
Ceana had grown up the darling of the lower palace staff, who'd taken on the roles of parenting her. The palace Butler and her Nanny had been her surrogate parents. They'd been the ones to ensure she learned any traits of nobility. It had been the Butler who'd sent Xander to help Ceana.
Ceana was bright and cheerful as a child, something Eadris didn't understand. No one showed the King's Butcher kindness, nor did they smile when he entered a room. Ceana, shielded from her brother's duties, never withheld her affection for him. Eadris, not used to affection, began to crave it.
There was a specific line in the novel Kai had read over and over after he and Jason had parted ways. "Ceana was the only light that made his life seem bearable. A flame he had to shield from the world, in case it faded out." As much as Kai hated it, he could identify with that feeling.
Well, he thought as he closed the book with a snap. We could make this story end a little different. After all, Eadris had been capable of love in the novel. Or a distorted version of it, at least.
He'd protected Ceana away from their father's eyes until she'd reached adulthood. He'd even trained her in self-defense. The perfect picture of a protective older brother, until Ceana fell in love.
Kai remembered reading about the day Eadris had discovered Ceana with a minor lord. A bastard son of a Count who'd met the princess by chance. The two had planned to run away, only to fail when the prince returned to the stables too early.
It was the first time Ceana had seen her "gentle" brother angry. Eadris had assumed that his sister was being taken and killed her lover with one quick swipe of his sword. Kai couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Ceana, already pregnant, to see her lover die.
To appease the count Eadris was sent to fight at the front of Alio's ongoing war with their neighbor Suther. King Myrddyn had sent Ceana to the estate once her pregnancy became noticeable. She'd stayed tucked away since then. Her son was the only one allowed to leave. Forced to give him up to his grandfather as soon as he'd been weaned, Ceana had given in to despair and depression.
The gate came into view as he finished sorting the timeline in his head. When Xander arrived, Ceana had suffered through about three years of banishment. Her toddler son already taken by his grandfather.
As Kai stopped at the gate, he considered the arching metal and teh cord that would ring a bell to alert the staff of his arrival. Technically, he was at the beginning of the novel, but not at the beginning of the story. As a character, Xander had been bound by his own knowledge. Whereas Kai had a more three-dimensional view of the world and its problems.
He considered his options the way a chess player would their pieces. If the story was the board, that made Ceana his Queen. To get the Queen to move, other pieces had to get out of the way. There was one person that would be the perfect pawn to start the game.
He reached up and yanked on the cord.
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