"Until now, you gave me more than I ever had, just here in this room. But the thing you did not give me is the one I need the most, I must eat to grant you curses."
'Is he...?'
"I need raw animals. I don't care what. I don't care if it is already dead, I just can't live without this. I am cursed myself. I live therefore I kill. That's similar to your position as a ruler."
Chandragupta smiled. He couldn't believe Keith.
' I take for granted he's good at magic. But if he really eat raw flesh... No. No one does that. No one makes a fool of me.' He pondered on it. First Foreseer. Then his political alliance.
He said. "What if I bring you someone, you'd eat him?"
Keith's hunger spoke.
"I could."
"Why did you not touch Satish then? You knew he was to die in your stead?"
'What? He's dead?' Keith thought. Mister Show was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, he hurried to say. 'Falter not to what he says! Continue.'
"You said three men came for my head. I just crossed your saying to get the answer. Who else did I forget... Moore? He's part of the plan too. You knew an ashura will come to slay your people. You knew I'd came here."
'Did he just say he has never been in an uncomfortable position?' Chandragupta thought before hearing the echoing voice.
"Feed the devil, use the evil."
'I don't want to be evil, Show. Are we that bad?'
The king had difficulties holding back his anger. 'That can't be! I am the one planning it all! The lunatic that came here first had hallucinations. Since when did he plan everything?'
"Do you still think it was your idea to have me in the palace?"
Well, yes it was. The king's interest wasn't supposed to happen at all and most of what came out of Keith's mouth was pure bluff. But now dancing in Show's palm were two confused dummies. He just had to tighten the strings to manipulate them properly.
The king's sudden burst of laughter surprised them both.
He slapped his hand on his knees. Just as if it was the best joke he ever heard.
"I knew you were smart! Does your wisdom comes from your master?"
No fear exulted from this man. He was impressed and hilarious. He was a conqueror and all mighty commander. What if a kid decided to sit in one of his many houses? One that asked for a supplement of hospitality. Whatever! He wished for more power! A king can have everything he wants after all.
"How much do you want? One meal per day? Per week? Per moon perhaps? Any human can survive without food for a few days."
"One every three days, above this delay, funny things will happen here."
'He's threatening me! That's some guts! Let's see how far he can go.' The king thought before asking.
"What kind on things?"
"People in this palace will go missing I'm afraid..."
Keith had a sorrowful feeling. He knew the length of his hunger and regretted his own acts. But his stomach was stronger than his brain and he could simply not control himself anymore.
'Servants are a resource that I can compensate, not my assistants.'
"I agree your terms. I shall lead you to ours kitchens. They have plenty of food in there. Just follow me, put your mask on, your face must remain hidden out of this room."
It was a first for the kitchen staff to receive guests. The king and... a masked kid. Why on the earth would those come here? Nonetheless the staff got kicked out of its own room.
"Let's see what we can take without them noticing..."
Said the king. Keith couldn't see a thing, nearby were hanged dry carcasses, aromatics, herbs. On few tables were stacked mountains of spices that overflowed their bags.
There was, in the remote bottom of the room, a fermented goat carcass. Its process wasn't well enough to prevent it from growing moss and mushrooms. Hanging upside down, it was completely drained of its blood.
'I won't blame them if Seven can eat it all, but if I ever notice a bad taste in my plate I'll kill them all.' He thought while wondering for how long had this been here.
He picked it up and leaned it on the table. He spoke.
"There you have it. Just in front of you, there's a seventy kilogram goat."
'Food.'
"Are you going to stay?"
"I want to see it all, I told you."
'A buffalo in one meal he said. Show me if you can chew more that you can. I am not 'that' worried.'
On his side, Keith was a little anxious. He wasn't sure he could let himself go with someone in the same room. Satish had almost lost his life last time.
'I'll stop you like last time. Don't worry. If we need to do that to gain an ally, a royal one, we give it our all.' Said Show. As long as he wasn't exposed, he felt comfortable.
Chandragupta looked around. He found butcher knives, two and three-pronged forks. By the time he turned around, Keith caressed the fur of the goat, its corpse was very stiff and its pelt very rough. He gave his wooden mask to the king with an advice.
"Don't come close."
His dry, red eyes turned black to the king's surprise. He had planned to cut the animal into bits but the kid had already climbed on the table, his jaw fully open he bit off the neck with no effort whatsoever.
'What?' He thought despite the bone crushing noise piercing his ears. His first reflex was to grab two butcher knives and lean against a wall while observing from afar.
The head of the animal disappeared first. Its tiny horns and teeth broke under the boy's powerful jaw. Unknown juice seeped from many openings, making Chandragupta very nauseous. Keith slurped it out and continued his frenzy. Such a beautiful meal.
Its hair felt like straw tickling his throat, its tongue was chewy and the skull gave him no difficulty. The brain was like a good cheese, melting his way out of its crust. Going down, Keith ripped open the throat, using his jaw and the muscles in his neck, visible to the naked eye when he used his force.
Anytime he had to pull strongly, he made his low throat noises. His voice had drastically changed with its recent reconstruction. The king believed for a moment he had given food to a tiger. The savageness of meal gave him goosebumps.
Thankfully for the king, its inside were long gone. It would've been way more painful to watch this specific part. The spine, the ribcage, and thicker bones lasted fifteen minutes. Its hooves were dirty but it wasn't inconvenient. The dirt particles had a stone-breaking sounds and did not interrupt the boy in any way.
Liquid leaked from what was left of the spine, its sole colour reminded the man of the putrid smell lingering in the kitchen.
The sour stench cut off his appetite. The tail and the hind legs vanished soon after.
'That's blatantly impossible!' Chandragupta thought, unable to speak. A whole goat had vanished under his eyes. And the kid had stopped moving for about a minute, looking upward and clenching his jaw tight.
He was barely conscious at this time, hesitating on continuing eating or beginning a whole new meal.
No. There was no choice to be made. He wasn't reluctant to those ideas yet he offered a slight resistance against both.
'Why? Why not? I want to eat.'
The silence was not disrupted by the watcher. He had been quiet the whole time. The monster hiding in the kid's clothes stopped his heart the instant he turned around to look at Chandragupta.
He shown a pained face and held his torso with both of his hands. After a few breathes, he could behave normally anew. His eyes were stuck back in the usual position.
'Five steps ahead, turn slightly on your left. Thank him.' Show said. The kid staggered toward the given position and gave a deep bow.
"Thanks for the meal. It was the best meal I had so far, because I wasn't hiding, and also because it was a gift."
Chandragupta made obscene signs with the knives he still held, just to verify if the thing in front of him was really blind.
'By the gods I swear it looked straight at my soul.' Being given absolutely no answer, the kid asked.
"Are you alright?"
The king hid the knives, blade pointing out, between his fat pads. 'That's the real thing! I messed up so much. That kid is anything but human! That's the most dangerous pet I've ever had.' He scratched his head, wide eyed.
"I am. Erm... You... You! You eeeeeeeh. Great. I'll escort you back to your room, Seven."
"Where's my mask?"
He extended his arm as much as possible to give the kid back the mask. Just one bite was way too much efficient. Better not give the 'funny things' a chance to occur.
"Here."
'I am shaky. For the first time it happens when I am not exited.'
---
A hundred meter farther, in the palace, Foreseer was pulling her hair out.
"Nonsense! Who are those people! What the hell has he done with my king?"
Her heart sank when her spell was lifted and cursed someone else. A random citizen who happened to pick up the gold lined good. He spent his time betting in an inn with drunk men and young waitresses.
The woman slammed her fist on her table. Anytime she closed her eyes, she could see how much the man had lost during his last game, and how bad he was at playing.