Excerpt: No Price For Tomorrow

“It’s dark,” Curvy-Turvy said, peering through the window. “Where are they? Something must have happened!”
“Or maybe Mullet just wanted to grab a bite somewhere,” Prince suggested. “You’re good and chess, Sneeze.” Domingo Herschel’s smile faltered and he almost didn’t notice the move Prince was making.
“You’re trying to distract me with your words,” the man grumbled. “But you won’t succeed, boy.”
“He’s probably older than you anyway,” Curvy-Turvy muttered absently. “Don’t be fooled by that young face; Prince of Lies is ancient.”
“I am not!” Prince exclaimed. “Besides, I was seriously suggesting it! Mullet just met the Key Collector again and perhaps needs something to eat to distract her from the heartache.”
“Her crush on him is just silly,” Curvy-Turvy grumbled. “It’s not like it’d ever be possible. He should no longer be her crush; he’s more of a bad business deal, really.”
“You’d know everything about bad business deals,” Prince said slyly. “Considering who you were in love with.”
“I gave it up as soon as reality crashed in,” the blonde woman snapped. “Unlike her, I didn’t cling to false hopes.”
“Mullet doesn’t,” Prince told her with a laugh. “She likes him, yes, but she doesn’t believe in an outcome. I don’t understand why you’re taking this all so seriously. Let the girl dream.”
“You’re too irresponsible to see the risks in this! What if she ends up falling in love with him and he joins the Merchants?”
“You’ve lived too long with books, darling,” Prince stated. “Mullet is a smart girl and I doubt that she’d fall in lo—”
“You wouldn’t know that, would you?”
“I’d say that with Morning here, she could get over her infatuation rather quickly.” At Prince’s words, Curvy-Turvy turned from the window and stared at the man with a wide-eyed expression.
“Morrison,” she gasped. “And Mullet!? That’s absurd!”
“I think they’d fit each other,” Prince said nonchalantly, moving his bishop a bit to the left, past Herschel’s knight. “They’re good kids, the both of them.”
“They’re good kids alright,” Curvy-Truvy admitted. “But not good for each other in that sense. Morrison is a Leigh, and you know that the family in question is so messed up that even we don’t know all of it!”
“Hey,” Prince said sharply. “Take that back. You said yourself that Morning is a good guy. Stop blaming him about what his father and uncle were like; chances are that he doesn’t even know about them.”
“If you’re talking about Morrison Leigh, then it’s true that he might not know about his father,” Herschel said quietly. “But forget not that the defected Leigh is still alive.”
“He’s comatose,” Curvy-Turvy shrugged. “No need to worry about him quite yet.”
“I’ve heard other news,” Herschel stated, moving his tower carefully.
“What!?” Curvy-Turvy shrieked, face losing the little colour it had. “What? He’s awake!?”
“That could be what made the Merchants move again,” Prince muttered. Curvy-Turvy cursed quietly and sat down, but was startled off her seat when the front door burst open, Morrison and Mullet stumbling in.