Chapter 25:
"I agree that the situation at the border is critical, Your Highness," Billy announced. "What I don't agree with is the idea of moving troops en-masse to the gap. Our foe is cunning. We lose our ability to respond to emerging threats if we take your approach." It was another painful day on the wall for Billy. They were three days in, and these nasty bitches were driving him up the wall. Like spoiled brats, they were always pushing, demanding things that risked disaster for the empire. Billy was cast in the unhappy role of the man who said 'no'. The latest idiocy was their attempts to help Ingrid by sending the entire army to one place. Because there was no way for that to end badly.
He did not want this job.
The young hero could scarcely understand why Bandit Princess wanted the job. The only thing he could think of was the little heart-to-heart his dad had with the kids when they came of age. A kid was a Big Deal. Being entrusted to take care of one by the universe was a very big deal. The cool parents–dudes like Simon–could make it look like cake. But kids aren't a cat, Billy thought.
Trouble was, a lot of young peeps didn't understand that. They saw how cool it looked to have some rugrats, and they jumped right in, usually messing up those kids' lives. Only Bandit Princess is worse even than that, he thought. She was the sort of parent who put her kids on the street to beg while she took the money. Having come to know just how hard it was to manage, much less control, kids–both young and adult–Billy had a piece of advice for her. Bitch, get a cat.
Forcing the irritation off his face and out of his voice, the big man said, "I'm willing to entertain useful ideas about what to do with the border crisis. I will listen to anything that's presented. As long as those ideas do not compromise our ability to respond to additional crises. We are spread thin. We do not have funds to pay soldiers to sit in camp staring across an empty field. The answer is 'no', Your Highness. Next item."
Sitting in the back of the room, the Dowager Princess nodded in satisfaction. Firm and polite, the way a woman would have done it. Young William would grow into the job of filling his father's shoes. Question was, where the fuck was her idiot granddaughter? He'd come in with that fucking cougar on his arm, and Nieve was nowhere to be seen. She was squandering their chance at power, and Odessa was getting very tired of that.
Bonnie Bubblegum closed the meeting down not long after the debate over the border got shut down. It was time for the Inner Council to meet–a council to which Nieve would have been invited if she had at all been interested in doing her fucking job. Odessa was half of a mind to just barge in because her granddaughter wasn't looking after their interests. In the end, though, she waited just a moment too long to jump. Billy and the others were going into the chamber behind the throne, and she was too far away to have a chance at joining them.
Hundreds of miles away, Thor sat snoozing in his battered old car in the thin light of a winter morning a block away from a massive warehouse. His mind was on Star, stuck in the hospital just now. The doctors had decided that the babies had to come out. Right freakin' now, and their twins had been delivered by c-section two days ago. Star was recovering, and the kids were in intensive care. For that, the big man was supremely grateful. He was grateful for the gift of a mind like Bonnibel Bubblegum, who had rebuilt a piece of the lost world in her kingdom. His kids had a chance, when, not very long ago, they would have been dead not long after being born and likely their mom with them. He wanted to be home. He wanted to see his lady and know she was ok. Instead, he was here.
While his mind was working through that, the passenger door opened, seemingly all on its own, shutting itself moments later. His unwelcome partner announced, "wow. Lot of dudes..." For Candy Abadeer, this was a very welcome adventure–a chance to be away from home for a bit. Not that she was unhappy with a life of partying and riches. Connie and Marshall were, between them, ridiculously wealthy. She and her little boy lacked for nothing. That wealth had come with a surprising dark side though. In truth, Candy, like her mother, ahd found herself in a continual fight against boredom. This was fun.
The little hussy finally decided to show herself, revealing the raunchy semi-see-through dress she'd put on that morning. Her plump, pear-shaped knockers were barely hidden by the sheer cloth and lace. The detective did his best to ignore both the dress and her continual attempts to wind him up. As long as she wore the coat and kept the sun off her skin, that was ok. He was already at risk from Star. He didn't need heat from the Vampire King too. "What're they doing," he asked? "Sitting around," Candy replied. "Same as the last set." With a bored yawn, she said, "aren't you going to attack them or something?" "Working on it," Thor replied. In the now, he needed exact numbers and lists of weapons.
They'd seen six of these warehouses over the last week or so, all placed close to strategic railroad stations and all swarming with strangers from the badlands and even from over the sea. They'd seen banditos from Tequila Kingdom and even a tribe of Buffalo-Men from north of Deer Kingdom. It was clear that whoever Kim Kil Wan was running with was bringing in a lot of dudes, and they didn't seem to be planning on working construction jobs.
As the bored vampire housewife recited lists of the boring junk she'd seen in the warehouse, the King of Ooo sat working on a puzzle. After taking the arm off over night, the big man had launched himself into learning the use of it once more as soon as he had breakfast down. He was determined to be as good with the mechanical arm as he was with his normal one. Three hours in, the door in the outer room opened, admitting a visitor to the isolation lab. Breezy stepped into the entry and stood there a moment, staring around her at the somber conditions. It was hardly the place you brought a pair of flighty young girls to meet their future husband, and she found herself a little worried about how this was going to go. Finn had already expressed a remarkable distaste for the idea, and her daughters were somewhere south of pleased.
They inherited your rebellious streak, thought the Queen Bee. She was the Princess who'd run away from home to spend her time in disguise hanging out in various places for more than a year. She'd invited terrible scandal on her family and very nearly found herself in jail. Her mother had slapped her around twice–a fact that she'd been careful to keep from Finn over the course of their relationship. He'd always been the man she could count on to protect her, and she honestly was terrified of the idea of what he might have done if he'd known. He's a good man, she thought. Rulership wasn't the place for good men, unfortunately. Power was far from interested in squeamish morality. Power had become a trap for her, and now it was starting to engulf her kids.
The big man was so engrossed in the puzzle that his friend was halfway across the room before he noticed her. Putting the toy aside, the big man moved to the window, greeting her with a cheerful, "hey, B." The Queen Bee was both saddened to see him in that room and pleased to see him in such a good mood. "Hi, Finn," she replied. She was dressed in another ugly, severe dress, which told him a bit about her state of mind. Maybe it was the Bee Kingdom's Ruling Council. Maybe it was Bart. Somebody was leaning on his old friend. He wanted to give her a hug. Unfortunately he was trapped behind a fucking glass wall.
"You look well," she offered. Finn snorted. One-armed-bandit under glass. The startled Queen Bee stared a moment and then burst out laughing. Finn laughed too. The pair laughed like old friends, and Breezy's eyes were wet when they finished. The pair stared at each other a moment. There were so many things he wanted to say. Taking a deep breath, Breezy called out, "Penelle, Naome, please come in..." Finn grimaced. He should have known this wasn't a social call. Fuck! He didn't want to deal with this shit.
The two named girls came in just then, alongside a small horde of people with the aspect of chaperons. The big man found himself digging in for an unpleasant experience. This shit felt evil, and he didn't think it would ever feel different. His mind had repeatedly conjured up the idea of exacting vengeance on the men who'd forced Breezy into marrying a man who was cruel to her. He would have ended the whole system of arranged marriage.
The two young ladies that approached the window were instantly familiar to him. The girl on the left was clearly the older of the pair. She was dressed in a demur red-orange dress that hugged her body a little more than her mom's, though it was clear that Naome was probably already starting to get heat from conservative Bee-Folk society. Of a body-type with her mom, Naome was broad in the beam with a shockingly narrow waist, tapering out to a plump pair of pear-shaped knockers. The big man flushed in memory of the moment Breezy tried to jump him. She's a kid, Finn, the big man reminded himself. She was maybe fifteen or sixteen.
Penelle was the younger sister, all of fourteen if he recalled. She dressed the part, with a gauzy white dress exposing bare legs and arms and showing off her budding breasts. The rebellious young lady had dyed her hair a shocking purple hue. Her fresh face and appearance sent his mind back to his youth. He'd been angry, confused, miserable, and short an arm. He'd been heading down the road towards doing awful things. An angel had saved him from himself. His eyes flicked to Breezy–the woman who had shared big chunks of his life. He didn't want a kid. He wanted the woman who'd saved his life. She needs this, man, he thought. Go along. As long as it's just talking, this is ok. Nobody can make you touch a kid.
The big man found himself chatting with the trio under the watchful eyes of the chaperons for well over an hour. Naome, surprisingly, was the shy girl. He had to coax her to talk, and she was clearly more interested in the puzzles than anything else. Penelle was a forward little miss, interested in the battles he'd fought and curious about the path that had led him to his current space as King of the World. She was a dangerous little thing, slyly asking how many might be ahead of her in the King's Household. She'd been reading up, apparently, on the histories of ancient emperors. Little Penelle wanted power, which was a dangerous idea for somebody so young. She was the kind of girl who poisoned the other wives and their kids to advance herself. That bore watching. Even if Finn had no interest in marrying her, she could turn into a problem someday.
Feigning exhaustion, the big man sent the girls and their pack of chaperons outside, leaving him alone with their momma. Penelle had to have the last word, declaring that she would accept his court, if he so chose to give it, leaving Naome staring at her as if she were mad. "Better watch her," Finn chuckled. Breezy flushed to her hair. She'd had no idea that Penelle had been reading again, the naughty little bitch. With a sigh, the Queen Bee admitted, "it's the world we live in, Finn..." Penelle had already gotten the talk about where her life was going to end up even before the suggestions that she marry Finn. Far sharper than Naome and more determined maybe than Aerwin, Penelle was determined to make the most of her position.
"B," he said, "I'm'a be out of here..." "Just in time to come to Aerwin's wedding," Breezy interrupted. She knew what he was going to say, and she cut him off. There were ears listening. Every ounce of affection he showed her got back to Barton and hardened his heart against the Queen Bee. The big man had been about to put his hand up against the glass. Now he dropped it and stared down at the table. This was killing him. He was really starting to fucking hate Barton. "I'll be there," he said.
That should have been that. It was time to go. Finn had been more than fair in at least hearing the proposal and meeting her daughters. At the same time, the Council was pushing hard for this. The aborted invasion from Muscle Kingdom was still fresh in the minds of many. "I... I'm going to have to have an answer, Finn," said Breezy. "Tell them I won't be rushed," Finn retorted. "This is a big deal. They need to understand that I'm not going to rush to marry a kid. That shit's evil. You know how I deal with evil, B." The Queen shuddered. She knew. Utter violence and utter finality. "I'll remind them," she said, as she rose to go.
Finn watched that gently swaying ass all the way across the room. Even that ugly-ass dress couldn't completely hide how pretty his old friend was. When she glanced back at him, the big man licked his lips, causing her to flush to her crown and all but rush out of there. It was still there. It was always going to be there. He didn't want a fucking kid. He wanted Breezy herself. A part of him–an evil little sliver of his soul that he sometimes thought came from his dad–had toyed with the idea of making Barton disappear. He had power and prestige. He had connections in the underworld, and now he had Orzsebet. He could send Barton to Death's Quarry any time he felt like it. But you wouldn't deserve her then, buddy, he thought, as he turned back to the puzzle.
Over in the Candy Palace, Billy the Human exited the meeting with the Inner Council. For once, Bonnibel Bubblegum was happy with his performance. He'd kept things under control with the Privy Council. He'd avoided losing his temper or letting things go off the rails. He'd been polite and firm–just like his dad. It was high-praise, and the big man was delighted to be getting better, though he still wouldn't have taken the job on a bet. Right now, his mind was on having lunch with his girlfriend before getting into the business of managing all the problems popping up across Ooo, and he still wanted to get over to the hospital to look in on Star.
Strolling down the hall, his mind on the half-a-hundred things he had to get done in the never-ending rat-race that his life had become, the big man very nearly brushed past Nieve without even seeing her. The Muscle Princess was literally standing in a side-passage looking like she'd lost her best friend. "Hey, Nieve," the big man greeted her, "heard you'd decided to come to the palace. We should do lunch." After long conversations with Olesia and Hamest both, that was how he'd decided to handle his wife. Nieve wanted nothing to do with this marriage, and he accepted that. He didn't want to be enemies with her though. The big man never slowed down. He didn't so much as acknowledge the distress that was plain on the terrified woman's face. It was as if she had already become a ghost.
Billy kept on walking, while, up ahead, Hamest was overseeing the servants as they put out lunch, including the strange food that the elemental girl ate. Pots of tar and chunks of charcoal. It was strange fare for a strange creature. Hamest was trying to accept that this was the way things were going to be. Certainly, Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi weren't going anywhere. Rumblings were that the Lady of the Jungle was going to turn up real-soon-now from her excursion to the frozen east. Her rival was in the next room just now, chatting with someone on the phone in rather animated fashion.
Billy came in just then, greeting Hamest with a cheerful, "hi, baby. Miss me?" Striding up, the big man snatched the lizard-girl off her feet and pulled her close, kissing those thin lips. While they were enjoying the moment, a puff of flame in the next room announced a surprise visitor. Setting Hamest down on her feet, Billy strode across their parlor to the door of Olesia's bedroom, finding a tall elemental standing there. "Hey," he greeted the newcomer. "Personal business," Olesia announced. "My brother... Laiurenty... He's come to pick something up for me."
Striding across the room, conjuring a fire-shield spell as he did so, the big man clasped hands with the stranger, announcing, "pleased to meet you, man. Your sister's a helluva person! We're all in debt to her for the help she gave us." Olesia flushed to her hair and glanced away. To Olesia, he said, "he doesn't have to rush off, O. I could have them go get some more food for him." "I... uh... that won't be necessary," Olesia stammered. "He's got to take something to my sister for me." "Bide a moment, Your Highness," said the newcomer. "Private matter with my sister. You understand, yes?"
Nodding, Billy headed back across the room and back out the door. "Is this worth it, 'Lesia," asked the tall fellow? "Do you want to do this?" "I gave my word," Olesia replied. "That's not what I'm asking, 'Lesia," he retorted. "You're doing that thing you do where you answer every question but the one I asked. Do you want to do this?" "I don't want you to bail me out, here," Olesia replied. "I took up this burden. People's lives are on the line, here. If Masia wants the Fire Drop, I'll give it to her. If it buys safety for those people, so be it." With a sigh, the tall man said, "we're going to talk about this. Later."
Billy and Hamest heard the blast of flame that signified an elemental transporting through their fireplace, and then Olesia came out. "He didn't have to go," Billy insisted. "He could have stayed for lunch..." "He had to get out to see 'Masia and get back to work," Olesia replied. There seemed more to it than that, but Billy knew she could be stubborn when she was of a mind to. He let the matter drop in favor of talking about happier things.
Indeed, the elder brother was already stepping out of a fireplace in the Royal Suite in Hamest's palace. "Larry," howled Marysia Okonski! The pretty teen rushed across the room and threw herself on the tall soldier in his heavy iron armor. "Masia," he greeted her. It was clear from his tone of voice that he was already in disapproval mode. Looking around him at the rich furnishings, he knew immediately that his little sister was taking awful advantage of her hosts. Honestly, he didn't understand how they'd gone wrong with her because it seemed she was always up to something.
"Are these your quarters," he asked? "Borrowing them while I'm here," she answered. It was a lie. It was plain as the nose on her face that she was lieing. She was sleeping in quarters richer than her station because her hosts were likely out of the house. Changing the subject, she asked, "did you bring it?" "I'm not sure I approve of this... transaction," rumbled the soldier, as he took the heavy pendant from his pocket. "It's between me and 'Lesia," the young girl retorted, as she all but snatched the gemstone from his hands.
Just as swiftly as she'd taken it, she was fastening the heavy chain around her neck, letting the fat orange gem dangle down between her heavy breasts. Rushing to the mirror, the young teen stood there preening, turning this way and that. "You're taking advantage of someone's real need, Masia," the big man muttered. "I don't like what you're doing here..." He was being a fuddy-duddy, and it was making Marysia cross with him. It seemed he always took Olesia's side, no matter how much of a loser she was. In airy tones, the little princess replied, "it's fair compensation. I'm taking a risk for her." Striding towards the door, she said, "come and see my new digs! It's a very interesting place. They're practically worshiping me!" Rolling his eyes, the soldier followed his baby sister out the door of her 'borrowed' quarters.
The lizard folk in the hallway were a little startled by the presence of the second elemental. At the same time, they weren't going to turn down a little extra warmth on a chill winter day. Indeed, as Marysia led her big brother up and down through the warren of passages and hallways that was the Lizard-Palace, the locals were immensely grateful for the sight of them. The big man found himself rolling his eyes at the airs his sister put on, as they strolled about. It was clear as the nose on his face that these people were fucking cold in this frigid place, and what his sister saw as worship was a desperate hunger to be warm.
Strolling into the great hall, they encountered the first of the cyborgs. Olesia had told her brother that she was working with these people. Laiurenty Okonski found them fascinating. They were both distasteful for their habit of incorporating machinery into their bodies and strangely compelling. Marysia, irrepressible as ever, flirted with them shamelessly, blowing a kiss at the first one they came to. "Weirdo," she muttered, as they walked out of earshot. "Maybe you shouldn't blow kisses at women or insult people who probably have mechanically-enhanced hearing," the older man opined. Her face snapped around to him.
With a shrug, the big man said, "you're not using your heat-sense, Masia... She was clearly female." He'd seen her organs–the bits of her that weren't machines." "Skinny bitch," muttered Marysia. Then, "you don't really think she heard me..." "They have much machinery in their bodies," Laiurenty replied. The young teen shivered. She'd cussed at a couple of them when she thought they weren't listening.
As they approached the massive fireplace at the end, they came at last to the leader of the cyborgs. Cunty Lina, as Marysia thought of her, was head-down over a chunk of plastic etched with channels of metal. Laiurenty recognized them as the kinds of electronic circuits flesh-creatures typically worked with. He'd gone to school for electronics and worked in the Communications Ministry, though the circuit-boards he'd worked with were typically heat-resistant ceramic.
"Lina," Marysia greeted the older woman. Lina looked up to find her nasty little problem had doubled. It was hard to believe that Olesia had come from the same family. "My older brother, Larry," Marysia announced. Laiurenty stooped and, after placing a small fire-shield spell on the lady's hand, kissed her fingers. It was a startling gesture. "Thank-you for looking after my sisters," the big man announced. Marysia stared at him. "No charge," Lina replied. "Olesia is a very good person. You should be proud of her." Resting a hand on his sister's shoulder, the big man said, "I'm leaving this one in your care. I hope that you will take as good care of her as you did my sweet Olesia, and if she misbehaves, you have my permission to cool her bottom." Tousling the young teen's hair, the big man turned to go saying, "I'll give mother your love, Masia."
Face gone red hot, the young princess hurled curses at her brother as he walked into the fireplace, but it was clear to Lina that he was hardly perturbed. He clearly knew his sisters quite well. Marysia stamped her feet in rage as the big man disappeared into the flames. Coolly, Lina asked, "weren't you due to go scouting?" The young teen stamped her foot, shouting, "I will do no such thing..." That was when the strange gem hanging around her neck literally jerked her bodily down onto Lina's lap. The startled cyborg was momentarily alarmed until she realized that the strange energy-field the elemental put on her hand had suddenly returned, only now covering her whole body. Tugging Marysia's hair, the tall woman said, "I think you should keep your word, Miss Okonski. Perhaps you might regret it otherwise." Marysia jumped up and tore out of there in a state of abject terror. She was going to punish Laiurenty for this! She was going to make him suffer!
And another elemental girl starts to grow up! Billy comes into his own as his dad's heir, and Breezy dances to the Bee-Council's tune. And Kim Kil Wan is down deep in treason, importing bad dudes by the hundred.