“His Royal Highness is returning!”
Çuiren had just stepped into the servant quarters when a young boyservant came running excitedly.
“His Royal Highness is returning!” he announced again before he hurried farther down the hall.
The somewhat strangely languid air that she had stepped into instantaneously became a bustle as every servant set to work. Some busied themselves by hurrying over to the Prince’s chambers, others set to inform other areas what to do.
Çuiren was entirely lost in the bustle, and no one took any notice of her.
Until suddenly someone placed a bowl in her hands. “Head over to His Royal Highness’ chambers and place this on the table.”
She didn’t have time to say anything as the manservant simply went elsewhere immediately after.
She did as told, feeling something was vaguely off. Vaguely wrong. Vaguely unsettling.
The crash as she let go of the bowl and looked behind her.
Running steps came as guards and servants approached her.
“What are you dropping?!” the eldest maid scolded. “His Royal Highness will return shortly, yet you cause us problems.”
Çuiren turned to look at the maidservant, and apologetically curtsied. “It is my fault for being so clumsy. Shall I repay His Royal Highness somehow? I will take any punishment.”
Before anyone replied she went down on her knees and began picking up the pieces.
“What were you even doing here with that?”
“I got lost as I went to return it,” she replied.
She swallowed her pride to say that.
Yes, she knew someone who had been sold like she had didn’t have much pride to speak of, but she wouldn’t let this get to her.
This was the better outcome, surely.
They said U’il-šanad never got angry, not punished anyone. So this would be the safer option.
“Which piece of porcelain is this?” a servant asked. “It looks unfamiliar.”
“Where were you returning it to?”
“The kitchens,” she lied, her voice small as she very carefully picked up the pieces. She could not cut herself on any of the shards.
The small crowd dispersed. A couple of guards remained.
“Once that is cleaned up you’ll be in you room until His Royal Highness decides on a punishment.”
“I understand.”
Once each piece was picked up, one of the guards followed her to dispose of it. There was no way they would keep it, the guard said.
Çuiren only made a soft sound of agreement.
The guard studied her as she got rid of each piece one by one. He found it odd, but as they needed to waste some time either way and few came to the disposal area, he let her do it.
They then left, Çuiren not looking back, nor regretting this choice.
What had been so vaguely unsettling?
She had met all of the Prince’s servants, yet she had never seen the servant who handed her the bowl before.
Or rather, she had never seen that servant in the Palace of Piece and Hope. But she had seen him elsewhere.
A broken bowl and a hope of a light punishment was better than risking the Prince’s life. If, for any reason, the Prince was harmed, it was her the blame would fall on.
And, though the Prince might be more forgiving, the Emperor surely wouldn’t be forgiving, even if she tried to prove her innocence.
Someone was actively trying to harm her, no?
Çuiren’s eyes narrowed as if she glared at the mysterious people standing in her way.
But she tucked the feeling inside and let her expression look more worried.
U’il-šanad had a light-hearted smile playing on his lips when one of the guards received him outside the palace. The guard gently helped him out of the palanquin before standing to the side, allowing servants to fuss over the Prince’s appearance.
He looked blankly at them, studying them closely.
Another guard approached him in a hurry and whispered something in his ear, making the guard frown slightly, but before U’il-šanad had turned, the expression had returned to neutral.
“Your Royal Highness, you seem to be in a good mood. Did you enjoy visiting your brother, Ažerlü-šanad?”
“It is nice to take a walk and get away from the bachelors of this Palace,” U’il-šanad replied.
Not a single person who heard him did not think: Then leave the Palace more often!
As if self-aware, U’il-šanad huffed the softest of laughs as he hid behind his folding fan, only letting his eyes be seen.
He was obviously very amused! In a very good mood!
“Did something special happen for Your Royal Highness to be in such extraordinary good mood?” the guards tried.
“I received a gift from elder brother. Bring it to my chambers. I wish to try it on. Have someone undress me.”
A Palace guard on his way down the stairs, to inspect the gifts, nearly slipped on the last step hearing this, while the Prince’s guard’s wished His Majesty had assigned him to protect just about any other Blood Prince.
“Your Royal Highness…” the manservant following him began, but the Prince snap the fan shut with a smile.
“Bring it to my chambers. I won’t phrase myself crudely again.” He pointed at the Palace guard. “Be careful with it or I’ll tell father Emperor!”
He immediately floated past the servants who were a bit too shocked, before they realised to follow him.
The guard hurried after him and once inside softly whispered. “Your Highness, there has been an incident.”
U’il-šanad smile didn’t falter. Sometimes the guard couldn’t tell if the divine didn’t care or if it was an act.
“What kind?”
“They say the new slave destroyed a bowl.”
The Prince stopped and looked at the guard with arched brows high. Then he shook his head with a huff of a laugh and continued on.
The guard followed. “What will you do about it? What orders for punishment?”
U’il-šanad didn’t answer, and the guard wondered silently if he was ignored now. He looked at the guard walking slightly behind the Prince and only got a look of pity.
U’il-šanad had a calm pace as he walked through the Palace to his chambers. Once in his own private space, he asked the maid to help him get changed immediately, and it made clear to everyone present that he pretended that one guard wasn’t there.
The guard nearly wanted to cry a little because it wasn’t as if he had made a big deal out of it!
U’il-šanad suddenly turned to the guards.
“Why are you still there? I believe your posts are outside of that door, not staring at me while I undress.”
The guards had no choice but to leave.
It was only when they were no longer within the chamber that his smile left his lips.
“Who broke the bowl?” he asked the maid helping him undress.
“The new one.”
“What do you know?”
“She said she was going to the kitchens with it but got lost. She asked for punishment herself.”
The Prince hummed softly as he shrugged off the last layer. The maid picked up the soft pink robe from the floor as the Prince reached out to pick up a small stone placed on a table standing to the side. He played with it as she carefully put things in order.
There was a knock and an announcement. He nodded for the maid to open it and she received the now inspected robes.
She watch as the Prince put the smooth stone away and his eyes turned a more crescent shape with the smile returning to his lips.
“The visit went well,” she said as she approach him.
“It did.”
“What will you do next, Your Royal Highness?”
“Get dressed, naturally. I can’t go out like this.”
The maid chuckled as she put the red and gold robes to the side. With great care to lifted the piece of clothing and put it over the Prince’s shoulders, while he put his hands through the sleeves.
“Is this from His Royal Highness Ažerlü-šanad?” she asked as she move to stand in front of him to tie it close before she tied a belt around his narrow waist.
“He bestowed a great many gifts on this divine prince. This is not the one I’m truly happy about, though,” he said very softly. “He’ll handle the aftermath of my little prank.”
“Of course,” the maid replied. “The Prince has always had a soft spot for those he can protect.”
“And those he can take advantage of,” U’il-šanad huffed. “Truly despicable.”
The maid only smiled. She adjusted the sleeves before helping the Prince with the outer robe with its image of a field of gold tulips and vines at the end of the wide sleeves.
“Speaking of that… Relay to the guards that Çuiren’s punishment is…”
He made her stop her task and walked over to a table and took a brush and removed the lid of a small jar. He carefully kept his sleeve out of the way as he dipped his brush into the dark liquid. After he had used it to put ink on paper, he showed it to the maid.
She looked at it for a long time.
“That’s it, Your Royal Highness?”
“That’s it.”
She looked at the paper in disbelief.
Seeing this, his smile still didn’t falter, but his tone of voice was deeper as he continued. “I don’t think that girl would make such a mistake.”
The maid tensed at the change of his voice and stared at U’il-šanad, who looked back at her, but not as seriously as she would have expected. No, it was with eyes filled with amusement and twinkling with mischief.
“She’s too clever,” he breathed after a long moment of silence.