‘She is with the empress,’ Yang answered without looking up. ‘I took the time to research what I need.’ The Imperial Healer coughed, and Yang looked up at him before turning his attention to Remi. ‘Forgive me, Your Highness, I concentrated too long on the princess.’ He slipped from the stool to bow before the prince.
Remi waved him away.
‘And your concerns for my mother?’
‘After learning of the magics captured in the palace, I fear it was them that influenced your mother’s health.’
Remi sighed. Could they have made her ill? Perhaps it was Lis who had been doing it.
He moved back through the healer’s building, ignoring Yang still kneeling on the floor. The advisor bustled along beside him.
Instead of stopping at his own gate, he continued along the deserted road until he reached the small palace where he had hidden Lis. He pushed the gate open to see the soldiers still alert and filling the garden. The advisor hurried in beside him.
Remi marched through the soldiers dotting the courtyard towards the door and then stopped. The new maid sat on the step. She stared unseeing into the backs of the men surrounding them, and she looked sad.
He shooed the man away from him and sat beside her on the step. She didn’t look up, only sniffed and wiped her hand across her nose. He smiled at the movement; there was something familiar in it.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ he asked softly, and she jumped. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured.
She shook her head and looked down at her lap. ‘I forget where I am sometimes,’ she murmured.
‘Is the princess giving you a hard time?’ he asked with a lightness in his voice, because even though she had not been herself, he imagined she would be kind with anyone.
‘Not intentionally,’ she said.
He opened his mouth and then looked towards the door. ‘Can I help?’
She shook her head.
‘The princess tried to dismiss her,’ Mu-Phi said, appearing before him.
Remi looked back at the new maid, not much younger than himself, and he felt a kinship to her, a connection he couldn’t explain.
‘I thought the empress missed her,’ Lis said softly behind him. He turned, remaining where he was, and felt relieved that she still looked as well as she had that morning, if not better.
The advisor startled him, dropping the papers in his arms and falling to his knees. Lis laughed and stepped down beside him to help. Remi thought he heard her groan just a little as she dropped to her knees.
‘What do you have here?’ she asked.
‘He was trying to get me to do some work,’ Remi said. Then his mother emerged, and he stood and bowed with a smile.
‘Not having much luck?’ Lis asked the man. He nodded madly before he realised what he had done and refocused on picking up the papers.
‘I do miss you,’ the empress said, stepping forward and taking the maid by the hands. She smiled warmly. ‘No one can replace you,’ she said more softly, and the girl nodded slowly as she sniffed again. Then Remi’s mother surprised them all by pulling the girl into her arms. ‘Come with me,’ she whispered.
The girl bowed down when released. ‘I thank you,’ she said, ‘but I have work to do here. I will return when I know the princess is what she needs to be.’
‘That is an odd thought,’ Remi said, then turned red as he looked around the group. ‘Forgive me,’ he said, turning to them all in turn.
‘I know how little you think of me,’ Lis said, bowing her head to him. ‘I am grateful for the thought, Wei-Song. You may return to the empress at any time,’ she added, and the girl smiled at her.
‘Your Highness,’ the advisor said.
‘Put them inside,’ Remi said, motioning the door and feeling uncomfortable under Lis’s gaze.
‘Are you to teach me, or are you to move your office to my bedroom?’ she asked.
The advisor baulked in the doorway.
‘I would rather be close,’ Remi said, and the advisor actually moaned. ‘You could take them back with you,’ he shot at the man.
‘Not with all those magics out there,’ the advisor muttered, walking into the palace.
‘What magics?’ Lis asked, and the young maid slipped effortlessly between Remi and Lis as though to protect her.
‘I didn’t want to mention it, but there has been a break-out at the prison.’
‘How many?’
Remi shook his head.
‘How many?’ Lis repeated more forcefully.
‘All of them,’ he sighed.
She looked around the guards watching the walls and then back to the empress. ‘When?’ she asked.
‘Not long,’ he added.
She turned and raced inside, dragging the young maid with her, and the empress followed close behind. Remi found Lis rummaging through the papers as the advisor tried to stop her.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Looking for the information you are trying to hide from me.’
‘Who hides from the other?’ he asked, then instantly regretted his words as she stood tall and her face hardened. She stepped up to him. ‘I will not do this.’ Her voice was level and calm, and he was reminded of his mother—who, he noted with a quick glance, grinned. ‘You either leave it alone or kill me now, but I will not have this held over my head.’
He nodded once and held out his hand for her to continue her search.
‘There is no news,’ the advisor said. ‘It was only just discovered as I searched for the crown prince.’
She looked up at him and stepped back.
‘Do you want your reports delivered here?’ he asked the prince seriously.
‘I don’t want people coming and going,’ the maid said, chewing her lip, and Remi was reminded of his brother. ‘The hidden princess cannot be protected this way. Take your papers and your prince and find somewhere else.’
The man pulled his papers together without question and headed for the door.
‘I’ll be back,’ Remi muttered as he followed the advisor.
He paused by the gate to ask the soldier to find another hunter or two to join the watch, and he waved at Mu-Phi to join him.
Chapter 5
‘This is not going to end well,’ Lis murmured as she looked at the door.
‘He does what he can,’ the empress said, surprising Lis by taking her hand.
‘I meant the magics,’ Lis said. But as she thought of the prince, he confused her. He appeared to want to be around her, but she wasn’t sure if it was to keep an eye on her or because there was some truth to the idea that he cared for her. There was still that fear at the back of her mind that he might suddenly decide it would be a good idea to run her through. ‘I need to know what I can do.’
Wei-Song nodded, and the empress looked towards the door. ‘Perhaps you should not be a part of this,’ Wei-Song said, stepping forward and taking Lis’s hand. ‘If the crown prince returns and realises you knew what we were, what will he do?’
The empress sighed. ‘You are too thoughtful,’ she said, putting a hand to the girl’s face. ‘I shall leave you to do as you need, and I will return tomorrow.’
‘Thank you,’ Lis said, bowing before the empress. ‘You have done so much for me. Is it safe to travel in the streets if they have escaped?’
‘I would think they have run for now,’ the empress said as she moved towards the door.
Lis followed and noted the increased number of men within the little walls of her world. The empress’s guard stepped forward and bowed as one before her.
‘Would you rather a sedan chair?’
The empress shook her head. ‘I want to walk through the streets. It would reassure the people.’
They moved as one through the gate and, despite the number of men still filling the space, it appeared quieter without her there. One man glanced over his shoulder but then turned back quickly.
Lis stood on the step, watching the closed gate and wondering if the prince w
ould listen to his sister and try to reduce the number of people coming and going. It was a far cry from when Lis had been first hidden away, and with such people visiting it wouldn’t take long for those determined enough to find where she was.
She walked back inside her small home and took a deep breath. ‘Teach me,’ she said, and Wei-Song actually sighed. ‘I thought this was what you wanted.’
‘I do,’ she said softly. ‘Only it may not be as easy as you think. Everyone has different strengths, and I know little of you. Tell me what you can do, and we will see what else you may be able to achieve.’
‘Could I learn different forms of magic?’ Lis asked.
‘I don’t know. Do you want to wield fire?’
Lis looked at her palms, where the thin scars still ran across her hand from holding the prince’s sword. She tried to imagine fire growing in her palm, but it didn’t happen, not even a flicker of heat.
‘I can hide,’ she said. Then she twirled before the princess and her clothes changed. Her flowing pink silks turned to a simpler dress of blue, something more akin to what Wei-
Song wore. Her hair too had changed; it hung loose and free down her back, the pins that had held it so meticulously in place now in her hand.
Wei-Song gave her a nod of approval. ‘What did you show the empress?’
‘Something I loved to do for Peng,’ Lis said, then stopped.
‘Can you show me?’ Wei-Song asked. Her voice, soft and gentle, coaxed Lis from her memories before they could take hold.
She nodded and returned to the vase, but she had taken all she could from it. ‘I need an unopened flower.’
Wei-Song walked out into the garden and returned quickly with a small branch from a tree in the garden. It barely had buds on it, but Lis held her hand out toward it and coaxed the flowers forward. She smiled as the pink buds bloomed, and then she continued to coax life from the branch. As though the flowers alone were not enough, small red leaves appeared before they turned a brilliant green.
‘Impressive,’ Wei-Song said.
‘I haven’t tried so much before,’ Lis said, sitting at the table. The things she could do drained her more than they used to. ‘When I was a baby, I opened a jade flower on the end of my mother’s pin,’ she said.
‘You can coax things forward that have no will to come?’
‘I like flowers,’ Lis said with a shrug.
Wei-Song knelt at the table and poured tea into a cup before pushing it across to her. ‘Tell me what else you have done,’ she said.
‘I breathed life into dying coals, but then I think anyone could do that.’
‘Maybe you should rest some more. When do the tutors return?’
‘Too soon,’ Lis said with a sigh, sipping again at the cup.
‘Can you hide?’ Wei-Song asked.
‘I tried, but it wasn’t the same.’ She touched her hands together and again felt the thready wispiness of earlier. She slumped down onto the table. ‘It takes too much.’
‘You are pushing her too hard,’ Yang said from the doorway.
‘She wants to learn. Have you heard about the prison?’
He nodded and moved forward to take Lis’s wrist. ‘You need more rest,’ he said. ‘Yesterday you were dying; only today have you decided not to. If you continue like this, you might not have the choice.’
‘But they are coming,’ she said, allowing him to help her stand from the table.
He guided her towards the bed, where she lay down without complaint.
‘They are not coming yet,’ he said.
She sighed and closed her eyes. She must have drifted into sleep, for the light had changed in the room when she opened her eyes. It slid across the floor from the windows, and a candle burned on the table where Wei-Song read. Mu-Phi worked over a pot, and she could smell the rice and something sweet. Yang sat on the end of the bed, also reading, squinting in the dim light. The world was quiet.
Lis heard the gate squeak open and close quietly. Then murmured voices in the yard. She sat up, too aware of who it might be, but then if they were coming it would be less polite.
Without looking up, Yang rested his hand on her leg beneath the covers. But she waited, watching the door.
When the silhouette of a man stood in the doorway, Lis pulled her legs from beneath Yang’s hand to get his attention. The man stepped into the room, and Wei-Song stood and bowed. As Lis focused on his damaged face, her grip tightened on the covers.
‘Your Highness,’ Hui Te-Sze said, bowing towards her. His voice sounded just as rough and damaged as his skin. He sat uninvited at the table, and Mu-Phi stepped forward with rice wine. Lis wondered where it had been kept and whether she had hid it for the prince.
She slipped her legs from the bed and, when he looked her over, she realised she was still in the simple blue dress. She sat slowly at the table and studied his face.
‘Why have you come so late?’ she asked the hunter, watching as he lifted the cup with a shaky hand. ‘Mu-Phi, bring something for the man to eat,’ she said. ‘He looks as though he could use it.’
‘You are too kind,’ Hui Te-Sze said as Lis poured another cup of wine for him.
‘You were at the prison,’ she said. Mu-Phi sat a bowl down before her, and Lis pushed it across the table.
‘I was not prepared,’ he said, looking at the food but not attempting to eat.
‘Are they hard to contain?’
He looked at her closely and nodded once.
‘Can you stop them?’ she asked.
‘I thought you would want them freed,’ he said, looking up at her.
‘They want me dead.’ Lis accepted the bowl Mu-Phi sat before her, but she didn’t eat.
‘But you are one of them.’
‘I am sure there are men who don’t have magic you have fought against or disagreed with,’ she said, and the hunter continued to study her across the table. ‘They are just men like most. They think their cause more important than those around them.’
He looked at the bowl and then back to her.
‘Are you here to kill me?’ she asked, picking up the chopsticks and moving the fish and rice around the bowl.
‘I think all those with magic should die. They have done nothing but kill for the last twenty years.’
‘Is it not time to find peace?’ Lis asked. Yang moved around to lean against the bed, watching her almost as closely as the hunter.
‘The magics don’t want peace; they want control.’
‘Not all of them,’ Lis said. ‘I don’t.’
‘You, princess, will have control when you are empress.’
‘If I survive that long,’ she said, smiling at him.
He huffed and pushed a piece of fish into his mouth. He chewed slowly, the motion clearly causing him pain, and he watched her.
‘Yang,’ she said, motioning him forward. He stood slowly and bowed low. She knew it was for the hunter, but it still made her uncomfortable. ‘When the hunter has finished his meal, would you look him over? I worry that he has not received enough attention.’
‘I have been with the healers all afternoon,’ he murmured. ‘It is luck only that I was able to walk here.’
‘Healer Yang is very skilled,’ Lis said, and he gave her a pained expression. ‘I would like to show you that I mean you no harm.’
‘Do you mean harm to others?’ he asked.
She pressed her lips together and put her sticks down.
‘Mu-Phi,’ she called, not taking her eyes from him. ‘Light the lamps.’
Hui Te-Sze put his hands up and then bowed his head. ‘I can feel the heat of the candle enough, Your Highness.’
‘Why are you here?’ she asked, again, her voice more forceful.
‘He thinks you are different. I needed to see it for myself.’
‘And?’
‘You must understand where I come from.’
She nodded. ‘And will you run me through?’
He shook his head. ‘Not yet,�
� he murmured, pushing more meat into his mouth.
Yang knelt beside her at the table and they ate in silence. When the hunter had finished, he stood, bowed low and, with a quick glance at Mu-Phi, he left.
Lis knew she was dreaming, for the world around her was hazy and hot. Her dreams all seemed to be hot since she had come to the Palace Isle. She was walking through a deserted city, but not one she knew. Although the buildings looked familiar, they were unknown. A group of girls walked by in two neat rows, veils covering their faces. She followed them.
No one accompanied them and no one watched over them, but as Lis struggled to keep up with the group, no one else was around to cause them any problems.
They moved beyond the tall buildings through a winding street with high walls. Red gates stood out along its length, but the girls continued. They came to a black, unmarked gate and disappeared inside. She followed to find them evenly spaced in a large courtyard, as though exercising; she pressed herself against the wall and waited.
When the group started to move, she sucked in a breath. The girl closest to her waved her hand, and a plant grew from the gravel at her feet. It grew taller as she continued to slowly move her hands up, blossoms and leaves sprouting along its length. Another made the wind howl around her. Each girl had a different skill; each could change the world around her or create in a different way.
Lis focused on one at the back of the group who stood still, looking over the others. She moved her hands, but nothing happened. Lis stepped closer. The girl touched her hands together, and Lis felt the hum of her magic. Then she realised she couldn’t feel the others. There was nothing. But for this girl it faltered; she could feel it one moment and then not the next. The girl touched her hands together again, but nothing happened. She looked towards Lis as though seeing her.
The girl raised her veil, and Lis stopped. She looked just as Lis had as a child, as though she was a young Lis in a different world. She clapped her hands together loudly and disappeared. The others turned to her and then back to their own work. She clapped again and reappeared, a grin across her face. As Lis wondered why she couldn’t see the girl when she hid, the girl raised her hands above her head and clapped again, only this time Lis heard the fizzle of her magic dying.
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 32