Three Beast Kings
Monkey in the Works

Everything waspretty peaceful in the town – the real excitement was going on atthe Lords house, where everyone was rushing around desperately tryingto get everything ready for the rapidly approaching wedding. The Lordwas the kind of man who ordered things well in advance of when heactually needed them, so from the day the wedding date was decidedthe baker, farmers and merchants knew exactly how much they needed toprepare. There were always the last minute changes of course (whichthe retainers always blamed on the bride, but the foxes had theirdoubts), but all in all, everything ran smoothly.

“Besure not to step on any cracks today.” the priest told the childrenas he let them out to play after breakfast “And don't speak to anypixies!”

Junya stepped aside asthe children ran past. The old priest cricked his back, sore fromhaving carried one of the little ones from the kitchen.

“Tryingnot to jinx it?” he asked as he reported for duty.

“Jinxwhat?” the priest confirmed “And don't you dare say it! Your poormother was forever troubled by your jinxes!”

“C'mon,you know I don't believe in that stuff.”

Thepriest grumbled in his direction, letting him into the temple so hecould start work. Despite not believing in jinxes, he didn't sayaloud anything about the wedding – just in case something didgo wrong.

They used a lot moreice that day than they normally would – news of the wedding hadspread to the neighbouring towns, so vendors and merchants from milesaround had turned up to trade. In the summers heat, they all wantedsome ice to cool themselves, and the more they wanted it, the morethey were willing to trade. The priest was ecstatic.

“We'vereceived some excellent fabric from the sheep.” he told Junya as hebrought up a couple more buckets “And a great length of thread fromsome sparrows – all we need now is a seamstress and we can make thechildren some new clothes!”

“I'msure they'll be thrilled.” Junya agreed “If we ask the tailorswife nicely she might help us out. By any chance, have you-”

The priest held up asmall wooden box, filled to the brim with boiled sweets. He laughedthrough his nose, knowing full well that was what Junya was after.

“Fromthe rabbits.” he confirmed “Only one before dinner, though: openup.”

The priest popped oneinto Junya's open mouth as he grabbed the empty buckets to take backdownstairs.

When he re-emerged fromthe cold room some time later with more ice, the air had decidedlychanged. From the second he stepped out of the trapdoor, Junya couldfeel the tension, cold and still, permeating everything like a badsmell. The children were inside, huddled behind the altar, staringwarily at the open door, where the priest stood like a barrier.

Something was wrong.Something far out of the ordinary. A wolf? Silent as a shadow, Junyacrept forward, putting the buckets on the ground and tapping thepriest on the shoulder.

“Staywith the children.” he ordered immediately, not even turningaround.

“What'sgoing on?” Junya whispered.

“Gorillas.”

The single word wasenough to strike fear into any fox. Gorillas were bad news – whatdid they want? Those war mongers couldn't be here to trade... Junyadid what he was told, herding the children back into the kitchen. Heswore under his breath – this was a temple, there was nothing theycould use to defend themselves from gorillas – anything bigger thana large dog spelled doom for an unarmed fox.

The smaller childrenhid themselves under the table, the elders grabbing whatever theycould to defend themselves.

“Whatdo you think they want?” one of the older boys asked, brandishing apiece of wood.

“Idon't know.” Junya admitted, keeping the kitchen door opened just acrack so he could keep an eye on the front door.

“Youdon't think they'll be another war?” a girl asked, cowering as shetried to hide the little ones under the table behind her skirts.

“There'sno reason for gorillas to start a war with foxes.” Junya assuredthem “We have nothing they want.”

“Youthink they're after the harvest?!” the boy declared.

“It'stoo early in the season.” Junya told him “Besides, they haveplenty harvest of their own.”

It was a tense eternitythat they waited, the entire town, merchants included, silent as agraveyard. It could have been ten minutes or ten seconds, but for howstill everything was, it could have been some grotesque painting.Gorillas never came here – there was nothing here they could use.He hadn't heard of any famine or failing crops in the grasslands.What were they after?

Finally, slowly, thepriest left the front door, closing it silently as he came back tothe kitchen. Junya opened the door gingerly.

“They'vegone.” the priest reported “But they'll be back tomorrow.”

“Whatdid they want?” Junya asked.

“Idon't know.” he admitted “But I'm sure we'll replace out soon enough– one of their retainers went to the Lords house.”

This was bad. Junyafelt a shiver of horrid anticipation run down his spine – thembeing here on official business could only mean bad things for thetown. The priest immediately set the children some chores to do tokeep them inside, which none of them argued with.

“Junya,I want you to go to the blacksmith and borrow a sword.” the priestinstructed him.

“Isthat wise?” Junya responded “I mean, against a Gorilla? You'renot exactly a young man, and with my bad leg-”

“Iknow.” the priest interrupted, almost snapping in his stress “Ipray it doesn't come to that, but if it does, the worst thing we cando is nothing. Now please, get down the blacksmith.”

Junya obeyed, using thepath around town to get to the blacksmiths yard at the other endfaster. It seemed the rest of the town had had the same idea as thepriest, as the poor blacksmiths yard was crowded with reactionaryyouths, better-safe-than-sorry wives and really-should-know-betterolder men. Of course no-one kept weapons in the fox village – theywere farmers, merchants at best! The only guards were up in the Lordshouse, and there couldn't have been more than six in total.

Being on the tall side,Junya could see over the heads of the crowd – the blacksmith lookedhaggard, stood with his arms over his chest as he was harassed bydemands: he didn't have enough swords for everyone. Spotting Junya,however, he beckoned him forward. The young fox solicited more than afew poisoned glares as he fought through the crowd.

“Forthe priest?” the blacksmith asked bluntly.

“Yeah.”Junya confirmed.

“Youknow how to use a sword?”

“No,but what choice is there?”

The blacksmith gruntedin agreement. He reached back to his worryingly small pile ofnot-even-close-to-new swords, pulling a smaller one from its sheathto check its sharpness before giving it to him.

“Hey,why does he get a sword?!” the baker demanded, almost barking indisgust.

“Thepriest is protecting the orphans!” the blacksmith barked back “Whatare you protecting?! Bread?!”

The baker grimaced.Junya thought it in his best interest to leave quickly.

Walking back throughthe town, he examined the sword – it was old, heavy, nicked anddented here and there. The blacksmith had kept it sharp, but when wasthe last time it was actually used? Maybe even never. Did the priestknow how to use a sword? If God was righteous, they wouldn't have to.

The priest stood at thedoor of the temple when he returned, barring entry to one of theLords retainers, who stood with his hands on his hipsself-importantly. The priest looked happy to see him, but theretainer huffed.

“Sowhat, you're setting your errand boy on me now?” he huffed “Youhave your orders!”

“AndI refuse!” the priest declared, clearly not for the first time “Iam not leaving the children unprotected!”

“Leavethis one to take care of them!” the retainer demanded, gesturingvaguely in Junya's direction.

“He'sbarely more than a child himself!”

“What'sthe problem?” Junya interrupted.

“Neveryou mind!”

“TheLord wants me to go to the house.” the priest told him, annoyancerife in every syllable “He wants spiritual counselling at a timelike this!”

“It'snone of your business what he wants!” the retainer insisted.

Ignoring the idiocy ofthat, Junya thought a moment.

“I'llgo.” he offered “I'll explain to the Lord why you can't attend.If he really wants to see you, he'll have to come here.”

“Preposterous!”

Ignoring the retaineragain, the priest stepped forward and took the sword from Junya,struggling under its weight much more than he had. When he had itfirmly in his hands, he turned to Junya seriously.

“Hurry.”he bid “But be careful.”

He left, the retainerspluttering after him as the priest shut the door in his face. Hewent as fast as his bad leg would carry him, but it soon began topinch and ache, causing him to limp.

When he reached thefront gate, it stood wide open – no gorilla used a side gate. Theperfect, weed free stone yard, where he and the young Lady had playedas children, stood empty, not even the shadow of a blade of grasshaving stuck around when the gorillas arrived.

No-one stopped him fromopening the front door, entering the formal foyer. Where waseveryone? Everything had been so busy yesterday... Still limping fromthe pain in his leg, he made his way to the Lords official chamber,using the wall to steady himself, but stopped when a particular noisemet his ears: the sound of a young woman crying.

He followed the sound,coming to the room where the young lady was keeping her weddingdress. She lay at the foot of her gown, weeping uncontrollably, herhusband-to-be rubbing her back uselessly. The Lord sat, pale andharrowed on one of the pushed aside chairs, hand over his mouth,surrounded by silent, grey-faced retainers. Aside from the fancy man,the foreigners were nowhere to be seen.

Junya was afraid tointrude, like his presence would shatter everything like glass.However, he couldn't stand the hear the young Lady crying, and withgreat reluctance, rapped his knuckles on the wooden part of the door.The spell of silence broke, everyone looking at him. He immediatelywished he hadn't as a dozen pairs of eyes bored into him.

“Junya?”the Lord asked, perhaps blinded by the tears in his eyes.

“Sir.”he greeted.

“Whereis the priest?” he asked slowly, looking around as if the elderlyfox could be hiding in his shadow.

“He'sprotecting the children.” Junya informed him “He can't leave thetemple now.”

The Lord lookeddevastated, shaking his head, but after a moments thought he came toan acceptance. He nodded, eyes clouding over, and put his hand overhis mouth again.

“ThenI really am alone.” he mumbled.

The young Lady criedharder, the fancy man as useless as ever to comfort her, rubbing herback ineffectually. A knot of fear and guilt growing in his stomach,Junya couldn't do nothing.

“Isthere anything I can do?” he asked.

The Lord shook his headsadly. With great difficulty, as if his grief were physicallyweighing him down, he stood. He stumbled across the floor, takingJunya by the arm as if to steady himself.

“T-Theywant my daughter.” he sobbed “The Gorilla King... he heard shewas beautiful, and he wants to marry her.”

His sentence waspunctuated by a howl of despair from the young Lady.

“Wecan't refuse.” the Lord went on, knees buckling to the point thatJunya had to grab him to stop him from falling “They'll kill usall... Merciful God, what am I to do? How can I give my daughter tothat brute?”

The young Lady... butshe was already engaged! She was to marry the fancy man in less thantwo days... As she continued to wail, the gravity of the situationsunk into Junya' heart. This was worse than terrible – he couldn'tlet this happen! Those gorillas were such brutes, the young Lady wassure to be killed one way or another! She had been so happy... Whatcould he do? He loved her like his own sister, they had grown uptogether, they...! They looked alike.

A grim epiphany dawnedon him. They did, in fact, look remarkably alike. Junya was tall, butlacked the bulk of mature men. He had a horrible idea, and he didn'tlike it one bit, but he could never stand to hear the young Lady cry.He gripped the Lords arm seriously, causing him to look up.

“I'llgo.” he told him “I'll put on her gown, and I'll go to theGorilla King.”

The Lord regarded himlike an angel from heaven, the retainers gasping and murmuringuncertainly. It was the young Lady that reacted first, leaping to herfeet and grabbing Junya by the shirt.

“Junya,you can't!” she shrieked “You'll be killed!”

“I'maware of the risks.” he insisted.

All too aware.

“ButGod only knows what they'll do when you're found out!” she went on“Being killed may be the least of your worries!”

The Lord lookedunhappy, as if that thought hadn't occurred to him, but Junya hadmade up his mind.

“Doyou want to marry the Gorilla King?” he challenged.

“Ofcourse not!” she answered “But he may not kill me!”

“Beinga Gorillas bride is surely a fate worse than death.” he insisted.

“But-!”

“Theboy is right.” the lead retainer declared.

They all looked at him– his wizened brow was knotted unhappily, hands clenched, but heagreed all the same.

“It'sa peasants duty to serve the Lord.” he pointed out “Even if theLady and her betrothed run away, without a distraction the Gorillaswill catch them.”

“Withall due respect, the boy thinks too much of himself!” one protested“He may have an effeminate face, but he's far from being a'beauty'!”

“Nothinga little make-up won't fix.” Junya insisted “All I have to do iskeep my mouth shut and keep still – it'll fool the Gorillas longenough that my Lady can marry, and leave by ship for her husbandsland.”

“Ofcourse!” the fancy man declared, as if it had been his idea allalong “My ship can be ready in as little as three hours – all weneed wait for is the tide!”

“Thenit's settled.” the Lord finished grimly “Summon the seamstress:we'll need to alter the dress to fit him.”

“Butfather-!” the young Lady tried to argue.

“Iknow.” he assured her “I don't wish to sacrifice Junya either,but I would give everything I have to save you!”

She went silent, nolonger able to argue. The retainers and the fancy man fled from theroom to make arrangements, leaving them alone. The Lord, stepslighter, but shoulders drooped with guilt, patted Junya on theshoulder, giving him a meaningful look before leaving. The young Ladylooked like she didn't know what to say.

“Aren'tyou afraid to die?” she asked.

“Ofcourse.” he said honestly “But how could I live, knowing Iallowed such a thing to happen? It's better that I die being usefulto you, isn't it?”

He tried to smile toreassure her, but his face had gone numb. All down his spine rung thetruth of what he was facing – in the next few days, perhaps eventomorrow, he would die. And it was his own damn fault. His handswouldn't stop shaking.

The young Lady finallyseemed to accept the circumstance, nodding sadly and wringing herhands in her lap. She looked at Junya pitifully.

“Comewith me.” she repeated sombrely “I'll do your make-up.”

No-one in the Lordshouse got any sleep that night. It would be fair to assume that mostpeople in town were awake as well, dreading the dawn and the returnof the gorillas. The crickets and cicadas sung on, oblivious to thefear and tension in the town. The young Lady, dressed in Junya'sclothes, was evacuated to the temple under the cover of dark. Godonly knows what the priest had to say about the whole fiasco...

Seeing her in his garb,Junya reconsidered the feasibility of his plan – she was muchsmaller, much slighter than he, would it really work? It wasn't untilhe saw himself, dressed in the hastily altered wedding gown, hairneatly trimmed and face completely made up, that he once again hadfaith in the plan.

He wished he could talkto the priest one more time, say goodbye and thank you and bestwishes, but there simply wasn't time. What would he do without him?He was sure one of the older boys could take over his ice sellingduties, but the thought made him terribly sad – he was soreplaceable, so small, and when he died the world would keep spinningwithout him. Would he even really be missed?

He pushed away the darkthoughts, comforting himself with the knowledge that he was savingthe young Lady. It was little comfort as the hours of darknessstretched forever on, the dawn breaking like a glacier, but he clungto it all the same.

Breakfast was prepared,but no-one could eat. The gorillas didn't say exactly when they wouldbe coming back, just 'tomorrow', prolonging the tension further. Itwas shortly after breakfast, soon after the work bell rang, that oneof the guards ran in, pale and sweating: the gorillas had arrived.

Junya's heart stopped –he could die right now, were he discovered. The servants hidthemselves in the back rooms, the retainers shaking in their fancyrobes. Junya sat in a low chair to minimise his height, legselegantly to one side as instructed, hands folded tightly in his lapif only to stop them shaking. He was sure the sweat on his brow wouldcause his make-up to run, giving the whole thing away.

The ground shook, thewindows rattled, as they marched towards the house. Every fox for amile round held their breath. A young retainer, shivering like anautumn leaf in the wind, opened the door to the reception room,bowing his head.

“M-m-myLord.” he stammered “My y-young Lady, p-please allow m-me tointroduce th-the k-k-k-”

“Yes,yes.” the Lord interrupted, sparing the man's poor heart “Showhim in.”

The retainer bowed, alittle too low, and eagerly stepped aside. Junya stopped breathing.His mind went blank. His spine and resolve turned to dust as he sat,paralysed with fear.

He had never seen agorilla up close, and he had never wished to – as tall as Junyawas, he was dwarfed by the mountainous hoard of gorillas, to tall andtoo broad to get through the double door without stooping sideways.They had thick, coarse black hair and squashed grey faces, dangerouslooking fangs jutting out from their lower jaws. They were alldressed to the nines in armour, the kings distinguished by its goldcolour and fine patterning.

Junya was terrified –he really was going to die. He kept his eyes on the ground, hopinghis quaking shoulders wouldn't betray him.

“LordFox.” the Gorilla King greeted, voice so deep and full that itechoed right into Junya's bones “I'm glad to see you've seensense.”

“Ididn't have much choice, did I?” the Lord replied defensively, asif he really were defending his child.

The king made a strangenoise, somewhere between a huff and a growl. Everything in the roomshook as he stepped forward, all the retainers falling back as hestopped in front of Junya. As if he were a creature of civility, thegorilla got down on one knee before him.

“YoungLady Fox.” he greeted “It brings me great joy that you haveagreed to marry me. I see the tales of your beauty were notexaggerated. Blue eyes on a fox are such are rare treasure.”

He reached up onemighty hand – his palm was only just smaller than Junya's face –and tilted his head up so Junya was forced to look straight at him.The king had the good grace to remove his helmet indoors, but all itdid was reveal his rough cut thatch and a deep scar across his brow.

He smiled, and it washorrific.

“I'msure you will be most at home in my castle.” he assured “You'llhave more servants there than you did here.”

The king tilted hishead to the side, dark brown eyes clearly examining Junya's face.Junya tried not to stare, but couldn't tear his eyes away: was hegoing to be found out? His heart skipped uncomfortably as the kinggot back to his feet.

“Haveno fear, Lord Fox.” he bid “I will take good care of yourdaughter. Say your goodbyes – we have a long way to go. I'll waitfor you at the door. Don't keep me waiting.”