Nür, the guard, held his cloak in his hands when the Prince returned to the Hall of Deliberation. The guard gave the Prince a slight bow to greet him wordlessly, and the Prince gave him a minimal nod of acknowledgement in return.
He knew that his guard had listened to him and not let the little girl feel cold.
However, the Prince still frowned a little, catching the guard off-guard. He stepped forward, but U’il-šanad lifted his hand to stop him from asking.
“Let us hurry back. It’s getting late in the morning and it will take a moment to return to the Palace of the Princes. Çui-fa—ah, no. Çuiren. Have you eaten yet?”
Even though she hadn’t had anything to eat, she nodded, but the guard shook his head. He had already looked into it while the discussion had gone.
This was one of the reasons U’il-šanad appreciated this specific young man.
“Once we’re returning to the Palace, tell Erian to order the kitchen to serve a light morning meal.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Now then, Çuiren, you’ll come with me.”
As soon as they returned to the Prince’s chambers, he sent servants running about, ordering the steward to prepare a place for the girl to sleep, for a coupe of maids to prepare a bath, another maid to find appropriate garments for a maid, and his attendant, Erian, hurried off to request a meal. The steward almost mentioned the Prince had already had a morning meal, but when he saw the sharp look in the young manservant’s eyes, he scurried off without a word.
Maids had soon filled an exquisite copper tub, which a couple of boyslaves had carried inside, with water at perfect bathing temperature.
“Have her undressed,” the Prince ordered and walked out of the room to give some privacy, which shocked Çuiren more than how the maids immediately began undressing her as if she didn’t know how to do it herself.
“Hurry into the bath, our master, His Royal Highness, prepared it just for you. Hurry up!”
Staring at the copper tub that had been placed in the smaller reception room of the Prince’s personal chambers, she shook her head.
How could I dare use such a beautiful bath? she thought.
But upon seeing this reaction, the maids lifted her up ruthlessly and placed her in it.
“His Royal Highness’ words are law within these walls. If he tells you to bathe, you bathe. If he tells you to eat, you eat. If he tells you to talk, you tell him everything you know.”
Utterly speechless, the slave girl nodded her head.
“Your Highness, we have placed her in the bath.”
U’il-šanad blinked at the choice of words and then let out a soft laugh that made the two maids smile.
“Good. You two are truly worthy of being my servants,” he smiled. “Now, I wish for you to call the Imperial Physician over. I’m worried about her staying outside in the cold for so long. Did you notice anything that looked amiss?”
The maids looked at each other.
“I admit I didn’t take much of a look. Her clothes were somewhat indecent.”
“Somewhat?” the Prince laughed. “They were highly inappropriate. No need to make the truth milder than it is.”
One of the maids snickered, while the other nodded, still smiling.
“I am quite worried she may fall ill. It would trouble me if my newest maid was lost immediately. Now, one of you, hurry to the Imperial Physician. I wish for him to come as soon as possible.”
The one who has spoken curtsied and left after acknowledging his orders. The other began preparing tea for the Prince, while he went back to what he was reading.
“Your Royal Highness!”
U’il-šanad’s gaze snapped up from his reading to see an elderly man stumble into the bedroom of the Prince. He could see a sheen of sweat on his forehead and the man’s chest rose and sunk heavily.
“Lord Imperial Physician,” he answered calmly.
The Physician blinked for a moment, seemingly trying to understand what he saw. U’il-šanad stood up and walked over to the elderly man, taking his arm.
“Please sit and rest, “ the Prince led the man to take a seat, “I may have asked you to come urgently, but I didn’t ask of you to run all the way.”
“I thought…”
U’il-šanad placed a warm cup in the hands of the man.
“If I were to fall ill, do you think I would send for you? Would my servants not come and tell you I needed your knowledge either way?”
“Ah…”
The Prince smiled. “Take your time to drink up. I have a maid who has spent a worrying amount of time in the morning chill. I wish for you to take a look at her. You may prescribe any medicine you deem necessary to keep her from falling to sickness, and I shall have my servants give it to her. You may ask Father Emperor for any compensation for the ingredients.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
U’il-šanad gave the maid a look, and she curtsied before she left to send a message to the Emperor that U’il-šanad’s new servant needed medicine.
By now, the shaken physician had calmed down and sipped on the warm tea.
“As I’m here now either way,” the Imperial Physician said, “I shall have a proper examination of Your Highness as well.”
U’il-šanad didn’t show his displeasure he felt at the thought, but instead took the cup off the physician and placed it on a table before he sat down on the bed. The physician sat down next to him and placed two fingers on his wrist. A current of magic surrounded their hands, giving off a pulsating light. The physician stared at it, carefully counting as he felt the pulse of the Prince.