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“Kill him.”
Misaki struggled against the grip of the guards who held him as the order was shouted, but he couldn’t break free. They were elite- the Special Guard, they used to be called under the Blue King, but since the rebellion their uniforms had been bleached white and they’d been forced to serve the usurper.
The one who appeared to be leader of the guards stepped forward- a grizzled man with a scar across the bridge of his nose, clearly the senior of everyone else in the group by a fair few years. His expression was blank except for the faint twist of displeasure at the corners of his mouth- it was clear he took no enjoyment in his task. He unsheathed his blade and raised it to the captive’s throat.
Before he could strike, a bolt whistled through the air and embedded itself in the guard’s forearm, and he grunted in pain, dropping his sword. Misaki’s eyes widened, his chest heaving in panic as he looked around for the attacker.
A man in black armour stood a short distance away, reloading his crossbow. His reddish hair was slicked back from his forehead, and he appeared incredibly calm, considering the circumstances. He nodded at the captive.
“You, out.”
Without protest, Misaki hurried to his side. The guards made no move to stop him.
“Suoh Mikoto,” one of the guards addressed the newcomer- the only woman amongst them, her blonde hair tied back behind her head. “I didn’t think you were stupid enough to come here.”
Mikoto merely smirked, then turned on his heel, his hand on the captive’s shoulder as he lead him away.
However, the cry of pain from the wounded guard hadn’t gone unnoticed, and more soldiers had swarmed into the area. These were simply the new King’s grunts, but there were dozens of them, and they didn’t appear to have the same good sense not to pick a fight they couldn’t win as the ones from the Special Guard. Mikoto sighed, pulling Misaki by his arm towards where his horse was tethered. He threw the boy haphazardly into the saddle, then climbed on behind him, drawing his sword as he gathered the reins into one hand and urged his mount forward. They raced out of the village, and Misaki covered his eyes in panic as they rode straight towards a gate that two of the foot soldiers were pushing closed in front of them, in fear they wouldn’t make it over.
Mikoto raised his hand to his lips and whistled, and almost like a ghost, a white bird seemed to appear from nowhere, swooping through the archway of the gate. The two soldiers stumbled back out if its path as the bird stretched out its talons as it approached them, aiming for their eyes, and they fell out of the way just in time for Mikoto’s horse to leap over the gate and gallop away down the path, with the white bird keeping pace beside them.
The pair continued a fair distance at full-speed, until the village was out of sight behind them and they’d lost themselves amongst the trees of the nearby forest. Only then did Mikoto allow his mount to slow to a trot, and they veered from the path to travel through the trees in case someone had followed them. It was at that point that Mikoto helped Misaki to right himself in the saddle.
“D-did you say your name was Suoh? Suoh Mikoto?” Misaki spoke for the first time, his voice tentative.
“Yes.”
“As in the prince of the Red Kingdom?”
“Former. I renounced my title.”
“R-right, sorry… Why didn’t those guards attack you? Why’d they just let you take me?”
“Their old King was a friend of mine. They know me, and know better than to pick a fight they couldn’t win.”
“The Blue King?”
“Mhm.”
Misaki nodded slowly. Mentioning the previous King was odd- doing so in earshot of a guard would get you thrown in a cell for the night. It had been almost two years since the old King, nicknamed the ‘Blue King’ had been unseated from the throne in a coup, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. The new ruler, the ‘Colourless King’ as he was known, was much stricter. He raised taxes, created dozens of new absurd laws and implemented ridiculous penalties for breaking them, and he was deep in the pockets of the aristocracy. Dozens of questions bubbled to Misaki’s lips at the mention of the old King- he and everyone else in the kingdom had been secretly hoping he’d make a return- but kept quiet after that, fearing he might be annoying his rescuer. Instead, he took to watching the bird, which was now circling them in wide, lazy loops as they walked through the woods. Now he could get a better look, he recognised the creature as a snowy owl, with wide, bronze coloured eyes and speckled white feathers.
“She’s yours?” Misaki asked, nodding to the bird.
“He. Yeah, he is.”
“He’s beautiful.”
“I know.”
The pair made very little conversation after that as they travelled through the woods until they found an abandoned cottage where they could stay the night. The house itself was in a poor state of repair, but its barn appeared to be standing firm, so they took shelter within it. Mikoto retired early, making it clear he wasn’t to be disturbed, then settled in as Misaki ventured off to retrieve some more firewood.
The sun had sunk past the horizon by the time he made his way back to the cottage, and the building was just within sight when he heard the unmistakable crunch of footsteps on leaflitter- footsteps that weren’t his own. Through the trees he caught sight of the dusk light glinting off a metal helmet, and he immediately took off at a run. He raced back into the barn in search of something he could use to fend off the intruder, who he could now see was a foot soldier who had managed to follow them from the village. Thankfully, their pursuer appeared to be alone.
Unable to find anything more substantial than a pitchfork to use as a weapon, Misaki threw open the door to the tack room Mikoto had been sleeping in to find him missing. Thankfully, his sword was still in there, and unable to waste time worry about where his companion had gotten to, Misaki grabbed the weapon and turned to face the soldier, who was banging on the door to the barn, which Misaki had jammed shut with a water trough.
And then suddenly, something bowled the soldier sideways; an immense shadow appeared to have knocked him clean off his feet with an unearthly snarl. It was only when the soldier and his assailant stopped rolling that Misaki saw that the dark shape that had landed on top of the man was a huge black wolf. The soldier struggled fruitlessly against the creature, but it wasn’t long before his thrashing ceased and his cries quietened to gurgles, then finally fell silent as he slumped back onto the undergrowth.
Misaki tightened his grip on the sword, relieved that his assailant had been dispatched, but now he was more concerned about the wolf turning on him. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to kick the trough out of his way and rush the creature while it was distracted by its kill. But before he could do so, a hand on his shoulder froze his breath in his lungs. He whirled around, expecting to find a soldier lifting a blade to his throat.
But instead, there was just a young unarmed man in a black cloak that shrouded everything but his face.
And God, he was beautiful. His eyes were a deep bronze colour, lined by a fan of long black lashes. Dark gold, collar-length hair framed his face- his beautiful, almost effeminate, slightly ethereal face. His skin was faintly tanned, and his cheeks were flushed pink by the cool night air.
Misaki found himself blushing as the man lay his hand on Misaki’s wrist, gently lowering his sword, and then raised his other hand to his own lips and whispered: “Shh…”
Then, his gaze fixed upon the wolf, and with slow, careful steps, he let himself out of the barn.
“D-don’t go out there!” Misaki warned, his voice hushed. “There’s a wolf- a really big wolf. The biggest wolf you’ve ever seen.”
“I know,” the man said simply, a carefree smile curving the corners of his lips as he stepped past Misaki and out into the clearing behind the barn.
The wolf lifted its head from its kill, licking the blood from its lips, and watched the young man approach fearlessly, like the beast was nothing more than a pet. The creature greeted him as though the pair were old friends, and they vanished into the woods side by side.
The next morning, Misaki decided not to mention the wolf encounter to Mikoto, in fear of sounding mad. He passed it off as likely nothing more than a vivid dream, but as they resumed their travels, he couldn’t keep his mind off the beautiful boy he’d spoken to, so instead he tried to strike up a conversation to keep his mind off it.
“So uh, so why did you save me from those guards yesterday? N-not that I’m not grateful…”
“You escaped the Colourless King’s dungeons, right.”
“That’s right.” Misaki puffed his chest out a little in pride. “First one ever to do it. Why?”
“I need your help to break back in.”
Misaki paused for a moment in confusion. “Break in…? Why the hell would you wanna do that?”
“To kill the Colourless King.”
“That… seems like kind of a tall order.”
“I have a score to settle.”
“What’d he do? Something to do with him kicking your friend off the throne?”
“He’s afraid of me. He wanted to remove me as a threat.”
Misaki didn’t miss the way he dodged the question. “He thinks you could unseat him from the throne?”
Mikoto nodded, and didn’t offer anything else on the subject, so Misaki didn’t press the topic any further.
The pair made the rest of their progress through the woods that day mostly in comfortable silence, until the clatter of hoofbeats rose in the distance, drawing nearer as a pair of Colourless soldiers on horseback rode into view between the trees. At the sight of them, Mikoto urged his horse onwards, ordering Misaki to hang on as his mount leapt forward, attempting to outrun their pursuers.
The snap of a crossbow sounded behind them, but the bolt only buried itself in the trunk of a tree a few feet away from them. And then there was another snap, but this time, it was followed by an awful shriek, and then a soft thud.
Misaki looked back over his shoulder to see the owl Mikoto kept as a companion lying on the leaflitter with an arrow through his wing. He let out another meek cry of distress, flapping his uninjured wing uselessly. Misaki felt Mikoto tense in the saddle, then with a sharp movement he spun his horse around, drawing his sword and racing at full gallop straight towards the soldiers.
They barely had time to react- the first soldier was cut down from his horse before he had the chance to nock another arrow, and the second managed to fire one, but it sailed straight over Mikoto’s head as the soldier’s horse spooked and reared at the sight of Mikoto rushing headlong towards it. A swift elbow to the gut was all it took to knock the horse’s mount from his saddle, and he hit the ground with the sickening crack of ribs breaking.
Without looking back at the soldiers he’d dispatched, Mikoto spun around and hurried back over to where the bird had fallen, leaping out of his saddle to kneel beside him. He whispered gentle reassurance to the creature, examining the wound with a tenderness that surprised Misaki.
“Get me a cloth from my saddle bag.”
Misaki didn’t think he’d heard an ounce of emotion from his companion since they’d met, but now, there was tension in his voice- he almost sounded fraught. Misaki dismounted and did as he asked, watching from a short distance away as Mikoto wrapped the bird gently in the fabric.
Mikoto didn’t speak again after that, climbing back on his horse wordlessly and nodding for Misaki to do the same. Cradling the owl in his arms, he urged his mount forwards once more at a pace that made Misaki fear they were still being chased.
They didn’t slow until the sun was sinking low on the horizon and they reached an aging castle- the wooden gates were rotting away, the metalwork was rusting, and the masonry of the towers and parapets was crumbling away.
A figure stood above the gates, looking down on the visitors, then called out for them to be admitted. The portcullis rose slowly, though Misaki didn’t think the rust-stained iron would have kept much out, and Mikoto rode into the courtyard and dismounted. The figure from above the gate descended the stairs to meet them- in the better lighting, Misaki could see him dressed in blue. His face was familiar.
“Munakata,” Mikoto said simply.
“Suoh,” Reisi replied coolly.
For Misaki, it was surreal, seeing the unseated King in the flesh- he thought he’d been killed in the Colourless King’s coup. The Blue King had been well-respected and loved by his people and had good relations with the leaders of the nearby kingdoms, so the coup had come as a shock, supported by a few rich aristocrats who had been discontent with the new King, who no longer gave them the same favourable treatment they’d always been given in the past.
Mikoto however didn’t seem in the least bit fazed by the appearance of a man who, to Misaki, might as well have been a ghost. He walked towards him, still holding the bird in his arms, and Reisi nodded in some silent understanding and lead him inside. Misaki hesitated, unsure whether he should follow, and Reisi gestured for one of the few guards in the courtyard to take him into the castle and said he was to be given food and drink and somewhere to rest for the night.
Once they were inside, Mikoto lay the owl on a table top, and stepped back, folding his arms across his chest as Reisi examined the injured wing.
“There is only so much I can do before sundown- I can remove the arrow now, but it will be easiest to treat him after…”
“Okay,” Mikoto said stiffly, walking around the table to stand the opposite side of it to Reisi. He lay his hand beside the bird’s head, and the bird nuzzled his finger as Reisi retrieved medical supplies.
“Hold him still, this will hurt and I do not want to cause any more damage.”
Mikoto nodded, doing as he was bid as Reisi snipped off the head of the arrow with a large pair of shears, then slowly pulled it out of his wing. Though Mikoto was clearly doing his best to keep a straight face, his lips twitched into a grimace at the cry of distress that emanated from the bird.
“That’s all we can do for now,” Reisi said once he’d completed his task, applying gentle pressure to the wound. “Go, it’s almost sunset. There’s a room prepared for you upstairs. He should be fine.”
Mikoto gave another nod, glancing down at the bird once more before leaving the room.
Having been left alone for a while, Misaki was beginning to feel somewhat stir-crazy, stuck in the small chamber he’d been led to, so he decided to stretch his legs and look around. He wandered down through the castle until he found he’d come across the room that Mikoto had taken the bird into, quite by accident. But by now, his curiosity was piqued, so he pushed open the door to see how things were going.
Mikoto and Reisi were nowhere to be seen in the room, and the bird was also missing. But lying on a makeshift bed was the beautiful boy from a couple of nights ago, a bandage around his arm.
“Hello?” the man asked, craning his neck to see who was poking their head around the door.
Misaki entered the room, looking abashed. “S-sorry… I must have the wrong room.”
“You’re Suoh Mikoto’s companion, aren’t you?”
“Um… y-yeah…”
“How is he doing?”
“He’s fine. His bird got hit by a crossbow bolt and he seemed kind of upset, but it looks like someone is taking care of it.”
The man smiled serenely.
“You… already know that, don’t you…” Misaki said tentatively.
“Send him my love, okay?”
“O-Okay…?”
At that moment, the door opened, and Reisi returned with a bottle of some ointment in his hand.
“Totsuka-san, how are you feeling?”
“A little sore, if I’m honest.”
“I can have someone fetch some opium, if it would help.”
“No, it’s okay. I’d rather keep a clear head.”
“As you wish.” It was only then that Reisi finally seemed to acknowledge Misaki’s presence, and he gave him an unreadable smile. “You ought not to be in here.”
Misaki nodded and hurried from the room. Keeping vigil outside the door, lay a great, black wolfish-looking dog, who lifted its head at the sight of Misaki, but did nothing else.
Suddenly, an explanation for the presence of the mysterious boy and the wolf that seemed to care so deeply about him clicked in Misaki’s mind, and he hurried past the creature, holding his breath instinctively as not to blurt out his revelation. He waited at the end of the corridor for Reisi to emerge, and when he did, Misaki accosted him.
“It’s him, isn’t it? I know I sound crazy but somehow the wolf is Mikoto, right?”
Reisi chuckled, in an almost self-satisfied way, and crossed his arms. He guided Misaki over to a bench and gestured for him to take a seat, then sat down beside him.
“The young man’s name is Totsuka Tatara. He came to live in a city on the border between the Red and Blue kingdoms after the death of his foster father- he worked in a tavern that the Red Prince’s Royal Guard often frequented. As a prince, Suoh never had much interest in his royal duties, and spent most of his time acting more like a knight than the heir to the throne. He and his men were all fierce fighters, and they offered their aid to me during the coup, but by the time they arrived at the capital, the fighting was already finished.”
“What’s that got to do with all this?”
“The Colourless King was always afraid of Suoh. Removed from power as I was, there was little I could do to regain my throne. My people were punished harshly for showing a shred of remaining loyalty to me- I could not raise an army. But Suoh remains a popular royal in his own lands, even though he renounced his title, and even more so he is a respected fighter and military leader. The Colourless King feared that if Suoh and the Red Kingdom were to declare war on him, it would be the end of his reign, and I would be reinstated as King.
“So he felt something had to be done to prevent Suoh from launching an attack, but he could not simply have him killed, as that would only ignite rage amongst the Red Kingdom’s people, and his younger sister the Red Princess would certainly take it upon herself to avenge her brother’s death.”
“And that something was… what, turn him into a werewolf?” Misaki asked tentatively.
“The reason Suoh abdicated the throne was Totsuka. The two fell in love, but Suoh knew he could not give his country legitimate heirs if he married the boy, so not wanting to leave a power vacuum after his death, he chose instead to abdicate and leave Princess Anna next in line to the throne. I have never known a man love anything so fiercely as Suoh loves Totsuka, and they made no secret of it. It was easy enough for the Colourless King’s spies to discover that Suoh’s only weakness was his husband, so he cursed them. ‘Always together, eternally apart.’ By day, Totsuka is trapped in the form of an owl, and by night, Suoh is trapped in the form of a wolf. Only for a fleeting moment at dusk and dawn each day can they see each other in human form, but they can never touch.”
Misaki frowned- that certainly explained Mikoto’s sour disposition. To not be able to hold his lover in so long… it would make anyone unpleasant.
In a way, Misaki sympathised- his own childhood friend had been a member of the Blue King’s Special Guard, now under the rule of the Colourless King, and since the command had changed, they had not been permitted to speak to one another- fraternising with criminals was a hangable offense for the Special Guard, so Misaki had been careful to keep his distance. In truth, though, his feelings for his friend hadn’t been strictly platonic, and as a result he’d almost been disappointed when his face hadn’t been among the members of the guard who had captured him the other day. If he had to die, he had at least wanted to see his friend one last time before he did.
“So now Suoh is too preoccupied with trying to find a way to undo the curse to launch an attack on the Colourless King’s reign, and his power is safe,” Reisi explained.
“Is there a way to undo the curse?”
“If both Totsuka and Suoh appear before the King in their human form, the curse will be broken.”
Misaki frowned. “How are they supposed to do that?”
“’On a day without night, a night without day.’ That is to say, the coming solar eclipse, barely a week from now. That is why they need your aid- to infiltrate the castle so that they can find the Colourless King and break the curse. And I would not be surprised if Suoh kills the man on the spot as soon as the curse is lifted, which normally I would condemn, but in this case, I feel everyone will be better off if the tyrant is dispatched swiftly.”
“And you’ll become King again?” Misaki couldn’t quite keep the hope out of his voice.
“Yes. I plan to aid Suoh with his plan to the best of my ability- I know the inside of the castle well, and can guide him once we are inside, but the security reinforcements since I fell from grace are unfamiliar to me, which is why you are necessary.” Reisi paused, then lowered his voice slightly. “I believe I was correct when I thought I recognised your face when you arrived. You are a friend of Fushimi’s- a member of my Guard, correct?”
“Y-yes...” Misaki cursed the stutter in his voice.
Reisi gave a knowing smile. “Reversing the fraternisation rule will be among my first acts once I resume my throne, though it will not matter as I plan to give you a full pardon for any and all of your crimes anyway should we succeed.”
Misaki blushed, his gaze dropping to the ground, but he nodded nonetheless. “I’ll help you.”
“Really?” The exclamation came from behind the pair, and they turned around to see Tatara padding into the hallway, wrapped in a cloak. There were deep shadows beneath his eyes, but he seemed to have recovered some of his strength- the colour had returned to his cheeks, and he had a hand on the shoulder of the immense wolf beside him to steady himself. Seeming ignorant of Misaki’s blushing, he stumbled forward to hug him gratefully.
“I was so worried that with the eclipse getting closer, we’d never be able to make it into the castle and we’d miss our chance. You’re a blessing; I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t appeared when you did. It must be fate.”
“I-it’s nothing really…” Misaki stammered, still very conscious of how pretty Tatara was, even with his face slightly drawn from the pain of his injury.
“It is settled, then,” Reisi declared. “This time next week, the usurper King shall be dead, and the lovers shall be reunited.”
Misaki supposed it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him, but when he caught a glimpse of Mikoto out of the corner of his eye, he could almost have sworn the wolf was smiling.