Three Beast Kings
Get a Haircut

The late summer flowers werestarting to bloom along the verges, bursting into bright yellows,blues and reds between the footpaths and forest and at the bottom ofthe low hedgerows that lined the fields. The birds and insectschirped proudly in the midday sun, hidden from the heat under thelush canopy of the forest, which 'shushed' serenely throughout thelengthening days, as if to calm all of the babies born that spring. Acool breeze still lolled down from the mountains occasionally, as thesummer heat had yet to reach their high, snowy peaks, and rolledlazily through the valley before disappearing out over the plains. Inthe fields, the simply-dressed labourers pulled the weeds frombetween the quickly growing corns and grains, the older childrenrunning around with slingshots and stones to frighten off the hungrybirds.

As the town bell rangto signal an hour after noon, the start of lunch, everyone downedtools and sat along the banks of the river with their packed lunchesof meats, bread and summer fruits, the cool air wafting fromthe water the only respite from the current heat. The children allran up the well-trodden path through the thin belt of trees to thetown and up to the temple, where the priest handed out cold berryjuice and crushed ice: it was difficult enough for an adult to workin this heat, the little ones deserved a treat.

As the children ranoff, back to their parents for feeding, a merchant approached thepriest. He looked about the painted wooden walls and carvings, faded from the years, withall the interest of a shopkeeper on a slow day, lingering a little ona familiar mural before speaking.

“Isthe ice only for the children?” he enquired, thumbs hooked aroundhis belt.

“Adultshave to pay.” the priest reported with his usual friendly smile.

“Howmuch?”

“Whatdo you have?”

“I'mhere trading chickens.”

“That'srare for a Badger.” the priest noted.

“It'sgood business.” the merchant shrugged “You Foxes aren't the onlyones who like to trade them.”

The priest chuckledknowingly, considering the trade for a moment as he put the lid backon the small wooden barrel to keep the ice cool. He struggled with ita moment, betraying his age and frailty, drumming his long fingers onthe wood as he crunched the numbers.

“I'lltrade one chicken for five cups of ice.” he offered.

The badger considered amoment as well, flicking back his small ears, then nodded, sealingthe deal.

“I'llhave to fetch the chicken from the stock.” the admitted “Do youwant it killed?”

“Youtransport them live?” the priest asked, surprised “Isn't thatinconvenient?”

“Itis, but meat spoils so quickly this time of year. Chicken feeddoesn't cost as much as rotten meat.”

“Ah,I see.”

“I'llbe back in ten minutes, then.” the badger informed him, waving alittle as he went back to the market.

The priest waved back,watching the badger walk away before going to the back of the temple.Behind the small carved pulpit, right next to the door that led tothe living quarters, a large, black iron ring lay on the ground,revealing the entrance to the basement. The priest took the ring inboth hands and pulled it up with all his might, the frigid airwafting up at him as it opened.

“Junya?”he called into the gloom, muscles complaining from the effort “Howare you doing down there?”

“Flippingcold!” the young man inside laughed, poking his head around thestair support “What do you need?”

“Oneof the merchants is trading a chicken. I'll prepare the vegetables,so please get five cups of ice ready before going to see the Lord.”

“Rightyou are.” Junya agreed.

The priest closed thehatch, leaving Junya in the gloom of the lamplight. The young manbreathed on his hands before picking up his axe again, taking chunksoff the battered block of ice before him. He never knew how it cameto be so cold down here, especially this time of year, but since itmeant they could keep ice in the summer he couldn't complain. Eventhe Lords house couldn't keep ice.

The cold, whatevercaused it, seemed to radiate right off the compacted dirt walls andup through the roughly laid stone floor. The wooden constructs thatlined the basement were always wet to the touch, and Junya supposedthe cold was the only thing to stop them from rotting. They had to bepretty sturdy, as the round, flat barrels they held up were prettyheavy, especially when they were full of ice.

Once the five cups werefilled, Junya prepared the Lords regular order, wrapping it up in theleather cloth. At his fastest, he could count to seven between thetime he pulled off his thick work clothes and ran up the stairs tothe warm, but he had to be careful not to slip (the priest tellinghim off would be more painful than the twisted ankle). Between theLords order and the cups of ice, he counted to twenty before he wasout of he basement, freezing his poor tail off. He nudged the trapdoor closed with his foot, the loud 'thud' of its closing alertingthe entire temple to his presence.

“Ah,just in time.” the priest greeted, ignoring for now him slammingthe door closed, limp chicken in one hand “The ice is for thismerchant here.”

“Oh!”the badger exclaimed, taking his thumbs out from under his belt“Goodness! Isn't it cruel to lock such a pretty young lady down inthe cold cellar all day? My dear, you look frozen!”

The priest covered hissmirking mouth subtly with his sleeve. Junya just smiled as he walkedover and handed the merchant his ice, using his now free hand to wipehis long fringe from in front of his face.

“I'ma man.” he informed him, putting on his deepest voice.

The merchants mouthdropped open and he started to stutter, ears falling back against hishead unhappily. Junya and the priest just laughed as he flailed,trying desperately to replace the words to take back his compliments.

“Don'tworry, sir, you're far from the first.” the priest told him,patting his large arm reassuringly.

“AndI doubt you'll be the last.” Junya sighed “What is it about me,anyway? I'm pretty tall, you know!”

“You'revery slim for a man, even for a Fox.” the priest supposed “Andyou do have a feminine face.”

“You'rekilling me, boss.” the young man laughed “I'm a man in the primeof his youth! How am I meant to replace a wife if people keep saying I'mpretty?”

“Worryabout that after your delivery.” the priest suggested “You knowthe retainers will replace any excuse not to pay.”

“Right,right, I'm on it.”

Junya grabbed theleather satchel from next to the door behind the pulpit, slipping theLords order in and fastening the straps tightly. The merchant,utterly embarrassed, slinked away quietly. The priest let him go tosave his blushes, turning his attention to Junya.

“Dinnershould be finished by the time you get back.” he informed him “Iknow it's chicken, but please don't run.”

“Sure,of course.” the young fox promised half-heartedly as he pulled onhis outside shoes.

“Imean it.” the priest urged “Please don't.”

Junya stood, smilingreassuringly at the priest.

“Iwon't.” he promised again “I'll be back soon.”

How like the priest toworry, but Junya wasn't a child any more – he knew how much hispoor leg could take before he couldn't walk any more.

The labourers were justgetting back to work, pulling themselves from the cool bank andbidding a friendly hello to Junya as they passed on the path thatringed around the town, saving them all from navigating the windystreets between the buildings. The canopy cast a shadow along theriverbank, where the children played with their feet in the shallowwater until the last possible second before returning to the fields.Soon enough, it was only the sound of cicadas that travelled up thestony path to the crossroads with him.

As he climbed the hill,he came to the gap in the trees that gave the best view of the town –he could see the market bustling now that lunch had ended, full ofbadgers, crows and his fellow foxes milling around, trading andplaying chess outside of the wooden buildings. He thought that thepriest could make some good trades if more of the visiting merchantsknew that he could make such good ice, but the priest insisted thatthen he'd have none left for the children.

From here, he couldalso get a good look at the house he grew up in, spying it by itswonky thatch roof: a new family lived there now, two parents andthree small children. They looked happy whenever he saw them in town,and they kept the house nice – his mother would have been happy.Tearing himself away from the view, he continued up the hill.

The Lords house stoodat the top, where the hill ended and the mountain began, hiddenbehind a high, lime-washed wall and expensive looking stainedmahogany gate. Needless to say, it was the biggest building in town,since it served as the centre of the town government as well as aprivate home, standing at two stories and a basement tall with aheavy tile roof instead of thatch. Junya knew better than to try andget in the front gate, instead venturing around to the unsteady sidepath, which was only just wide enough to get past to the side gatebefore falling down the heavily wooded hill.

The rickety gate wasunlocked, as always, leading to the shabby little courtyard,currently full of sacks and crates with errant straw across itcobbles. They must have just had a delivery: Junya sure didn't wantto be the person whose job it was to carry those crates along thatpath. Remembering being lectured before, he shut the gate behind himbefore jogging up to the single wooden door, feeling a little twingein his leg.

“Delivery!”he called, knocking on the open top part of the door.

The cook poked her headaround, smiling pleasantly as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Afternoon,Junya dear.” she greeted “You're just in time, as always. We'vegot our hands full here, I'm afraid, would you mind taking it throughto the cold room for us?”

“Noproblem.” he agreed, pushing open the bottom half of the door andwiping his feet thoroughly on the mat before entering.

The cook insisted onpopping a gooseberry into Junya's mouth before letting him proceedfrom the kitchen, warning him to watch his step on the freshly waxedfloor. The entire household was in a flurry, darting to and fro withflowers, silverware and fine fabrics. Knowing where the cold roomwas, Junya danced around the busy servants, along the winding hallsand down the basement stairs, where one of the retainers frownedpompously at him, looking obviously at his pocket watch.

“Youwere supposed to be here at 2.15.” the retainer barked “It is now2.17. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Ithought it unwise to run through the house.” Junya replied airily,more than used to their ways “Since the floor was freshly waxed.And it would have been most ungentlemanly of me to leave such heavyice with the elderly cook, and you retainers are sobusy.”

The retainer scowled athim as Junya opened the cold room door, the frigid air creeping intothe hallway. Being a good merchant, Junya wiped down the long slateto get rid of yesterdays condensation, pulling the ice from his bagand laying it on top. As there was a little ice left from yesterdaysdelivery, he placed that on top.

He stepped asideknowingly as the retainer pulled out a wooden ruler and proceeded tomeasure all sides of the ice, nose wrinkling in dissatisfaction todiscover they were all perfect. Junya merely held out his hand, nottrying to hide his smirk as he was payed.

“Imust know.” the retainer grumbled “How do you get it from thetemple to here without losing an inch of it?”

“Tradesecret.” was his reply, making a note of counting his coins beforehe put them securely in his pocket.

Any idiot could figureout that Junya cut the ice too big, so it could melt a little on thewalk up and still be the right size when he got here, but retainerswere a special kind of idiot. With nothing left to do here, he ambledback up the stairs, stepping aside as more people ran past, armsladen with this, that and the other. What was all the fabric for,anyway?

It must be gettingclose, he thought, to the young Lady's wedding. All this fuss andbother... they were sure to order a ton more ice for the big day,what with all the well-to-do guests that were sure to come. Morebread too, and probably some cake. The whole town would probablybenefit from the money they'd bring in.

Wondering back throughthe house, he greeted the rushing staff properly between getting outof the way and peaking at all the colourful things they werecarrying.

“Junya!”an excited young woman called above the general hustle “Oh, Junya!”

He looked around,knowing the voice well, and smiled as the young Lady of the house ranup to him, skirts hitched up in her hands. He was never sure if itwas 'proper' for the young Lady to wander around the servants hallsand back rooms, but supposed it would get very lonely in the fancypart of the house with only pompous people to talk to. She grabbedhis hand playfully as she caught up to him, her maids just lookingon, used to her friendly ways.

“Junya,you must see my wedding dress, it's wonderful!” she exclaimed “It'sfinally finished and it's a real thing of beauty!”

“Imustn't stay too long.” he insisted as she pulled him along thehallway.

As they went throughthe door to the main house, anything that could remotely be called'useful' disappeared, replaced by the luxurious and expensive, thingsthat looked absolutely gorgeous, but would probably break if lookedat too hard. Junya always felt uneasy around the glass frontedcabinets and fine crockery from lands far away, but the young Ladypulled him past all of them quickly, on to one of the drawing rooms.

So this was where theywere hiding – all those foreigners, swanning about the Lords house.You could tell they were foreign since their hair was a rainbow ofdark and bright reds, whereas the local foxes were more of a sandycolour, occasionally blonde in tone, but certainly not bright red.They all gave Junya a disapproving look as the young Lady pulled himpast, but he didn't mind them. They never ordered anything from thetowns traders, anyway.

The young Lady pulledhim into one of the drawing rooms with the glass doors, the fancytables and chairs pushed to the side to display the elaborate scarletgown, embroidered in classic mythological themes along the bottom inrich golds and browns. Junya wasn't exactly an expert in dresses, andhe wasn't tailor, but he could tell the gown was far fancier and (hedidn't doubt) more expensive than the ones the townswomen wear attheir weddings.

“Isn'tit lovely?” she enthused, finally letting go if his hand and cooingover her dress “Come touch it, it's so soft!”

“I'mafraid I'll get it dirty.” Junya confessed.

“Oh,don't be silly.”

They looked around asthe door opened behind them, revealing that fancy man Junya had seenonce or twice in town. His hair was a particularly bright red, fartoo over-styled in Junya's humble opinion, and he dressed in silksand cottons to match. He examined Junya in the way all high bloodsexamined those below them, managing to look down his nose despiteJunya being taller.

“Amixed breed?” he growled, disgust barely concealed on his face.

“Darling!”the young Lady greeted, dashing to the fancy man to embrace him“Darling, have you met Junya? Don't let those pretty blue eyes foolyou, I can assure you he's 100% fox: he's the son of my oldnursemaid, we practically grew up siblings. Junya, this is the manI'm going to marry! Isn't he fetching?”

“Apleasure to meet you.” Junya lied.

“Andyou.” the fancy man equally lied, his high-bred disgust onlyslightly lessened by Junya's pure breed status “Will you be at theceremony, Junya?”

“Alas,I have nothing to wear.” he answered, knowing full well that hewasn't actually welcome at such a fancy event, despite what the youngLady may say.

“That'stoo bad.” the fancy man played along, voice rich with the accent ofsome place far away “I suppose you'll miss the Lady when she leavesto travel home with me.”

“Asmuch as my own sister.”

“Weeven look alike, don't we?” the young lady laughed, not picking upon their tense exchange “All the other children thought we reallywere siblings. Blue eyes are so unusual on a pure-breed fox, it wasthe only way they could tell us apart: I wish I had something prettylike that to help me stand out.”

The door opened again,cutting off the young Lady's chattering. Junya bowed his head alittle as the Lord walked in, looking older than he had the last timehe saw him, hair starting to grey around the edges. He seemedsurprised a moment, then put on his usual official expression.

“Junya,”he greeted “What brings you here today?”

“Theyoung Lady just wanted to show me her wedding dress.” he confessed“It's most exquisite.”

“Iwanted to make him try it on.” she confessed, hand still on herfiancés chest “Then you both came along and spoiled my fun.”

The Lord sighed in anirritated manner, but smiled in that fatherly way of his.

“Nowmy dear, you must stop taking advantage of him.” he chastised “Youaren't children any more.”

“Ohfather, don't you think it would be funny?” she laughed “Junya'sso pretty, I'm sure he'll be so elegant in my dress!”

Junya and the Lordchuckled awkwardly, while the fancy man just looked confused.

“Junya,why don't you come with me?” the Lord offered mercifully “We'llneed a larger order of ice for the wedding and I'd like to get aquotation.”

“Certainly,my Lord.” he agreed, not eager to be dressed up as a woman.

“You'reno fun.” the young Lady pouted “See you soon, Junya.”

He bowed to her alittle as he followed her father from the room, the Lord leading himback towards the servants entrance.

“Pleaseexcuse her.” the Lord said “She's been so giddy the past fewweeks.”

“Oh,I'm used to her.” he pointed out “It's strange to think she'll bemarried soon.”

“You'veboth grown so fast.” the Lord agreed.

They stopped at thedoor that led to the back rooms, the Lord turning to him. He examinedthe young man a moment, smiling in that fatherly manner again.

“It'sbeen a while since I've seen you.” he figured “Have you gottentaller? You're starting to become a fine young man: your mother wouldbe proud.”

“Thankyou, my Lord.” Junya blushed “Although I've yet to outgrow thisfeminine face of mine.”

“Asensible wife won't mind it.” the Lord chuckled “Have you found asensible woman yet?”

“Notyet.” he admitted “But I am looking. I think my gangly legs putgirls off.”

“Youknow, a man can't support a family on an ice sellers wage. Have youthought about some other vocation? I'm sure the priest replaces you veryuseful, but you must think about your future.”

“I'mnot sure what use I'd be for anyone.” Junya confessed “I'm soskinny, and with my bad leg I'm no good for physical labour. I'm toouneducated for trade.”

“Youcan read, can't you?” the Lord recalled.

“Onlyjust.” he admitted.

“Irecall that you have a charm with people. Perhaps, once my daughteris married, I might replace some employment for you here. I'm sureyou'll also replace a more suitable wife here than down in the village.”

“That'svery kind of you, my Lord.”

“Notat all. Now, you best be off before the priest misses you.”

Junya returned to thetemple just as the labourers were leaving the fields, trudging alongwith their tools over their shoulders. The air had cooled, only thefood and drink stalls remaining open in the market, although the sunwould not set for several hours yet. The younger children stillseemed to have some energy, chasing after butterflies and greetingtheir parents coming in from the fields.

As Junya got to thetemple door, several children rushed in past him. He just chuckled,following them. The stew was ready, as promised, and the priestserved up dishes for them all. The children continued to chat andplay as they ate, stopping just long enough to say grace and runningfrom the table to play outside the second the last one was finished.The priest chuckled at their antics and cleared away the plates whileJunya poured the hot water from the kettle into the sink.

“Whatkind of work do you think the Lord will give you?” the priestasked, passing him the dirty plates.

“I'mnot sure.” Junya admitted as he started scrubbing “I think hejust wants to keep me around since I look like his daughter.”

“Ohdear.” the priest teased “However will you get a wife? Perhapsyou need to cut your hair.”

“That'syour answer to everything.”