Danger

Poppy stirred to the sound of scribbling. She made some sort of groaning sound and flopped onto her stomach with her face planted firmly into the mattress.

“Are we waking up?” a familiar, irksome voice asked.

She grumbled something indecipherable.

“I have breakfast,” he countered.

Poppy considered this for a moment, then sat up. She was facing the wall, so she turned herself around. There were somehow more papers piled onto the prince’s desk than from before. The man in question was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’d you go?” she called irritably. It appeared the second nap had sent her into a mood. It was his fault she fell asleep a second time, though, since he’d still been snoozing himself.

“Just getting your breakfast,” he replied chipperly as he entered the bedchamber with a plate in-hand. It was one of the small ones typically used for snacks, but was a more moderate size for Poppy.

“Breakfast in bed?” Poppy raised a brow as he set it down on the bedspread beside her. “Did I do something good?”

“I just wanted to do it for you,” Kai said and knelt in front of the bed so they were on eye level. Poppy certainly liked it better when she was of similar size to him, but she still enjoyed him putting forth the effort of crouching down. It was endearing in a way.

“Thank you,” she said, embarrassed.

It was a typical breakfast of eggs, fruit, and pancakes, although the portion sizes were much smaller than for the average person. Poppy made eye contact with the pancakes and felt her mouth start to water. There was even a miniature fork she could use that had previously been for decoration or something. Giants liked to own highly impractical things, fortunately for Poppy.

There was even the perfect amount of syrup drizzled on top and Poppy felt a warm flutter inside for such a small gesture.

She took a too-big bite of the pancake and waved her fork at Kai. “What about you?” she said around the gooey sweetness.

“I’m guessing you just tried to ask me if I ate,” he grinned and motioned to his mouth. “It was a bit difficult to understand. But yes, I did. I apologize for not waiting, but I need to eat or else working is impossible for me.”

Poppy choked down the large bit of pancake and cleared her throat. “I woke up way before you did, I’ll have you know,” she informed him. “It’s because you weren’t awake that I fell back asleep and slept in.”

He smirked and pressed a fist to his chest. “I’ll bear this guilt for your oversleeping with dignity.”

She shook her head but smiled as she cut into the egg.

“So,” the prince hedged “how do you feel?”

“Me?” she pointed to herself. “Like a million bucks.”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “You know what I mean. Do you feel pain anywhere?”

She shrugged, to which Kai displayed an expression of slight horror. “No-no!” she waved her hands. “I’m just sore, but that’s normal for someone’s first time.”

“Hm. But still,” he said, scratching at the bedspread with his thumbnail. “Is there anything you need?”

It was adorable how awkward he could suddenly be. “Make me a good dinner tonight?” she suggested. “No, actually, teach me how to made a good dinner! We can cook together. This way another soy sauce incident will never happen again.”

He grinned. “You know, thinking back, I kind of liked the salty sandwich.”

She grimaced at him. “Yeah, right. You don’t have to compliment me; you already succeeded in seducing me.”

He waggled his eyebrows to which she snorted.

“Where should your brother be today?” she asked between bites. It’d probably be best not to chew with her mouth open, as it most likely wasn’t an attractive activity, especially to the person she just spent the night with. Her ears burned at the memory.

“I’m not sure, although I can’t say I like that you’re blushing while asking about him.”

Poppy reddened further. She’d forgotten how scrutinizing yet sensitive this prince was.

“I was just blushing because my train of though led to other things!” she exclaimed. “Besides, your brother isn’t my type.”

“What’s your type, then?” he pushed, a smile tugging the corners his lips upward.

She frowned at him. “They have to be the same age or older, for example. I’m not interested in children.”

Kai blinked. “Well, that could pose a problem. He is rather childish.”

He’d tried to hide it, but Poppy had noticed how his smiled faltered for a moment. “Prince…” she drawled “how old are you?”

He grimaced. “It doesn’t really matter. You’re eighteen, so it’s just a year difference.”

“Kai,” she pushed.

He looked sideways, back at her. “Seventeen.”

“Damn it!” Poppy stabbed a piece of cantaloupe. “Why didn’t you tell me? It’s not a big deal, but I should have known.”

“Clearly it’s not a big deal.” He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you wouldn’t be interested in me anymore.”

“Because of a year age gap?” she inquired. “Ugh! I’m not that shallow. I’m angrier by the fact that you hid it. You’re such a child.”

She added this last bit in a joking manner, but the prince didn’t seem to like it. “Funny,” he said. The crackling in his eyes was a bit startling, and Poppy smiled tightly at him. “All jokes aside, though, why did you want to know where my brother is?”

“To spy on him, of course,” she explained. “You already gave me all the ingredients for the potion, so I still have to do my part.”

“But I feel like me gathering those ingredients benefitted us both,” he reasoned with a suggestive tone.

Poppy frowned and stood up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she claimed and went to slide off the bed. The prince grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and she yelped out a complaint as he lifted her back towards where he sat.

He observed her for a moment with a speculative eye. “You’re not running away, are you?” he inquired.

She frowned. Poppy hated it when he lifted her like this. It made her feel like a kid.

“No!” she swung a foot to kick at his wrist with. She barely grazed him. “I’m just doing my job!”

“Well, I give you the day off,” he said.

“I decline,” she fired back.

They glared at each other for a good while. “Fine,” he gave in and set her down on the floor. “But if you’re not back by dinnertime, I’m not feeding you.”

She made a discontent sound and pivoted on her heel before marching toward the sitting room.

“Also, you’re drinking that potion when you get back,” he said in sing-song voice.

Poppy made a rude gesture at him but couldn’t help smiling with her back turned to him. She was glad their dynamic hadn’t completely changed. They could still make fun of each other without feeling awkward or worrying about easily hurting each other’s feelings.

~

“Kai sent you, didn’t he?” Poppy said to the mouse.

The mouse who was actually a transmogrified young girl.

Colette shook her head, but Poppy still held her suspicions. That damn prince was going to worry himself into an early, grey-haired death.

“Fine,” Poppy sniffed. “You can at least keep me company, I suppose.”

Colette-Who-Was-Oak looked downright chipper after that. It was too bad she couldn’t speak in this form, but then again perhaps not. Human Colette tended to talk a lot from what Poppy had experienced, so perhaps she wouldn’t be the best spy.

“You’re lucky I’m so nice,” Poppy sighed and scratched the mouse’s head. “Any normal person would have been totally freaked out by their mouse friend turning into a human. Thankfully for you, I’m just a bit weirder than you are.”

Colette shook her head in what looked like an ecstatic nod. Poppy wasn’t sure whether to be amazed by her cuteness or slightly offended.

“It’s amazing how late a person can sleep in when they have no responsibilities,” Poppy mused as she peered down into the bedchamber in which Prince Rainn was still sleeping. His hair was all sorts of askew, and one of his legs dangled off the bed’s edge. He had big feet.

“Poor tax dollars,” Poppy sighed.

She admittedly had waken up a mere thirty minutes prior, but it wasn’t like Poppy was a politician or anything. In fact, she had hardly any responsibilities at all, which wasn’t something she should boast about. The past three months had been blissful, save for a few minor mishaps. Poppy had grown lazy; she wondered if climbing the racks in the kitchen pantry would be nearly as easy as it had been before.

Probably not. Sometimes she wondered if the prince was trying to make her fat with all the carb-filled foods he made. She had been on the skinny side, and not in a good way, just several months back. However, that was no excuse for letting her upper-body strength become lacking. It didn’t help that she now had more weight to carry.

Poppy squatted beside Colette and continued scratching her behind the ear. “I’m beginning to think it’d be smarter to just jump down there and do some personal rummaging, ya know? Don’t tell Kai,” she added in a serious tone. Colette blinked.

One for yes, two for no, Poppy had instructed her. It made communicating much easier.

“Well,” Poppy stood and brushed off her hands; the ground was dusty. “I suppose we can go and see what the emperor is up to, although I doubt we’ll be able to find him.” The weasel, she thought.

As they walked, Poppy wondered what had caused Kai’s change of heart. It’d appeared like he hadn’t trusted his younger sister before, but perhaps he’d changed his mind? Certainly this must have been the case if he’d sent her after Poppy like this. Or maybe he was letting worry cloud his judgement.

“Is your brother always such a worrywort?” Poppy asked curiously.

One blink.

“I thought so,” Poppy sighed and kicked a miniscule pebble that must have broken off from the surrounding stone. “It’s kind of overbearing sometimes.”

One blink.

Poppy snorted. “I bet you’re thinking of a whole bunch of stories in your head right now, and I’d love to hear every on of them.”

Blink.

They approached the vent which overlooked the emperor’s sitting room. Poppy froze midstep, causing Colette to stumble in surprise. “Do you notice something?” Poppy asked.

The mouse blinked twice.

“There’s still no light,” Poppy explained and narrowed her eyes. She had her glowing ball, but normally by right around here, the vents leading to the emperor’s rooms would have lightened up the dark air ducts.

Poppy walked closer and looked down, only to find the vent had been completely boarded over with a piece of sheet metal. She blanched and took a step back.

“Have you heard anything about the emperor closing off his vents?” Poppy asked Colette. The mouse shook her head.

Poppy’s suspicions were confirmed; the emperor had seen her that afternoon. It’d been no mistake when they made eye contact. First there’d been metal wiring adhered against the opening, and now it was closed off completely. Something was very wrong here.

“Did you ever notice your father being very perceptive. Like, strangely aware of his surroundings?” Poppy asked.

Colette sniffed at the metal sheet. She looked up at Poppy and tilted her head. It appeared she was just as perplexed by this as Poppy was.

Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t natural. If the emperor knew Poppy was travelling through his air ducts, this meant trouble for both her and Colette. They needed to get out of here immediately.

Perhaps the emperor had more magic in his blood than he’d previously let on. It’d be a plausible explanation for him to banish magic because he wanted to be the only one in power. However, there were also ways of harnessing magic without being naturally endowed as well. Typically those sorts of powers were malicious, and often caused the user more harm than good.

Poppy could possibly find something on the subject in Magick for the Predisposed. The book seemingly opened to a useful page every time she opened it, so perhaps it would lead her to an answer behind this mystery.

“Let’s get going,” Poppy said, brushing her hand along Colette’s fuzzy back. As bad as this sounded, Colette was Poppy’s insurance. The emperor was known to dote on his youngest child, and so long as they were together, Poppy highly doubted any harm would befall them. Still, it’d be better to put their safety as the highest priority and get themselves out of the ducts.

She walked at a quick clip, Colette pattering by her side. “Doesn’t the stone ground make your feet cold?” Poppy asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

If a mouse could shrug, she did. Poppy almost wanted to laugh. Colette lightly nipped at Poppy’s feet.

“Fairies don’t wear shoes,” she admonished. “Didn’t you know that?” Mostly because they flew just about everywhere. Still, the habit had been passed along to Poppy and she rarely wore shoes, which was a good thing seeing as there were never any in her size. Doll shoes weren’t comfortable in the slightest, and they had no arch support.

As they entered an intersection, Colette abruptly froze and tilted her head upwards. She sniffed the air, her tiny nose twitching.

“What’s wrong?” Poppy asked, halting her footsteps. Then she sensed it too. There was an unsettling tension in the air, as well as an acrid smell which was slowly but surely permeating down the ductway. She pinched her nose in distaste. “What the hell is that.”

Colette was turning around slowly, trying to pinpoint which way the scent was coming from. She jerked her head this way and that, ears twitching against something Poppy couldn’t hear. Then she startled backward.

“Colette!” Poppy exclaimed when the mouse bumped backwards into her. “What’s wrong?”

The mouse sidled up to her, shuddering slightly. Poppy was unsettled to say the least. She held up her glowing ball of light and urged it forward, down the ductway Colette had cringed away from.

It floated slowly down a straight path, slightly bobbing up and down on a phantom wind. Further and further it went, until pair of large, yellow eyes flinched away from the light. Something far bigger than Poppy and Colette combined pressed its paw onto the orb and slammed it into the ground, its long talons squeezing into it until the orb finally burst into a glimmering combustion of pixie dust.