Chapter Thirteen

G R U M P Y : A MEAL AND A DEAL

Osiris was grumpy.

These mother fuckers haven’t fed him for four days now. Angrily Osiris scribbled on some paper at a desk he found in a corner of the room. He was drawing a little stick man in some boxers and gloves. He was fighting a group of aliens at the moment.

A knock.

“Prince Osiris, it’s me, Hue Lambert. I’m here for a check up.”

Osiris did not falter in his doodling. Nor did he respond. Quite frankly, he wasn’t even listening to a word that was being said.

“Prince Osiris?”

Osiris bit the bottom of the pen. It was an ink pen, something he’s never touched a day in his life and has only seen in those old, musty history books in the back of a high school class. He remembers their smell because he had to pass them out in class one day and the stench stuck to his damn jersey.

Someone tried to open the door, it bugged before barely moving a centimeter.

“Prince Osiris, are you okay?!”

A series of loud knocks filled the rather gallant children’s bedroom. Osiris wondered if he should add some ninjas in for variety.

“Prince Osiris??! Prince Osiris, can you hear me??!”

There were more people now, louder. They were working really hard on getting that door open. Osiris slid his paper over and grabbed another one. He was running out of space.

A ram, the furniture blocking the door buckled. One more and the door was destroyed along with all of the furniture that was piled behind it.

Even the bed had been up against the door.

Osiris was still doodling when everyone looked at him. He hadn’t the care in the world and every adult was fuming.

Osiris lazily glanced behind him.

“What do you want.”

Only one person out of the sea of people looked at him with worry.

Osiris turned back around and started to draw again.

Lambert was pissed. She took a few steps in before turning to the guards.

“Explain.”

The men cringed.

“W-we heard the boy moving around, but it sounded like he was pacing, nothing more. The King ordered us not to disturb him unless he made any noise other than breathing.”

Lambert watched as the end of his sentence ended with resentment. She was no stranger to discontentment, but it was telling to see it here so openly, especially when she was right here.

“So, somehow, fully trained, adult men could not hear a child moving things around.”

Osiris paused.

To be fair, I didn’t make much noise moving everything. That was the point, though.

“When we leave you will fix this. Am I clear?”

Osiris drew a cool s and wondered where this lady sat on the food chain. For being a nun, her seat seems to be pretty high.

“And you.”

Osiris was wiggling his pen when Lambert spun him around and began to touch him.

“Are you hurt? Did you strain anything, like your back?”

Osiris tried to bat her hands away.

“Stop.”

Lambert didn’t stop.

“Why didn’t you say anything when I asked?” Her voice cracked. “Do you know how worried I am?”

Lambert grabbed an arm and tried to stretch it.

“Let me go.”

Lambert did not let him go and instead started to pull and stretch out his hands and feet like a vet would to a cat. He had enough. With the pen in his hand tried to aim for an arm but a golden hand was there to stop it.

Lambert flinched, but Osiris took that opportunity to drop the pen and grab her hair. He yanked it and forced it until her head was near his.

“I said to stop.”

Everyone froze.

Osiris only clutched his hand tighter and made sure their eyes were met. A few seconds passed as the shock of the event seemed to register to everyone. Most, if not all but his own and Lambert’s faces, were pale. Osiris’s side eye was able to catch it.

The priestess seat must be high.

Lambert’s face looked pissed, but Osiris watched as she seemed to catch herself. Like she remembered something. Her face pinched.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Osiris let her go.

She waited until he was able to remove his hand from her weirdly thick, two colored hair that was black on the outside, and gray on the in, to step away. He wondered if it was a bitch to wash in the mornings.

Everyone’s eyes were slightly widened as Lambert pulled away and fixed her hair. Her eyes were still on the boy, and she was clearly still upset, but she had restrained herself.

A few eyes zeroed in.

The Queen must know.

Their eyes then fell on the boy.

Stolen story; please report.

“Why didn’t you respond earlier?”

Osiris felt like he was now stuck in a staring match. He really just wanted to draw and decompress today. Maybe even go find the fuCKING KITCHEN-

“I didn’t see the point.”

Lambert couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.

“The point? The point is your safety.”

“Safety, huh?” The light in his eyes vanished. “What safety? This? You call this safe? I only survived because I smelled that fat bastard’s stench and decided to turn to my side. When I screamed, you know, the funniest thing happened.”

Osiris took a step back and waved his little fingers around.

“No one came.”

The display was theatrical, but the boy’s eyes made it eerie.

“Now can you please leave. I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re all fine.”

Lambert finally finished fixing her hair.

“Your…the King is trying to correct his past mistakes.”

Osiris didn’t even bother to respond.

“Can we hurry this up, I have places to be.”

Lambert was having trouble keeping her temper in check. The boy was really good at digging his little claws into a person’s nerves.

“The check up is a little more invasive than this. I was planning to do it here, but.” Lambert waved towards the door. “We can go to my office. It will be quick.”

Osiris’s neck tensed.

He kind of did, maybe, needed to leave this room in order to find the kitchen. Osiris looked the woman up and down. She seemed to be the safest at the moment. Though she looked quick to anger, she didn’t look quick to hit. He’ll take a tongue lashing over the shit they’ve been doing to him these days.

But the hungry eyes behind her made Osiris hesitate.

He has not forgotten the place he’s in.

“I would rather not.”

“Fine.”

Lambert’s crown and golden hands were back. Osiris kept his eyes on her, but could still see her hands get to work on.. something.

He will use his peripheral vision til the day he dies.

She shuffled through, what looked like an index she pulled out of thin air, and pulled out a card. She read it and said “Ah.” before letting it all vanish.

Then the hands began to move in a pattern, drawing symbols in the air.

“Cubrir, Goyo, Unus, Sanitatis, lys.”

Osiris scrunched his brows. He actually recognized some of those words. He’s heard them before, back when he lived next to a retirement community. Especially goyo, that couple fought a lot.

A dome of white covered them.

“Will this do?”

Osiris raised a brow. The lady was going to touch him no matter what he did, it seems. Osiris sat back in his chair.

“Hurry up.”

Lambert took a few steps forward.

“I’ll stand here. I won’t even touch you.”

Osiris could see those gold hands wiggle their fingers at him before coming his way. They began to touch and probe him like a bunch of curious nans.

“You call this not touching?”

Lambert paused.

“Does the slight glow bother you? Usually people don’t mind it.”

Slight glow huh?

Osiris watched the hands stay near his ankles and eyes more than any other part.

“Looks like you’re-”

g r o w l

Osiris was slightly embarrassed. He felt like the timing could have been better, but then again.. he was fucking hungry.

“...”

“..”

“...”

“..”

“When’s the last time you ate?”

Lambert was concerned. That noise sounded painful. She’s been without food for a month before, and that growl sounded like it was ravenous.

“Four days now.”

“Four days.”

Lambert held a hand over her face. Osiris just sat and waited for her moment to pass as the hands soothed a bunch of his aches. He had a lot of aches apparently.

“Here.”

Lambert summoned what looked to be a mini.. Four legged, obese refrigerator with ears. She popped it open like a microwave and pulled out a kid’s sized meal of steak, green beans, potatoes, and something that looked like juice. Or that’s what he thought it looked like.

The wrongness of the world was back.

Osiris’s mouth watered. A big slob of drool fell from his mouth and right onto his lap. He wiped it away with the bottom of his shirt and squinty eyes.

“What are you, a pedophile? Who gives kids full course meals like this? What do you want? What are you after? I don’t do se-”

“H-hey! Hey, hey now. Let’s not go there.”

Lambert sweat dropped. How the hell did this kid even know those terms.

“I already told you, I’m the Imperial Healer. I’m a doctor, to put it simply.”

Osiris wasn’t buying it.

Though he will say that once the door broke a swarm of those devil dots tried to ram into his room but couldn’t because any one that came within ten feet of this woman would evaporate off the face of the planet.

And this person’s magic eyes were different. They were more interactive and trying to catch his attention. The eyes were mirthful. Osiris swallowed.

“Show me the kitchen.”

“Just ea- ... what?”

“Show me the kitchen. I’ll eat after you show me the kitchen.”

Osiris wasn’t sure how long this lady would be around, but he needed info bad. If he could just feed and bath himself he could go a long way. If he took the food now, there was no guarantee she would show him later if he asked.

He had to use himself as a bargaining chip. She seemed to care, he had to see how much.

“Eat first, then I’ll-”

“No.”

Lambert went to scold but paused. He was being blunt. He wasn’t trying to argue, he wasn’t giving options, he was telling her exactly what he wanted and she was trying to bypass it. She was treating him too much like her little sister.

He was a trauma patient, and she nearly forgot that.

“It’s on the first floor.”

His eyebrows pinched.

“What floor are we on now?”

“The top floor. This castle is three stories high.”

Better.

The information was better.

“So that’s why my view is nothing but the sky.”

“A-ah, yes. Did you not know that?”

“Why would I ask if I knew?”

Osiris’s face looked at her like she was an idiot.

“So where’s the kitchen?”

He was hungry.

“Follow me.”

Lambert decided to just do what he asks. He was more open than she expected, given everything going on.

Osiris looked like a prisoner getting pulled from a cell when they exited the room. The guards and the boy glared at each other for god knows why, and Lambert was going to make sure the King cleans more thoroughly this time.

The walk was straining on him.

Lambert could see his face stress and breathing become ragged, yet he did not ask her to stop or slow down. She decided to slow to a long, relaxed stride. The boy’s face did not change.

She wondered what else he was hiding.

They made it to the kitchen doors after about ten minutes. It was a far walk, and not easy for a child who was still recovering from healing. Though his wounds were gone, his body was still trying to repair his mana veins.

Divinity is a powerful agent for healing, but rest is required afterwards. Mana hates divinity, so mana needs to flush it out once it’s job is done. Someone can die if there is too much divinity and mana cannot flush it out.

It is just what it is with creatures made of mana.

Lambert was hesitant to admit, but when she checked the boy there wasn’t a sliver of divinity left in him. He had already flushed it out. His body looked sickly.

She was getting closer to killing everyone tha-

Lambert put a cork on that bottle. Not the thoughts to drown in today. They opened the doors and cooks, maids, gardeners, just an array of workers were laughing and joking about.

At first their smiles turned brighter and welcomed Lambert with open arms, then dropped the moment they saw the prince. Lambert kept still.

“So this is the kitchen.”

What else was there for her to say?

Osiris looked around. The stove was made of clay and stone, steam rolling out of it like a certain anime film. The room grew quiet and Osiris wondered how the fuck do you even turn it on.

He hoped and prayed they had fruit and fresh shit he can eat.

“Is that enough for you?”

“No, wait, how do you turn this on?”

“You push man-”

MANA.