‘You have been very kind to me.’
He reached out and took her hand. ‘I have raised you as though you were my own, just as I promised I would, and I have cared for you in the same way.’
‘What were you to my mother?’
‘A friend,’ he said, his voice sad, ‘when she needed one the most. I know she would do all she could to return such a friendship. You haven’t told the crown prince who you are?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think that is for me to tell. Mother has kept me secret to keep me safe, and she continues to do that for Lis. How can I be a secret of his?’ she asked, looking up at the older man.
‘I don’t know,’ he murmured. ‘Come and eat, and we can talk some more. When the child has rested, I want you to talk with her, but don’t push her to seek out what she would need to search for.’
Chapter 20
Lis noted the uneasiness in Yang as he watched the door rather than his usual reading. She too felt nervous about Wei-Song’s disappearance. Something within Lis’s story had unnerved her and caused her to leave them. Lis wondered what she was doing and when she might return.
‘The rain,’ she murmured.
‘It isn’t raining,’ Yang responded, looking at her briefly before returning his gaze to the door.
‘It was the rain the prince made,’ she said softly, ‘that unnerved Wei-Song.’
‘What?’ he asked, yet Lis knew he wasn’t listening to her.
‘What are you looking for?’ Lis asked loudly.
‘Wei-Song, and the prince,’ he added in a whisper.
‘Why does he worry you?’
‘It is not that he worries me; it is that he worries Wei-Song, and that worries me.’
Lis laughed, and he turned angrily to her.
‘When have you seen her worried?’ he asked.
‘Often,’ Lis said. ‘She has put herself between me and a number of people far too frequently. She worried about you. She worried about her mother. The woman’s life is full of worry and fear. Do you not worry you will be found out?’
‘You haven’t told him?’ he asked, turning his full attention to her.
Lis shook her head. She was trying to work more with the prince—or at least she had been—but there were things she still hadn’t told him. She had told herself they were not her secrets to tell, but she knew eventually they would come back to rest on her shoulders. He would see it as a betrayal. As he might also see them not permitting him to enter the palace. Lis was sure Yang was still trying to determine how he would keep the prince out if he were to arrive.
Wei-Song feared what he was. But he wasn’t like the other magics. He had water as well as fire, for one thing, and he couldn’t be sensed for another. Lis had not paid attention when he had used his magic. They had been too focused on what he could do and what she could do, they hadn’t considered whether others could sense him. But no one had pushed through the gate and run them through, so she guessed he was a different form of Hidden.
‘I wonder if he can hide?’ she asked absently.
‘Is he Hidden?’
‘He didn’t think so, but I don’t know what he is.’
Yang continued to watch the door, and Lis tried to focus on the page before her rather than thinking so much of the prince. It hadn’t been too long ago that she had been so focused on another man. She felt a stab of regret at having forgotten Peng so quickly. But then, he had moved on as well. There was no chance for them now. That had been another lifetime, another world.
She shook her head and picked up the scroll with the history of the hidden princesses. But it was brief and talked only of numbers, not girls, not names, not where they had come from nor where they went.
‘Do we have an image of every empress?’ she asked.
It took Yang a moment to look away from the door. ‘Why?’
‘I just wondered. I am to be Empress one day, if I survive, and I wondered if my face would join the others.’
‘There may be something in the library,’ he said with a shrug, then turned back to the door.
‘How would I get it?’
‘You can’t leave,’ he said quickly, leaping up and turning from his post. ‘We could send someone, perhaps. But what if that alerts the prince and he wants to see you?’
‘It can wait,’ she said, trying to keep the frustration from her voice. There had to be more information somewhere… or had it all been destroyed during the war?
Lis thought about the royal seal and the letter with the strange symbol on it. She had assumed the prince had taken it with him. Yet who could he find to help tell them what it meant? The faces had symbols—could it have been connected to one of them? Although they had all disappeared as well. Lis wondered for the first time if the letter was connected to the disappearance.
She pulled a scrap of paper towards her as she pushed back the books and reports and scrolls. Taking a small brush dipped in the ink, Lis started trying to recreate the symbol she had seen, but it wasn’t quite the same. Like the symbol on the faces, it was small and contained within an oval indentation.
She turned the brush around and dragged the end over the paper, pushing a groove into it and slicing through it at one part of the page. The sound drew Yang’s attention. He turned to her before turning back to the door, but then looked again.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Trying to recreate something I saw.’
‘Where?’
‘Where the hidden princesses were.’ She looked over the symbol again and pushed it away. She couldn’t remember what she had seen, but it didn’t make any sense and didn’t look like any symbol she knew.
‘I know this,’ Yang said, picking up the paper as he looked down on her at the table.
‘Where have you seen it?’
‘I’m not sure. I thought it was a pattern; it isn’t a word.’
Lis sighed. ‘Can you try to remember?’
He studied the paper in his hand and closed his eyes. ‘Somewhere on the Palace Isle,’ he said.
She tried not to groan.
‘Can I keep it? Maybe I can have a look when Wei-Song returns and I can go out into the world again.’
‘You can go out now if you need to,’ she said.
He looked at her as though she were a child not understanding of the ways of the world.
‘There are so many soldiers. What could happen?’
‘The prince could return. And Wei-Song could kill me.’ He sat down next to her. ‘I have seen similar,’ he said, studying the paper again.
‘There were different ones there, but this one I found somewhere separate from the others, so I thought it might mean something else.’
‘Did you understand the meaning of the others?’
She shook her head. ‘Maybe they marked a family or a group.’
‘A group,’ he mused. ‘I’ve seen them grouped together.’ He squeezed his eyes closed.
Lis watched him for too long before she pulled on his sleeve, and he blinked at her as though surprised she was there. ‘Groups,’ she said.
‘I don’t know,’ he murmured and looked back at the door.
‘Yang, please.’
‘Let me think about it and when I get the chance, I might be able to see where they might be.’
‘Near the Imperial Healers?’
‘I don’t think so. I have seen them, but I don’t think they are something I have looked at often.’
Lis stood from the table and walked to the bed, where she ran her hand over the carved edging. It was beautiful, but no different from any other carving around the palace. It was square cut at the corners, the narrow wood curving around in an arch above the bed and then straight down at the posts. She pulled the curtain out and looked over the pattern, then back to Yang.
‘I think it was in stone,’ he murmured.
She released the curtain and moved around the palace. She took her time and covered every surface, running her hands over the wood panellin
g of the walls, the edging of the screens and the frames that made the doors. She was crawling around studying the wooden floors when Yang made a strange strangled noise, and she lifted her head so quickly she banged it on the table. As she sat back rubbing the back of her head, she wondered if there was anything on the underside the table.
‘What are you doing?’ the prince asked.
‘Looking for something that isn’t here,’ she said, climbing awkwardly to her feet. He rushed forward and took her hand to help her up. Yang made another noise.
‘Is he alright?’ the prince asked, leaning in.
She shook her head. ‘He was tasked with the impossible, and he has only just realised.’
‘Is she so difficult?’ the prince asked, turning to the healer, who paled as his eyes fixed on their joined hands.
Lis could feel the heat of them—not burning, but a heat that transferred through her. She remembered Wei-Song and let it drop. ‘Is there a book or scroll with all the empresses in it?’
‘Their names are listed…’
‘No, their images.’
‘Images? Do you think…?’
‘I’m not sure what I think, but I would like to look. And the faces… what if there were others amongst the faces?’
‘There are not that many empresses,’ he said, sitting at the table and pouring himself a cup of water.
‘Are we sure? We are moving rapidly through hidden princesses. What if an empress or emperor died?’
‘The crown has been passed down our family line for so long. Even if there were many, it is only one empress each generation.’
‘There may have been one or two who died during childbirth,’ Yang said, standing nervously at the end of the table, his eyes flitting between the door and the prince. ‘Sometimes the child died with her. The family line could not end there and the emperor would have taken another.’
‘Would they train again? Were there others in reserve?’ Lis asked hurriedly.
‘I haven’t read any such report or history,’ the prince said, clearly doubting Yang’s words.
‘She would have been replaced without the people knowing.’
‘How could the people not know?’ Lis asked, then sighed as she sat down opposite the prince. ‘They wouldn’t see her, other than at a distance. What of those within the palace?’
‘Servants know how to keep secrets,’ Yang whispered.
‘I guess they do,’ Lis said.
‘What is wrong with you?’ the prince suddenly asked Yang, and he jumped.
‘He was asked to keep you away,’ Lis said.
‘By whom?’ the prince asked slowly.
As Yang opened his mouth to reply she shook her head.
‘Who thinks I might do you harm?’
‘Many do, and at times I am amongst them.’ She reached for the pot, but he poured for her and pushed the cup across the table.
‘Still?’
‘Only sometimes. There is much we still don’t know about each other and the power we have. You may decide I am still too much of a threat; my knowing your secret may be one of those reasons.’
‘I may have other secrets, as you do,’ he said, focused on his cup. Then he reached up and snatched the paper from Yang’s hand, making the man jump. ‘Were you sharing one?’
‘I just wondered what it was, and Yang thinks he may have seen it.’
‘Truly?’ the prince asked, and the healer stepped back.
He murmured something under his breath and stepped back again.
‘What did you say?’ the prince asked angrily, standing suddenly.
‘I wish Wei-Song were here.’
Lis cringed inwardly. She didn’t want the prince knowing anything of Wei-Song, or even guessing that Yang had magic. For it would put them both at risk, and she wasn’t sure she was safe yet.
‘She is certainly more determined than you,’ the prince said, sitting back at the table. ‘She would have found a way to prevent me seeing the princess,’ he added quietly, and Lis couldn’t quite read the look on his face as he glanced up at her. ‘Where is the girl?’
‘She had a family matter to deal with,’ Lis said.
‘How long will she be gone?’
‘I don’t know. As long as it takes.’
‘Did she not give you any indication?’
‘Why does it matter? Families can be difficult. She was called away, and it may be that she returns soon; it may be that it takes longer.’
He looked back at the cup.
‘Don’t you have your own maid to keep you company?’ she asked, her voice sharper than she intended. ‘Why are you so interested in mine?’
‘You will need someone to look after your needs. Do you want me to send…?’
‘No, I don’t. I was able to look after myself well enough before I became a princess. I’m sure I will manage.’
Yang nodded absently, his focus still on the door.
‘Who are you waiting for?’ the prince asked him again.
‘I need…’ He wandered towards the door.
Lis took a step after him, but he didn’t turn back. Did he really think Wei-Song would be so angry with him? ‘Yang,’ she called, and he paused in the doorway. ‘You can’t leave me alone with the prince.’
‘You aren’t alone,’ he murmured. ‘There is a garden full of soldiers.’ And he was gone.
‘He is not himself,’ the prince said. ‘Do you think he would share our secret?’
Lis shook her head, looking after the healer and wondering what he intended. Maybe he was looking for the symbols.
‘I don’t think we should try to train when there is no one here to field questions.’
‘No one other than the tutors on their set days would come,’ she said. ‘I should get used to it.’
‘You have Yang and Wei-Song as company,’ he said, looking towards the door himself. ‘Have you been able to pull anything else forward? Are you growing flowers?’ He looked around as she shook her head.
She wasn’t sure how to tell him about the food she had summoned. She still wasn’t sure how it had been done. Wei-Song had seemed so worried when Lis had told her what he could do. She didn’t want to share anything else with him in case he was the danger Wei-Song was so certain he was. Lis missed her, she realised, as bossy as she was. Lis liked her, and she felt her absence when she was gone. Yang’s nervousness hadn’t helped, and if Wei-Song were to be away for several weeks, Lis imagined it would only get worse.
And they had not managed to do the one thing she had asked. The prince would continue to visit.
‘Did you ask your friend?’
‘I did, but he is unable to assist us at the moment.’
‘Do you think he will?’
‘I don’t know.’ He narrowed his eyes, and she straightened. ‘I don’t know. This is a difficult thing to ask. It puts my friend at risk as well as us. I can’t push…’
True,’ he murmured. ‘There is no one I can ask. No one can know what I have.’
Lis nodded. The excitement of what they had created dissipated. He reached across the table and took her hand, holding it tight. In the other he held a small flame that danced above the skin. Lis put her hand beneath his on impulse and wished she could bring her flowers forward so easily. The flame in his hand turned a darker red, the flames leaping and flickering as they took the shape of a flower.
She pulled her hand back, and the flames jumped back to what they had been.
‘Try the other way,’ he whispered, the flame fading to nothing in his hand. He stood, still holding her hand, and came to sit beside her.
She held her hand palm up and he placed his beneath hers. She could feel the heat of it, and he continued to squeeze her other hand. She willed forth a flower, a single rose. The stem grew up from her palm, the leaves stretched out, small thorns sprouted along its length and the bud formed at the end. When it opened, it was a flame.
The flames appeared to dance within his dark eyes and Lis was lost in his
contented smile for a moment. His comfortable heat pulled her closer.
A sharp intake of breath made her pull away from him, and the flower disappeared.
Wei-Song stood in the doorway. ‘Have you lost all sense of self-preservation?’ she asked in a hoarse whisper. She pushed the door shut and stepped into the room. ‘There is a yard full of soldiers poised to run you through, and you work magic so close to them.’
‘They can’t sense it.’
‘Are you sure? You are doing more than you have before. What if it changes? What if he has changed things?’
Lis looked at the prince, who was very focused on Wei-Song. ‘What do you think I am?’ he asked.
‘Trouble,’ she said without hesitation, ‘and you bring it with you. I suggest you leave now.’
He raised his eyebrows at Lis before standing and bowing to the girl.
‘Take your attitude with you,’ she snapped, and he straightened slowly.
‘You sound like my mother,’ he said. ‘Am I just a boy to you?’
‘You are someone putting my mistress, my charge, in danger, and I won’t have it.’ Her voice was just as firm, carrying the same edge.
‘It was you who ordered me to stay away.’
She ignored him and stepped towards Lis. ‘Where is Yang?’
‘He has gone in search of something,’ she said.
‘We need him here.’
‘If I see him, I shall send him back.’ The prince bowed at the doorway—to her or Wei-Song Lis was unsure—and then he was gone.
‘You can’t speak to him like that,’ Lis said.
‘He is not safe, and you can’t be playing with magic in this palace. The soldiers could have killed you both. What if the hunter had called to visit?’
‘I would have made cake,’ Lis said, knowing all too well that she was pushing an already angry barrier. She waved her hand over the table, and it filled with plates of cakes in various shapes and colours.
Wei-Song ignored the table and Lis’s satisfied grin. ‘Can he hide?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘How did you get to the place where you trained?’
‘I hid him,’ Lis said.
‘Could he work it out by what you did?’
‘I don’t know. Do you think he has more power than he says?’
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 43
