Belch stopped as Ranun held open the brown, tinted glass door for her. He smiled as she walked in. Belch panicked immediately, confused about what she should do after entering the restaurant's front lobby. Did she continue deeper inside, or did she wait and let Ranun hold the door open for tens of people, all stopping to admire him. Some wanted something called “autographs,” but Ranun always refused in a kind, polite way.

After the people let him alone, he finally entered, carrying a smile on his face and stains on his orange jacket that looked like soot. He stepped up to the uniformed man up front, who bowed his head as well. “Your Majesty!” he audibly swallowed. “We were quite busy today, we couldn’t quite set up your table decor in time, but you may take a seat now if you wish.”

“Anything is fine,” Ranun waved a dismissive hand. After the man’s head and eyes were aiming down, he left Ranun and Belch in a few seconds of pause. “Should we show ourselves to our table?”

“Oh!” the waiter sprung up from his bow. He picked up two menus, then walked from behind his stand to take a step down. “Follow me, please.”

Ranun nodded. He looked down at Belch and nodded again. They followed the man down a hall with walls of barely transparent, squared glass windows. From the few passage openings she could see, the restaurant was packed with people, all laughing and eating their meals. The tone was something entirely different from how Dormoor was whenever Pedr would bring her to one of these places.

The waiters and passersby who hadn’t dropped everything on the sight of Ranun alone smiled politely at Belch as she entered. Here, she wasn’t a target for her green eyes. It was a whole new feeling altogether she couldn’t describe, like a hint of belonging, even though she knew deep inside that she didn’t.

How could she? Her blood was black, while theirs were red. She could never, and she simply had to live with that fact.

Near the end of the hall, they approached a wall with an open view of the kitchen. The food about lifted Belch off of her feet, and she could imagine herself floating over to the intoxicating aroma. She hadn’t smelled food this good since Lorn’s cooking. She could only hope that their chef didn’t pull a knife on her.

“King Ranun! How you doing?” a chef from inside waved. He wore a similar white puffy hat that Lorn had but also wore a blue apron over his torso that had the words Firebread Dinery written in white text inside flames; the same name that appeared on the top of the building entering in.

“Good, Tsef, how about you?”

“Doing fine, like always,” he replied.

Ranun smiled before turning with the waiter to a more exclusive area, with only a single table nearby with any people eating. The Soucrest king sat down first before pointing across to the other end, signaling for Belch to take her seat.

A white sheet covered the table, with three bowls evenly spaced out. The table could fit three on each end and two more, counting the table's curved heads. Belch at first wondered why Ranun didn’t take the head of the table, thinking back to her first meal with Aidan. Aidan sat on a gold crested chair, more distinct than the ones Belch and Pedr sat in.

“Anything to drink?” The waiter asked.

“Water, please,” Ranun said. He eyed Belch. “Do you want any juice or anything?”

“I’ll take water too,” Belch said, looking up at the waiter. He didn’t feel the need to write any of that down on the notebook in his hand.

He nodded, pocketing his notebook. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to look at the menu, and I’ll go grab your drinks. A few should be out here with the decor any minute now…”

The waiter vanished out of the side room, hurrying out.

“Order whatever you want,” Ranun said.

Belch nodded. She opened up the menu. So. Many. Things. Where did she even start? How much could she order?

“Oh,” Ranun said. “I can help read some off to you if you would like some help. It’s a big menu.”

“I’m fine,” Belch said, not sure if she was. She felt an awful pressure to find what she wanted before the waiter returned. Like there was an invisible timer over her that kept ticking and ticking with who knows what happened when the time expired. Something embarrassing, probably.

She decided to closer her eyes, point at the menu, and whatever she landed on, she would pick that.

Eggs and bacon, it read. She frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Ranun asked.

“Isn’t it too late to have eggs and bacon? I only have those in the morning.”

Ranun reached over, flipping to the next page. Large words struck her eyes immediately as she saw the first page of the lunch and dinner section of the menu.

“Oh.”

Ranun laughed.

She looked at him, feeling a little dumb.

“Sorry,” Ranun said, continuing to laugh. But, his laughter didn’t come off as insulting. Belch smirked, feeling his laughter to be contagious.

“Is there anything you think I would like?” Belch asked. A stupid question, considering Ranun barely knew her at all.

“Mmm, what’s your favorite meal?” Ranun asked.

“I like most meats,” Belch said.

“Is that so?” Ranun reached across, his eyes glancing down at his own menu so he could mirror onto hers, highlighting Pig, Chicken, and Cow Special with his pointer finger. “This is a thin steak, a chicken breast, and a pork chop on a single plate. It might be a little too much food but—”

“Can I have it?” Belch asked, her face beaming with excitement. “If that’s okay with you.”

“It’s what you want, right? Have it, my treat.”

She smiled.

Music started playing from within the restaurant. A guitar played eerily into her ears, like a sound she had never heard before. The rhythm sounded like it came from right next to her, but the musician played in the restaurant's front. There were no sound-enhancing devices near her. It almost egged her with how odd the strumming played in her ears.

“You finally noticed the music, huh?” Ranun said. “It’s a Soulsmithed guitar, able to bend the soundwaves to the musician’s will. He’s playing the music specifically to mess with our ears.”

She frowned.

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s a little weird,” Belch said.

“And? Does being weird make something unlikeable?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Does it not?”

Ranun laughed. “Of course not! Weird is wonderful.”

Well then, I feel wonderful, Belch thought bitterly. Still, it was nice to hear. She, at times, felt off, alien, weird. It was her normal, even before she had different blood.

The waiter returned, and they both placed their order. Ranun ordered the Pork Noodle Soup, while Belch stuck with the three meat special Ranun showed her. When the waiter rushed the order back to the kitchen, that left Ranun and her alone once again.

“So, I suppose now is a good time to bring your future up,” Ranun said.

She nodded, eying down. Here she was again. Another meal, another life, and the only thing different were Ranun’s pleasantries. What was his plan for her? What was her use now?

“Give me the okay,” Ranun paused, drawing a breath like he was about to get in trouble for what he was about to say. “And you’ll be free. You won’t serve us or anybody ever again. My country wants you to work for us, but they would rather you not have the choice at all.”

“But you are? You’re giving me a choice?”

Ranun nodded.

“Why? Why won’t you make me fight for you?”

“There are many things wrong in this world, young one, and doing that would be one of them. I won’t take advantage of the circumstances of your birth or the realization of your power. I’ve spent a week preparing a ship just in case you agreed to this. If you wish, I could send you to an island out in the east, a small land called Freedon.”

“And you didn’t even know if I would say yes?” Belch asked.

“Absurd, isn’t it? I know. But I couldn’t live with myself otherwise. My colleagues would say this act makes me weak, undetermined even. But no, I’m determined. I’m determined to do the right thing. And this… is the most I could do, morally for you.”

Belch was speechless. He just slapped her with a choice like this? The most she had the power to decide on was which color shirt to wear for the day. Now, Ranun offered her an option? Staying and serving or leaving and be free?

“And let me make this very clear to you,” Ranun cleared his throat. “You will be well taken care of, far after you’ve fully adjusted to common life. You could be anything there, a farmer, fisherman, anything. No one will know of your power, and even if they did, I doubt many of their kind would care.”

A choice that leads to other choices?

Ranun took a sip of his water, tapping the glass down back on the table, waiting for her response.

It sounds nice, Belch thought. A life like that. But why then do I want to stay? I feel pressured to stay. Is it this man being sincere with me? What is it? Is it me? Do I want to fight?

She heard a call from within. Like a voice yelling from her mind, pulsing aggressively at every thought she had about leaving. But staying, that was where her mind was calm and where her heart was certain.

“I’ll stay,” Belch said. “But… can I live a normal life?”

“As normal as any of us,” Ranun said with a slight smile. “Which, admittedly, can be very weird sometimes.”

“But you said weird is wonderful,” Belch said.

Ranun nodded, pleased. “You remember Delta? The elf you met recently?”

“Of course!”

“She lives a rather happy life,” Ranun said. “Despite many reasons why the opposite should be true.”

“Why?”

Ranun sighed. “You were raised to believe your green eyes make you a beast, right?”

She nodded but found herself frowning.

“Which you aren’t, just to make things clear. But that idea isn’t popular outside of Dork, so only a few humans at most think that way. But Delta, most humans think negatively of her, all across Valoria. Elves are widely disliked here.”

Belch frowned deeper. “But I like her.”

“I know!” Ranun smiled. His sudden burst of excitement in his voice managed to perk Belch up a little bit. He was eccentric, seemingly happy, everything Pedr told her he would be. “She’s happy, despite those who would rather hate her for her ears than for her character.”

“She’s happy? Even though people hate her?”

Ranun nodded. “She has friends in her agency, as I’m sure you will make friends in yours. Good friends.”

Belch perked up a little bit.

“I’m glad you’re on board,” Ranun said. “But, I still can’t help but feel wrong for putting you into this position. So, how about I grant you, let’s say, three wishes?”

Belch tilted her head.

“Anything you want, I’ll grant you. A gift from me to you. Whatever you want, I’ll provide.”

“It can be anything?”

“Anything at all, so long as I can provide it.”

Belch paused for a moment, considering her options. What did she want? The three things that came to mind, Ranun thought he could give her?

Suddenly, three uniformed men rushed the table, placing candles, giving them flames. One brought a tray of red flowers, putting it to the right of Belch. The other brought yellow, setting it to her left. They left the bowl between Belch and Ranun empty as they all retreated. Soon after, the chef Tsef personally carried out their food.

Tsef bowed before leaving without saying a word.

A lot of food, and it smelled incredible. Ranun’s bowl of soup also smelled delicious, as it nearly clouded the entire restaurant in steam. Before she dug in, she waited for him to take a bite, but instead, he looked to Belch for an answer to his question. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“It can be anything?”

Ranun nodded.

“Well, I want a name, my family, and a reason to continue fighting.”

Ranun looked stumped by her requests. Perhaps that was too much to ask out of him. At least she tried—

His sudden, loud laugh startled her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked nervously.

“I’ve offered many wishes,” Ranun covered his laughing mouth for a moment, “to many people, and that was the first time someone hasn’t asked for either gold or a big house. You are the first one to ask for three things that aren’t something physical.”

Belch frowned. “So should I ask for something different then?”

“Well,” Ranun sighed. “Let’s see what I can do. I don’t know where I should start. It took Calace and me forever to name Aeryn, and it can’t be rushed. What about your family, maybe they’ll provide you both your other wishes. Do you have an idea on who they might be?”

“I don’t know,” Belch said softly. “I was taken at my birth. I have no idea who they are or where they are.”

Ranun lowered a brow. “Well, it’s a big world, but you have a unique skin tone from Dork, so that might give us a trail. Otherwise, meanwhile…” he trailed off, visibly considering what he was about to say.

“What?”

“I can take you into my family for now,” Ranun suggested. “I want you to know how committed I am to making sure you’re treated well, and that’s the best way of keeping myself honest, having you be a part of my family. If you seek a home, you can call mine yours, at least for now while we search for your parents.”

She considered it. A part of her wanted to get close to Ranun, but never had she thought she could get an opening this close. He wanted her to be a part of his family?

“It’s just an offer,” Ranun said. “You don’t have to agree. But, if you accept, you’ll be like a daughter to me.”

“And you’ll be like a father to me?” Belch asked. Her heart pounded as she was conflicted about his offer. She wanted her real parents, but she also instinctively wanted to agree. It felt like the easy way out to accept, but if she could still pursue her parents anyway, she could agree to this offer.

Ranun nodded.

“If you would be my father, would you be able to give me a name? A name that I would finally accept? Or would it be like all the others?”

Before he could answer, one of the three uniformed men returned, bringing a tray of drinks along with flowers. The flowers. The ones with the purple petals she had dreamed about for so long. She hadn’t seen them since she was in the fields in Dork. The waiter set them down in the middle bowl, dismissing himself.

She found herself distracted, staring at the pretty flowers between herself and Ranun. After all this time, all of this yearning, she finally saw them once again. They were right before her eyes. She almost reached for them, but when she looked up at Ranun, she found him to be smiling.

“Anemone,” Ranun said. “The name of the flowers you just adored. How does Anemone sound for a name? It's a little hard for some people to say, but it’s a beautiful name for a beautiful flower. If I could choose a name for you, that’s what I would choose.”

“Anemone…” she said under her breath.

Anemone. A-nem-on-e. That was the name all along?

Ranun said nothing, letting her consider the name by herself.

She looked down to her plate as a select few raindrops fell on her thin cut of steak. It took her longer than it should have to realize that the rain wasn’t rain but her tears. She settled down, looking up before swiping her eyes dry with her wrist. “I… like it.”

“Good,” Ranun beamed. “I’m glad you do. It’s almost like fate, isn’t it? You looked startled, completely in awe at the sight of those flowers. That was when I knew the name was perfect for you.”

Her emotions forced her to smile, but a mix of happy-sadness drowned her on the inside.

I’ve finally found them—both the flowers and my name.

“I’m glad I could at least give you your name,” Ranun said. “And I’ll do my best to give you your reason to fight. Mine is family, protecting the ones I love. Now, you’re a part of mine.”

Anemone sniffed, looking down at her plate. It was all so much. Too much, even. But, she felt happy. With Ranun, he appeared to care for her. Now, with her new name, she felt indebted to him too. “Thank you,” she said.

“No thank you is necessary,” Ranun smiled. “It’s the least I can do to make you feel at home here.”

She didn’t know if she could genuinely ever call him a father, but for now, she could at least tag along. He seemed to be trying for her, so she should also be trying to make it work. Even if it was temporary, it was worth it.

Anemone looked down at her plate. The steam from both of their plates simmered down to a light mist. “May we eat?”

Ranun nodded. “Of course, if we don’t eat soon, it will get cold.”

And so they dined. She didn’t know if it was the cooking that was this good or if the moment added to this wonderful flavor, but this was the warmest meal Anemone ever had.