A skeptical look countered him. “You won’t remember it even then? You’ll just say ‘off with his head’?”

Kai guffawed. “Off with… Seriously, who says that?” Seeing the stricken expression on the other’s face, he reconsidered. “Oh, right. No, I won’t… condemn you to death or stuff like that.”

The man walked closer, with a menacing look on his face. “What kind of new torture do you have in store for me?”

Kai took a few steps back until he met the bed with the back of his legs. For good measure, he climbed backward on the bed and put as much distance as he could between him and that dangerous man. He was no fighter, and he was no lover. Actually, he didn’t have too many skills, to begin with.

“Sir Conrad.” Pepin hurried to stop the menace from advancing by placing himself between them. “I believe His Majesty is not quite himself today. I advise you to withdraw to your quarters and wait for further orders.”

“Which are? To put my neck in a noose on my own accord?”

“Let’s not get so dramatic here,” Kai found himself talking. “It must be a show for kids.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he was getting ahead of himself. What show for kids showed full-frontal male nudity? Shit, it could be that Conrad’s worries were not exaggerations. 

“Look,” he put both hands up, “as long as I’m here, no one is going to execute you or anything.” Technically, not a lie. “Ah, here’s a better idea. Why don’t you go somewhere that’s not here? Like your home or something?” he suggested, pleased with his idea. This way, he could send Conrad out of harm’s way even if he didn’t stick around for too long.

Conrad’s face twisted with hatred. Pepin put both hands on his chest to keep him. “Why are you taunting me like this? Tired of me already? Don’t I have any more use for you?”

“Nope,” Kai said. He could guess the ‘use’ Conrad was talking about. And he definitely didn’t want to be part of that, even if it was a BL show. No, he would play this his way. “I have no more use for you. You’re free to leave.” He gestured with his hands to shoo away Conrad. 

“I have no place to go, no home,” Conrad started, and his voice heated, “because of you!”

Oh, shit. That was bad. “Hmm, but don’t you have like relatives? An aunt in the countryside, stuff like that?”

Pepin proved too weak to keep Conrad. Kai yelped as it took Conrad only two seconds to push the servant away and reach him. They fell on the bed, Conrad’s hands wrapped around his throat. Out of instinct and not because he thought himself capable of fighting off that killing machine, he grabbed the guy’s wrists and squeezed.

Much to his surprise, the intense look of hatred on Conrad’s face turned into pain and the tight grip on his throat loosened. “I am overpowered!” he exclaimed as he moved Conrad’s hands away and pushed him off him with ease.

Kai looked at his hands in disbelief. Conrad was in the middle of the room, and the look in his eyes was now that of a hurt and humiliated man. For a second, Kai felt triumphant, but then he winced. It wasn’t like him to belittle others since he was generally helpless, and he wasn’t capable of hurting anyone, anyway. 

But wait, now he could. Yet, that shouldn’t change who he was. He scratched his head. Where was the damned guide or whoever summoned him and all that?

Pepin grabbed Conrad by one arm. “You need to go to your room, now, Sir Conrad,” he said in a stern tone.

Conrad threw him one last look, and he walked out of the room with his shoulders hunched. Kai felt really bad about that.

Now, he was supposed to get dressed and go scout the perimeter. Later, if he got stuck around long enough, he would find a way to send Conrad someplace where he wasn’t threatened to lose his head or hang or whatever.

Kai stopped for a moment. But what if Conrad was the villain? What if he deserved it? Hmm, that complicated things. Okay, so the guy hated his guts, but he didn’t have the narrow, evil eyes of a villain. 

That he needed to find out. But, first, he needed clothes. He walked over to a closet and opened it. “Wow,” he whispered as he took in the beautiful silk shirts and coats with delicate embroidery. “I’m not only smoking hot, I’m loaded!” What he looked at was, most probably, the equivalent of having a closet full of designer clothes in the real world.

Real world… Kai pondered for a moment. Could it be that he was dreaming?

The doors behind him opened and closed with a bang that startled him. He turned to find Pepin staring at him with burning eyes. “What is wrong with you, Sebastian?”

Ah, so that was his name in this strange world.

***

Sebastian steeled himself as invisible vines wrapped around his body, pulling him down. He was in a dream, a strange, vivid dream, and all he needed to do was wake up. He willed his eyelids to open, but to no avail. His body was growing heavier and heavier, and he was falling.

Could it be a curse? His entire body became taut as his mind searched for answers.

And suddenly, the heaviness disappeared, and he opened his eyes.

Before him, a new world lay. Behind a stone fence, strange-looking contraptions in shiny colors moved like guided by magic. He closed his eyes again. He was probably still dreaming.

“Hey, I know it’s not exactly what you wanted to hear from your best friend, but could you say something?” an anxious voice asked from his left.

Sebastian squeezed his eyelids. Last night… ah, he had enjoyed Conrad’s skillful ministrations as a lover, and he had been delighted to discover that the captive prince did live up to his reputation. Of course, the fact that Conrad had hated it every step of the way made it all the more delicious, although he had been a bit too enthusiastic to have truly hated it…

“Kai, could you please not ignore me?” the pleading from before started again.

Sebastian opened his eyes, and the same view from before welcomed him. He turned his head, and his eyes met a chin. A strong, chiseled chin. Hmm, this person appeared to be quite tall. Sebastian looked up and stared at a pair of green eyes and a handsome young face. If it was a curse, the witches that must have cooked it loved an irony. They probably knew his weakness regarding good-looking men.

Therefore, he needed to be cautious about this messenger, no matter how handsome. “Who are you, commoner?” 

The young man was dressed in a simple dark coat and a white shirt. He had wavy hair the color of gold, and a particularly delicious mouth.

No, he needed to keep his lust in check. He had already debated with himself so much whether keeping Conrad was a good idea after all. His weakness would be the death of him. 

“Commoner? Really, man? Are you going to try to get rid of me by pretending to be some character?”

The way the commoner spoke was strange. First of all, that was no way to address a prince and Prince Sebastian of all people. 

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and stretched one arm. He wore the same dark clothes as the other young man, and from the cuff of his shirt, jutted out a bony hand. Surprised, he moved his hands to his face. 

What a mighty curse! He couldn’t say exactly what was different, but he had been shrunk! He grabbed the commoner by the front of his shirt and pulled him close so that they could be level with one another. The beautiful green eyes stared at him in unhidden surprise.

“Tell me,” he said through his teeth, “what do you see?”

“Um, that you lost your mind a little over my asking you out on a date?”

“A date?” Sebastian was sure by now his eyes had turned to slits. No one resisted his icy look, no one. “What is that, a date?”

The young man laughed and blushed. “You know, go out to the movies or the arcade, and then grab a bite or something like that.”

Sebastian couldn’t understand half of it. “To what end?” The curse wanted something from him, without a doubt. He now needed to learn what.

“Um, I don’t know… maybe… a kiss?” The commoner bit his lower lip.

Sebastian swallowed hard. Damn his weakness! “A kiss?” That thing he understood. So, he only needed to kiss this stranger in plain clothes, and he would return to his realm?

There had never been stranger or sweeter curses then. He pulled the commoner close and pressed his lips against that enrapturing mouth. 

It was as sweet as he imagined, so Sebastian bit on the lower lip the commoner had so enticingly teased just earlier. A small surprised gasp was the answer, and the beautiful mouth opened to him. Sebastian grabbed the other by the back of the head and moved his tongue for a full, hopefully satisfying taste.

The other was hesitant in front of his attack, so Sebastian leaned forward, trying to get more. Firm hands came on his shoulders, and he was pushed back gently. The commoner looked flustered. “Oh, Kai, I had no idea. I mean… did you… I mean…”

Hmm, the curse hadn’t been lifted. Sebastian looked around. The commoner appeared to be a simpleton, and he was probably just a trick used by the witches to stray him from the real purpose of this trial. 

The commoner let go of him and straightened his clothes. “I should head home,” he said and looked down. “But, man,” he laughed like he couldn’t believe something, “I’ll see you later, right?”

Hopefully not, although the young man was beautiful. He chose not to reply. The commoner walked over to him and gave him a clumsy kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Kai.”

So, his assigned name in this strange world was Kai. As the stranger walked away, Sebastian acted on impulse and called after him, “What’s your name?”

The young man laughed. “You’re pulling my leg, right? I’m Milo Bennett and I’m the happiest guy in the world!” he yelled and threw his arms up while tilting his head back with a delighted smile. 

Milo Bennett. What a strange name. As for being the happiest man in the world, he had to be mistaken.

Simpleton.

Milo disappeared from view, and Sebastian stared after him for a while as he considered his next step. The shiny colored contraptions passed by the stone fence at astonishing speeds. Maybe he would catch one. 

He touched his waist and grimaced at the lack of his trusty sword. But he had his ice magic, and that was enough. 

He jumped over the fence and winced at the pain in his feet when he landed on the other side. One look at the thin fabric covering his feet convinced him that this world lacked proper footwear. 

He stepped on the road marked by white lines and waited for one of those contraptions. Calmly, he put one hand up when he saw one approaching, and then he noticed that a human manned it.

The thing screeched to a halt, and the human inside began shouting something while a deafening sound came ringing from the contraption. That was a strange sort of magic the human used, or maybe he was trapped inside and needed saving.

With measured steps, Sebastian walked over, searching for ways to gain entrance. The human, a bald man, opened a door on his side. “Are you crazy, kid?” he yelled.

Sebastian looked around. Who was this crazy kid he was talking about?

“Damn wackos,” the bald man said and closed the door.

Before Sebastian could say a word, he took off and disappeared around a corner.

“Kai, what are you doing?” someone called for him.

He turned his head to see a girl who could be no older than twelve, with her hair tied in pigtails. She was wearing a dark dress and white shirt and had a bag on her back. And she was staring at him like he had horns.

She pursed her lips and hurried to him. Then she grabbed him by the hand. “Mom is going to be so pissed once she hears you were trying to do Goku on the street.”

Mom? Goku? What was this strange girl talking about?

“So?” he asked.

She must be his next clue in getting rid of the curse.

“So?” she asked in an angry voice. Then, she suddenly changed tack and stared at him with shining eyes while her lips stretched in a grin. “Pay for my silence.” 

Hmm, what could that mean?

TBC