‘It is not you,’ the empress said quickly. ‘You work hard. I worry about him.’ She staggered a little, and Lis was quick to jump to her feet and offer the empress the seat. ‘I feel a little tired,’ she said, her hand at her temple.
‘I don’t think you are well,’ Lis said quickly, indicating for the maid to come forward with water.
The empress took it too eagerly and then nodded slowly.
‘I won’t go,’ the prince said, ‘if it makes you unwell.’
She smiled up at him then. ‘I don’t want you to go, but that is not what makes me unwell.’
‘I think we should call the healer,’ Lis said to the tutor, motioning towards the door. As she did, it opened without a knock and the high priestess entered.
‘Does it take so many to teach?’ she asked, something sharp in her voice.
Lis tried not to show her displeasure at the woman’s presence.
‘Why are you here?’ the prince asked with far less protocol.
‘I am part of the teaching program for the hidden princess,’ she announced. ‘Are you?’
He nodded and turned back to his mother. ‘Now is not the time for a visit.’
‘Your Highness,’ she said, bowing before the empress. ‘Is it your head again?’
‘You do need a healer,’ Lis said. And the empress surprised her by reaching out and taking her hand.
‘She only needs rest,’ the priestess said. ‘She has these headaches from time to time.’
‘I agree with the princess,’ the prince said firmly.
‘Let me escort you to your rooms, Your Highness. You can rest, and then if you require the healer, I can send for him.’
The empress nodded and allowed the priestess to guide her from the room. Lis watched her go, an uncertainty settling in her chest. She had come to like the woman, and she didn’t like the idea of her unwell. But there was something else, something around her that wasn’t quite magic, but it wasn’t quite right.
‘What is it?’ the prince asked gently beside her.
She looked up at him with a questioning expression.
‘You look concerned.’
‘I am concerned for the empress,’ she said, trying to smile, ‘I worry that…’ She trailed off, unsure what else to say.
‘What do you worry about?’ he asked.
Lis shook her head and turned back to the tutor, who looked between the two of them and then bowed. ‘I shall leave you with your reading, Your Highness. I shall return tomorrow.’
She bowed towards him, and Mu-Phi saw him from the room. Lis sat with a sigh at the desk before she remembered herself and the prince, and then she made to stand again. He surprised her by resting a hand on her shoulder. She stayed as she was.
‘Will you go away?’ she asked, unsure what she wanted him to say.
‘Maybe mother is correct; maybe others should go.’
‘Did you find something?’
The prince actually looked uncomfortable. ‘You didn’t tell me what has you worried.’
‘You have me worried now,’ she said without thinking. ‘I am sorry, Your Highness. I have felt the pressure of a full day of study.’
‘I shall let you rest,’ he said.
‘Stay,’ she said quickly. ‘I would like to know what has happened that might send you away. Although,’ she added, looking back to the book before her on the table, ‘I should not ask.’
‘You tell me why you worry, and I shall share my findings.’
She nodded once. ‘I worry that the high priestess is too close to your mother, and that she would not allow me to call the healer.’
‘The priestesses have always done things their own way, although I understand that they have not behaved as they should with you. I shall send for the healer to attend her.’
‘Thank you,’ Lis said, bowing to the prince.
He looked briefly at Mu-Phi and then turned back to Lis. He stood almost over her as she sat at the desk, but she didn’t feel threatened. He squatted down beside her, and she blinked away her surprise. ‘U’shi is dead,’ he said very softly, and Lis noticed Mu-Phi lifted her head from her tasks trying to listen. Although Lis wondered if the girl already knew all that the prince did.
‘I heard the guard tell you earlier. You thought there was magic involved.’ Lis waited, but when he said nothing, she asked, ‘Did you find the killer?’
He shook his head and stepped away, turning his back to her. ‘I can’t sense them like I once did.’
‘Are you sure it was magic?’
He nodded. ‘A fire bearer. She was burnt from the inside.’
Lis covered her mouth at the idea.
‘I should not have told you,’ he said, stepping forward.
‘I have no one to tell.’
‘That is not what I mean.’
Lis had started to relax into this life, and she shouldn’t have. There were still those with magic. Whether they wanted to help her or not, she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t know if there was more than one group of them. She was also kept from so much. Just as she had always been. Her father had not told her the whole truth of his time as a general. The man she had started to think of as a friend told the maid more than he told her. She was only a hidden princess, and she had to remember her station. For she had none until the training was finished.
No one would mourn U’shi; she was just a maid. Although she was sure the empress felt her loss, maybe more for the lost years of training rather than the woman herself. Lis looked back to the table, thinking of the friendly lunch they had shared, but they weren’t friends and they were yet to be family.
‘Mu-Phi,’ she called, trying to keep her voice level although she felt like she was unravelling. ‘Tea please.’
The girl looked to the prince before she nodded. It only seemed like yesterday that Lis could have made her own, serving her father at the same time. Her stomach roiled. She was trapped and must be careful, she had to remind herself. She no longer had a home.
‘What is it? Are you unwell?’ the prince asked.
Lis shook her head.
‘I should not have told you such things.’
‘No,’ she murmured. ‘I am not the one to tell.’
She could hear the sadness in her own voice, and she focused on the cup that was placed before her without picking it up.
‘That is not what I meant,’ the prince said, his voice harsh. It carried the same tone as when she had told him others had said that he cared for her and he had asked her who would make such claims. The words cemented for her what she knew to be true. One good day could not change what she was, where she was or the life that was planned for her.
She looked up at his expectant face, surprised that he wasn’t scowling.
‘You wish to find those who have done this,’ she said softly, taking a sip of the tea to help smooth out her voice. ‘I have to study.’
He opened his mouth and closed it again, then marched over and sat at the table. He waved Mu-Phi over, and she placed tea before him. Lis looked at him with open surprise. Was he to settle here?
‘What has changed?’ he asked.
‘Excuse me?’
‘You have shut down.’
‘Shut down?’ She could feel the anger building in her chest. Did he have no idea what her life was?
‘Yes. Do you fear the magic so much?’
She shook her head.
‘Talk to me,’ he demanded.
Lis looked to the maid and then back to him. ‘No,’ she said, her voice carrying the same edge as his own. ‘It is not my place.’
‘Why, because I tell you something and then tell you no more?’
She shook her head and turned back to the book. What did he want from her? ‘It is as though you have no understanding of the world,’ she said in frustration.
‘Oh,’ he said, an amused smiled playing at his lips.
‘Do you think your brother visited with U’shi as you do me?’
The hurt at the
memory of his brother was clear on his face, and she wondered if he would ever tell her the truth about what had happened to him. Mu-Phi made a strange noise from her corner, but Lis knew she would back the prince.
‘I am no one,’ Lis continued as he watched her. ‘I am a country girl with no home and no place in the world, unless I manage to finish my training.’
‘And then you shall be my wife, the crown princess and future Empress of the Rei-Een Empire.’
She bowed her head to him. ‘If I survive.’
‘Is this just surviving?’ he asked, standing from the table.
‘You have no idea,’ she murmured. Why had she told him these things? She wanted so desperately to disappear, but there was nowhere to go. She wiped quickly at the tear that betrayed her strength.
He was kneeling before her then, his hands on her knees, and she gaped at him.
‘Your Highness,’ she cried.
‘I have touched your feet,’ he said with a smile. ‘You are more to me than a country girl, and you have a home.’
She shook her head. She had nothing. And if he knew what she truly was, she would follow U’shi to the gods. She had a strange thought; if she were to die too, would they give up on the hidden princess tradition and consider an alternative? Perhaps he could choose his own wife from those he knew. Again, Lis’s eyes lifted to the woman in the corner.
She took a steadying breath. She was acting like a girl, and he was right—she was to be the crown princess. She lifted his hands from her legs and smiled. ‘Would you have me behave as U’shi did?’ she asked.
He shook his head and as he stood, she turned back to the desk. ‘I have so much to learn,’ she said, picking up the book.
‘I shall send the books I told you of.’
She nodded her thanks without turning back to him. She was exhausted, and yet there was much occurring within the palace she would like a better understanding of.
He bowed low to her and then left the room. She didn’t look up, although she wasn’t concentrating on the words before her. Would she ever be what they needed her to be? For the past day, she had felt as though she could, as though it was an even playing field, as though they listened to her and respected who she was. Now she doubted that again.
A guard appeared in the doorway, and Lis looked up as the maid nodded. Mu-Phi didn’t ask permission, only bowed and followed the man from the room. After so many had been present for so long, the room felt too large and empty. But it was a nice change.
Lis sighed and rolled her neck. She looked over the books on the desk before her and knew she had a good general understanding of the Empire. She needed to learn the details. Whether she wanted this or not, it was what her life was. She stood quickly and moved to Mu-Phi’s corner of the room, then refilled her cup. She carried the kettle to the burner at the table and blew life into the coals. She glanced only briefly at the door, but no one rushed in at the use of her magic.
She settled the kettle and the cup, then returned to her desk to gather the yet unread books on trade. She moved back to the table, sipped at her tea and read. As she finished each book, she put it down and picked up another. Some were easier than others, but as she submerged herself in the pages, she soon found the subject interested her.
There were many things they no longer traded for, and Lis wondered if the magic had been somehow involved in that change. Or at least the Empire’s fear of it. It was why they grew the crops they did on Fifth, she was sure.
The lights were starting to fade when the maid returned and, as she opened the door, Lis felt a surge of magic follow her in.
Chapter 28
‘You have made yourself comfortable,’ Mu-Phi said with a smile as she entered and then stopped, staring directly as Lis. She opened her mouth to ask something, then dropped suddenly to her knees, her eyes rolling back in her head. As she fell to the floor, Lis touched her hands together and disappeared.
The man standing in the doorway wore dark dishevelled clothes, and his face was covered by a black cloth. Lis held her breath. Another man followed, and she could feel the magic radiating around them. She only hoped the prince could also feel it and was not far behind.
The two men looked around the room before moving in opposite directions. One almost touched Lis as he walked past the table and towards the little cooking area the maid used. The other went towards her bed and behind the screen. She looked towards the door, wondering if she could make it out before one of them realised she was there.
She allowed a little magic to build in her hand, and neither of them turned. While hidden she could remain safe, as she was before, and even those with magic did not appear to sense her. The two men met again in the middle of the room and looked at each other silently as the maid groaned on the floor. Lis wanted to check on her, but she remained frozen to the spot.
Where is the prince? What will they do if they find me?
Time seemed to stretch on forever with them looking around the room. When they finally left, Lis heard a shout and a scuffle and a thump in the hallway. She wanted to take the chance to run, but Mu-Phi groaned again, so she put her hands together and knelt down beside her. A guard appeared in the doorway and disappeared again.
‘Stay still,’ she whispered, pulling a cushion from beneath the table and putting it under her head.
‘What happened?’
Lis shook her head. She felt a surge of magic from beyond the doorway, then heard the fizzle as the magic was extinguished. She only just stopped herself from disappearing as she focused on Mu-Phi watching her and trying to get up. Lis shook her head. She turned back to the table and poured a cup of tea, the water still hot. Then she knelt down over the maid and helped her sit up enough to sip it.
Where, in the name of all the gods, was the crown prince?
The guard reappeared at the doorway and rushed forward. He knelt down beside Mu-Phi and looked over Lis.
‘I’m ok,’ Mu-Phi murmured and tried to sit up, but put a hand to her head instead.
‘Are you hurt, Your Highness?’ the guard asked.
‘No. I hid as they came in, and they couldn’t find me.’
‘Where?’ Mu-Phi asked, her hand over her eyes.
‘By the bed,’ Lis said without thinking or taking her eyes from the girl.
‘Show me,’ the guard said, standing.
Lis chewed her lip and stood. She should have thought this through. She couldn’t tell the man that she had hid right where she’d been sitting at the table. She walked back towards the bed and the screen. There was a dark corner on the other side where she kept her clothes and a chamber pot. ‘There,’ she lied, pointing to it.
He nodded once, but his brow was furrowed.
Does he know I lied? Could he know what I am? ‘Did you get them?’
‘One,’ he said, moving back to the maid. ‘The other was killed.’
‘What will happen to him?’
‘Why?’ he asked, his voice too sharp, and Lis took a step back from him.
‘What happened?’ the prince asked, his voice high and strained as he raced through the door. Then he stopped, taking in Lis and Mu-Phi, and he gave the guard a questioning look.
‘We are all well,’ the maid said from her position on the floor.
‘You don’t appear to be,’ the prince said, squatting down beside her. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘She was hit on the head. I think we need the healer,’ Lis said quickly, trying not to look at the guard who was still watching her too closely. Was this man another hunter with different senses from the prince?
‘You look tired,’ he said carefully.
‘It is late,’ she said, looking back at him, ‘and I have read so much today. And then two men appeared in my room and hit my maid on the head, and I don’t know what they would have done if they had found me.’ She tried to sound firm, but the nervousness in her own words was clear.
The prince stood slowly and walked towards her. ‘Go for a healer,’ he said to the
other man, then fixed him with a long stare when he didn’t move. ‘Do you want to explain it to her father?’
The man shook his head and left. Lis sighed with the relief. She was ready to sit down, but she really wanted to ensure Mu-Phi was safe first.
‘Help me get her into bed,’ she said, moving back to the maid. He followed silently.
They carefully eased Mu-Phi to her feet and then guided her to her bed. They laid her down, and the prince removed her shoes before Lis covered her. He sat carefully on the edge of the narrow bed.
‘I just need sleep,’ Mu-Phi murmured.
‘No,’ Lis said too loudly. ‘Not after such a hit to the head. you need to stay awake until the healer comes.’
The prince looked up at her. ‘You have seen this before?’
Lis nodded once. ‘My sister fell when we were children. My mother knew that after such an injury it was not safe to go to sleep, because she might not wake up. She had a cousin when they were children who had done just that.’
The prince nodded in return. ‘I have seen the same,’ he said, shaking the maid by the shoulder. ‘Listen to your princess,’ he said. ‘Stay with us, talk with us.’
‘Who were they?’
He clenched his fist. Lis could see the anger in the way he held himself, but he maintained his calm façade. For Mu-Phi, she guessed, to help keep her calm. Lis wasn’t calm. Her heart pounded too fast, and she still held magic tight in her fingertips, ready to use. Although she didn’t know how she could use it to defend herself from such a group. She tried to relax and allow it to dissipate back into her. Is that why the guard was so interested in me? Could he sense the magic?
‘He is a hunter,’ she said softly.
‘Yes,’ the prince said, looking up at her.
‘Where were you?’ She didn’t want it to sound accusatory, but it did. It wasn’t his job to protect her, after all. There was a whole dedicated group of soldiers. She opened her mouth to apologise, then bit her lip as he put his hand up.
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 22