‘I should have been closer,’ he said. ‘I had some work to do that had taken me across the island.’
‘I am sorry,’ she admitted. ‘It is not your place to be here at all times. I understand you have much to do.’ She bowed before him.
‘I would rather know that you are safe. Mu-Phi, tell me what you remember.’
The maid had started to drift again, and she blinked wearily at him. ‘I was doing as you asked when I had a strange feeling, so I returned to the princess and she was working at the table.’
The prince looked across to the table.
‘She wore a strange expression,’ the maid said, ‘and then the world went dark.’
‘A strange expression?’ they both asked at the same time. The prince smiled; Lis didn’t.
‘How did you make it from the table to your hiding spot so quickly?’ the guard asked behind her, and she turned to see him standing beside a healer.
‘She has been hit quite hard,’ Lis said to the healer instead, indicating the patient. The healer stepped forward as the prince stood, looking again at the table.
‘Where did you hide?’ he asked.
She pointed past her own bed. ‘They were distracted.’
‘How long were they here?’
‘Too long,’ she said without thinking, the fear still real in her chest, the bitter taste apparent at the back of her throat.
The healer turned and looked at her. ‘I think you should sit down and I shall examine you next, Your Highness.’
She shook her head. ‘I was not hurt,’ she said hurriedly.
‘You have had a shock. Sit, drink tea and I shall attend you.’
The healer was young and not one she had met before, but she appreciated his direct nature.
‘She wants to know where they were taken,’ the hunter guard said.
‘I want to know how they got in,’ Lis said, trying to sound stronger than she felt. She wanted to lie down and sleep it all away. She reached for the pot and poured herself tea. It was a little bitter, steeped too long, and she pulled a face.
‘Perhaps water would be better,’ the healer said from his work over the maid. Then he returned to talking to her in a soft voice, working through a series of questions.
‘Change the water,’ the prince said to the guard, and he raised an eyebrow. ‘Or go to my room and bring the already hot water.’
The guard bowed and left.
‘He does not trust me,’ Lis said, sipping automatically at the tea again before putting the cup down.
The prince sat opposite her at the table and looked over the books covering its surface. ‘What have you been reading?’
‘Why will no one tell me about these men? They came into my room,’ she said too loudly, the shaking audible in her voice. ‘They wanted something. Was it me?’
‘I don’t know,’ the prince said honestly. He reached across the table for her hand, but she pulled it out of his reach.
‘How did they get in? How did they make it here? What if they had found me?’
‘But they didn’t,’ the hunter said again as he lifted one kettle and replaced it with another.
‘Cups?’ the prince asked.
Again, the man looked at him as though he had asked him to do something he shouldn’t have. Then he sighed and moved to the small area where Mu-Phi prepared the food.
‘What if they had killed Mu-Phi?’
‘She will be fine. I will send herbs for her to have in the morning, and she will rest now. I see no danger, but I will return to check the damage. They did not break the skin. She will be very sore for some days and will need to remain in bed.’
‘Thank you,’ Lis said, making to stand.
‘Now it is your turn,’ he said, kneeling before her.
She held out her wrist to him. He closed his eyes as he placed his fingers on her skin, then nodded slowly. ‘You need some rest yourself. Drink,’ he coaxed as the prince sat a cup of water before her. ‘I shall send some calming tea for you tomorrow, and we shall talk more when I check on the girl.’
Lis nodded slowly. He bowed low and then left.
‘You didn’t answer my question,’ she said, turning back to the prince.
‘I will increase the guard.’ He looked at the man still watching Lis too closely.
‘I’m not safe here,’ she said. There was nowhere for her. Wei-Song flashed through her mind, and Lis wondered whether she would be safe with her, and what she could learn there.
‘Of course you are safe.’
She was exhausted, and yet getting into her bed and being left alone was the last thing she wanted. She looked back to the maid.
‘I will stay,’ the hunter said, and Lis felt a shiver cross her.
‘He will stay outside the door.’
‘I will leave it open so that we might hear you if you call,’ he said, somewhat kindly, but there was something else there. ‘You did not call for help,’ he said.
‘And give myself away? I might not have been here when you finally arrived,’ she said.
He huffed, bowed stiffly and went to the door. ‘I want five men in the corridor,’ he said sharply to the guard outside.
‘He doesn’t like me,’ she murmured. ‘Will they be able to stop them?’ Lis looked to the window. There were more ways to enter this room than the door.
‘You have not told me why you want to know what happened to them,’ the prince coaxed.
‘I want to be sure they won’t return. I want to know where they came from, why they were here, what they wanted.’
The prince opened his mouth and then closed it, his brow furrowing as he chewed on his lip.
Lis shook her head. ‘I understand that I am not worthy of this position.’ She held up her hand as he went to speak. ‘I know what I am,’ she said more clearly. ‘I want a better understanding of the world around me. You said magic was gone, and yet it is everywhere, seeping into every part of my life. Everyone is becoming suspicious of everyone else, and the war will begin again.’
‘My father won’t allow it,’ the prince said.
‘He may not have the choice. I want a guard in the room,’ Lis surprised herself by saying.
‘There is one,’ he said, nodding towards the sleeping maid.
‘And she is very loyal to you, but not much use in protecting me,’ she said. Her words were bitter and she regretted them in a way, for she liked the girl.
‘I will replace her with another.’
‘You will leave her where she is,’ Lis said, ‘and send another.’
‘Tomorrow,’ he said.
‘Then the hunter watches from inside.’
Remi looked back at the door. ‘That is what you want?’
‘I will not sleep; he might as well watch over Mu-Phi with me.’
‘You would rather him than me?’
‘I would have thought you too busy,’ she said. ‘Do you not have someone to interrogate, to determine their plan? Or were they both killed on the spot?’
He looked at her closely. ‘How do you know?’
‘I heard one die,’ she said more quietly.
‘This is not what I want for you,’ he said, kneeling before her. ‘You have come for the greatest opportunity, to learn so much, and yet you have been so unhappy here.’
‘How can I be unhappy when I have been given so much?’ Lis said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Remi watched over her as she slept. It was nearly dawn before she had finally relented and gotten into bed, and the hunter had opened the door to find him standing there. He wasn’t leaving her alone again, yet she had been right. He had so much to do.
After nodding for the hunter to go, he entered the silent room where Mu-Phi still slept. He sat gently on the edge of Lis’s bed. She murmured and turned, and he wondered if she hadn’t had the chance to sleep yet. She didn’t want him watching over her. Not as he had.
Her hair had fallen across her face. He brushed it back, knowing what his mother would say. B
ut there was something about watching her sleep, and although he should not have such joys until they were wed, he wished it every day.
As his fingers brushed her skin, she murmured, ‘Peng,’ and he withdrew his hand quickly. Her face crumpled, and a fat tear rolled down her cheek. She had lost so much. But he shouldn’t be jealous of a man who no longer wanted her. Her destiny was set.
‘No,’ she cried, sitting up and startling them both as she came eye to eye with him in the dark. She slapped a hand over her mouth and then sagged as she started to sob. He pulled her close without thinking, as he had done in the cell not so long ago.
‘Don’t let them take me,’ she murmured, clinging to him as she had done then. It was almost as though he could feel the fear running through her.
‘I won’t,’ he promised.
She relaxed into his arms, and he wondered if she still slept and her request was a dream. Perhaps she thought she had asked someone else the question, and it meant something very different.
Her breathing slowed, and he knew she had fallen into sleep, whether she had been fully before or not. He made to lay her back down, but as he moved her away from his body, she jolted awake, her hands tight around his tunic.
He tried to smile into her frightened eyes. ‘You need to rest.’
‘You promised,’ she said.
He nodded and allowed her to rest against him. It was comfortable with her in his arms, yet he was twisted somewhat. He ran a hand over her back and tried not to sigh.
He woke the next morning lying across the bed, his legs still hanging from the edge and the princess sleeping on his chest as though he was her pillow. The healer stood over him smiling and, as he made to get up, the healer held out a hand.
‘She needs the rest,’ he whispered. He moved off with a grin, and Remi thought it would be to see over Mu-Phi.
‘When she has finished resting,’ Hui Te-Sze said, not looking quite as impressed as the healer, ‘the emperor wishes to see you.’
Chapter 29
There were too many people in the throne room when Remi arrived. Advisors, personal guard, even his mother’s maids—although he couldn’t see her amongst the people. He paused at the back of the room for a moment before making his way forward.
‘Is your princess safe?’ the emperor asked.
He nodded and bowed low to his father.
The emperor cleared his throat. The gentle murmuring in the room disappeared into silence, and it was as though everyone took a step back.
‘Your mother worried,’ he said carefully.
‘Where is she?’
The emperor gave him a hard look, but did not answer the question. ‘It appears that you were correct.’ He said it honestly, but Remi could feel the tension in his voice. It was clear that it hurt him to admit such a thing. He wondered if the rest of the group felt the same.
General Zho-Hou entered the room, and the movement and murmuring began again.
‘I understand that one lives,’ the emperor said, and the general bowed low beside Remi before nodding.
‘I thought we could use him to determine how many they are and what they want,’ Remi said quickly. ‘I know it goes against the laws.’
The emperor nodded, almost absently. ‘What have you discovered?’
‘Very little.’
‘He has asked to see the princess,’ General Zho-Hou said, and a murmur started up around the room again.
‘No,’ Remi said.
‘It may be a way to learn what it is they want. These attacks have been focused on her.’
Remi bowed low to his father, wondering how he could explain such a thing to Lis and how she might react. She had been so frightened the previous night. Although, she had searched for an understanding, and perhaps such a visit would give it to her.
He turned as his mother was announced at the door, then stopped. His mother was leading Lis towards the emperor. The entire room bowed to them and then stepped back further. Remi wondered for a moment if they would turn their backs on her as was the custom not so long ago, but then his hidden princess seemed to have been creating new traditions every day.
She bowed low to the emperor, and Remi was disappointed that she didn’t take the chance to look at him, or give him any sign that she saw him.
‘Your Eminence,’ the empress said, bowing with her. ‘We have come as you requested.’
He motioned them forward with a small inward curl of his fingers, and Lis straightened as she stepped forward. Remi felt he should stand beside her rather than at the side of the room, but he stayed where he was.
‘Has it been explained to you what I would like you to do?’
Lis glanced then at his mother before she bowed again. Remi hadn’t even had the chance to tell her; his mother must have entered her room the moment he had left it.
‘And you will do this for your emperor?’
‘Yes, Your Highness,’ Lis said, her voice clear and calm. Remi wondered what the healer had given her. She looked as fresh as if she had slept all night.
‘You will have men with you at all times. Your maid, is she recovered?’
‘Not as well as we would like. I have left her to rest.’
He looked at the empress when he nodded agreement.
‘General Zho-Hou will go with you.’
Remi stepped forward.
The emperor sighed. ‘We know exactly where he is,’ he said. His voice sounded tired, as though they had already had this argument. ‘You may go,’ he said, waving them towards the door, but his eyes were on Remi.
Remi bowed his thanks and walked beside his princess.
Once they were out of the main chamber, the general took position before them. Remi noticed the number of soldiers watching around them and travelling with them.
‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she said, her voice strong, but she didn’t look at him.
They continued in silence towards the prison, and Remi wondered if the world had changed so much that this place would be used more and more.
The steadying breath Lis took before walking towards the cell was the only indication that she was nervous, and she held her hands before her. When they reached the bars, she faltered as though she recognised the man inside.
He sat against a wall, nothing but straw on the ground before him. He was dressed as he had been the night before, only now his face wasn’t covered. Remi could see her trying not to turn from the bars. As the man looked up at her, he stood quickly and then bowed low.
‘I am honoured, Your Highness, that you would visit with me.’
‘Who are you?’ she asked, a confidence in her voice that Remi wasn’t sure was there. He remembered her holding him so close only hours ago.
The man looked up at Remi and then back to Lis. She gestured for Remi to step back.
‘This is not a good idea,’ he said.
‘I need to know,’ she said. ‘Please.’
Remi bowed and stepped back. He was still close, but the man from the cell couldn’t see him.
‘Thank you, Your Highness,’ he said.
‘Who are you?’ she asked again.
‘One of many,’ he said.
She didn’t like the response, for she pursed her lips.
‘Why do you want to see me?’ This was asked more quietly, and Remi sensed the nervousness returning.
‘You are the only one who can help us.’
‘Were you with those who took me before?’
A silence followed, and Remi wished he could see the man’s face.
‘How do you think I can help you?’ she asked when he didn’t answer her.
‘You can die,’ he spat.
The magic burned hot, and Remi quickly stepped out of the shadow between Lis and the man, pulling her away. The fire ball grazed his shoulder as he pushed her back. He turned, but she had his arm.
‘Wait!’ she cried. Out of view of the cell, still in Remi’s arms, she called out, ‘How will my death help yo
u?’
‘You will bring magic to the lands, where it will be as it was. We should rule this land with our magic. It can never be as it was.’
‘How can I do that?’ Lis asked, pushing past Remi towards the cell bars. ‘Why me?’
‘Because it is what has been seen.’
General Zho-Hou pushed his sword through the man’s chest as he pushed himself against the bars. He cackled as the magic fizzled, and he dropped to the ground.
‘No!’ she cried. ‘Not yet. I don’t have the answers. Who has seen this? Who thinks this? Why is it me?’ she called out, but the man was already dead. His vacant stare focused on the ceiling above them. Lis fell, but Remi still held her tight. She shivered in his arms.
‘Get her back to her rooms,’ the general said, and Remi pulled her to her feet and dragged her from the cell.
‘He didn’t tell me,’ she murmured.
He caught Te-Sze’s eye as she stood back from him. She patted gently at her face and brushed out non-existent creases from her skirt. She took a deep breath and then nodded. ‘I’m ready.’ And then she reached for his shoulder but stopped.
‘It is nothing,’ he said, rolling his shoulder. The fireball had only grazed his armour. Although he had felt the heat of it, it hadn’t burnt him. ‘You don’t have to do this.’
‘I can’t go out looking like a frightened child, clinging to you.’
He smiled then, but she looked away.
Remi chewed his lip and then stepped closer to the other hunter. ‘Find a priestess,’ he said before he followed his princess into the sunshine beyond the prison gate.
The high priestess sat in quiet contemplation. The warm air around her was heavy with the scent of ginger from the tea and the hushed, slow breathing of the other priestesses in focused meditation. The empress worried her. She had been too easily softened by the plight of the girl. The high priestess knew exactly who the girl was and what she would become. The visions she had been granted showed her just how powerful the girl would be. And yet there was no sense of it.
She had threatened the girl, who had almost admitted to having magic, and yet she could not feel it. The high priestess needed more certainty, a clear manifestation of what she had been shown. She blew out a long breath and centred herself.
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 23
