Chapter Text
Kaito Momota always hated being summoned to the royal court.
Despite his title being the Royal Astronomer of Novoselic, ever since the good King Christopher Nevermind passed away and his younger, far more ill-tempered brother Bogdan usurped the throne, Kaito went from respected astronomer to hackneyed astrologist.
He a sneaking suspicion the new king was too dense to understand the difference.
He was thankful, however, that King Bogdan had not caught on to the fact that each and every one of the vague, cryptic ‘predictions’ given to him came not from the stars and planets above...but Kaito’s own ass. Being a charismatic Sorcerer with the power to cast minor illusions on the fly and was often just enough to sell the act and not get carted away to the dungeons. Or worse.
In his last will and testament, King Christopher had entrusted the throne to his one and only daughter, Sonia Nevermind. However, Sonia had never returned from her studies abroad, despite numerous messages asking for her to return home. Kaito was not alone in suspecting that those letters and couriers were not reaching their destination. All he could really do for now was hold onto hope of her return and continue the charade for as long as possible.
So long as he doesn’t need an ‘answer’ about military strategy, picking a bride, or executing someone, I should be good enough to hang in there until the end of spring…
Kaito adjusted his stack of star charts, something he sadly used more as a prop for ‘predictions’ than actual study, and took his usual seat in the advisor’s chair. He frowned a bit as more and more people, mostly Bogdan’s own personal legion of guards and soldiers began to noisily filter in and fill up the viewing gallery. Normal royal court business was horribly boring, rarely warranting any kind of audience. But once Kaito saw the Royal Executioner enter the room with his broadaxe in hand, his chest tightened as he realized that this wasn’t going to be about raising taxes again or some tacky ball for the king’s bootlicking friends.
This was a criminal hearing.
Kaito did his best to mask his growing anxiety as the king of Novoselic strode into the throne room and took his place with an almost mirthful smile. He then saw Kaito. The smile shifted into moderate annoyance, glowering at him.
“Some rogue peasant attacked my men during their assigned mission at the border. This shall be my first sentencing as king. I must...humbly request that this message from the heavens be clear and concise this time, Momota. Or else...” Bogdan ran his thumb across his throat. “...I may need to ‘cut you loose’.”
The Luminary of the Stars swallowed hard as the king snapped his fingers.
“Bring him in.”
With that, two sneering guards roughly yanked a young man into the throne room and shoved him onto his knees. The heavy chains that bound his wrist and ankles echoed as he hit the flagstones. He stayed there for a moment, keeping his head bowed, not uttering a single grunt of pain or protest at being tossed to the ground.
“You may rise.”
The prisoner raised his head as he slowly returned to his feet, finally giving Kaito a chance to get a good look at him. The first thing that struck him was his eyes. They were wide, world weary eyes with dark pupils that seemed heavy and exhausted. They met his own for a moment before returning back down towards his bound wrists.
“A dwarf?” The king looked the young man up and down before letting out a snort. “State your name for the record.” He reclined a bit more in his seat. “And whatever clan and titles you tiny saltlickers still cling to.”
“Ryoma.” The man replied with a rich, deep voice that took Kaito aback for a second. “Last living member of the Hoshi clan. Former Champion of the Dwarven Gladiatorial circuit.”
A dwarven warrior...he’s the real deal, then… Kaito smiled a bit in awe. The king, however, seemed far less impressed, letting out another amused snort.
“You’re certainly a long way from the mountains, boy. If it weren’t for the muscled arms and deep voice, I would’ve mistaken you for a child. I thought dwarves had more facial hair.”
Ryoma looked up from his chains with a glare of pure ice.
“You sent your men to burn down a village of innocent farmers. If it weren’t for the bigotry and childish insults I still would’ve mistaken you for a pathetic tyrant. I thought humans had more brains.”
Bogdan let out a snarl and snapped his fingers, signalling one of the guards to sharply kick Ryoma square in the gut. And again. The rest of the mercenaries roared with laughter and cheered from the gallery. Kaito winced, clenching his fists. How he would’ve done anything to step in and be the hero, just this once. Just a flick of his wrists would all it take. He could feel his muscles tense with magical energy to an almost painful degree, just waiting to be unleashed for the sake of justice.
...but he very reluctantly resisted. He was far too outnumbered and outmatched to be of any use.
Once the guards had bruised Ryoma to his satisfaction, Bogan snapped his fingers for them to halt.
“I’ve had enough of you, worthtless saltlicker. It’s about time you met your ultimate fate.” He spat, turning his head towards Kaito.
“What do the stars say, Momota?” He barked.
Kaito froze. He quickly looked over at Ryoma, still doubled over on the floor before fumbling with his stack of parchments and searching desperately through the map of that night’s sky.
Come on, give me something, anything, or this guy is gonna lose his head! His eyes stopped at the outline of the Leo constellation, gears turning in his head.
Lions. Lions are symbolic. And there’s just plenty of other stars around it...maybe I can…
“They, uh...say that ‘the beast should be caged, not killed’...your highness.”
Tangible silence fell over the room. As he looked up from his star chart, he could see the veins of Bogdan’s neck and forehead pulsing with seething rage. He swallowed his fear as best he could as he put up a cool and collected smile.
“Here. Lemme show you.” He held the map out with one hand as he slipped the other behind his back, letting his fingers move freely and channel magic unseen. The outline of Leo appeared to lift itself off the parchment.
“See? And these stars around him…when connected...” Lines of illusionary ink appeared, as if drawn by a ghostly hand. “...form a cage! See? Clear and concise message from the stars. Just like you asked for, your highness.”
Kaito covertly glanced back over to Ryoma. The dwarven man met his eyes with a look of soft, but genuine confusion before closing his eyes and shaking his head.
He’s...not happy about being saved? I don’t get it, does he really want to be put to death?
King Bogdan statched the star chart out of Kaito’s hand, nostrils flaring. He glared down at the ‘caged’ constellation before crumpling the parchment in his fist and whipping it at the foot of the throne.
“See to it that the prisoner is sent to Fort Halberd. Since he is half a man, he shall be fed half rations and work in the brickyard and kilns from dawn to dusk for the rest of his days.”
With another snap of his fingers, the guards yanked on Ryoma’s chains once again and began to lead him away. Kaito watched as he disappeared out the chamber doors, a burning sense of determination taking root in his chest. He looked over at the cruel King Bogdan who only gave Kaito a seething glare before dismissing him out of the room with a silent backhanded wave.
This isn’t over… Kaito carefully retrieved the crumpled star map from the floor before taking his leave from the throne room.
I won’t let it end like this. And that’s a promise.