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Chapter 19: Playing with Fire

Keahi felt that a burden lifted from his shoulders as he walked out of Elder Fudo’s office. He had just spent the last half an hour explaining to his Elder what he had learnt about the rabid foxes that had been plaguing the area, narrowing it down to the fact that they had been poisoned rather than infected with a virus. That changes matters completely. Now foxes didn’t have to be slaughtered and the farmers of Fire Island didn’t have to live in fear.

He, however, didn’t feel comfortable in telling his Elder of his newfound ability to use Purity Fire. He had only just discovered it and wasn’t sure if he could call upon it as will without further training. And, well, he didn’t want the royal family to focus more attention upon him.

And he certainly didn’t wish for them to learn of Masou’s presence and his extraordinary FireBrand abilities most importantly. They might try something to either pull him into their ranks or something more sinister. Keahi didn’t want to chance it; Masou was a free spirit.

His cousin Flamenca would make his life a living hell if she ever found out.

A frown suddenly slipped across Keahi’s lips when the lithe figure of the Fire Princess was seen within the Fire Temple, sashaying along the temple grounds with an arrogant sway of her hips. And she was alone, surprisingly. She usually had Elder Aodh at her side, encouraging her in whatever she wanted to try and do.

Great, Keahi thought bitterly. He was having such a good day, too.

Mixed with his annoyance, there was a sense of suspicion. There was no need for a Fire Princess to enter the Fire Temple; it was the sole domain of the priests that reside there. She was probably just flexing her rank and title to remind everyone of who was in charge of the island.

Still, something didn’t sit right. And before Keahi had a chance to reconsider doing or saying anything, words of suspicion tumbled from his lips when Flamenca gave him a triumphant smirk. One she usually gave when she got one over him.

“What are you doing at the Fire Temple?” Keahi all but accused as Flamenca glided passed him, flicking her hair over her shoulder at him. “Royalty never come here.”

“Excuse me?” Flamenca scoffed at him as she stopped walking and turned around to face him, a hand on her perfectly shaped hip. “I do not have to explain anything to you. I am the Fire Princess, I do as I wish.”

Keahi had heard those words more times than he cared to remember, but for some reason, they annoyed him far more than usual. “Fire Princess or not, when within the Fire Temple, a Fire Priest holds a higher rank,” he retorted easily. “So I am justified in asking you that question.”

Flamenca seemed momentarily stunned (and highly, highly indignant) at his words. But she recovered quickly and hissed at him, her hand curling tightly into a fist by her side. “You have some gall, don’t you?”

Keahi had to admit that he, himself, was surprised at the defiance he was displaying. “What are you up to?”

The look of anger on Flamenca’s face was immense. But as she opened her lips to reply with a scathing retort or threat Masou came bounding into view, as bright and carefree as usual. His gaze fell onto Keahi and his smile widened.

“Oh, hey there, Beautiful,” he greeted.

“Oh, get lost peasant,” Flamenca snapped irritably at Masou, immediately assuming that Masou was calling her beautiful. She then rolled her eyes in such a manner that such a thing was a daily occurrence. “How dare you speak to me in such a manner?”

Flamenca’s harsh tone caused Masou to become startled and was silent for a moment, blinking at her with a blank look. He then suddenly tilted his head to the side in completely bewilderment, his expression adorably lost. “Huh?”

He almost looked like a puppy.

Masou quickly righted himself and planted his hands on his hips, looking somewhat amused – with a subtle hint of annoyance in his eyes. “I wasn’t talking to you,” he said abruptly. “I was talking to Keahi over there, Miss Pissy.”

Keahi found himself gaping at his blue-haired friend while Flamenca bristled dangerously. Though Keahi wasn’t sure whether it was from the fact that Masou had insulted her or that he willingly admitted that he was calling him beautiful over her.

“I beg your pardon,” Flamenca snarled slowly.

But Masou carried on, unheeded by her dangerous aura. “Why would you assume that I was talking to you? A bit conceited, are we?”

Flamenca was well into a state of rage now; her shoulders were trembling, her hands curled so tightly into fists that her knuckles were turning white and her jaw was clenched so tightly that it was probably painful. But she drew in a deep breath nonetheless, refusing to lose her temper in front of a peasant.

“What a brainless man,” she insulted, lifting her chin up in a sign of superiority. “You obviously don’t know who you are talking to. I am Flamenca, the Fire Princess.”

Again, Masou was silent for a moment, but it didn’t last long. “...Is that supposed to impress me or something?” he asked slowly, as if trying to comprehend why it should. “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re terribly rude and snobbish.”

Then that impish grin made a sudden comeback. “The yard stick up your ass giving you trouble, sunshine?” he asked cheerfully…far, far, far too cheerfully!

Keahi took a step back in surprised as he hands flew up to cover his mouth. He almost yelled out Masou’s name to warn him to hold his tongue as Flamenca was likely to do anything when she was this…enraged. But he managed to stop himself; he didn’t want Flamenca to know of his name.

The air around Flamenca crackled dangerously. “How dare you!” she practically screamed and appeared mere moment away from calling upon her Fire Magic.

And still, Masou was unconcerned. “Now now,” he said as he flapped a hand at her. “You shouldn’t speak like that. I could be the Fire God in disguise.”

“A mere peasant like you?” Flamenca ground out, glaring at Masou with such intensity he was lucky that looks couldn’t kill before she momentarily turned that hated gaze toward Keahi. “Hanging around with that useless trash over there?” She had to get an insult toward him in there somewhere. “Don’t make me laugh.”

Surprisingly, despite her obvious angry and rage, Flamenca didn’t immediately call upon her Spell Binding Circle and demand a battle. She had done so on numerous occasions and for less than what was occurring now. She, instead, held her head high in a regal manner and looked down at Masou.

“Give me your name, peasant,” she ordered, throwing out her arm in his direction to point at him. “And you will be punished!”

“You can call me Olufunmilayo Abdelrahman El-molamiwa the Third,” Masou answered brightly with a happy, go-lucky smile. “Or Oae for short because you asked so nicely!”

“Fool!” Flamenca immediately screamed. “Are you making fun of me?”

Masou, however, frowned. “What?” he asked with a sense of childish sadness in his tone. “You asked me for my name and I gave it. Is there something wrong with it? You’re being so mean!”

With her head down and shoulders hunched, Flamenca had her hands out in front of her, her fingers curling into a claw-like manner as they trembled with barely suppressed rage. “That is it; I will have the guards capture you for your insolence!”

Masou relished in the challenge. “Heh, they’re going to have to catch me first,” he said, a smirk making its way onto his lips.

“Guards!” Flamenca screamed, louder than Keahi had ever heard her do as she pointed in Masou’s direction when several guards appear from within the Fire Temple. “Seize him!”

“I’ve always been fond of tag!” Masou stated cheerfully before he abruptly spun on his heel and headed into another entrance into the Fire Temple.

Keahi finally, finally, found his voice. “Wait-a-minute!” he managed to yell before turning his back on Flamenca and running after the guards that were hot on Masou’s tail. But, somehow he knew they wouldn’t catch him. If Brendis couldn’t, then these guards certainly won’t.

And, sure enough, when Keahi finally managed to catch up, Masou was sitting cross-legged atop of a sandstone pillar, out of reach of the guards circled below. He appeared to be humming a tune as he all but mocked the guards beneath him.

Suddenly, one of the guards appeared ready to cast a spell, so Keahi quickly stepped in. He didn’t really like to pull his rank on others, but there was no other way. Masou, as great of a FireBrand he was, he was most certainly troublesome with that mouth of his!

“No, wait!” Keahi called as he pushed his way through the group to stand in front of the pillar, his arms out from his sides. “Don’t arrest him.”

The Guard about to cast a spell was surprised by his appearance. “The princess wanted us to capture this man,” he explained quickly.

“He has done nothing wrong,” Keahi retorted, standing firm as Masou stayed blissfully silent above him. “It was all a simple misunderstanding. I can take care of things from here.”

The Guards seemed reluctant to leave, but in the Fire Temple, words of a Fire Priest were regarded higher than those of the royal family. But only just. “Ah, if that is your order, sir.”

“Yes,” Keahi said with a sharp nod of his head. “Sorry for wasting your time.”

Not a moment after they left, Masou jumped down from the pillar and wrapped his arms around Keahi’s neck in a hug. “Aw, you came to my rescue, Beautiful.”

If you could call it that.

“You really can’t control that tongue of yours, can you?” Keahi couldn’t help but ask with a sense of amusement in his tone as he ushered Masou toward his room, the only place where he was probably safe for the time being.

“Told ya I couldn’t the first time we met,” Masou replied casually, completely undaunted by the fact that he had just insulted the Fire Princess. “Anyway, I always spoke the truth. She is rather pissy, isn’t she?”

Well now, there was no way Keahi could dispute that claim.

“What was that name again?” Keahi asked as the stepped into his room, he turning around to ensure the door was shut behind him before turning back to Masou. “Something the third? No wait, don’t answer that. I don’t even know where you got that name from.”

Masou smiled that impish grin again as he sat himself on the edge of Keahi’s bed. “Pretty hot, huh?”

Keahi rolled his eyes, but shook his head with a smile nonetheless. “I bet you can’t say it again.”

Masou immediately perked up at that. “Ooh, a challenge!”

But before either of them could say anything else, there was a sudden knock at Keahi’s door and they both fell silent. They shared a look; Keahi’s filled with trepidation while Masou simply looked interested.

“Who is it?” Keahi asked warily.

“Master Keahi?” Thank goodness it was Bharath! “I must speak with you for a moment.”

Keahi’s momentarily relief quickly gave way to concern as he opened the door to allow Bharath to enter. “What’s wrong?” he asked as ushered Bharath into his room.

Brendis was, of course, with him. However, the very second his gaze landed on Masou, he frowned and sent him a hard, if exasperated look. “What did you do, moron?” he immediately accused. “Some of the guards seem to be after you.”

“Oh, that was just a misunderstanding,” Keahi replied quickly, trying to downplay the seriousness of the matter. “You know the Fire Princess.”

Brendis didn’t look all that convinced, but he knew the Fire Princess’ temper well, so anything was possible. “I guess.”

“Aw, Slowpoke?” Masou piped up, getting up off the bed to give Brendis a playful poke on his cheek. “You seem to pop up everywhere. Do you have a crush on me? How cute!”

And, of course, Brendis immediately bristled. “I dare you to say that again!”

“Which part?” Masou asked as he looked somewhat confused. “The Slowpoke or that you have a crush on me?”

“I do NOT have a crush on you and I am NOT a Slowpoke!”

Masou just loved goading a reaction out of Brendis. “Let’s see you prove it!”

“I should arrest you myself,” Brendis ground out through gritted teeth.

“Um, could you not?” Keahi stepped in.

“If some of the guards are after Masou for whatever reason the Fire Princess wishes, perhaps it would be best if he hides out for a moment,” Bharath suggested. Even though he wasn’t aware of what had happened, he wanted to help. Anyone who earned the Princess’ ire needed all the help he could get.

“Keep a low profile, huh?” Brendis murmured before glancing warily at Masou. “Think you can handle that, idiot?”

“If you show me a secret way out than I can,” Masou said.

Brendis looked hesitant and shared a look with Bharath. Bharath silently shrugged and Brendis sighed deeply and with a sense of exasperation. “Fine. But only because Master Keahi has taken a liken to you for whatever reason.”

“Yay!” Masou cheered as he and Brendis headed toward the door of Keahi’s room.

“God, you’re such a moron,” Was Brendis’ last words before the door feel shut behind them, leaving Keahi and Bharath alone to share a look of amusement between them.

“Masou can’t seem to help himself, can he?” Keahi commented.

Bharath smiled warmly. “At least he keeps Brendis on his toes, right?”

“I guess,” Keahi said fondly before he turned to give Bharath his full attention, wondering what it was that Bharath urgently needed to speak with him about. “Um, so what’s the matter?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” Bharath said as he remembered what brought him to Keahi’s room in the first place. “You never guess that Princess Flamenca is trying to do now.”

Keahi knew she was up to something. “What is it?”

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