Shiva noticed she was holding an empty hoodie instead of a squirming brat. Uverstarr slipped out and fled across the yard heading for the gate with a triumphant smirk on his face.
“We’re in the middle of an epic game of hide and seek!” he said.
“That’s not what we’re doing,” Shiva assured her.
“We ran into Uverstarr after the tournament,” said Ash. “Now that I think about it, he must have been mad that I beat you. He stole some cards from me.”
“Are you butts talking over there?” he turned and shouted as he reached the front gate. “Cause all I hear is:” Uverstarr cupped his hands around his mouth and made a loud farting sound. That’s when a man wielding a tin cup cracked him in the back of his head with it. The boy stumbled forward a little, his head throbbing.
“I thought I told you no more stealing, Uverstarr,” the older man scolded him. “And try to show some respect. These people are our guests.”
The man with the cup stepped inside the yard. He had a bulging grocery bag slung over his shoulder. His fading black hair saw some salty sprinkles of white starting to come in. He put a hand on Uverstarr’s shoulder and walked him back to the group. Uverstarr trudged along obediently with his head down in shame.
“About time ya decided to show up,” Aralia said to the man with a tone of familiarity, almost as if she were scolding him.
“Hello everyone,” Mr. Kurdis ignored her. He turned to Shiva and her team. “When Raley told me you were all coming over, I had to hurry out for some decent grub. Lady Shiva, it’s an honor to have you. I hope Uverstarr hasn’t been troubling you too much.”
“Not at all,” Shiva said, keeping her cool.
Mr. Kurdis turned and looked at Ash. “And you must be the human boy who invited Aralia to join your Soulstice team.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ash said, extending his hand for a handshake.
Mr. Kurdis extended his tin cup. Smiling, he said, “I’ve heard all about your accomplishments, and working for Mr. von Gosick, the Royal Advisor, what an honor! A job like that must pay well!” Kurdis shook the cup a little, the distinct CLANK of a few coins jangled inside.
Ash knew at once what the man wanted. Smiling politely to buy time, Ash nervously dug in his pockets for any spare skorch. He was able to produce only a five-skorch coin and dropped it in the man’s cup.
“Why thank you! I had no idea humans could be so generous!” Kurdis smiled wider, turning his cup on the others. “Don’t tell me my devil brother and sister won’t find it in their souls to match this boy’s act of-”
CLANK. CLANK CLANK.
Aura flipped one five scorch coin to match Ash’s, while Shiva plunked down two ten scorch coins, just to show the boys up while simultaneously shutting up the old man.
“Wonderful! Many thanks to all of you! Now why don’t we go inside,” Kurdis said, waving them towards the front door. His smile faded instantly. “I’ll give you the tour before we get started on dinner. And let’s not forget about returning their stolen cards, Uverstarr.”
“Yes sir,” replied Uverstarr, his head still turned down in pain.
“Please don’t think of Uverstarr as the representative for our orphanage,” said Kurdis as he motioned everyone in. “He’s what we like to refer to as the blackened sheep of the group.”
Kurdis sent Uverstarr off to prepare for dinner and fetch the stolen cards before leading his three guests on a short tour of the orphanage. The building looked big enough from the outside, but the team quickly discovered the run-down conditions on the inside could be considered close to poverty. They entered into a room that served as the children’s play area, a dingy living room with fading green wallpaper that was peeling all over.
The large room felt cramped with eleven or so kids still chattering loudly as they played games, told jokes, or wrestled. There was very little furniture in the room, but the couch and chair that were there looked about to crumble under the weight of the children jumping on it. Ash almost tripped over two kids who ran by, using him as a shield as they played ‘devils versus demons’. Aura felt dangerously out of place, and the lack of objectify-able lady parts available made him feel uncomfortable. Shiva kept her arms crossed and her guard up.
Mr. Kurdis passed right through the chaos unfazed. “I’ll give you the quick tour. Thomas! Melinda! Take the groceries to the kitchen and get started!” he barked at two of the children. Kurdis dropped the huge sack of groceries before them and they all peered inside at its contents. They gripped their noses in disgust, doubling back.
“Yuck!” the boy said.
“Is this stuff even eatable?” the girl asked.
“Everything’s eatable in stew form, quit complaining!” Kurdis told them. “Now get going!” The two children begrudgingly lifted the heavy sack and made off for the kitchen. “Now where was I? Oh yes, here you see the living room. This is where the children play and get way, way too loud!” Though he had to raise his voice significantly just to be heard over all the chatter from the children, no one paid him any mind or quieted down. Kurdis hung his head, grumbled to himself, and moved on.
He took them upstairs to see the children’s bedrooms. The boys and girls had separate rooms, but that was about all the division that happened up there. The hallway divided two giant sleeping areas with fifteen or so small beds crammed together tightly. Each bed had a small pillow and one thin, short, itchy-looking blanket.
“Here’s where I sleep!” Raley said, rushing over to point out her own bed. She pulled Ash along with her. He wasn’t expecting to be taken by the arm and felt his cheeks redden as Aralia dragged him across the room. She jumped down on the bed and patted the seat next to her, signaling for Ash to sit down.
“She seems to have warmed up to him pretty quickly,” Aura whispered to Shiva. The Royal Princess grunted in response.
Ash sat next to the smiling girl. Her many piercings no longer looked so intimidating. Suddenly he wished the room wasn’t crowded with other people so he didn’t feel so on display. The bed was stiff and uncomfortable, and before Ash could think of a suitable compliment to award the girl a small head poked out from under the bed between his legs.
“It’s gone,” the head of the little girl said, flat and disappointed.
“Mal, come on out and meet everyone,” Raley said. With a sad huff the girl scooted out on her back from beneath the bed and through Ash’s legs. “Ash, this is my little sister Amalia. Say hi to Mr. Ash, Mal.”
The little girl stood up and dusted off her raggy dress, uninterested in the new strangers in her room. “Zabo’s gone!” she said, stomping her bare foot on the cold hardwood floor.
Ash wanted to ask if they were truly sisters by blood, but thought it an inappropriate question for the time being. Instead, he put on his most child-comforting voice and addressed the little girl with a pleasant smile.
“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Ash said. “I saw a bunch of kids playing downstairs. Maybe Zabo went down there to play with them.”
“Zabo’s her stuffed demon doll,” said Aralia. “This is the thirty-fourth time she’s lost it this month.”
“I miss him,” Amalia said as tears started to flow. Aralia leaned down and scooped her sister up quickly. “I want Zabo! I miss him!” she cried. While Aralia tried to calm her sister down, the girl, who was finally at eyelevel with the rest of the adults, stopped her crying as she spotted someone across the room. “Who is the princess over there?” she whispered to her sister.
Aralia spun around and pointed to Shiva. “That’s Lady Shiva of the Royal Satan Family,” she said.
“No,” Amalia said. “Not that one. The pretty one!” She pointed at Aura. “Pretty like a princess!”
Shiva fumed while Aura beamed. “Looks like I’m the pretty one,” Aura said with a huge grin. “I’m not surprised, really.”
“Mr. Aura is a man, Amalia,” the girl told her sister sternly. “He probably doesn’t like you calling him a princess.”
<
br /> The little girl looked perplexed for a moment, then an idea hit her. “Mr. Princess!” she said with a childish smile of delight. As soon as Aralia set her sister down, Amalia ran to Aura and clung tightly to his leg. Aura smiled weakly, unable to protest. Kurdis suggested they move downstairs so he could supervise the children, who would be doing most of the cooking for them.
“Let’s go downstairs, Mal,” the elder sister said, trying to urge the infant girl away from the awkward death toucher. “Come on, let’s go find Zabo.”
“I don’t need Zabo!” Amalia declared. “Not when I have Mr. Princess!”
The group migrated downstairs and back to the living area. Uverstarr was there, sitting on the floor in the far corner of the room. A group of children surrounded him as he held a deck of Devil’s Duel cards in his hands. The children were begging him to show them the cards again while Uverstarr played coy.
“Ah, there’s Uverstarr,” said Kurdis. “Looks like he’s got your cards, too. Let me know if he doesn’t give them all back to you. If he doesn’t return every single card I’ll give him another thwomping.” At this, he raised his tin cup. The man never seemed to let go of the thing.
“You really don’t have to physically abuse a small child on my account,” Ash said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Small child?” Kurdis echoed. “He may act like one, but Uverstarr’s hardly a child; he’s seventeen years old!” The team gasped and gawked in unison. “He’s a runt alright, but the boy’s only a year shy of turning eighteen.”
“Good,” said Shiva. “Then I won’t feel so bad when I give him a thwomping.”
“I would have never guessed judging by his personality,” said Ash. “He’s actually not much younger than me!”
“That’s right,” Aura said. “Sometimes I forget you’re practically a baby too!”
I try to forget that both Shiva and Aura are in their mid-forties, Ash thought. Devil aging is so weird.
“I’m only twenty-seven,” Aralia said. “Not much older than you Ash.”
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you let Aralia and Uverstarr join your festival team,” said Kurdis. “They could both benefit from some social interaction.”
“Speak for yourself old man!” Raley fired back. “I’m perfectly sociable as I am, thank you!”
Ash chuckled nervously, remembering how smoothly his first encounter with the girl had gone. “You’ve more or less got it down, but Uverstarr could really use some work.”
They observed Uverstarr and the children surrounding him on the dirty stained rug. The little sneaker passed cards around his circle of infant enthusiasts, eager to hear their praise for how cool each card’s graphic looked. They showered him with adoration and praise, which he rewarded by showing them more cards. For the moment, everyone looked happy as could be.
“Uverstarr came into my care as a baby,” said Kurdis. “Never did find out who his real folks are. Or were. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, he has a bit of an attitude problem. He loves playing mean tricks on others. Because of that, he’s never had many friends. The ones who could tolerate him always end up getting adopted and never see him again. I’m thankful to Aralia here for putting up with him for so long!”
Raley smiled and tried not to look embarrassed. “He’s a good kid when you get to know him, honest,” she said. “I’ve just known him the longest.” The girl moved toward the doorway to the kitchen. “But enough about the past. I’m going to show off my supreme cooking skills on that junk that Mr. Kurdis brought home! You won’t believe your taste buds!” With that she shot like a rocket to the kitchen, leaving her sister behind still clutching the pretty princess Aura’s thigh.
“Take this one with you!” Aura called to her, but she never looked back. Kurdis gripped the little girl between her armpits and lifted her away.
“I’ve got to round up all the children now,” he said. “Please, make yourselves at home. You can sit at the dinner table over- Sanford! Eustace! Get down from there! We’ll eat in thirty minutes.” Outbursts like that in the middle of his sentences seemed to be a frequent occurrence around here. Kurdis walked away with Amalia kicking and squirming. He turned his attention to the stairs and went back up for any wayward children.
Ash led the way over to the long dining table. Shiva and Aura followed. As they waked past Uverstarr, the real princess and the snotty youth had a little stare down. Shiva turned up her nose and walked by without saying a word. When they sat down she kept her eyes focused on the little boy. He sat on the floor giggling with his housemates, reveling in their adoration and ignoring Shiva entirely.
“Well, I guess I should walk over there and take back the cards,” said Ash. He stared at Shiva as he spoke. “Just gonna go on over there and collect Vashi Tansa’s deck from those orphaned children. Yep. Vashi Tansa needs his cards back. It’s the right thing to do, taking them away from those little orphans.”
Shiva continued to stare intently as Ash spoke. Her eyes drifted from Uverstarr to each child’s happy smiling faces. The kids argued about who had the coolest card, laughing and joking as children do.
“You nervous or something?” Aura asked, confused as to why his friend was dragging this out for so long. “Just go over there already. I see no flaw in your logic.” With one last look at Shiva, Ash shrugged and stood up.
“Wait,” said Shiva. She didn’t take her eyes off the group of kids, her face showing no emotion. “Screw Vashi Tansa. Let these kids keep the cards.”
Aura gaped at Shiva in amazement. “Did you just say what I think I heard you say? Or has my mind just been warped from hanging around so many youngsters?”
“Yeah Shiva,” said Ash, arching an eyebrow in question. “What do you mean screw Vashi Tansa? I lost his cards, so I should retrieve them for him. Shouldn’t I?”
Ash was hoping she would admit that the children clearly needed the cards more than her. He wanted her to say aloud her reasoning, as he felt it would help her finally develop into a somewhat nicer person.
She shrugged. “A Noble can afford to buy new cards,” Shiva said. “Call it a charitable donation.” She finally broke her stare and looked at the wall instead.
Ash drooped a little in disappointment. Well, at least she isn’t taking the cards back, he thought. That’s a step in the right direction.
“Besides, look at the smiles on those kid’s faces,” Shiva added. “I’m sure Vashi Tansa never smiles like that when he plays.” A moment of silence passed as Ash and Aura stared at their team captain in astonishment.
Kurdis came by herding a group of recently cleaned-up children. They all took seats around the table, packing themselves in around Ash and the gang until they were all elbows-to-elbows. Shiva, who’d sat at the head of the table, rose to vacate the seat for the man.
“Sit, please,” Kurdis told her. “It would be an honor to have you at the head of my table.” Shiva nodded with a smile and thanked him before sitting back down. He turned his focus to the children grouped around Uverstarr. “You lot: get over here!” Kurdis took the seat next to Shiva.
“I see you still haven’t gotten your cards back…” he said, eyeing Uverstarr.
“It’s fine,” Shiva was quick to say. “We’re donating them to the orphanage. The kids can keep them.”
“But didn’t those cards belong to someone else?” Kurdis asked.
“If a member of the Royal Family says its okay, its okay,” Shiva assured him.
“You’re a kind and respectable woman, Lady Shiva,” Kurdis replied, bowing his head in respect. “This orphanage wouldn’t be around if not for warmhearted people like you.”
Aura dared to giggle at Kurdis’s statement, and Shiva shot him a death glare. He contained himself quickly. Ash asked the orphanage director a question to steer the conversation along.
“So how did you come to be the man in charge of this orphanage?” asked Ash. In his time in Hell, he had no idea the orphanage even existed.
“That’s quite
a long tale, but I suppose we do have the time,” Kurdis replied. As he recanted his story, his eyes grew distant and hazy. He told them about his youth as an orphan in this very same orphanage.
“This place was owned by another man back when I was just a lad. I remember disliking him immensely. Luckily, I was adopted when I was only twelve. My adoptive folks are gone now, God rest their souls. I had a wife and a kid of my own back then as well. They’re both gone now too. That was all back during my days in the Royal Guard. After the family I worked so hard to attain was taken from me, I poured everything I had into my job. I’d run myself ragged fighting demons day in and day out, every chance I got. I had nothing left to live for after all. Then one day, everything changed when I met Aralia and her sisters.”
“Sisters?” Ash asked, putting emphasis on the plural.
The chatter from the kids sitting around the table grew louder and louder. Kurdis was about to continue his story when Aralia busted through the kitchen doorway carrying a steaming bowl of stew.
“I’ve got the first bowl of stew for Ash,” she said with an excited smile gracing her glowing face. She set it down in front of him and started nervously tussling her pink and purple locks. “I hope you like it. Dig in!”
“Aralia, shouldn’t the guest of honor from the Royal Family be served first?” Kurdis asked, scolding her.
The girl’s smile faded and she hesitated, distraught.
“It’s okay,” said Shiva. “Go ahead Ash. Eat her stew.”
Ash scooped a spoonful of the strange stew into his mouth. Surprisingly, despite the questionable ingredients the stew was quite good. He continued to shovel more in as Kurdis went on talking.
“I was just about to tell them how I met you,” he said to Aralia.
“Go ahead,” the girl said, not the least bit interested. “I’m still needed in the kitchen.” Aralia turned and headed for the kitchen, leaving before the topic arrived once again.
“She doesn’t like talking about it,” said Kurdis. “Aralia had another sister when I first met her, though. An older sister. And little Amalia was just a baby. She has no memory of their eldest sister, in fact. I met them after a particularly devastating demon attack on the kingdom. I remember many people died that day. Including my own family.”
Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) Page 13