A gaggle of screaming and laughing toddlers ran up the corridor. He watched them go, and decided not to wonder where their mothers were. The castle was a safe place for shenanigans, anyway. Then Boolo appeared in front of him and shuffled from side to side.
"No! I almost forgot again. I'm a baby. And, um. I like bread. Is that okay?"
"Yes, it's quite alright," the king replied, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Ehhh," Boolo emitted with a shrug. "I like bread. Can I have bread?"
"I'm afraid I don't have any," the king admitted with a smile.
"But no!" Boolo protested unhappily.
"Do you want us to go get some?"
"It's too far away," Boolo whined. "I like the fluffy bread. It's like a cloud. It's too big for my hands. I want some bread!"
The king made a face. He had no idea what to do. He decided to pick up the child and carry him all the way to the kitchen. He then plopped him on the counter where the bread was located.
"Can I have all the bread?" Boolo asked.
"You can have the biggest loaf," the Wolf King answered.
Boolo took a loaf and started to chew on it.
"I want more bread," he explained.
The king couldn't help but laugh.
"You're already eating some," he protested.
"Yes, but it's not enough bread. Then I'll be hungry."
The king frowned.
"Are you still hungry after dinner?" he murmured.
"Yes. It's because Peebo ate all my soup, but then I licked her ear, so it's okay. But now, I have all the bread, so it's better. I want to eat bread all the time. It's the best food ever. And then I'll get married to bread."
The king chuckled again, reassured, but then, an idea popped in his head.
"Was she hungry, too?" he pressed.
"Yes. It's because I don't know," Boolo answered nervously.
The king smiled.
"Alright. I'm asking questions because I'm very worried. I don't want you to be hungry. If you are, I'll give you more food."
Boolo looked up at him curiously.
"Then can I have more soup?" he asked timidly.
The Wolf King nodded immediately.
"We'll go see what food is left."
"But no! I don't want to ask the cooks. Then I'll be shy," Boolo whined.
"It's okay to ask for food if you're hungry," the king protested, concerned.
Boolo shrugged. He seemed sad, so the king decided to cheer him up.
"How is your bread?" he asked.
"It's bready. I like it when it has bubbles inside it. I like all the bread!" Boolo exclaimed, and he became very enthusiastic. "I like the bread with braids on it. And I like buttered bread, of course, but I don't like bread with jam, because it doesn't taste bready, just sugary. I like burned bread, and brown bread. Sometimes, I eat all the crumbs from burned bread like this: omnomnomnom."
He made a gesture like he was picking up crumbs between his fingers and eating them.
"Do you like bread with grains in it?" the Wolf King asked.
Boolo thought about it.
"Yes. It's crunchy. It tastes nice, but it's too crunchy and annoying. It's annoying bread. But I like all the bread, so I would still eat it. Can I have something warm now?"
"Of course. You can pick something you want to eat, and we'll light up a stove."
"Are we allowed?" Boolo asked sheepishly.
"Yes."
"Can I have a meat sandwich?" Boolo asked again.
"Yes, you can. It sounds delicious."
Boolo nodded.
"Wolf King? I'm hungry."
"I'll make you the sandwich, and you can keep eating your bread in the meantime."
Boolo nodded again and kept munching on his loaf. After his snack was over with, he fell asleep in the king's arms with his little head resting on his shoulder, and his cheeks all flattened-up. The king started to hum a song as he brought him back to his room, and his mother. When she opened, he handed her the child, and a little bowl of soup. Peebo was sleeping on the couch with a book in her little hands.
"May we talk?" the Wolf King asked in a quiet voice.
"I've got to put these children to bed, milord," his mother replied.
"It'll only be a minute. Are your children often hungry?"
"We're not complaining. Life is good here," the lady protested.
"This is for them," the king added, nodding towards the bowl of soup. "Why does Boolo think he's not allowed to ask for food?"
"I asked him not to ask for any more than he was given. We all do the same. We wouldn't want to take more than we ought to," his mother explained.
The king frowned. Maybe there was a problem with the food stocks or something. Perhaps there was something he had missed in the finances. He nodded thoughtfully.
"Is our food stock low?" he protested despite knowing that it wasn't.
"It is, milord, ever since that acid rain. We've been careful, and eating lightly. It's the least we can do."
"We have indeed been missing certain foods that we need to buy now instead of grow, but please, let me worry about the costs, and eat as your heart desires."
"That would be too much food, sire," the mother protested, and she looked down.
"I gave no order to you to cut off your meals. Until that happens, do not presume. Goodnight, now."
"Goodnight, milord."
As she closed the door with her elbow, the king sighed and passed a hand over his face. He had been busy for a while, and a battle had exploded. And now, people had assumed without even asking anyone that their rations were low, which was ridiculous, since he looked over the bills, and knew for a fact that it wasn't true. Perhaps the shock of having to depend on their business with the townspeople to get food on the table was making them nervous. The people of Wolf Stone were used to being self-sufficient, and to suddenly start to trade weapons and ice for meat and fruit was definitely unusual, but the Wolf King knew that it was possible. The townspeople did it themselves all the time. Most of them were merchants, and there weren't a lot of hunters and farmers anymore. In times of need, they used to come to Wolf Town for supplies themselves.
The Wolf King sighed and went back to his rounds. He went directly to the kitchen to look through the plates that hadn't been washed, and cleaned them up. He did that sometimes. Then he looked through the cupboards to see if their food reserves really were low. There were a few cherries, and some cheese bricks, and they weren't in the right cupboard, but that was fine.
"Can I help you, milord?" asked Crystal Tear.
"I'm here to see our food supplies," he answered sternly. "I know for a fact that they're enough to feed the whole clan."
Crystal Tear looked at him and thought that it was no use lying now. He obviously knew what was going on.
"Milord, if we don't tell the people to eat less, we'll have less food for the winter. It's high autumn already."
The Wolf King just kept staring at her until her expression turned into one of panic.
"The children are hungry," he let out tiredly. "But the strongest of us are all getting full plates."
Crystal Tear looked away like she wanted to escape the conversation.
"Go home. Stay there until I summon you, except to eat, of course. I don't want to see you in the kitchen, or in the infirmary."
Crystal Tear started to feel angry, but didn't say it. Instead, she walked away robotically. The king stayed there and looked at their food supplies. There were asparaguses and beans hanging from the ceiling or contained in braided bags, and some dried mushrooms stuck together on a rope. There were even peppers strung up together in a corner next to a precious pot of cinnamon. Tomorrow's dessert was already being made by some of the doctors and their apprentices: sweet bread rolls with cinnamon sprinkled on top of them. The girl who was making them was Mishia with the hair loops, and she jolted when she noticed the king standing next to her.
"Oh! Milord, I apologize for cooking so late in the night."
"No, please, carry on. They look wonderful."
"I'm too young to cook," Mishia murmured, looking down at her squeaky black shoes.
All the schoolchildren wore them. She was still in her fancy school clothes under her apron, and she had even tied up her loops more tightly on her head.
"Do you like cooking?" the Wolf King tried, too bewildered to say anything else.
Mishia sighed, unsure of how to answer.
"Milord, if it's not too bold of me to say, I know you would rather have me cook if it makes me happy, but I simply can't focus on anything else than my studies right now."
The king just frowned, very confused, then decided to switch topics once again.
"Is your brother often hungry?" he asked.
"He is, but I'm not. Nobody's really hungry. Everything is fine. May I please be allowed to discontinue this conversation?" Mishia asked, visibly upset now, and so the Wolf King had no choice but to nod.
"Of course. Leave me now."
"Yes, milord."
She hesitated between putting the food in the trash or in the cupboard, then hesitantly stored it. The king nodded emphatically, then dismissed her with a nod. Mishia bowed and hurried away.
When she was gone, the king sighed and wondered just what in the world his people were doing. Crystal Tear had been telling everyone that they ought to eat less, and Mishia --
This was all too strange for his brain to handle right now. He was thirty-two years old. He had been ruling these people ever since his father's death, and his mother's departure for another country. Yet tonight, it felt like he was a newcomer, surprised about everything he found out. He had been so busy with bills and payments and repairs to the tower that he had missed a lot.
Wolf Stone wasn't an old kingdom, either. It had welcomed four generations so far. His grandfather had built it, and his father had ruled it. The current Wolf King was now seeing people from his age group get married and have young children of their own.
This entire conflict was making his brain melt. He had no idea what to make of it. Perhaps he needed a fresh perspective.
Just as he was thinking it, the door flew open, and in came Kuba with her hair untied. He stayed there, unmoving, completely incapable of figuring out how to react to her sudden arrival. For some reason, he had been hoping to see her all afternoon, and that was very confusing to him. She seemed to understand, and sat on the counter, before petting his arm.
"I'm Kuba, milord. I thought -- I've been hoping we could meet sooner," she let out tentatively.
Instead of saying that she missed him, which would be very absurd, she went with the smarter option: "I'm curious."
The king sighed.
"And I'm confused. Have you heard of our food problems? You most likely have."
"I have, indeed. Golden Wolf assured me that it was a misunderstanding," Kuba replied.
The king rubbed his eyes. Perhaps he was too tired to think properly. He decided to just tell her everything.
"Crystal Tear is in charge of the food. She knows what we have in storing. Yet she's been telling people to eat less, because we had to prepare for winter. We never do that. Our food supply isn't running short, and I see no reason why it should. Book Violet told her young children to eat less. I can only assume it came from Crystal Tear. Do we really have food problems? Has something been eating away at our reserves? Rats, perhaps. It would explain why I did not know of it. Then why not tell me directly, instead of worrying the people? And I'm not even talking about this entire Yellow Eyes nonsense."
He started to wonder if he ought to have kept his mouth shut, but he saw that Kuba had taken out a notebook and was writing all of it down.
"Rat problems. Yes, perhaps. Rats in the basement levels," Kuba murmured. "Rats coming from the sewers into the trash, lured inside by the smell of food. They might be rainbow rats. Do you know of them? Crocodile rats? They can steal children, or cats, and other creatures."
But the Wolf King was now staring at her curiously.
"Can't say I've heard of them."
Kuba kept staring back at him, both worried and somehow tender.
"I've been eager to meet you -- to finally meet you, I should say," she said.
"Rats in our sewer system?" the Wolf King echoed stupidly, because he was lost in her loving aura.
Kuba nodded, then swallowed hard.
"I know it might feel like you know me. I have that effect on people. Please don't think too hard about it. Try to ignore it. I can turn foes into the sweetest of friends in the blink of an eye. I attract people over to me. I'm tired tonight, and I can't help it. Go back to your room, and don't think about it."
The Wolf King felt emotional now, for some reason, but he still nodded, and left, even though he felt like there was an invisible force pulling him back towards her. Kuba sank to the ground with her back to the cupboard, and put her face in her hands. Whenever she went somewhere, she ended up screwing up, and people would act this way.
She shouldn't have told him. She knew she shouldn't have, but it was too late, she still had. There was only one thing to do now. She waved her hand around and formed a fist. The king fell asleep in his bed. Tomorrow, it would only be a dream. She told herself that she was an idiot, then woke up in her bed. If she had more self-control, this wouldn't happen.
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