The next day, Keith was brought to Foreseer by Prem. He was tired of not being able to stay around the kid, he wanted to know why the king was so interested in him.
Foreseer was still wearing her complex outfit. She was impatient to continue her conversation but the kid was limited in time daily, his recovery seeped a lot of his strength.
"It's fantastic! I couldn't imagine such thing! Judging from your age, you are a genius!"
'She doesn't look a bit different to be honest.' Said Show.
"I spent my time doing more experiments, I've never been this productive! I wasn't affected by my hunger anytime since yesterday, not even for a breakfast or two this morning. Let me have a closer look of your knot!"
Her protuberant chest obstructed her view, she wasn't able to bend forward enough to see it and undid the snake's jaw that held it together.
But when she had the belt in her hands, her stomach grumbled and the craving made her rush out with a grimace. Her hunger could've been restrained temporarily but the final outcome was the same.
'What happened?' Asked the non-witness. ' We advanced a lot! She ran away the second she felt the hunger again, that would equate to you going wild, hopefully it will hold for a few days. We should wait the first days of meat fasting without this curse to not make your body reach its limits.'
'What limits?' He asked again. 'I need to fix you, remember, how do you think I get the materials for your miraculous recovery?'
The woman was away and Keith leaned against the nearest wall to talk in the Explanation. His appearance was normal healthy while the world was total chaos.
"How much cursed am I? I can't die, I can't have a family, I can't taste and have a normal diet! What's all this? Tell me."
'Well I don't know how bad you are, but for sure you are born, and you are to remain in this world for now. Does it matter if you get some alteration in-between? I'd rather call them improvements.'
"You are toying with me since the beginning!"
Red thunder lit the place. It struck above them with echo when Show spoke.
'I am but a shadow and you dare think I want to keep my condition? I'll leave you when I'll be done with myself. And until now you managed to increase the time we'll share. You can blame that on yourself, not how I'm using this lapse.'
"You made me eat my parents."
'Happens! I won't let those events affect me.'
"What an asshole!"
The thunder froze. The shadow figure Keith was talking to moved a more blurry way... Was it? No. He thought the monster was next to him, but it wasn't the good perspective. It was a thousand meters far, and the shadow was huge.
That's how Mister Show had always been. Towering above the kid.
'You are ungrateful. You ventured out of your boring village, escaped death, encountered a king and now that you sit in the most comfortable chair you defy me once more. This place is my world as well. I could manipulate this whole city onto wishing for your head on a pike, decorating its ramparts.
Sigh. Remember. I told you to not say swear words.'
Keith felt a shake on his body. Foreseer was back and caught him sleeping in her laboratory.
"Hey! Sleepy already? I'll send you back to your room once we finish. First! Your magic is unbelievable. So little sacrifice for it to work, how is that possible? Then how did you know I had a belt?"
She then remembered he was mute.
"Alright then keep your secrets! You know, my head doesn't hurt anymore like yesterday! You want me to see your future?"
Keith covered the part where she last took his crust for her last potion. He disapproved other people eating human. With a gentle laugh, she said.
"No, no I just need a tear."
'Boy, I think she wants to spy on you. That's what I'd do.' Said Show. He wasn't convinced by her kind manners.
Keith removed his wooden mask, revealing the two uncovered bulbs and an involuntary smile. He wasn't sure if he could cry. In the other hand, the woman's will for a tear lowered. The doubt entered her thoughts and changed the balance.
He touched his iris with a finger and rubbed its surface. Nothing. It was just dry.
'Don't help her! You'll expose us!'
"I'll find something else, it's okay sweetie, stop touching it. Here, cover your face."
She gagged before asking a servant to bring him back into his room.
The doctor was already with Satish, covering his face a little more this time. Something new was added to the room. A device that came out of the kid's mind. He asked for a rope and was given one.
The rope stretched from the door to the bed. Just so Keith could find his way more easily.
Once they were both alone, he tried once more to speak. The voice that his lungs gave was still resounding too much and his angriness aggravated every of his failures. He was on his bed, waiting for something to improve while all the bird of the city would fly as far as possible from it. His growl would make Satish quiver in the bed as much as the guard behind the door.
Next day, a new rumour ran through many streets. The palace was haunted. The city was still under the devil's sight and grieving families wouldn't hesitate adding oil to the fire.
"I heard it two days in a row! The devil is still in the city, who knows when he'll strike again."
"What's the king doing?"
"My aunt told me she'd move away soon, this city is condemned."
"Have you heard about the vagrants? Three came to hunt it! They're in the northern temple! We should visit them."
Many ideas spread. The market being the most common place to blabber, envoys from the court would gather the most plausible rumours and report them.
'AND HERE I AM AGAIN! Stuck with this abomination until its recovery! Shouldn't it be faster for it to die? Good gods I can't make soup for the rest of my life, that's wasting my culinary talents! That's the sole thing I appear to be good at. My detective skill hasn't proved any good so far.
I can't stay here with this humongous quantity of heinous speech toward my king. Did they forget how much he improved our lifestyles so far? Right... Maybe he's just reflecting how grateful you all are. There'll be a day I'll step on your thankless heads, all of you! And I, son of-!' Prem's thoughts were interrupted by someone pushing his way through the midday crowd.
"Who dares!?"
It was a girl from a nearby province. She had lost her family member from sight and was now being kicked by the king's servant. With a spat on her face, the servant continued his route, saying.
"Pay more attention next time."
His voice was oozing venom and his steps were louder than other people around. This guy was really pissed.
A week passed while everyone became more and more impatient. Foreseer wanted to see more as much as the king wanted results. Yotoh and Ned wanted the kid dead. Satish wanted to go home. Keith wanted to feed more than birds for lunch.
His larynx was now tighter, allowing a higher pitch. The left side of his mouth had little skin covering it, allowing him to pronounce a little, with Satish asking him different words to exercise.
"I see, the words with a 'p' and 'm' are hard to understand. I am glad you can communicate with me, I was feeling lonely. I miss my parents."
Keith would compensate his missing lips with his tongue moving around on his palate, it would make a great ventriloquism performance.
On his next visit, Satish who had not much to do, told the doctor his room mate could speak anew. It wasn't part from Keith's plan.
'We should've told him to keep his mouth close. Thankfully he doesn't know more about us. Should we eat him? He'll shut up. He won't speak if he vanishes.'
He was corroded by ideas beyond his mind. At first he suspected Show, whispering in his mind to corrupt his thoughts. But no. That came from himself. It came from his hunger lingering deep inside. Birds weren't enough.
Whenever it happened, his eyes pulsed with darkness. Show could hear everything and wasn't sure about the kid's mental stability.
Mister Show lurked around in the palace, looking for the servant with the longest hair. He stole ten of them, leaving the woman with a sudden headache.
He came back in the middle of the night and said.
'Tie this around like a belt. We can't eat Satish. It'll raise too many questions. You must hold on until we can access the mass grave. Or better, their dungeon.'
The next day, he surprised the doctor. When this one touched his abdomen to get rid of the bandages, Keith grabbed his hands and spoke.
"No. Don't touch."
His eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Y-you won't let me change it?"
"I'll bite your fingers off."
He answered, nearing his hands the mask with a stronger grip. With no brutal gesture, the doctor replied.
"I won't! You can just ask dear guest. But I'll be forced to if it gets infected."
---
Under their feet. Someone barged in the main hall. Chandragupta was leaning on his throne and recognised his loyal Foreseer.
"What is it?"
Her eyes were googly and she was soaked in sweat.
"It's happening again my king! Evil will come knock on our gates in three moons. I am absolutely sure! I saw a hand embracing plague, spreading death like a fountain spills water."