How To Become A King

Merry

The mouse girls point of view

I heard footsteps near me. Despite being taken as collateral for my dead parents substantial debt when I was five, and despite being destined for the mines in a few months, I held on too the slim hope that a kind old lady who just wanted to have a maid for company would buy me, and be willing to overlook the fact that I am a beast-man, the fact that I am a slave, the fact that I have absolutely nothing, and see me for who I was. I didn't know who I was exactly, but I wanted someone to see beyond my status, my race, and my wealth.

However, the person who approached me was a human man whose ring screamed 'NOBLE!' His green eyes had this glint when he looked at me. Any hope I had left vanished. This man looked liked he had just come of age... I was there to be the one he took to bed. I had heard rumors from some of the used slaves that when a master just came of age, they would buy a female slave of their choosing to release their frustration on.

When time came for me to be tattooed, I tilted my head so he may tattoo my neck, as all slaves were when they were first bought. The man I felt fear for... Looked slightly surprised, and I thought maybe he wasn't such a bad person. Maybe he would feel just as hurt as I when he tattooed me. If he was that kind of person, it wouldn't be so bad to serve him... However, his next words were crueler than the slave trader who bought me. He wanted to take his time when he tattooed me. He was going to delight in torturing me.

I meekly shivered and did as he asked. My fate was going to stay terrible, and nothing I did would change that. My life, really and truly, would have nothing good in it. Ah- Why was I born with such a cruel fate? I asked myself this day after day in my cell, however each day, I quickly shook it off. Today I did not bother. Why was I born at all? It would be best if I could just disappear now. No one needs me, no one cares for me, perhaps it would be best to just let it all end? As I thought this, the man took me and his companions outside. Their words slid by my ears, then suddenly-

I felt as if every single dirty speck of dirt and grime that had been with me for years, just vanished. I stared at my hands. They looked clean. My hair looked shiny and sleek, and my tail was smooth to the touch. Suddenly, the man who bought me clutched his face in pain, and ran in circles. However, he refused to scream or even say anything that indicated he was in pain. The only way you could know he was in pain was how his face contorted, and how his subordinates worried for him.

When he finally stopped running, his bangs covered the new tattoo, but not before I could see it. I did not know that tattoos could be art, however this one was. A silver sword set with a black hilt, a green eye with the sideways slit like a monsters stared at me. The sword was breathtaking, and yet looked murderous. "I repeat, we are The Incisors! If you wish to follow me, once again proclaim your loyalty and receive a tattoo!" The man said this with a stern expression, and one by one, the three people nearby kneeled. "However, we shall do this at a more appropriate time, after we introduce Merry to everyone." The man smiles at me kindly.

He takes us to an inn, and introduces me to everyone. "This is Alf, Lukas, and Nick. I'm Tom, and your name is Merry. We shall talk more later, but first let us eat!" He politely asks the inn cooks if they are willing to prepare food for a party of five. I question how unfathomable this man was. One minute he spoke the cruelest words I ever heard, and the next he was politely asking someone of a lower station to prepare food for five people... And that meant he was including me.

When we received the meal, I took it with a bow. I may be punished for taking it all, however I had been hungry for so long. I sat on the floor, and set the plate down. The man who bought me glares at me, and I know I've done something wrong, however I do not know what. "You will sit with us. You are our companion. You may be my subordinate, but you are as human as I." ME? Human? I was very confused. I was a beast-man. We were not humans. Despite that, he called me his companion. Why would he look at me as if I was trash, like everyone always did, yet say something so meaningful?

I quietly sat on the table. I only began to eat after he was satisfied with my behavior, and waved permission. I devoured the food, however I did my best to copy the people around me. I may not know of manners, but I knew the results of being rude. The man thanked the server who came by to return the empty plates to the kitchen, and they bowed with a smile. I looked at the man- no, I looked at the Boss, and saw that no matter how long the time I spent with him was, it would never be enough to learn to understand him.

He gets three rooms, two people per room. He decided it would be best if I slept in his room, and I meekly followed him. It was time... Not. He immediately gave me the bed and curled up on the floor. Despite my worry he would harm me, I was able to sleep and each day it got easier. Five days pass, and in my new dress, I accompanied them to the adventurers guild each day until they passed all the tests to enter, and I was there when his servants got their tattoos, pledging their loyalty. He said I could wait until they had entered the guild to make my decision about serving him.

In the middle of the fifth night, I awoke to sobs. I saw the door cracked open, and slowly crept to look. There, Boss was crying into his knees. I saw him battling his emotions, trying to keep calm, before once again bursting into tears. It is like there is no one he can cry in front of, he has to do it in the middle of the night, where no one will hear him, where no one will know to worry for him.

How burdened must he feel, with no one who understands him? Why would he be polite to those below him, be grateful to someone who was just doing their job as they always did, and treat a slave he just bought as a companion, and treat a beast-man as a human? These are questions everyone around us have been asking. At times he seems cruel, strict, or otherwise terrifying, and there is no apparent rhyme and reason between that and his kindness. He challenged common sense itself. I fear that no one will see beyond whatever masks he puts up, no one will ever know his pain.

My instincts speak with me quietly as I watch him cry. 'This man may be stern, but only for the good of another. He may do so secretly, but he will notice the unnoticed, protect the unprotected, arm the unarmed, and love the unloved. However... He may only do this is because he feels unnoticed, unprotected, unarmed, and unloved.'

With that realization, I made a choice that would change my world forever. I could not carry his burdens. I could not notice what he yearns to be noticed, for he does not make it obvious. I could not protect him, for I am weaker than he. I could not love him, for I am unable to be with him. Even if I could bridge the gap, fall for him, and make him fall for me, I would never be the person he needed at his side. I could not understand him enough to be the one he would lay down his armor for. The one thing I could do, I would swear upon his tears, his pain, and my regret, to do. I would arm him with my loyalty. If he asked me to jump, I would jump. If he asked me to run, I would not stop until he said otherwise. If he told me to conquer the world, I would present to him the world on a platter of my blood, sweat, and tears.

And thus, I listened to my Master cry from where I lay in bed, until he finally walked back into the room quietly. He curled up on the ground, and quickly fell asleep. I tucked my blanket around him, and watched over his sleeping form. This man was my master, from today forth. I would be his shadow when he needed a shadow, and when he needed someone to light the way, I would find him that person. I would guard what he wanted guarded, I would hide what he wanted hidden, and I would kill what he wanted killed. With that resolution, I went to sleep.