None of them used what they had. The young prince was more powerful than he knew, but he used his skills poorly.
She took a deep breath. She could feel the frustration washing over her, and it was not helping her focus. Other than the death of the man in the cell, there was nothing. He had told the hidden princess of the visions, and she wondered what the crown prince might do next to help her.
It had surprised her that he had wanted to keep the man alive, a small window into the world of magic. Was it for his princess, to answer her question, or was it to answer his own curiosities?
She felt the spirit flow through the room. The flicker of a shared image grew in her mind and then dissipated like a cloud of smoke. A distant knocking drew her attention.
She pointed to one of the girls as she opened her eyes and left the gathering. She would have to focus on her own destinies today. And find ways in which she could help the empress to see her point of view.
The girl reappeared in the doorway.
Everyone in the room opened their eyes and looked towards her. ‘The princess has been told of a vision, and the crown prince requests a priestess.’
‘You may go, child,’ the high priestess said.
The girl bowed low. ‘Thank you for your trust,’ she said before disappearing back into the temple.
‘Is she ready for this?’ another priestess asked.
The high priestess nodded once. ‘Let us return to our prayers.’
Lis leapt from the seat Remi had only just managed to settle her in when the priestess entered the room. She was young, but she wore the gold bands of someone fully trained. They would only send someone appropriate to watch over the hidden princess.
She smiled, and Lis watched her as she entered the room.
‘You need me, Your Highness?’
‘We were told of a vision,’ Remi said.
‘Why would you send for them?’ Lis asked, her voice cold and accusing.
‘They understand such things.’
Lis turned back to the young priestess and studied her for a moment. ‘You know of visions?’ she asked.
The priestess bowed.
‘Do you have visions?’ Lis asked.
‘There are some who think our prayer takes us to a higher level of understanding,’ the priestess said, her voice sweet and soft. ‘We do not have visions, but they are provided to those who do by the gods, so I may be able to understand the meaning.’
Lis looked back to Remi, and he tried to smile.
‘Who spoke of the vision?’ the young woman asked.
‘A prisoner, someone trying to harm the princess.’
‘Did he say why?’
‘He saw my future,’ Lis said.
The priestess laughed kindly. ‘He guessed your future, as we all can. For you are the hidden princess and you will become Empress of our Empire.’
‘He was trying to get at you,’ Remi offered quietly, and Lis turned a cold look in his direction.
‘He said it was to do with magic,’ Lis said sternly. ‘And that I needed to die so I wouldn’t return the world to what it was.’
‘What it was?’ the priestess asked.
‘When we lived with magic in harmony, perhaps,’ she added, looking to Remi. ‘We did once, before the visitors, before the war.’
‘There is no one with magic left, Your Highness, for such a world. Those few who have remained appear determined to continue to inflict harm.’
Lis silently watched her, her face unreadable.
‘Perhaps we should pray together,’ the priestess offered quietly, her face calm and serene.
Lis tensed beside Remi.
‘I think prayer would help,’ he whispered. She shook her head in a silent plea when she glanced at him, her eyes wide with the fear he had seen the night before. ‘We will sit together with the priestess and pray for an answer,’ he added.
The priestess seemed to shift uncomfortably for the first time. She nodded, but she looked annoyed, and Remi wondered if Lis had reason to fear them. The last time a priestess had been present was in her cell, and she had physically threatened Lis. It made him wonder what they did know.
‘Do you know of any people who do have visions?’
The priestess looked at him with confusion.
‘When I was a child, there was a story of an old woman from Fifth who could see your inner secrets, and another on Third who could read your future in your hand,’ he said.
‘Tricks and stories, Your Highness,’ she said with a laugh.
‘I have seen stranger things,’ he murmured.
‘You are a hunter,’ she said. Her voice was clear and offered no argument. ‘You have seen much that we have not.’
‘You work closely with the gods; there would be things you have seen,’ Lis said.
‘My work, as you call it, is in worship. If only the gods would talk with us as you imagine,’
There was a gentle knock at the door, and the young healer entered. He bowed low to all in the room and then moved through silently to his patient in the corner.
‘I will take my leave. If you have concerns, Your Highness, please come to me at the temple or send for me again.’
Lis didn’t move, but Remi nodded as she bowed low and left the room. Lis seemed to sag with the relief as she left. Lis had leaned heavily into the table when the healer appeared, kneeling before her, a concerned look on his face as he took her wrist.
‘You do too much,’ he whispered.
‘I have done nothing but walk today.’
Remi opened his mouth and then closed it. She had done far more; she had stood before the emperor, faced a man who wished her dead, maintained her control when a woman she feared was brought before her. Although he wasn’t sure why she feared the priestesses as she did.
‘You were to ensure she rested,’ the healer chastised the prince.
‘My mother took her to the emperor without my knowledge.’
‘I am not a child,’ she snapped.
‘But you are precious,’ the healer said, and she flushed at his words.
Was there something between them? ‘You do too much,’ Remi said to the healer. ‘You presume yourself higher than you are.’
‘I know where I am and who I am. Do you?’
Remi scowled at the openness of the man, then noticed Lis watching him closely. ‘What do you think I am?’ Remi asked her.
She looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. ‘More than you think you are.’ Her smile lit up the room around her, and he relaxed again. He needed to ensure that he kept her safe.
‘Have you heard of visions?’ the princess asked the healer.
‘Do you have visions?’ he asked Lis. ‘It may be a sign of…’
‘Of what?’ she asked, leaning forward.
‘Damage,’ he said softly. ‘It may be that the exhaustion and attack have affected your mind.’
‘I’m not having visions,’ she said, leaning back. ‘I was told of someone else who had. Could it be something?’
‘Outside of a problem with the mind?’ He shook his head.
Lis seemed to fold in on herself. And without a thought, Remi indicated the healer move back. Then he scooped her up and laid her down on her bed. ‘You need to sleep,’ he said.
‘It is harder than it sounds,’ she whispered.
‘Try,’ the healer said, standing over her.
She relented and closed her eyes, although Remi was sure she would not fall into sleep as easily as he hoped.
The healer beckoned him closer to the door. ‘I worry, Your Highness, that her lack of sleep and stress has impacted her.’
‘She is not the one having visions.’
The man seemed to visibly relax. ‘But she isn’t resting as she should. The old master would have me beaten if he saw her now.’
‘She has responded better to you than anyone else,’ Remi said, more to himself. At the look he saw on the man’s face, he added, ‘She is very stubborn.’
‘Either way, she must rest.’ He said it firmly, pointing at the prince’s chest before he remembered himself and bowed, then left the room.
Remi turned back to the bed to find Lis sitting up and watching him. ‘Rest,’ he said.
She shook her head and made to get up.
‘What if I bring you a book?’ he asked, and she paused.
‘You will read to me as though I am a child?’
‘I thought you could read yourself, but if it were to comfort you…’
‘I can read.’
He called the guard, who appeared instantly.
‘Don’t move.’
He raced from the room and into his own, where he scanned his books for the one he wanted. It took him much longer to locate it than he thought it would. He had a moment of panic when he thought it lost, but then it was almost as though it called to him from the piles of books on his desk, and he saw it.
He returned to her room to find her sitting up on the edge of the bed, and he sighed. He nodded to the soldier, who left. Then he stepped forward and held out the book. ‘You can only have this if you get back into bed.’
She sighed, swung her legs around and lay down. When he handed her the book, she sat up again, and he threatened to take it away.
‘The stories of the explorers.’
‘And not the fiction my mother would have you believe.’
Lis smiled, settling back and opening the book.
He watched her for a moment and then moved over to Mu-Phi. She had not woken properly since she had been hit, and it worried him. As he squatted by the bed, she opened her eyes, and he gasped. She held her finger to her lips.
He looked back towards Lis to find that the book had dropped to the covers. He smiled, and Mu-Phi sat up.
‘Who had the visions?’
He shook his head.
‘I am not lying here for my own health,’ she whispered angrily.
‘I thought you unwell,’ he said.
‘I am not what I would hope to be, but I am well enough to do as I must. Did you take her to see the man with magic?’
He nodded.
‘Was that a good idea?’
‘Probably not, but it was my father’s. The man wanted to see her, but I think it was only to scare her further.’ He blew out a long breath. ‘We don’t know if what he said was true.’
‘But it was the reason he came to kill me,’ Lis said behind him, and he jumped. ‘I am not a child,’ she said, the hurt clear in her voice.
‘I know that.’
‘Do you?’ she asked. He reached for her, and she stepped back. ‘I trusted you, worried about you,’ she added, looking at Mu-Phi. ‘Yet you pretend around me, as though I am the one not to be trusted. Maybe I am not; maybe I am the threat to the Empire these people seem to think me.’
Remi opened his mouth and then closed it. He wasn’t sure what he could say to convince her otherwise.
‘Perhaps my mind has gone,’ she continued, turning from them. She walked straight for the door, and when it opened the guard stood uncertain before her. ‘I wish to visit with the empress,’ she said.
The guard looked to Remi, who nodded, and the man bowed before leading Lis away towards his mother’s rooms.
Remi’s head dropped into his hands.
‘She is very determined,’ Mu-Phi murmured.
‘I can’t seem to win with her. I think we make progress, and then she ignores me or questions me.’
‘I should think you would like being challenged, ignored not so much.’
He glared at her, and she grinned.
‘I am glad you like your princess,’ she said, leaning back. ‘I like the young healer; perhaps you should send for him again.’
‘I think you could be returning to the duty you were called for.’
‘There are more guards around the empress than the rest of the Palace Isle. If you are worried, follow her yourself.’
Chapter 30
Lis was surprised by the lack of guards on the empress’s door. The guard with her paused, as though she might not be in, before pulling the door open. The empress was laid out across the table, and Lis rushed forward. She shook her gently by the shoulder, and the empress murmured something, but her eyes remained closed.
Lis looked back to the door, but the guard had not followed her in. She was about to call for him when she realised the room was full of the buzz of magic. If she called out, she might alert more than the guard that they were there alone. She couldn’t see anyone else in the room, yet she was certain there was something or someone present.
She hoped the prince would sense the same thing. When the empress groaned behind her, Lis stepped back and knelt beside her.
‘Your Highness,’ she whispered.
‘Something is wrong,’ the empress said.
‘Are you unwell? I’ll send for the healer.’ As she made to move away, the empress grabbed her wrist and held her tight.
‘They want you,’ she said, her voice faltering. Lis dropped back down by her side.
‘Who does?’
‘They want the power. They want the magic back.’
‘Do they want me to help them?’
‘Some do,’ the empress said, trying to lift her head, and she groaned again. ‘Some want you to die.’
Lis looked at her seriously. ‘You know what I am,’ she said.
‘I didn’t at first, but I do now.’
‘And you are not afraid?’
‘I don’t need to be. You fear more—being discovered, being slaughtered by my son.’
Lis nodded slowly. ‘What do you want of me?’
‘I want you to be the empress I know you can be. I want you to do all you can for my son.’
‘The High Priestess is involved in this,’ Lis said. It wasn’t a question.
‘They all are. They want the power, but I know of another group.’
‘The princess,’ Lis breathed.
The empress smiled at her, and her strong grip slackened on her arm. Lis took her hand. ‘They ordered her killed, as was the custom. She, like you, was born at the end of this war, but the war continues.’
‘Who killed Crown Prince Rei Ta-Sho?’ Lis asked.
‘I don’t know.’ The empress winced as she said it.
‘Not Wei-Song or her people?’
‘Never,’ she said loudly, standing quickly from the table and then dropping back down. Her hand moved to her head.
‘What have they done to you?’
‘It is just a headache.’
‘Which you have never had before, and now you have them constantly.’
The empress looked over Lis, smiled and put her hand to her face. ‘You are so like her,’ she whispered.
‘I can feel the magic around you,’ Lis said. Putting her hand over the empress’s. ‘Always around you.’
‘Remi does not sense it,’ she said.
‘I think there are some forms of magic that can’t be sensed by all the hunters. Wei-Song possesses such.’
‘She can hide,’ the empress said with a smile.
‘As can I,’ Lis answered. ‘I wonder if it stems from our need to remain hidden. I have tried so hard to keep it deep within me. I stood beside your son, and he didn’t know I was there. I wonder,’ she continued. ‘There is so much magic at the moment, a background buzz—are his senses distorted.’
The empress pulled her close. ‘I fear it is too late.’
‘We will find a way to stop them.’
‘It is too late for me.’
Lis pulled back and studied the empress’s frightened face. ‘Where are the guards and the maids?’
She shook her head.
‘Let me help you to bed. You need rest.’
‘It will do me no good.’
Lis helped direct her towards the bed, and she sighed as she lay down.
‘I thought you would have lessons, Your Highness,’ a quiet voice said behind Lis, and she continued to focus on the empress rather than t
he high priestess.
‘I came to visit and found the empress unwell and all alone. I thought it best I stay.’ She turned, smiling sweetly at the woman. She hoped the priestess didn’t try to threaten her again. If only she had some way of defending herself. A shield of some kind.
‘I will watch over her,’ the priestess said, stepping forward, and the empress groaned quietly behind Lis.
‘I don’t mind,’ Lis said. ‘It is a daughter’s duty.’
‘You are no daughter of the crown.’ The priestess’s hatred was clear in her voice.
‘Am I not to marry her son? She will become my mother soon enough, and she teaches me as a mother would.’
The priestess turned angry eyes towards the empress. ‘Does she?’
The empress grabbed at Lis’s hand.
‘Oh dear,’ the high priestess said without expression in her voice. ‘It appears that another evil man with magic has entered the royal residence.’
Lis looked around and then back to the priestess, who raised a hand towards the wheezing empress.
‘No,’ Lis screamed, pushing out with everything she had. The empress sucked in a deep breath.
‘You have no power over me, little one. You are a Hidden; all you can do is hide from the world.’
‘That is not all I can do,’ Lis said, thinking of the times she brought the flowers out to bloom. ‘I think I might be able to find things too.’
‘What could you find?’
Lis searched the room, reaching out, trying to sense what else was there. A man stood against the far wall. The magic around him buzzed, and he grinned as though she couldn’t see him. She pointed in his direction, and the priestess followed her finger before turning back.
‘There is nothing there.’
Lis pointed again, and the priestess grumbled. The empress sat up sharply in her bed, her hand going straight back to her head as the man appeared.
‘That was not a very good way to hide him,’ Lis said. ‘Maybe you aren’t as strong as you think you are.’
‘Do you think you can find things now?’ she snapped. ‘Knowing he is here will not help you. The empress will not protect you. She knows what you are. All those with magic must die, and she can’t have brought one with magic into her son’s life. She killed her own daughter to protect the Empire; she would do the same to you.’
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 24