Chapter 12: Giant-Size Crush

I WOKE UP in the morning, wrapped in the arms of my Greek god. We never made it into the house. Mr. Hakuryu’s lawn was soft and well-manicured and my graduation gown made a fine bed. Roadkill sprawled across us made a blanket. Fum woke up and looked into my eyes with a big smile.

“I suppose you want something I’m not supposed to give,” he sighed. We’d already had most everything. It took me a minute to figure out what else I might want. Then I remembered.

“Oh. Yeah. I suppose so. I’m supposed to take Baron Federico Rex to his parents’ home in East Love. But then if everything goes well, we’re bringing him right back here,” I said, hoping that would ease the conflict. “Don’t you think that would count? You could go right back to guarding him.”

“You have slain me, Warrior Wizard Jackie. I am yours to do with as you wish. Not only will I let you go, I’ll escort you to see you safely there,” he said, kissing me again. So dreamy.

“Maybe I can get Misty and Princess to ride with Mr. Hakuryu and the two of us can ride together,” I said.

“Mmm. Nice car, but I don’t think I’ll fit. I’ll follow in mine.” He pointed toward the opposite side of the drive where a utilitarian white Ford Super Duty F250 was parked.

“I bet you can keep up with me,” I grinned. “Let’s go in and have some breakfast. I’m starving.”

“I don’t know. I might not be welcome there. He’s got a family heirloom of mine and we’ve been a little in conflict over it.”

“Neither of you is going to be anything but nice and polite as long as I’m there. Besides, I might have to fight Mr. Hakuryu to take Baron with me if he won the game against his sister last night.”

“I hope not, because I could not stand to see you in danger. I don’t think he plays basketball,” Fum said.

“How did you get the name Fum? It seems so undignified. You are certainly a man with dignity,” I said.

“My baby sister,” he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. “My name is actually Freedom. When Libby was little, she couldn’t get the whole word out. I became Fum and it’s stuck with me ever since.”

“Freedom is a wonderful name. Do you mind if I use that?”

“I’d be delighted if you used my real name, Jackie. I’d like to hear it from your lips over and over.”

“Take it, Freedom. Take it from my lips.” I lifted my head so he could bend to my kiss. What an experience! Even the guys I went out with who were tall, weren’t tall like this. I looked up to him and was smitten. We were on the steps at the door when the butler opened it and looked up at us. He twitched a little, but scarcely responded to the two of us standing together.

“Mr. Hakuryu invites you in for breakfast,” he said, standing back with the door open. “Watch your heads.”

The warning was pointless as the doors and halls in the mansion were easily ten feet high. I saw Freedom instinctively duck anyway. I suppose I did, too. We were led immediately to the dining room where Hakuryu, Misty, Princess, Baron, Roadkill, and Shasta were already seated. Interestingly, Princess now sat across from her brother instead of next to him. Misty was next to Princess. There were two seats at the end of the table set for Freedom and me. We nodded politely as we were seated.

“Mr. Hakuryu, Princess Bridget Rex, Baron Federico Rex, Misty, Roadkill, and Shasta,” I said. “Please let me introduce you all to my boyfriend, Freedom.”

“Boyfriend?” Misty squeaked. “He’ll never fit! I mean, in the car!”

“It must have been a very interesting match,” Hakuryu said.

“Oh, it was. I kind of lost track of the score, though.”

“Warrior Wizard Jackie has slain the loneliness within me and I am bound to her with chains of love,” he said reaching for my hand. I swooned. How poetic.

“How went the Last Battle indoors?” I asked. Baron stood at his seat and I thought he was going to claim victory, but apparently Hakuryu had schooled him well.

“There is but one person I will ever call Sovereign after my parents have retired from the field. That person has shown her ability to defeat me on the open field of battle with superb strategy and tactics. I will gladly abdicate my place on the throne in favor of my sister, Princess Bridget Rex, and intend to travel with you to East Love to establish the same. Hail to the Sovereign heir!” the boy said. Hakuryu nodded his approval. Princess stood and faced her brother.

“I have found the test to be rigorous and my brother to be a stalwart, worthy, and honorable opponent. Now, however, I offer my hand in peace across this table, accepting your homage but also recognizing your place in the Land. One day, my brother, you will be the general who commands the armies of Victoriana. Hail to the General!” She reached across the table and they shook hands. It was a Kodak moment. Too bad we had no paparazzi snapping pictures.

“It seems we have one more order of business and we can all go happily on our way,” Hakuryu said. “Fum...”

“Freedom is his name,” I broke in. Hakuryu looked at me, startled. He nodded and settled down again.

“Mr. Freedom, I have been accused of stealing certain undescribed family heirlooms of yours. I cannot let that claim go unsettled. I assure you I do not even know your family and could not have collected anything of theirs. I must demand an apology and putting to rest these claims,” he said.

Great. I could still end up with a battle on my hands and I didn’t want to think which of the men might win. Freedom had strength and mass on his side, along with a pretty good brain, as far as I could tell. Hakuryu had age, experience, and untested magic. He’d said he could use his powers against the giant, but that might only be true outside his house.

“My parents—both as tall as I am—were once performers in a circus sideshow,” Freedom started. I saw Hakuryu crease his brow and shift uncomfortably.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that,” he said. “Many people who were ‘unusual’ took jobs performing when they couldn’t get work in any other line.”

“I project no shame on my parents,” Freedom said. “But the circus master was a hard man. I won’t say cruel. No one was treated any better or worse than he was, but he held the line firmly and demanded unquestioned obedience. The circus prospered, but not so the performers. They were little more than slaves, unable to escape because they had nowhere to go. When they finally had an opportunity to escape, my parents left with nothing but the clothes on their back and fled into the wilderness. What little they owned, they left in their circus wagon.”

“That’s a sad story, Mr. Freedom. I’m still not sure how it relates to me,” Hakuryu said.

“My mother had one treasure: a cameo given to her by a former lover that she wore all the time. I’m told my parents escaped because their wagon broke an axle. They watched for the driver to leave to get help and then rushed from the wagon. In the process, her cameo necklace was pulled off. It was left lying on the floor of the wagon. I have spent most of my adult life searching for their wagon and the lost cameo. It might seem a small thing to you, cameos are not typically valuable pieces of jewelry, but it was all my mother had from her lover. I wish to take it to her to give to my sister. I believe you came into possession of that wagon and as a result, the cameo within it. You see, you owned that circus.”

We all sat silently and watched Mr. Hakuryu process the information. It was a startling and revealing story. Even believing no ill of him, it was easy to see how the precious family heirloom would have come into his possession.

“It has been many years since I owned a circus. I’m sure you were yet unborn when it was dismantled and everyone went away. If my circus was the one your parents were in—which is not entirely likely—I would probably not have your heirloom in my possession. Nor could you identify it, based on what you have said. We are still at an impasse,” Hakuryu said. “How would I ever find such a thing among my possessions, let alone verify that it is the one you seek?”

“Even if I had not been told by the Caesars that you still had the entire circus wagons and equipment in your possession, I believe you know precisely what cameo I am referring to.”

He pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt and showed his well-muscled shoulder. I must say, I was willing to remove the entire shirt from him and then just keep going. But he turned his shoulder toward the table and we could all see the elegant tattoo. I hadn’t noticed it in the dark, when we were both ... uh ... showing a lot of skin. It was a woman facing us, wearing a locket around her neck. Wrapped around the woman so that nothing indecent was exposed, was a dragon.

“You see, Mr. Hakuryu, it was the only thing she was wearing the night you made love. This image was inked in my skin as a reminder that I should seek the dragon in possession of the cameo, for he is my true father.”

There was a stunned silence. Baron scowled at Freedom because the boy thought he’d just taken the place of a son to Hakuryu. He was not interested in an interloper.

“That was such a long time ago,” Hakuryu whispered.

“I’m twenty-six years old.”

“Time is different for dragons. The morning after she was stolen away from me, I was a hundred years older than I’d been the night before. The broken axle was no accident, but was contrived by the other giant in the circus who had designs on her. Since that morning, I have been working my way back in time to find her. When I awoke, the circus wagons had all been abandoned long before. They were derelicts parked on this very spot. I converted them into my home and began searching for the treasures that have built this mansion. But all the time I was looking for the beautiful giantess, Rhianna—sworn to kill the oaf that took her away.”

“He’s already dead. Mother never told me exactly how he died, but just that he had a ‘weak stomach.’ I was six years old and my little sister was just a year. She renamed us Freedom and Liberty that day.”

“I need ... I want ... I’m over nine hundred years old and I don’t know what I should do,” Hakuryu sighed.

“I have not come to make any claim upon you other than to return the cameo so my mother can hand it to my sister. It was my mother’s only heirloom,” Freedom said.

“You shall have it,” Hakuryu declared, “when your mother places it in your hand. I will give it to no other than my precious Rhianna.”

“Then I’ll...”

“Wait!” I cried out. “Don’t go making statements of bravado! Don’t make threats! Don’t speak in absolutes! Just stop it!” I was surprised when they both stopped where they were and turned to me. “Freedom, Mr. Hakuryu’s proposal fulfills your quest as well. What difference does it make if he places the cameo in your mother’s hand or if you do? Either way, she’ll give it to your sister. Where does your mother live?”

“A long way south of here. In the land of Adavena.”

“We need to make the trip north to East Love so we can restore order to the land of Victoriana. Then you and I and Mr. Hakuryu can turn south and find your mother to return the cameo.” There was a soft growl beside me and I glanced down at Roadkill. “And Baron and Misty and Shasta and Roadkill,” I said.

“Me, too,” Princess said.

“We’ll need a caravan,” I sighed.

“Don’t you have duties and responsibilities at the capital?” Misty asked Princess.

“Not really. Once the succession is set, all I need to do is show up each year on succession day. Speaking of which, you know it’s only a few days away and this whole adventure will have been a waste if Valentine is the only one who shows up,” Princess said. I rolled my eyes at Misty and she rolled hers right back at me.

“And you two,” I said to Freedom and Hakuryu, “can use the time to get to know each other like a father and son.” Both men scowled, but didn’t say a thing.