The following days went by fast. Keith ate like an ogre everyday and was kept safe from his usual problems. Nothing came to shake the palace's walls.
Under his mask, the skin on his face regenerated enough to articulate every words properly. This was no common recovery and anyone who saw his wounded face before would understand how off this kid was.
Its surface had a wax like texture and lots of impurities. Nonetheless it was a face, one with atrophied muscles, giving off awkward facial expressions.
His throat, gulping down anything cooked by Rhodo was elastic anew and allowed everything to be swallowed with ease.
The eye shaped symbol he kept under his tongue was conscientiously scraped every two days or so to not heal and allow the kid to explore the king's daily basis. Through someone else's eyes he experienced few pleasures. The beauty of many servants but also his own room, meticulously decorated with flowers, none that withered were kept.
Keith did his best to put faces on the voices he heard, but it was near impossible feat with no sound around the king. He asked Show to help him on the matter and knew only the ones he met the most.
First the king's assistant. He had a long braid with a round ornament holding it together. A shiny collar indicating his position in the social scale and wide eyes enhancing his eloquence.
Second was Foresee, a large woman with a red line slicing her head in two. The drawing caught most people's attention and it was meant to show her ability to discern present from future.
Third, Rhodo the cook, a dense man with pink cheeks, teeth demonstrating an absurd social distancing, and a skull shaped like a tired mango. The man was very involved in his work and proved to give it all his skill.
The main drawback of this curse was is that it allowed him to see the menu sometimes. It perfected the art of junk food to its extremity. It gave plenty of fun for his maker but disgust for the taster.
Somehow, the fear of loosing control over his body succeeded in motivating Keith feeding. The hallucinations where his mother lived scared him. They were gone with his sight. The sole thing haunting him was Show's morphed voice, manipulating the kid to have him eat.
The monster did not hesitate to whisper sweet words or memories of his mother's anger to make him move forward his reluctances.
There were days when people from the court came to ask him remedies for their various problems.
Bad breath? Mix the spit with perfume and hide it in a sealed flask, to wear around the neck.
Blurry sight? Filter a tear with clean cotton or untreated silk, then combine the material with coif every day. May even relieve from itchy discomfort.
Insomnia? Scrub eyelid with thin sand from a bag full of it. Mix it back inside and keep it under the bed.
Nothing out of Mister Show's field of expertise! Most of the tasks were boring, but it bought the kid a reputation among the court. Nothing he could've acquired without their trust. He was secretly grateful of the challenge with the snake.
He was no healer, he hid their faults with curses and let them go as if their issues all vanished. Their health was none of Keith's concern.
With his fingertips, he examined the skin on his forearms. It still bore scars and now had prominent bumps and crevices, an irregular pattern covered his neck, his torso and most of his arms. Third degree burn was no simple thing to treat and most healer would be proud of a living patient after such injury.
They had faith in their sorcerer. They believed more and more in him as the days passed.
His nails regrown as best as they could, letting a millimeter-long solid object pushing its way outside of his skin.
A moon passed quietly. The calm period during which he had no occasion to be in jeopardy extended to a second moon.
Keith kept following Show's instructions, understanding little by little the insight of curses. The link between his vision and the distortion of reality, the bond between nature's gifts and delayed results after each consultation.
Going bald? You get a slight shock on your head to make you forget why you came here in the first place. See you next time Prem.
Greedy husband? Bring me one coin from his purse, I'll certainly be able to do something with it...
And there was this day.
"You want me to do what?
Keith asked. He knew who was in front of him, the big woman that thought of him every day. Despite the fact he was young, he knew how to differentiate a beauty from ugliness. How could that possibly happen?
"I think I am pregnant. I want you to confirm. I don't rely on medicine because it'll mean asking someone and risking gossips. And it'll endanger his father."
Show's laugh made it hard for Keith to think straight. 'The father? Hah!' The monster said while remembering the sexual assault he saw her suffering. For some people, watching it is sometimes better than doing it.
Her tone was serious. Usually she'd come to greet him without lingering around. She never asked anything other than 'Do you need something?', yet this time she held his hand tight as she was shaking.
In his now personal room, Keith took off the mask only to feed, in private. Talking with a wooden mask de-humanized him to other people. No emotion to be seen and always this hollow tone. However to Foresee, he was much more than a small puppet under orders of the king.
'How can you be so sure about that?'
The kid asked, not convinced.
"A woman knows when she's in troubles."
Mister Show proposed to check inside the woman. He asked the kid to put both of his hands on her belly while he would pass through her flesh to see the kid, well hidden by the kid's wide robe.
She barely felt a cold sensation while the monster touched a plum sized foetus with the tip of his claws.
'That's... his power! I can feel it, it's incredible!'
'No doubt, she's right.' Show said, now retracted like a shadow under the kid.
"It is true Foresee. But I see no medical insight in what we've done, in a few moons anyone would be able to see it."
Keith said, believing he knew too well how pregnant woman looked like. Foresee spoke.
"The point is, I don't want it. I want it to die before it grows up and becomes visible. I need you to interrupt it."
"What about the father?"
'That's the king you idiot. She'll dishonour his family by giving birth to a half breed. An illegitimate child.'
"I love him, I want to protect him. Last night I've seen his future. How destructive this child would be if I continue nurturing it. It's okay, I'm prepared to abandon it. Can you help me?"
This was a request with more weight than all of the one he had so far. The kid did not think about it as a political advantage, a guarantee of his safety among the palace for at least the next two moons. Enough time to see the outcome of the catastrophe.
Alas Show had plans and made the kid speak in his stead.
"I can make it disappear. In an instant, with not even a word."
The woman smiled with sorrow while the kid thought 'You are cruel.'
'And you are too young to understand this asset she has brought us. Continue repeating!' And so did the kid, with a flat tone.
"I won't. Next time I have the occasion to, I'll speak with the father. Thanks to you I'll have another card up to my sleeve. This is a blessing in disguise, for me at least. I'll keep it for my own security."
The woman wanted to protest. It was her body, not a container for the dark one's safety. It was her choice to get rid of it, to protect the king. And now the kid was against her. Her eyes wandered in the room while her thought flowed in her head.
Keith understood Show's strategy only when he made him spoke. He couldn't protest nor attempt to help her.
The past two moons were so pleasant he didn't notice time passing by. His days were punctuated by the king's business and the meal Rhodo brought him. Those dishes were all different. More than half of them triggered Keith's feeding frenzy state.
He was driven by his gluttony and selfishness, he wanted to keep this comfort. The royal lifestyle was such a bliss.
Deep inside he was reticent, unwilling to let go of his happiness.
Mister Show knew the conflict in the kid's mind. The Explanation was divided in two colliding environments. While in one, a soundproof calmness and a mountain of corpses stood, the other had a raging weather and strict loneliness preying on the the border.
Foresee was mad indeed, sadly she had no desire to stand in the dark one's path.