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One night, a demon named Freak sat in a bar in the Northern Desert, waiting for a storyteller to take the stage. Behind him, two demons gossiped about the palace. After a sudden, violent purge of staff, the palace of Mobei-Jun, King of the Northern Desert, sought new servants. So, after the performance, Freak cleaned himself as best he could in a frigid stream and went to the palace, where a motley group was already waiting to be interviewed.
It was no light thing to choose work in the palace. Mobei-Jun was the very picture of demonic royalty - powerful and merciless. Freak would not have chosen such service if he had other options, but not many wanted to give work to such an odd demon in the North, and an empty belly was often louder than a cowering heart.
The head palace servant gave him a quizzical look when she saw him. Freak wasn’t surprised; he was an odd demon, like an upright dog with coarse fur ill-suited to the north; round ears; and a sharp, shaky laugh that tittered out whenever he was nervous.
Still, for whatever reason, Freak was picked, while many others were dismissed without a word. Freak was placed in the care of two mid-level servants, a horse-headed demon named White Nose and a bull-faced demon named Sharphorn. It was decided that Freak would work generally until a specific purpose was found for him. So he cleaned, delivered food and parcels, and generally made himself useful from sunup to moonrise.
He worked hard to keep his eccentricities under control. For a time, he succeeded - but one incident in the kitchens very nearly ruined him. He returned to the kitchens one day, arms full of dishes to be washed, and came face to face with Mobei-Jun himself.
Freak’s maw fell open. He blinked, sure that exhaustion was making him imagine things. But, no - the demon standing in the kitchen was the King of the Northern Desert himself. He seemed to be too big for the humble kitchen. He was dressed in plain, though still finely made, robes. Going without the heavy regalia of the court made the king seem even more lethal than usual, like a big cat without the ornate collar that hampered its hunting skills. The King’s expression only made him look even more intimidating - glower heavy and lips almost pulled back into a snarl.
The objects of his ire appeared to be one of the head cooks, an old demon with curling ram’s horns, and the lump of dough he held in an iron grip.
The old cook shook a clawed finger at him. “No, no, that’s too hard! You must be gentler, my king. Start over!”
His glare snapped to the old woman. This time, he did snarl, but the demon just stared him down. After a few tense moments, Mobei-Jun sighed, all ire deflating. Freak scurried away before they noticed him.
Later that night, he recounted the strange event to White Nose and Sharphorn over their evening meal in the servants' quarters.
White Nose nodded. “Mh, our King does that sometimes. He cooks for his consort.”
Confusion must have shown on Freak’s face. Sharphorn chimed in, “Yep. Started a while ago. He cooks sometimes, only things for the prince-consort.” She leaned toward Freak, voice lowering. “I heard that he makes the king do it. Threatens to leave if he doesn't.”
White Nose slapped the other demon’s arm. “That’s gossip. Don’t fill his head with nonsense.”
Freak’s paws trembled. “The consort makes him cook?” Mobei-Jun was a truly powerful demon. Freak didn’t want to imagine another demon in the palace strong enough to order about the king as if he were a common peasant.
Laughter bubbled noxiously in his gut. “Is - heeheehee! - Is the consort an angry sort?”
White Nose’s ear flicked in thought. “We’re not sure,” She leaned in as well, Aversion to gossip seemingly gone. “The consort is - strange. He used to be an advisor and scribe. Sort of weak. Was like that for decades! But now he has the king in his pocket, so it must have all been a show, right?”
Freak bit his lip to stop more laughter. What sort of demon had he chosen to work under?
=
“Do the concubines ever get jealous of Mobei-Jun’s consort?”
Freak was following behind White Nose as they helped set up guest quarters for a visiting group of southern dignitaries. It was a large delegation, so every spare hand was helping clean, cook, and organize for their arrival.
White Nose, polishing furniture, gave Freak a look. “What concubines? Have you seen any concubines since you’ve been here?”
Freak blushed and ducked his head, cleaning the floor with renewed vigor. “No, but… surely he has them? What lord doesn’t?”
White Nose snorted. “This lord. I don’t think the prince-consort would stand for it.”
Fear gripped Freak in its talons. Wouldn’t stand for it?
Powerful demons coveted openly and without shame. The habit naturally extended to mates - one way to establish oneself was to collect an exclusive harem. It should have been second nature for a demon like Mobei-Jun to have one. But to have a spouse powerful enough to say no…
Freak’s teeth chattered.
That evening, he witnessed the prince-consort’s power firsthand.
The delegation was even larger than expected, so Freak was one of the demons tasked with helping serve them. The visiting demons were loud, brash, and ate enough for an army. There were none too patient, either. When Freak was too slow removing a broken plate, he narrowly dodged a heavy blow from one of the Southern soldiers.
Before the visitor could try striking him again, a hand grabbed the soldier and threw him to the ground. It was another southern demon - a strong, tall woman who would look human if not for her pointed ears and lashing snake tail.
“Out. Now,” She growled. “Your vulgarity shames us.”
The other demon bared his teeth. “But he -”
“Now!”
The soldier flinched, then slunk away like a kicked dog.
The tall demon frowned at Freak. “I apologize for him.”
Freak’s teeth chattered. “Heehee! It’s okay, ma’am! Thank -hee hee! Thank you for defending such a lowly servant as myself.”
After the first few courses were demolished, the head dignitary stood up. Silence fell over the hall. The head dignitary bowed his head and addressed Mobei-Jun, who sat on his dais set above the hall, stone-faced and with a distinct posture of abject boredom. “Thank you for hosting us, Esteemed King of the Northern Desert and Prince-consort of the Northern Desert.
Beside the King of the Northern Desert sat his consort. He looked bored as well, though more engaged than his husband. It was the first time Freak had seen him - he looked as small and unassuming as White Nose and Sharphorn had made him sound. This little human had the king under his thumb?
The dignitary made a gesture, and two demons walked up behind him. One was the woman who had defended Freak from the soldier. The other was shorter and had their face hidden behind a fine veil. “As an offer of peace and goodwill, our King offers his most prized possession - his beautiful daughter Xie Lanyi!”
The shorter figure removed their veil. Awed murmurs ran through the banquet hall. Xie Lanyi was the most beautiful demon Freak had ever seen; so pale she looked carved from marble, with a soft face and jet-black eyes, like an owl’s.
The dignitary gestured to the snake-tailed demon. “Also entrusted to you is Bodyguard Lin, Xie Lanyi’s personal protector and retainer. She shall ensure that no harm befalls Xie Lanyi before her confirmation as your concubine. We do not require her back - her life is yours to do with as you please.”
Bodyguard Lin stepped closer to Xie Lanyi. The soldier was stone-faced. Xie Lanyi blinked a few times, her ebony eyes glimmering wetly. Freak saw the slightest motion as the back of Bodyguard Lin’s hand brushed against Xie Lanyi’s.
The northern demons in the banquet hall cast nervous glances at Mobei-Jun. The demon king did not look flattered by the sudden offering. He looked downright offended, and with good reason - his aversion to concubines had to be well-known, and springing an unwanted gift on him at dinner was outrageously rude. They had to be incredibly confident in Xie Lanyi’s beauty. But would it be enough to sway such a stony heart?
Mobei-Jun opened his mouth. Before he could speak, his human consort leaned over and whispered fervently in his ear. The demon king frowned, then nodded.
He stood up. The room held its breath.
“Your offering has been accepted,” Mobei-Jun said. “My servants will escort her and the bodyguard to temporary chambers.”
Freak’s eyes bulged. White Nose, carrying platters across the room, stared at him with the same gobsmacked expression.
Xie Lanyi and Bodyguard Lin followed servants out of the banquet hall with the air of two people being led to their executions.
The dinner concluded quietly, without any additional surprises.
The palace after the dinner, however, was anything but composed. Gossip flew through the servants’ quarters with the ferocity of arrows on a battlefield. Some claimed that Xie Lanyi’s beauty was so great it blinded three servants; others swore that the prince-consort had walked out of the hall in a rage, and that surely the new potential consort would be thrown out soon. Freak contributed nothing to the stories. He listened and waited to see which way the wind would blow.
It blew in a way no one could have seen coming. The very next day, an official announcement was made about the new consort.
Xie Langyi and Bodyguard Lin were dead.
No concrete details were available - At least to servants. Freak tried to sift through gossip for anything usable, and the general consensus was that Xie Lanyi and Bodyguard Lin had wronged the consort somehow and had paid for it with their lives
That evening, Sharpnose berated Freak for his dour countenance. He couldn’t help himself. Most demons reacted to him with scorn or disgust. He’d only known Bodyguard Lin for moments, but she’d been kind to him.
Clearly, there had never been a serious plan to take in Xie Lanyi as a concubine. The human consort told Mobei-Jun to take in the poor demon only to kill her and assert his dominance.
He wondered how White Nose and Sharphorn could have ever thought of the human as small or weak. The prince-consort had the king snugly under his thumb, with enough sway over him to force him to cook meals like a servant or kill potential rivals just to maintain his power. The prince-consort was a terror, and Freak had been lucky to blend in with the scenery so far.
Freak was more frightened than ever. But a bustling palace always had work to be done, and he soon put the upsetting incident out of mind.
He was reminded of it, quite suddenly, months later.
The palace paid decent wages (though decent in the realm usually meant ‘any amount of money without threats of harm’). One rest day, pouch full of more coin than he’d ever had before, Freak went to market to find his favorite treat, rotting cow haunch drizzled with tree sap.
Just as he was about to sink his fangs into the delicacy, he paused. Across the way, in front of a merchant selling human baubles, stood a couple. For a split second, he thought it was Bodyguard Lin and Xie Lanyi. The taller demon had a snake’s tail the same color as Bodyguard Lin’s, and it was curled around the waist of a demon with the same black eyes as Xie Lanyi.
But the longer Freak looked, the less sure he was. The two wore rough, simple clothes, and they smiled and laughed like newlyweds - nothing like their stony-faced counterparts.
The shorter one stretched to kiss the taller one on the cheek. Freak left the pair to their moment and resumed his meal.
=
The most haunting show of the prince-consort’s power was the most subtle display of all.
The prince-consort was peckish when he worked (yet another aberration - a king’s bride who felt the need to work!), and there was a carefully curated list of consort-approved finger foods maintained by kitchen staff. One evening, Sharphorn gave Freak the task of delivering a platter of perfectly ripe pale tundra peaches to the prince-consort in his study.
His paws trembled as he took the plate. “Can’t some - heehee! - someone else do it?”
Sharphorn shorted derisively. “You work here, so work! And stop that laughing.”
Freak bit his lip. He carried the tray, more carefully than he had carried anything before, up to the prince-consort’s study.
The door was open. Freak peeked into the room and almost dropped the plate.
The prince-consort was standing before his husband. A portal was open on the wall. The couple had their heads close together, exchanging quiet words. The king traced a gentle, pale, lingering hand along his husband’s cheek. Then he stepped through the portal and disappeared.
Freak was going to have a heart attack.
Obviously, the prince-consort held Mobei-Jun in his thrall, able to make the king both curb his instincts for a harem and serve him food like a mere servant. But what Freak had just seen was far more terrifying than anything before. Because the king had looked at his bride with love: his dark eyes practically burned with it. By enchantment or more natural means, the prince-consort - a mere human! - possessed the king’s heart completely. The human was unfathomably powerful in matters of the heart, and the king was so enamored that he was unaware that the human had him in his grasp.
The prince-consort stared at the wall until the portal disappeared. Then he turned around. “Oh, I didn’t see you there!”
The plate rattled in Freak’s grip. His teeth chattered uncontrollably. “Heh heh heh! Hee hee hahaha!”
The prince-consort frowned. “Are you okay?”
Freak nodded, but he couldn’t stop laughing. The prince-consort took the platter from his hands and guided Freak to a free chair. He pressed a cup of water into Freak’s paws.
Surely there were rules about taking food from the lord’s spouse or the lord himself? But Freak had already erred by intruding on a private moment between the two and chattering like a lunatic in front of the prince-consort. His life was already forfeit. Freak took the water and sipped. An icy calm settled over him.
“You must be new. What’s your name?”
Freak drained the cup. “I’m Freak, your lordship.”
The prince-consort’s eyebrows rose. “Your parents named you Freak?”
The demon shook his head. “If my parents named me, I don’t know about it. Everyone’s always called me Freak.”
Freak never imagined he could speak so calmly to the virtual shadow lord of the Northern Desert. But, if he was going to die, what was there to worry about?
The prince-consort tapped his cheek in thought. “Why Freak? I’m Shang Qing-hua, by the way.”
Freak put the cup down and gestured vaguely to his entire body. “Because I am a freak, your lordship. My fur is strange, and besides that, I laugh when I’m scared.”
“It’s not that weird, though,” The prince-consort - Shang Qing-hua - said, “You’re just a hyena, right?”
Freak tilted his head.
The prince-consort waved his hand vaguely. “It’s like - a cat? But looks like a dog. Vicious predator, scavenger, spots or stripes, and they have a sort of laughing call. Like you.”
“A hyena?” The foreign word felt odd on his tongue. “I’ve never heard of that. Where did you learn about them?”
Shang Qing-hua gestured toward the overflowing shelves on the wall. “Oh, you know. Books.”
He muttered something else - definitely books and not a scrapped plotline - but Freak barely heard him. His gaze was fixed on the walls of books and scrolls in the study. All the world’s knowledge must have sat on those shelves.
“Do you like to read?” Shang Qing-hua asked.
“I can’t. But I’ve always wanted to learn.” Freak said without thinking. Then he looked back at the human. He realized, all at once, that he probably was not in fact about to die, and that he’d been behaving far too familiarly with the prince-consort.
Freak threw himself to the ground, forehead hitting the ground as he prostrated himself. “Heh heh! Not that - Heh! - I am dissatisfied! I am very happy! Please ignore me, prince-consort!”
Shang Qing-hua sighed. “Wow, it’s tiring being on the other side of this. Stand up, stand up!”
Freak stood, wringing his paws together. Shang Qing-hua smiled at him. “So you can’t read. Do you want to learn?”
And that was the end of Freak’s - now Hyena’s - time as a servant and the beginning of his time as an apprentice scribe. He devoured his lessons as if they were fresh carcasses. For the first time, Hyena found himself laughing out of pleasure instead of fear.
Speaking of which, his fear of the prince-consort had not changed. The strange, frightening human still held immeasurable power, especially over his husband, the king.
But being terrifying and different wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world.