After much thought she put the leaf in her mouth. It seemed like between one and the other, this was the better option. So far the Prince had never done anything to hurt her, and surely the guards wouldn’t have just let the imperial physician come to see her if the Prince didn’t call for him.
She frowned at how bitter it was while chewing it.
She continued to chew on it until she entered the room with the rest of the maids. They looked at her and the one she had followed that morning hurried up to her.
“Are you alright?!”
Çuiren swallowed the bitter mush in her mouth before giving a curt nod.
“His Royal Highness has never punished anyone before! Why did you ask for punishment? He’d just let it go. It was just a bowl!”
Çuiren felt a bit of warmth in her chest but she couldn’t quite tell if it was the chewed leaf or the moisture in the other slave’s eyes. She raised her hand to dry them, but remembered what the physician hand said and let her hand fall.
She was silent for some time.
“Do…”
Her voice faltered.
“Yes…?” the girl replied, encouraging her to continue.
“Do you know what a physician does when a magic light shines and then it, um, poofs?”
A young woman nodded. “It removes harmful things or dirt if the light is blue. If it’s green it was a reaction to your pulse. Why?”
“The Prince sent the Imperial Physician…”
The girl took hold of Çuiren’s hand. “Did you get hurt?!”
Çuiren pulled her hand back in fright. The girl’s eyes widened with fear, which forced Çuiren to act calm, holding up her hands to show she hadn’t cut them.
“Oh, no. I didn’t. But he gave me a bitter leaf…”
The older maids looked at each other, their expressions strange.
“Well, if he gave you a leaf to chew and removed impurities, you won’t get sick. Perhaps the physician was worried since you’re not actually our master’s slave,” the young woman said. “His Royal Highness’ personal physician is a worrywart, see?”
The young maid nodded frantically. “Once when I had a small cold His Royal Highness asked the physician for something to lower the fever, yet he spent the entire day looking after me!”
Çuiren felt herself relax a little. Hesitantly she lifted her hand and used her thumb to dry a tear still threatening to overflow.
“What… was your name again?” she asked softly.
“Eris. But you can call me Meçaris. If you want. Everyone calls me that. Do you have anything you want us to call you?”
Çuiren smiled a little, but felt no better, no clearer in matters, no less worried than before.
“Çuiren,” she replied. “My name’s never been anything but Çuiren.”
The pity the older maids’ gave her with their eyes was nothing new.
She was, after all, a nameless.
She almost laughed to herself. Being a slave was not much worse than being without a name.
Eris, however, didn’t seem to care. She fidgeted for a while before looked at Çuiren again
“Was His Royal Highness’ punishment severe? Are… are you going there right now. Perhaps I—”
“It wasn’t severe. It won’t take too long.” She turned to the other maids. “Where’s a place that hasn’t been cleaned for a while, but can be cleaned in an hour?”
The maids gave her some odd looks before one told her that there migt not be any places that could be cleaned within an hour, but the storage room was always in need of some cleaning.
“Why?” Eris asked.
“I need to receive my punishment. Could you show me the way?”
She nodded and grabbed Çuiren’s hand before dragging her to get to tools and then to the storage.
As the stood at the surprisingly large area, Çuiren looked at Eris.
“This is part of the servants’ quarters?”
Eris shook her head. “But I don’t think there anywhere else to clean.”
Cuiren turned to look at the shelves with variad goods. She cupped her hands and lightly blew into it, a small light igniting from the warmth of her breath.
She held it out and saw better. At one end, she could see ceramics, and goblets.
Was the Prince aware, or unaware that this were where she’d go? Did he try to tell her something, or was it entirely out of his calculations.
Or did he just pick something at random?
She truly couldn’t make heads or tails when it came to the divine.
“His Royal Highness seems very different from his brother.”
“Which one of them?”
“The Crown Prince.”
Eris laughed. “That’s not his brother!”
Çuiren turned to her with a frown.
“The Crown Prince is the First Elder Prince’s first-born son. He is a year older than the First Blood Prince.”
“I see. I thought the Crown Prince was the Emperor’s son.”
“Most do.”
Çuiren startled and turned to see the guard who seemed to be His Royal Highness’ personal bodyguard despite the uniform. She hadn’t seen him earlier in the day, but every other time he seemed to be near to wherever the Prince was.
“Sir guard,” Çuiren greeted him with a curtsy.
“What are you standing here for?” he asked.
“His Royal Highness punished me.”
“Punished you? To stand guard at the storage?” The guard looked at Eris with a raised eyebrow.
She looked down. “No.” Her voice was was bare louder than a mosquito.
“I was asked to clean the servants’ quarters for an hour. But this was the only place the other maids thought of.”
“If that’s the case, go on then.”
He turned to leave and Çuiren rolled up her sleeves.
She paused.
Didn’t they say ‘no limitations’?
She couldn’t help the smile as she looked at Eris.
Çuiren’s life returned to normal once the one hour had passed. She had made use of Eris to get more done and taken time specifically to remember things like bowls.
It didn’t seem likely the Prince would know she had taken precautions, yet the coincidences felt a little too meaningful. Too planned out.
After sweeping the floor and wiped the pottery, they both were in a terribly state. They went to have a change of clothes and wash their hands and face.
“Ah, you two!”
They both turned to see a guard approach them. “You’re the new one, right? What’s the name? Cuidan?”
Çuiren was about to nod, but Eris pressed her index finger into the guard’s chest. Çuiren was about to pull her back, in fear the guard might get angry, but he just let the girl glare up at him unbothered by the finger burrowed into his uniform.
“Her name is Çuiren! Çui! Ren! Don’t use a name at all, if you can’t say it.”
“Right. Çuiren. My mistake.”
Çuiren wasn’t sure what to make of this scene. The guard was, what, closer to thirty, and Eris was surely the same age as Çuiren. Eris didn’t serve His Royal Highness directly even if she was his slave, but the guard would have been able to stand by the Prince’s side as one of the guards. Yet the imperial guard got scolded by the lowly slave?
“Regardless of what her name is—”
“She’s getting changed.”
Çuiren wondered if she had fallen sleep and had a strange dream. If so, she wanted to wake up. This was too strange to her! Eris just cut the guard off while he was talking!
“Meçaris, let him speak.”
Eris humphed and stepped back.
“As I was saying, His Royal Highness had something he wish to speak about.”
“With me?” “With Çuiren?”
The guard rolled his eyes. “With who else? Me?”
“Just because you can guard, doesn’t make it fine to have an attitude!”
Was… Was Eris picking a fight with the guard?!
The guard sighed. “Be glad you’re the Prince’s slave girl and not someone else’s. You’re the one who’s acting improperly.” He looked them both up and down. “What have you two been doing anyway?” He shook his head before receiving a reply. “Nevermind. His Royal Highness asked if the new girl would mind coming to him. He had something he wished to tell her.”
“What is it about?”
“It can only be about the reason she’s here, no? Why else would the Prince speak to a serving girl personally?”
Eris took a step forward, but Çuiren’s heart couldn’t take this confrontation anymore. She grabbed Eris’ arm.
“Naturally, I shall do as His Royal Highness wants. But I can’t see him like this. I only just received my punishment and need to be presentable. Please forgive this slave.”
The guard nodded to her before turning to Eris again. “You should learn from her, Meçaris. You’re a terrible servant. Did no one teach you better?”
Çuiren curtsied and turned around. She did not want to remain near that strange conflict.