'This way, my lord.'
I followed the old eunuch down one of the pathways, breaking into painful jogging steps now and again to keep up with his surprising pace. He led me past the pond to the last building on the right side and bowed me into an open doorway.
It was a small dim waiting room, the only light coming from the doorway and the small gaps between the carved flowers of the window shutters. A long bench padded with blue cushions was set against the opposite wall, a low table before it displaying a decanter and drinking bowls. A folding silk screen, painted with delicate scenes of long-legged cranes and tall grasses, stretched across the far wall.
The old eunuch motioned me towards the bench. 'My lord, may I offer you some refreshment?'
'No, thank you.'
He bowed and withdrew.
I had just stepped up to the screen for a closer look when a soft murmur made me turn. A lady in a long formal tunic of green had paused in the doorway to dismiss her eunuch attendant.
She
entered alone, sinking into a court bow in front of me, the top of her headdress swinging with jade pendants.
'Lord Eon, I am Lady Jila. Please forgive me for diverting you from your attendance upon His Majesty the Prince. It is only momentary, I assure you.'
She looked up and it was obvious that Lady Jila had passed some of her beauty onto her son.
Her delicate bones had, in the Prince, strengthened into bolder lines, but both of them had large dark eyes and a graceful symmetry to their faces that touched something deep within me. I found myself bowing to her — a breach of protocol — but a quick smile answered my courtesy It was so full of quiet understanding and intelligence that I could see why an Emperor might prefer her company to all others.
'I have come to ask something of you, my lord,' she said, her gaze as forthright as her words.
'In what way can I be of help to you, my lady?' I asked, although the last thing I wanted to hear was another request. The expectations of my master and the Emperor already weighed too heavily on me.
She rose and sat on the bench, clasping her hands together tightly in her lap. Reluctantly, I took a seat further along.
'It was the Empress's dying wish that Prince Kygo, her only child, study and live within the safety of the harem until he was eighteen,' Lady Jila said carefully 'But it has not been easy for the Prince: he chafes at the scholarly life and yearns to stand beside his father. It is now vital that he does so. You have seen how ill the Emperor —' She bit her lip and turned away When she turned back, her face was once again controlled. 'You may wonder why I have cornered you to talk of the Prince, but I have watched him grow up and I am very fond of him.'
Our gazes locked.
'Lady Jila,' I said, just as carefully, 'I am aware of your special interest in Prince Kygo.'
Ahh.' She smiled wryly. 'Lady Dela?'
I hesitated then nodded.
'You are fortunate to have won Lady Dela's counsel,' Lady Jila said. 'Nothing much happens in this court without her knowledge.' She turned a heavy emerald ring on her slim finger. 'So, you must know why I am here.'
'I can guess.'
She took a deep breath. 'Lord Eon, I add my voice to the Emperor's and ask you to protect our son. I ask you to use your power in his interests. I believe he is in great danger.' Tentatively, she touched my arm. 'But I also ask you to befriend him. There are not many young men at court who have both the rank and the political allegiance for such a bond. But you are close in rank and, I believe, have the same political agenda. He needs a friend, and he could help you as much as you could help him.'
'You want me to be his friend?'
'I do,' she said.
'But friendship is not something that can be forced. On either side.'
She smiled. 'Lady Dela told me your thinking was older than your years, and I see it is so.' I stiffened but she did not seem to notice. 'I am not asking you to force a friendship, my lord. I am asking you to think about the advantages of being prepared to like my son.'
I blinked at her phrasing; Lady Jila sliced up meaning as finely as a master cook cut up shark fin.
'Will you do that?' she asked.
A darkening at the doorway made us both turn. The straight-backed figure of Prince Kygo was silhouetted for a moment then stepped into the room, a quiet command sending his retinue of eunuchs back out the door. We both hurriedly dropped to our knees and bowed.
'Will you promise?' Lady Jila said, her voice low and urgent.
'Yes.'
The Prince's feet stopped in front of us, clad in soft leather slippers dyed the exact royal blue of his trousers.
'Greetings, Lord Eon, Ladyjila. Please rise, both of you,' he said. 'Lord Eon, we are waiting for you in the pavilion.'
1 pushed myself upright, sucking in a breath as my aching muscles unlocked. Ladyjila remained on her knees.
'It is my fault Lord Eon is delayed,' she said, bowing lower. 'Please forgive me, dear son.'
Prince Kygo looked down at her, startled. How long had it been since he had heard his true mother call him son? He glanced across at me, acknowledging the trust of the moment. 'Then there is no fault at all,' he said softly, 'Mother.'
He held out his hand and she took it, rising with the grace of a dancer. They smiled at one another, the same sweet hesitancy mirrored in their faces.
'I must, however, take Lord Eon away from you,' he said. 'Teacher Prahn awaits us.'
'Of course.' She patted his hand and let go, then nodded to me, her eyes holding my promise.
'Farewell, Lord Eon.'
'My lady' I nodded politely and followed the Prince out of the room.
In the courtyard, he beckoned me to walk beside him. A jerk of his head repositioned his eunuch guards further away, out of hearing range. We walked along the garden path towards the larger middle gate, the birds fluttering in their cages as we passed. I saw him glance at my limp and subtly slow his pace.
'My mother must think highly of you, Lord Eon,' he said.
'I am honoured, Your Highness.'
'Did she, perhaps, ask you to befriend me?'
My misstep answered his question. He smiled at my surprise.
'It was not so hard to divine,' he said. 'My mother is a woman and so believes the bonds of friendship and love are stronger than the bonds of political alliance.' He stopped and turned to face me. 'Which do you think is the strongest bond. Lord lion?'
I looked into his dark eyes, searching for some clue to the answer. Was he like so many others of rank who just wanted to hear his own thoughts echoed, or was he truly interested in my view? All I could see was curiosity and openness. I would have to guard against his charm — his warm manner could make it easy to fall into the trap of voicing an unguarded opinion.
'Political alliance, Your Highness.'
Even as I said it, my thoughts flashed to Dolana and the salt farm. The first night I arrived she pushed me against the wall and slept in front of me, her body a shield. The next morning she sewed a pocket in my rough tunic for my few belongings, and showed me how to hold my body to avoid the whipmaster's attention. Later, at the salt pit, when she fell to the ground coughing, I hauled her sack and mine to the carts and kept the line moving. In that one night and day, there had been no time for the higher pursuits of friendship or politics. Our immediate bond had been far more basic.