“We have a noted healer with us,” Shadi explained. “He offered his services.”
“What do I know of this man’s qualifications? What assurances do I have that you will not poison her?”
“It is the emperor’s orders, milord.”
His secretary cleared his throat and murmured something in a soft, placating tone. Baoyi scowled, then barked an order to some of the soldiers.
“He wants the guards increased at Princess Yansheo’s room,” Shadi murmured. “He is protective of the girl.”
The girl herself, Jade of the House of Weixu, lay sleeping on a golden bier, surrounded by flowers. A glass case separated her from the rest of the world, like she was a character from an old fairy tale. Zoya told me the glass was removed every three hours for the attending servants to bathe her hair and anoint her body with the choicest perfumes, which Zoya learned had been on Baoyi’s orders. To spread rumors that the princess was dead was a jailable offense.
“They found her by the gardens outside the ballroom,” Khalad said quietly. Whatever wards were in place, his forging skills remained unaffected. “Her heartsglass is missing, but someone had drawn her Heartsrune. I can still feel the spell lingering around her.”
“None of the Daanorians are owning up to that,” Fox said. “Curious.”
Tansoong excused himself, glancing at me as he did. Baoyi stood over the princess and folded his arms, still glaring.
“He doesn’t believe that a young girl like you is capable of putting down a savul when their army has failed,” Shadi whispered. “It is the kingdoms of Tresea and Istera that hold the nearest daeva burial mounds, so Daanorians know little about the beasts. They always considered asha an ornamental profession, more to do with entertaining guests than slaying daeva.”
“It is a belief they should consider amending,” Zoya said shortly. “Daeva have not been sighted in this kingdom for more than five hundred years, but a creature’s habits are never constant. Times are changing and so must they. Once they pinpoint the current whereabouts of the savul, Tea, you should prove them wrong. Show them asha are more than concubines for princes.”
“‘Princes’? Did a prince say something to you, Zoya?”
“Not to me,” the asha growled.
Shadi squeezed Zoya’s hand. “Don’t be jealous. I declined their offers.”
“Still makes me want to kick each and every one of their satin-clothed behinds.”
“You know I’m for you alone, Zoya. I thought I made that very clear last night.”
“Shadi!”
“I’m going to see how Khalad’s faring,” I said glibly, stepping away from the red-faced Zoya and her grinning lover. Fox followed me.
The glass case was removed at the forger’s request, but Baoyi and the stern, harsh-looking soldiers surrounding the bier remained. Oblivious to their scrutiny, Khalad continued his examination, his gray eyes large behind his spectacles. “Did you find anything else?”
Khalad sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “She was dancing at a ball held in honor of her fourteenth birthday when the sickness took her.”
“This is nothing we haven’t heard of before,” Kalen said, coming up behind us.
“I’d like to show you something.” Khalad’s hand hovered above the sleeping girl’s chest. I saw the swirl and eddy of colors and then a faint image from the princess’s point of view: a man bowing down to kiss her hand, the cut of his clothes more Odalian than Daanorian. There was no mistaking his face. The vision lasted only for a few seconds before sputtering out of view.
“Holsrath,” I gasped.
“My vision is limited,” Khalad said. “I can pull out a stray memory or so but not for long. This was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness, that much I can ascertain.”
Kalen frowned. “Considering my father was supposed to be in a jail cell during this time, it’s something of a surprise.”
“But how did he get out without anyone knowing?” Fox demanded. “Short of King Telemaine himself setting him free, that’s impossible.”
“Still not as many questions as I would like answered,” I confessed.
“We need to discuss this in private,” Khalad said with a sidelong glance at Baoyi. “Let’s get Shadi and Zoya and return to my room. We may be the emperor’s guests, but that’s not a guarantee his hospitality will hold.”
“Where are you going?” Baoyi wanted to know. “How will you cure the princess?”
“It will take time, milord,” Khalad told him gently. “We will do everything in our power to help her. Is there anything else you can tell us about her sickness?”
The court official nodded, the scowl momentarily slipping from his face. “There is very little to say beyond what is already known. She was found sleeping in the gardens with no evidence of foul play.”
“Did you see anyone running away?”
Baoyi thought. “There was one person—a young upstart by the name of Shaoyun. He was one of Princess Yansheo’s admirers, but she had shown little interest. A few people reported seeing him leave the gardens around the time she took sick.”
Khalad cleared his throat. “Lord Baoyi. You might not remember me, but I am Narel’s assistant. He introduced me to you once.”
Baoyi peered curiously at Khalad; then his expression changed, softening. “My apologies. Khalad, wasn’t it? I remember, we met at Kion once. I had no idea… Is Narel in trouble?”
“I don’t know. He has a habit of leaving when it suits him,” Khalad lied glibly. “He hasn’t returned from Santiang, and I was worried.”
“I am sorry we are meeting again under these circumstances.” Baoyi thawed considerably. “The situation has been complicated further by your…princess’s…arrival. I shall send out search parties of my own in the city.”
“I hope you don’t mind if we still conduct our own search?”
“Of course not. I wish us both all the success.” His clerk hurried forward, looking harried with a clipboard tucked under his arm. He murmured something in Baoyi’s ear, and the other man nodded. “I must go. Let me know if I can be of more assistance.”
“We will. Thanks.”
Shadi lowered her voice as we left the room. “What are your thoughts on the emperor and this Baoyi, you two?”
“It’s difficult to say for sure without a heartsglass,” Khalad said. “But Baoyi does sound genuinely concerned about Master.”
“It might be good to keep communications with him open,” Zoya decided. “He might find information we may not have access to. The emperor’s an admirer of asha, without a doubt, but it doesn’t seem likely that it was he who engineered these palace wards. It must have been someone of great skill, and I don’t see a Daanorian having that ability.”
“Have you ever considered that the elder asha might have a hand in this?” I asked quietly.
Zoya’s mouth fell open. “That’s crazy, Tea. Whatever their mistakes, they would never sink so low as to betray Kion.”
“They possess a False book much like I had.”
Shadi frowned. “They might have confiscated it from someone else in the past. Do you have any other proof?”
“No,” I was forced to admit. That Aenah had told me didn’t mean much either. But…
The pretty asha patted me reassuringly on the shoulder. “Let’s keep an open mind. I would say the duke is a far more viable suspect in this, with more evidence stacked against him.”
“I take it magic isn’t something they can easily get at in Daanoris?” Fox asked.
“Daanorian emperors of old have banned the practice of magic. Some nobles once dabbled in them or at least paid those skilled in the runes, with horrific results. The Daanorians imposed little restrictions on their magic, and twenty years of war soon decimated their population. It took Odalia, Kion, and the Yadosha city-states to put an end to the fighting, and every Daanorian ruler since then has pledged to never use runes. Even heartsglass was prohibited. That they have wards in place is suspicious in itself. Using magic to prevent other people from using magic sounds a little hypocritical to me.”