This
Strange World Needs A Kicking! – Ch. 12
By
Laura S. Fox
Copyright
© 2021 Laura S. Fox
All
Rights Reserved
Gay
Romance
Intended
for Mature Audiences Only
This
story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong language
and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
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Chapter Twelve – Two Plus One
Makes Three Troublemakers
Sebastian felt a slight tinge of annoyance at the
excitement he felt while waiting for Milo to unwrap the package that had just
been delivered to his door. The mail services in this world were equally
impressive. Throughout the day, in school, he had imagined this moment, which
had caused him to be caught daydreaming a few times by the teachers. Luckily,
he had studied so assiduously that he had managed to avoid their wrath and
possibly detention. A few of his classmates were still in awe over his newly
found ability to respond correctly to the questions addressed by the teachers,
but otherwise, the strange looks thrown in his direction had been fewer and
fewer.
What he needed was to blend in, and feeling excited
like a kid on their birthday over something that had to be considered
commonplace in this world rightfully annoyed him.
"Do you want to open it?" Milo handed the package to
him.
"Can I?" His fingers were tingling. To think that
people could place orders on things such as clothes and get them the next day
was unfathomable in Ifigia. Each garment he owed was
the result of the diligent work of an army of tailors who took his
measurements, searched for the desired materials, and summoned him to try those
clothes at least several times until the result was perfect. All that work
lasted weeks, if not more.
He ripped the foil covering the clothes, hoping that
Milo didn't consider him strange in his impatience. The fabric of the trousers
felt a bit coarse, and a few threads were coming off here and there.
A grimace threatening to twist his lips was stopped in
time. This outfit was destined to help him earn money and food for his family,
so it wouldn't serve to apply his usual set of standards.
"Come on, try them on," Milo encouraged him.
He had no trouble getting undressed in front of his
boyfriend, although it appeared to be perceived as a lack of modesty to do so.
Secretly, Sebastian now enjoyed Milo's small comments and exclamations as he
shed off his uniform.
At first, he was surprised at how tightly the trousers
fit him. Definitely, they weren't particularly comfortable. Well, one had to
suffer inconveniences, as it seemed, for the sake of duty. A pair of
uncomfortable pants was nothing compared to fighting monsters.
He walked to the mirror in the hallway and took a
critical look at himself. Kai's body was nothing like his but not unpleasant to
look at, either. It had a boyish charm, but Sebastian winced when he noticed
how low the trousers sat on his hip bones.
"Wow," Milo commented. "This is, um," he rubbed the
back of his head, "even more revealing than I thought."
Sebastian turned to have a look from the back. Any
lower and those pants would show way more than they should.
"Did I get the wrong size?" Milo moaned. "I suppose I
should be glad that your crack's not visible. Maybe it was a bad idea."
"No. I can live with it. Please, bring me the rest."
Milo came back with the thin leather straps and helped
him put them on, and then offered his assistance with the wig.
For a moment, Sebastian stood frozen in place. It was
just the artificial hair, but for a moment, he thought he had caught a
reflection of his own. The wig was stiff and of a plain white color, nothing
like his actual platinum-colored hair, but the illusion was there.
"Dude," Milo said excitedly, "you're totally rocking
this look, I can't believe it!"
"Dude," Sebastian replied stiffly as he took a long
look in the mirror, "I believe I do."
"You're so going to win the contest. I know it!"
"I must," Sebastian said while giving himself another
once-over. "Will I have to walk on the street like this? I'm afraid it would be
inappropriate."
Milo snickered. "No, of course not. I'll have my bag
with me, and we can stuff everything in there."
"All right." Sebastian stared at his reflection,
longing to get another glimpse of his own self.
"Come on now. You're going to put a hole through the
mirror if you keep staring," Milo joked and dragged him along. "And you need to
get out of this outfit, or you'll be in serious danger of me jumping your
bones."
Sebastian no longer had to be explained everything,
and for a moment, he considered whether it wouldn't be a good idea for Milo to
jump his bones. No, they didn't have enough time. Maybe later. Then he would
enjoy the other boy's body to the fullest, as he deserved for putting up with
all the strangeness of this world.
***
So far, being Prince Sebastian kind of rocked. He had
ice magic, he could make dragons cry, and an entire castle was at his feet.
However, while it was cool and all that, he needed to find whoever had summoned
him to this fantastic world.
What if it wasn't just a trip? Kai slowed down his
horse. He hadn't thought of that before. Any boy his age would want to be in
his shoes right now. Well, there was the downside of being caught in a BL
story, but it was a minor downside. Tiny.
Still, how long was he going to be there? Wouldn't
people start missing him in the real world? His mom and Tani?
And Milo? Sebastian must be filling his role, but what if he started yelling
that he was a prince and all that? Kai munched on his bottom lip. That could be
bad. His real body might end up in a loony house or something. He had seen
plenty of anime shows to know how to behave in his current situation, but
certainly, a prince like Sebastian had to be clueless.
Hmm, that kind of worried him.
Lost in thought as he was, he didn't notice he had
ended up quite far away from the castle. A look over the shoulder assured him
that he could barely make up the silhouette of the majestic building in the
distance.
"Maybe I should head back," he told himself.
He was about to turn his horse when he noticed
something. His eyes were playing tricks on him, or a bush far to his left had
just moved.
"Come out, whoever you are," he boomed. Yeah, it was
nice being Prince Sebastian. Even his voice sounded like belonging to a royal
from a fairytale.
The bush shook, and finally, someone emerged. It was a
young man dressed in fancy clothes. He walked toward Kai, stopped, and made a
long curtsy, in which he remained without saying a word.
"Do I have to... All right, you
can stand," Kai said with a sigh.
The young man straightened up and looked into his eyes
daringly. Kai groaned internally. Another bishonen?
Really, he had enough trouble with dodging Conrad's and Pepin's advances. This
guy was not as tall as Conrad nor as short as Pepin. He had long wavy hair, the
color of ripe chestnuts tied in a low ponytail, and bright hazel eyes. A few
rebellious strands caressed a tall forehead. And he was every bit the type of
character one would meet in a BL anime or novel. His clothes were quite
impressive. He wore dark green velvet pants and black high riding boots, while
a waistcoat was accentuating his slender waist. The shirt underneath poked at
the neck and the sleeves of the velvet coat, the lace decorations having been
designed to draw attention to this particular character.
But maybe, just maybe, he was jumping to conclusions,
and this guy wouldn't say anything outrageous the moment he opened his mouth.
"Well," Kai said impatiently, "speak. Who are you and
why were you hiding in that bush?"
Much to his surprise, the young man started laughing.
He stopped after a few good moments, a time during which Kai raised an eyebrow
in annoyance until his forehead hurt.
"I know we haven't seen each other in three years
since you were officially put in charge of Ifigia,
but I wasn't expecting you not to recognize me, dear cousin!" The young man
exclaimed and opened his arms wide.
"Cousin?" Kai sighed in relief. Good, so at least this
dude wouldn't jump his bones. He was in enough trouble already. "What cousin?"
"Your cousin Galien. Doesn't
ring a bell?" He appeared disconcerted for a moment. "Of course, I should
introduce myself properly since I also received an important title since the
last time we spoke. I'm Galien Ansoul,
the Duke of Kelonia, Your Majesty." Another long
curtsy followed, but this time, the young man didn't wait to be told to get on
with it. "And I am here," his voice dropped to a whisper, "on an important
mission."
"Wait, wait, wait," Kai said as his eyes thinned. "How
do I know you're telling the truth?"
Galien
appeared offended by that accusation. Forgetting all about his convoluted
curtsies from before, he crossed his arms and began tapping his foot.
"Sebastian, how can you say something like that? After everything you've been
through together? And how can you not recognize me?"
Well, there's a good explanation for that, only that no one
would believe it. I guess saying that I'm from another world might make things
a bit more complicated than they already are.
Kai thinned his eyes further and measured Galien up and down, pretending to be thoughtful and search
for memories of them doing whatever together. Then he snapped his fingers. "Galien! Right! Of course! You're from my mother's side,
right?"
Galien
nodded enthusiastically. Good, at least he had gotten that right.
"But why didn't you come by the front door?" Kai
asked.
Galien
pulled at his coat and cleared his throat. "Dear cousin," he said in a grave
voice, "you are in danger. Someone's scheming to have you assassinated."
"Ah, that. That happened already."
Galien
lost his composure at that. His eyes grew wide. "And how did it go?"
"Seriously?" Kai was starting to have a feeling that
Prince Sebastian's cousin was not a particularly clever guy. "I'm still here,
right?"
Galien
nodded thoughtfully. "Who tried to kill you?"
Kai shook his head. "You don't know? What kind of
sensitive information you thought you were about to deliver? It looked like
someone from the house of Uxilan."
"But you destroyed the house of Uxilan."
"Ah, well, it looks like I didn't do a thorough job.
Or someone just came back from the dead as a zombie. Although he was moving
quite fast for one."
"A zombie?" Galien had a
stricken expression on his face. "What kind of foul creature is that?"
"Foul, indeed," Kai said under his breath. "The guy
who tried to stab me with a poisoned blade ran away but left his coat behind,
and the coat had the crest of the house of Uxilan,"
he explained.
"The blade didn't touch you, right?" Galien asked, now obviously worried.
"Dude, I'm here, and I'm fine. No, Conrad got stabbed,
though."
"Who's Conrad?" Galien
seemed to search for something with his mind. Then his eyes grew wide. "Don't
tell me... Prince Conrad of Estfalia? But you were at
war with his country, the last time I heard news from you."
"Yeah. Well, I beat him, and now he's my concubine.
Long story. Also, not very interesting," Kai said quickly.
Galien's
lips twisted in a playful smile. "Concubine? Well, now that's quite the
development. But it means that you spared his life." A reverent sigh followed.
"It would have been such a shame to kill him."
"You're welcome at him if you want him," Kai
said.
That would solve at least half of the problem I have right now.
"Oh, cousin," Galien covered
his mouth in a coy gesture, "I would never. Everyone knows that anyone who has
the misfortune of warming your bed longs for you forever. So, tell me, how did
you make the proud prince of Estfalia bend the knee?
Did he fight a lot? Please, don't spare any detail."
Great. Another dude into dudes. At least, this one
wasn't going to try to get into his pants. Not that Conrad and Pepin had tried
that since he was mostly naked around them...
Wait, why am I always naked around them?
"Let's head back to the castle, and... talk about
something else." Kai assumed that he needed to play the host. "Where is your
horse? Don't tell me you came on foot or something."
Galien
surprised him by placing two fingers in his mouth and blowing a loud whistle.
From behind him, a beautiful bay horse emerged. Kai observed the animal as he
trotted toward his master.
"You're still the prettiest, Thunder," he whispered in
his horse's ear. Thunder snorted in agreement.
Kai watched Galien mount his
horse, a bit envious at how elegant and fanciful the duke appeared to be in
everything he did. He was probably a scatterbrain, otherwise, but it was clear
that he knew his manners.
"Shall we?" Galien asked.
Kai nodded.
"Now, tell me everything... Wait, did you just say that
Conrad was stabbed?"
"Yeah. He just thought it clever to put himself
between me and the assassin."
"How peculiar," Galien said
and tapped his lips with an index finger. "I would have thought he hated you."
"He does, but he's a weird guy," Kai replied. "He
constantly tries to get into my pants."
Galien
surprised him by bursting into laughter.
"What? He does," Kai insisted.
"Where have you picked such a drole
manner of speaking, dear cousin? One would not have caught you dead using such
words, as far as I remember. It appears that you've become quite a man of the
world during our time apart."
A man of another world, actually, but Kai wouldn't
correct his so-called cousin on that.
"Well? Aren't you going to tell me?" Galien continued.
"Tell you what?"
"How did you and Conrad come about? I know he is
handsome, but --"
"Temporary insanity," Kai replied right away. "I got
hit in the head. By a horse. Not this one."
Galien
examined him from the corner of one eye with a sly smile. "That explains quite
a lot, then. Has that old physician seen to your wound?"
"What wound?" Kai was busy trying to come up with
believable lies so that this cousin wouldn't start suspecting him.
"The one to your head," Galien
said slowly as if he couldn't understand regular speech now.
"Ah, that one. I healed. No signs of it now."
"I see." Galien nodded, but
he kept staring at Kai. "Now, tell me. What kind of lover is Conrad?" His voice
dropped low, and he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"He's... I'm not going to tell you that! It's rude!" Kai
blurted out.
"Since when?" Galien asked
in apparent disbelief. "You've always told me everything. But your hit to the
head must have been pretty serious if you don't remember me."
"I do, but, you know, it's all a little hazy. Feel
free to fill me in. How's your family?" Kai asked, trying to sound as chill as
possible.
"Ah, you know. Mother is busy roasting everything and
everyone in her path, and father just tries to keep out of her way."
"Roasting? She's a comedian or something?"
Galien
chuckled and threw Kai an amused look. "She's the Fire Goddess. I doubt anyone
she roasts would find her amusing."
Ice Goddess. Fire Goddess. Well, that was quite the
family he was part of at the moment.
"So you have fire magic?"
"Me?" Galien seemed
completely surprised. "Unlike yours, my mother married a human. I'm afraid I
only inherited my sire in all respects."
"And who did my mom marry?" Kai found himself
speaking.
That earned him another long look from Galien. "That hit to the head must have been something.
Your mother, my dear Sebastian, had you on her own. In other words, she made
you using her ice magic."
"So, I don't have a dad?" Kai asked, feeling sorry for
Prince Sebastian.
"Oh, don't look so stricken. Not even as a child did
you ever cry for your father. Or your mother who only took you with her when
she wanted to teach you your magic. I must admit that you seem quite changed.
Don't tell me you've fallen for Conrad, and this is you, smitten and head over
heels."
Kai bristled. "No, I told you. I only hit my
head."
"All right. No need to have my head for suggesting it.
And how is that lovely servant of yours? As possessive as ever? Your taking
Conrad to your bed must have saddened him."
It was true, and Kai felt guilty toward Pepin for
that. But it wasn't his fault! "He'll live," he said shortly, not wanting to
say yet another thing that, most probably, didn't sound like Prince Sebastian
at all.
"How cold of you to say that," Galien
commented. "But hey, if you ever want to lend Pepin to me, I'll make sure to
offer him enough consolation to forget about you."
"I don't," Kai said brusquely. No way would this fancy
man take Pepin away from him. Who did Galien think he
was to ask for someone's favorite manservant like that?
His cousin let out a small all-knowing laugh. "Of
course. He was your mother's gift to you, right? You'll never allow him to
leave your side. Just let me know about the wedding a couple of years in
advance so that I can prepare a proper gift."
"I'm not marrying Pepin," Kai protested right
away.
"You're not?" Galien
appeared surprised. "It's true that you've always dismissed it. I just thought
that you've warmed up to the idea in the meantime."
"Not really," Kai said. "I'm ice cold to the idea."
"All right. Forget I asked. But I will ask you again
in a few years' time."
"On your next visit?"
Galien
burst into laughter again. "My apologies, dear cousin, but you appear to have
developed a knack for comedy. Or was it a hint that I haven't visited in so
long? I do apologize for that. It's just that I was made a duke, and, of
course, I now have duties to attend."
"And yet, you forgot about everything and came here to
tell me about the assassination attempt," Kai pointed out.
"It was a matter of life and death. I'm surely glad to
find you alive and well."
"How long will you stay?"
"Eager to get rid of me?"
"No. It's just so that I know what to tell Pepin."
Galien
didn't question why Prince Sebastian had to inform his manservant about his
cousin's visit. "I'll be here for a few days if that's all right with you. It's
quite a ride back to Kelonia."
How far was that, anyway? Kai needed a map of the
world so that he could learn a bit more about his surroundings. It couldn't be
that far if Galien had arrived on a horse with no
supplies whatsoever.
"We'll catch up and have some fun," Galien continued. "You'll introduce me to Conrad. I'm quite
interested in seeing a dragonborn from up close."
"Dragonborn?" He had thought
Conrad's eyes were like a dragon's, in a way, but otherwise, he appeared to be
completely human.
"All right, so it's just a rumor," Galien
admitted with a slight grimace. "But you know that I like handsome men, just as
much as you. And Conrad has quite the reputation." He chuckled. "I supposed it
is a merciless twist of fate for him, a ruthless breaker of hearts, to end up
in your bed. Tell me he's spitting fire each time you put him in his place."
No, he wasn't spitting fire, but he could be
intimidating. Good thing Kai had all Prince Sebastian's powers, or else he
would be scared shitless of a guy like that trying to jump him all the
time.
"He's not spitting fire," he retorted.
"What does he do then? Did you two --"
Kai covered his ears, risking falling off the horse.
Luckily, Prince Sebastian's good balance and training kept him in the saddle.
"I really don't want to talk about it!"
"Oh, then I pity Pepin."
"Why would you pity Pepin? He's fine," Kai protested.
"What do you mean, why? You obviously have feelings
for Conrad. And you still haven't told me about how he got wounded by an Uxilan poisoned blade and survived."
"Well, that's a long story, but also interesting. Do
you want to hear it?" Kai asked, excited at the idea of telling someone about
his adventures at the dragon's cave.
"Sure. Go ahead."
The road back to the castle was surely more enjoyable
now that Galien was silent and Kai was busy recounting
his and Pepin's quest to get the dragon's tear.
***
"Master Galien," Pepin
welcomed them right outside the stables. "What brings you here?"
Kai watched his manservant and his wary manner of
speaking to Galien. Could it be that his cousin was
only pleasant toward people of his own rank and higher? If he talked Pepin down
or did anything to make the servant feel bad, he would –
Galien
dismounted and threw the reins to one of the stable boys. "Is this how you
welcome me? You're breaking my heart, Pepin." He walked over to the servant,
hugged him tightly, and kissed him on the lips with a loud smack.
Kai grabbed his jaw and pushed it back. "What the
hell?!"
Both Galien and Pepin stared
at him wide-eyed. Apparently, getting worked up over seeing his loyal
manservant getting manhandled like that wasn't Prince Sebastian's usual MO.
Still, he couldn't let it slide.
"What is it, Sebastian?" Galien
asked. He was still holding Pepin, and Kai frowned as he pushed himself up in
the stirrups and tried to see where the guy's hands were.
"Don't be handsy with my
servant," he said and winced at the aggressive tone of his voice.
Galien
laughed. "Would you prefer me to be handsy with you?"
He wiggled his eyebrows, making Kai roll his eyes. "That reminds me of the good
old times."
Kai froze on the spot. Even with his cousin? Prince
Sebastian was quite the character!
Pepin took them both by surprise by pushing Galien away in a firm but polite manner. "Stop joking,
Master Galien. His Majesty might just believe you."
"I'm just having a little bit of fun," Galien replied and didn't seem affected by Pepin's
rejection. "He told me he hit his head, so I was trying to put some new
memories in there."
"They are not memories if they never happened," Pepin
argued. "And when did you hit your head, Your Majesty?" He examined Kai with
keen eyes.
"You weren't there," Kai said defensively. "Now, come
on, don't just stand there. Take Galien to the guestroom
or wherever it is that you put him whenever he comes to visit."
"Of course." Pepin nodded shortly. "Please follow me,
Master Galien."
"Make sure not to touch Pepin inappropriately," Kai
yelled after them.
Galien
turned and bowed. Then he threw Kai an all-knowing smirk and a wink.
"So this is the famous rake of Kelonia,"
Kai heard someone talking as soon as Galien was out
of his sight.
Conrad was, fortunately, dressed in clothes that
didn't hug his body tightly. Therefore, he wasn't as distracting as usual. He
was on the back of a horse, so he must have been on a ride. Also, he appeared
to have witnessed everything.
"Rake?"
"I won't apologize, even if it's your cousin," Conrad
said thinly, and his eyes narrowed.
Now, that was one dude ready to get into a fight if
only slightly provoked.
Kai shrugged. "I'm not asking you to. But why do you
call him a rake?"
"You should know better. People say that you don't
allow him to be part of your court as you fear that he might steal your
lovers."
"Really?" Kai snickered. "Then I should dare him to
steal you."
The next second, he felt hot breath on his face and
Conrad's arms around him. "You shouldn't joke with such things, Your Majesty.
You made me yours by putting a spell on me."
Oh, great. Kai endured Conrad nuzzling his neck since
he didn't want to make Conrad's bum meet the ground with so many people
watching.
So...
One troublemaker...
Two troublemakers...
And now, three.
That was just frigging great.
TBC
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