Fountain of Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  Marcadon smiled. “Thank you. I’d really like a few days to think it over.”

  “Of course.”

  “Sounds like the House of Beaudon is evolving steadily,” Elakdon said, smiling.

  “It does.” Daniel looked pleased at the confirmation. “I’m still getting used to my new name.”

  “I can imagine. Geodin let me in on some of all that has happened. Rough start.” Elakdon looked sincere. “Are you happy to be back with your mom?”

  Daniel smiled, but Seldon had seen so many emotional sides of the boy that he could see right through the courtesy smile.

  “Yeah, I’m happy to see her again. I thought I never would, and I kinda said my goodbyes to her that first night after you signed the contract for me.” Daniel looked at Seldon with such vulnerability. Seldon still had trouble understanding how Daniel could ever have fallen in love with him after the start they’d had. He kept fearing that Daniel would one day discover that he was no longer dependent on Seldon, and that it was all just Stockholm-syndrome and feeding on someone he knew that kept Daniel close.

  Seldon shook the thought away.

  “But I feel so guilty when thinking I’d rather be in the Great House.”

  “Why, Daniel?” Geodin asked, concerned.

  “Because, even though I was only there for a short time, I finally felt like I had a handle on all the stuff I had to learn, and you had all the books. And Seldon read with me all the time, so it didn’t seem so overwhelming. And Caledon’s good at making me think about stuff. He asks a little question, and off goes my mind. It was just Cubi I had to learn. And all of it, so that pretty much narrowed it down. But out here? My people are in danger and need me to be a link to a world I’m not even old enough to have experienced, not old enough to even learn properly yet, and my Council can’t interact directly with the human world because their eyes will give them away. So if I was just in the Great House, then that would mean that none of this had happened.” Daniel drew a deep, shaky breath before he covered his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Seldon drew Daniel into his arms, rocking him gently. The boy battled far more thoughts and insecurities than Seldon had known about, and he thought he understood how useless Daniel felt at that moment. Seldon certainly felt useless for not being able to help remove some of all those obstacles. Like the Lords on Daniel’s Council, Seldon’s eyes would keep him from providing public assistance.

  “You don’t have to be a new Royal to feel so lost, trust me,” Elakdon said. “But that’s why I’m here. That’s what I selected the ones traveling with me to help you with.”

  Daniel drew back from Seldon’s embrace enough to look at Elakdon. “Thank you. I’m very grateful for your assistance.”

  “Oh, I have a stake in it, as you remember. My sister’s vision is being threatened. I will fight for her legacy but support you in your right to do with it as you wish. But I hear you honor it already.” Elakdon smiled at Geodin.

  Seldon appreciated the Grand Lady’s trust in Daniel—especially since it bought the boy so much goodwill from such a powerful ally.

  “You should also know that your Grand Council and I have signed an allegiance upon my arrival. It is in effect until you are crowned King, and by then a new must be signed. Until then, I will honor the terms of supporting your Kingdom’s rise.”

  “But it’s gonna take a long time.” Daniel moved around on the couch until he sat in the crook of Seldon’s arm and holding Caledon’s hand.

  “Then I will stay for a long time,” the King said.

  “But where? We have this house for some of my Guard Lords, and we’re already too many at my mom’s. Caledon, do you have an idea?”

  “I think Seldon came up with the best idea so far. To invest in hotels or entire apartment complexes as they would be a perfect way to hide us and keep us together. And to house Royal guests.”

  “Lord Wardon will be here the day after tomorrow,” Seldon said. “He sent plans ahead for procuring housing nearby.”

  “Good choice in an economic advisor,” Geodin said. “The Grand Council has been working on housing as well.”

  “And you needn’t worry about making it fancy. I live on a farm with pigs, cows, horses, ducks, chickens…I have a pond full of fish, too.” Elakdon grinned.

  “A huge farm,” Geodin added.

  “Yes, but that’s because we have many Cubi under one roof. I have a little sanctuary. A hut with everything in one room, and I sometimes stay by the pond and fish and forget the world.”

  Seldon had a difficult time seeing the King, who carried himself so regally, sitting in worn clothes on a wooden bench, a straw hat on his head, and a fishing pole in his hand.

  “Do you have a hobby?” Elakdon asked Daniel.

  “No, not really.” Daniel snapped his head around to look at Seldon. “We didn’t bring your flutes.”

  “I’ll manage. Or were you hinting at wanting to take it up as your hobby?”

  Daniel snickered. “No, but I like listening to you play them.”

  “I would very much like to hear that, too,” Elakdon said.

  Nerves set in as Seldon imagined himself doing a solo concert, but Daniel’s phone ringing cut the thought short.

  Daniel answered it. “Hi, mom…no…yes…sure…okay, bye.” Daniel hung up and sighed. “Well, this Prince just got sent to the store to get milk.”

  “Show me your Kingdom then,” Elakdon said and stood.

  “There’s a music store not far from there,” Daniel said. “We can go see if they have a flute you like.”

  The nerves rose.

  Chapter Six

  I t irritated Daniel that he didn’t feel comfortable enough in the human world to hold Seldon’s hand as they walked home from the store. He communicated his unwillingness to do so by carrying the grocery bag with milk, butter, and eggs in the hand closest to Seldon. Maybe the old Incubus saw the point behind it because he carried his new flutes in the hand closest to Daniel.

  The big man had been like a kid in a toy store when they’d entered the boutique full of musical instruments. They were there to buy one flute, but Seldon ended up buying two, explaining that they sounded so different that he couldn’t decide. One was completely new to him. He’d never played it before, but the smile on his face, when the woman behind the counter played him a song over the speakers, was endearing to say the least.

  On the walk to the store and back again, Elakdon looked the part of a tourist, and Daniel enjoyed sharing tales of his life growing up in that neighborhood. Daniel even told of the stupid kid’s stuff he’d done, one being forgetting about the necessity of brakes on a soapbox car he’d built at age seven. He’d nearly broken his arm learning the importance of brakes.

  At the ages plus four hundred and plus one thousand, did Seldon or Elakdon even remember their childhood? Daniel didn’t want to ask and continued telling them about his best friend in the whole world who’d moved away three weeks after they’d started junior high.

  “So you didn’t leave close friends behind?” Seldon asked.

  Odd wording since Daniel didn’t leave, he was snatched. “No, I had a bunch I hung out with, but I never got close to anyone again.”

  “What made that friend so special?” Seldon continued.

  “We shared dreams. We both wanted to be actors and famous.” Daniel snickered at remembering how they’d held mock Oscar Awards, making up movies and characters they’d played to win it and then taken turns announcing each other. Best sleepovers ever.

  “Where is your friend now?” Elakdon asked.

  “I have no idea. Aaron’s parents had a business not far from the store, and it went belly up. They moved to Seattle because his mom had family there who’d help them get back on their feet.”

  They continued in silence while Daniel’s memories stirred. Other than being his best friend, Aaron had also been someone Daniel was sometimes jealous of. They’d had modeling jobs together as kids, and Aaron shone in front of a camera
. Suddenly, Daniel felt a burning desire to learn about his friend’s life since they’d lost touch.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Seldon said as they turned onto their street.

  “I was just thinking that I should check up on him. See if I can find out whether he’s living his dream or not.”

  “Shouldn’t take long with the internet today,” Elakdon said.

  “You’re right, it shouldn’t.” Daniel smiled at the prospect. He’d looked him up on Facebook a few years earlier, but he didn’t find him. Since then, he hadn’t tried.

  They reached his mom’s house, and Daniel went to the kitchen and emptied the bag. Before he was done, he heard an airy tune from the living room and figured Seldon was breaking in the new flute. A penny whistle as far as Daniel remembered it being called. And it looked like something that could be made for about a penny’s worth of materials.

  Daniel joined Elakdon and Seldon in the living room, fetching his tablet on the way. Seldon stood by the window, getting a feel for the flute, and no melodies as a whole came out of it yet. Daniel would have been way too self-conscious if he was the one on a new instrument, but Seldon didn’t seem to care.

  Elakdon sat on the couch and looked out the other window. “Are your Guard Lords always camouflaged around you?”

  “I don’t know. I just know they keep an eye on me, but I don’t know how or when.”

  Elakdon smiled, still not looking at Daniel. Guard Lord Afdon stepped out of camouflage in the corner of the living room.

  “It will be however you prefer it, My Prince. We are trained to observe from hiding, but if you prefer knowing where we are, it can be arranged.”

  Seldon stopped playing and turned to look around the living room. “Is it only you with us since Nol-Elakdon is with us, too?”

  “No.” Elakdon waved his hand. Two more stepped out, none of which were Guard Lords whose faces Daniel knew from the other house. They bowed to Elakdon, then to Daniel, and then they disappeared again. Afdon stayed visible, though.

  Daniel sat next to Elakdon. “Why do you ask?”

  The King flashed one of those kind and patient smiles that Geodin often offered Daniel when he had questions, and he had no doubt that she’d talked to her uncle about all Daniel still needed to learn.

  “To make you think of a reason to have it be one way or the other.”

  And there was the proof. Daniel gave it some thought. On the one hand, he hadn’t given it much thought whether or not he was being watched, and now he wondered whether they were in the room with him when he slept, too. Or fed. Or showered.

  Elakdon chuckled. “You have very expressive eyebrows. I see I managed to put your privacy as a Royal in perspective.”

  “Do I have privacy?” Daniel looked at Afdon.

  “Yes, My Prince, but probably less than you thought.”

  “When I sleep?”

  “No. At least not now when we are hiding you.”

  “When I use the bathroom?”

  Elakdon chuckled some more.

  “Yes, My Prince,” Afdon said. “We give you that privacy unless it’s in a public place.”

  “I gotta remember to not slam the door behind me,” Daniel said, imagining Afdon getting stuck outside because Daniel had closed the door behind him too quickly after entering.

  “Yes, please.”

  “At the apartment in the Great House?” Seldon asked.

  “We remained out of sight and gave privacy as much as possible.”

  It surprised Daniel that he hadn’t known they were there at all, and he was frankly a bit angry at not having been introduced to anyone watching him.

  “What is it, boy?” Seldon slid onto the couch between Daniel and the armrest, scooting Daniel toward the middle.

  Daniel looked at Afdon. “I’d like to have known you were there.”

  “I’m sorry. The Grand Council said for us to wait until the reveal of your identity was in place. A party worthy of a Royal takes time to prepare.”

  A party? Daniel had pictured something in the lines of a ceremony, and that alone had rung dull and dry in his ears. That was probably why he hadn’t entertained thoughts about it.

  “Also, we were not ready to step into a routine as we haven’t protected a Royal at a big gala at the Great House.”

  “You’ve protected me when I was there,” Elakdon said.

  “Never at a gala, Nol. Never with every Cubus and breeder present.”

  Elakdon pursed his lips, nodding. “It can be quite chaotic, and your House does house roughly eighty thousand Cubi alone.”

  “Out of more than three hundred million, that’s not enough,” Daniel muttered.

  “Guard Lord Afdon and Grand Sire Seldon, I would like to discuss something with Beaudon of which the details are only for the ears of a Royal. All must leave us be now when we go upstairs and talk. All!”

  The two Guard Lords of Elakdon dropped their camouflage and dipped their heads while Afdon and Seldon did the same.

  “Shall we?” Elakdon smiled and held out his arm. Daniel got to his feet and showed Elakdon to his room, the sound of Seldon’s flute starting up again dimming as they went. Daniel sat on the bed, and Elakdon lowered himself onto the chair, his gaze focused.

  “A Royal secret?” Daniel asked, both excited and nervous.

  “Yes. Like with the Fountain, you now know that the Royal dose is special.”

  Daniel nodded, still wondering who he’d choose if Marcadon chose not to submit to such a difficult task.

  “When your dose becomes strong enough, you can force a change in any human but a Washed. Our dose doesn’t just trigger what is already there like the other Cubi’s doses do, but functions as a prion. We can cause the human body to duplicate the feeding hormones and proteins necessary to grow the feeding center in the brain, and you can even choose their classification.”

  Daniel gaped. “But why don’t I feel compelled to? I mean, my evolving has been almost instinctual, yet I have absolutely no desire to bed a human.”

  “Ah, the clever little instinct is to have us focus on our people,” Elakdon said, making himself comfortable on the old creaky office chair. “Our hunger will never fall below what it was as a newborn. We quickly grow better at controlling it, but our lust can never be slaked. We can stay in bed and feed all day and still not experience the fullness that can cause some Cubi to grow nauseous or get headaches. And yeah, the not wanting to bed humans is normal for us. In fact, we can’t feed fully from them.”

  “Wow…” Daniel immediately remembered Jeff, the breeder who’d been by for Seldon to snack on while watching a movie. Daniel still didn’t remember the movie because he’d been too afraid of Seldon back then. Jeff had also been at the dinner party and helped Daniel make the casserole. He remembered Jeff expressing sadness that he wasn’t a Changeling. How old was Jeff now? Too old to turn? Daniel knew there were rules for it. Not too young, not too old, and not women who’d given birth. The latter was a hormonal thing that Daniel didn’t understand.

  “How strong does my dose have to be to do that?”

  “Good question. You know that an Empowerment has to be done thoroughly, yet it can’t be done by a purple-eye on anyone not already introduced to the dose.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. Your dose functions slightly differently, and until you know for sure that your dose is powerful enough to cause a high level of lust in a purple-eye, then you have to work with a green-eye or at least a very dose-willing blue-eye on changing a human.”

  “How many have you changed like that?”

  “Thousands,” Elakdon said, grinning. “What are you thinking?”

  “I know some of the breeders wished they were Changelings. I was wondering whether changing the ones already in the know about us and our culture would be good.”

  “Well, I think so simply because those are the humans I prefer to change as well.”

  “Daniel!” Susan shouted up the stairs.

  “J
ust a second.” Daniel bolted out the door. “Yeah, Mom?”

  “How many are here for dinner tonight?”

  Daniel had no idea. “Uhm…”

  Elakdon stepped up behind Daniel. “We can join the others and continue our conversation later. I hope this gave you food for thought.”

  “It certainly did. Oh, I better introduce you to my mom.”

  “I’d be delighted.” They ascended the stairs, and Susan looked unsurprised at finding a new face in her house. She then squinted and looked closer at Elakdon’s eyes while Roardon took half a step back and bowed deeply.

  “Mom, Dad, this is Nol-Elakdon, King of the North.”

  Susan finally noticed Roardon, still bowing and fidgeted as if not knowing what she was supposed to do. She finally curtsied awkwardly.

  “Thank you for the respect you show me. Please rise, parents of Beaudon.”

  Susan and Roardon straightened.

  “It’s an honor to meet you.” Elakdon extended his hand to Susan, and she shook it. “Please call me Elakdon. I’m here as a friend to your son.”

  “Oh, well…welcome to our humble abode. I’m Susan. Do you eat?”

  Daniel face-palmed himself.

  “I mean, like human food,” she continued. “I haven’t really figured all this out yet.”

  Elakdon smiled. “No, Tami-Nol, I don’t.”

  Susan blinked.

  “It means Queen Mother,” Daniel said, thinking his mother beautiful as the title made her light up.

  Elakdon turned his focus on Roardon and extended his hand. “Rado-Nol.”

  “Nol-Elakdon.” Roardon shook his hand, dipping his head.

  “Does that then mean King Father?” Susan asked.

  “Not a literal translation,” Daniel answered. “Your title is Mother of Royal Incubus. I just think Queen Mother suits you better.”

  Susan looked touched, and her cheeks blushed.

  “Siblings to a Nol are called Cub opek-Nol,” Elakdon said.

  “Child beside Royal Incubus,” Roardon offered in translation.

  A tune from the living room caught Daniel’s attention. “That didn’t take long to learn.” Daniel didn’t know the melody, though. He then remembered his mother’s question. “I’ll go find out who’s coming for dinner.”