The Barbarian's Tale

Rae had expected to find the palace in a state of chaos. Instead, the courtyards were deserted, and there was hardly a sound, even from the servant’s quarters.

It took all Rae had to keep up with Zott, and he gave up when his attacker-turned-ally decided to scale the wall of the Shana’s courtyard. As the Shak, he would be entering through the door.

There was a servant keeping watch outside, who let Rae in without a word. The privileges of being Shak were still unfamiliar to Rae, so he hurried inside without fanfare. He dared not ask about the state the Shali was in. Zott soon appeared by his side again, having taken the shortcut through the garden without being spotted.

The main tearoom was deserted, with evidence of the emergency strewn across the tables and floor.

Jiwat was sleeping in her mother’s bedchamber. Bejuk had been able to reduce the swelling in her throat enough that she could still breathe, and while uncomfortable, she wasn’t thought to be in any more danger.Sebi watched over the Shali, while Bejuk made up medicines. Something to soothe Jiwat’s discomfort, and more to calm the Shana’s nerves.

When Bejuk saw the state Rae had descended the mountain in, he raised his eyebrows but was too overworked to ask any questions.

Duke Ashem had ordered that none of the servants be allowed to leave before he could question them but no investigation had started yet. In the kitchen, Rae and Zott found four servants. There were three women and a man; sitting quietly in the pantry, waiting for Duke Ashem to pass judgment on them.

The head cook showed Rae and Zott the area where the food had been prepared, with the remaining steamed buns still set aside.

“Do you know much about poison?” Rae asked Zott, as if he didn’t already have his suspicions about the matter.

“I know some,” Zott said, tearing a bun in two and sniffing the filling. He frowned. He scooped up the tiniest slither of ground veal and onion filling and licked it off his finger.

“What are you doing?!”

Zott truly was terrifying. After waiting a few seconds, he shovelled the rest of the meat bun remnants into his mouth.

“I think it’s fine,” he said, wiping the corner of his mouth.

Rae could only stare at Zott. Waiting for… something. His throat to seize, his eyes to bulge, his face to turn blue. Whatever happened when people ate poison, Rae didn’t know.

Nothing happened.

“How did Her Highness get her hands on the tainted bun?” Zott asked the cook.

“I really can’t say…” she said, not meeting Zott’s eyes. Rae realised she could also see the beastly fury in his amber glare, and that it petrified her.

“You better not be lying to me. If you are, I’ll make you-“

“Young master Zott! You know just as well as I do what the little Shali are like. How they run wild and are spoilt rotten, even by us servants. But I have five hungry children at home. If Miss Jiwat came to my kitchen to sneak a snack, I’d have caught her and made her wait till lunch.

I’ve served Her Majesty for more than ten years! I don’t know what happened but wherever Miss Jiwat got that cursed bun, it wasn’t from my kitchen!”

The cook’s eyes were frantic as Zott glared at her. He opened his mouth to press her further when Rae chose the moment to step in.

“It does seem like the poison didn’t come from the kitchen if the other buns weren’t tainted. If Jiwat remembers something different, she’ll be able to tell us soon enough, so let’s leave it for now,”

Zott might have hoped to terrorise the rest of the kitchen staff until he found a hole in their story, but Rae didn’t think they’d find anything there. He tugged on the beast’s arm and was begrudgingly followed back to the main tea room, still eerily quiet.

Quiet. But not empty.

Rae was so busy wrestling Zott away from the kitchen that he didn’t notice him at first, silently sifting through the mess on the floor.

“Your excellency-“ Zott said, dropping to his knees the moment he saw him.

Duke Ashem startled, before his expression turned sour, looking at Rae as if he thought he should be on his knees too. Or not daring to show his face at all. He glared at the two of them with dark eyes.

“Duke Ashem, is the Shali alright?” Rae didn’t know what to call the child. Given his position and their relationship, he owed her no propriety nor title, but simply calling her Jiwat seemed somehow… presumptuous. She was his sister, but he had never even spoken to her. If they had met outside the palace, he would have never known who she was. So he called her all that she was to him, a Shali.

“She is well, so you can get out,” Duke Asem snapped, before turning to Zott, “you too, scram. I don’t want to look at you,”

Zott didn’t say anything nor did he raise his head. A beast brought to heel.

“Duke Ashem, I’ve come to offer my assistance in finding who’s responsible for this,” Rae said. His throat was dry, he’d never dared speak back when Duke Ashem dismissed him before.

“Who’s responsible? What can you do that I can’t? Sneaking in here looking like you’ve just rolled out of bed! You’re worse than- you’ll be no help… Just get out,”

Duke Ashem’s voice cracked when he shouted. Louder than Rae was used to. Although he had promised to help Zott, he had only done so out of self preservation and didn’t have any personal affection for the victim. He had tried standing up for himself once, and after receiving a good shouting at, he was ready to go lick his wounds in private.

But Zott… He looked so crestfallen. He might be a fierce opponent, but when Duke Ashem berated him, he was nothing but pitiful.

He is little more than a poorly trained dog.

Rae could now see how Ven could speak so dismissively but felt his words were a little too harsh.

“Young master Zott, would you like to come with me?” Rae asked, smiling and attempting to meet the kneeling youth’s eyes. Zott didn’t reciprocate.

“Your Maj-“ Zott never got to finish his dismissal, and Rae could see in his eyes that it was a dismissal because Duke Ashem had a much more vicious one to hand.

“Young master? Taking my servant from me too? After the day I’ve had? Get out of my sight before I commit a grave crime,”

Rae didn’t have to be told twice.

Rae had never expected any grace from Duke Ashem, so the outburst didn’t cause him too much grief. He ambled out of the Shana’s palace, keeping an eye out for any clues he might have missed on the way in. Soon, he reached the sentry guarding the gate, who was busy being accosted.

Soaked through, only half dressed, his dark curls even messier than usual, was Gaori.

“Let me through at once! It’s an emergency!” he cried, and a wave of guilt hit Rae.

Being knocked around and dragged all over the mountain had been an ordeal, but what had Gaori gone through? Almost drowned, naked and exposed, his dearest friend was dragged off by some strange assailant… And he had only now made it back to the palace? Could he be more injured than Rae had realised?

Gaori was new to the palace, and even in a more presentable state, not all the servants knew his face yet. Plus there was a suspected assassination attempt earlier that day. The sentry stood firm.

“You’re not to enter here. Leave or be cut down,”

Gaori might have been overcome with despair or rage, if he hadn’t caught sight of Rae, behind the gates. He let out a guttural cry, almost a sob, despite the gleaming smile that followed.

“Rae!”

He tried to rush forward to grasp Rae in his hands, but the sentry was still oblivious to the touching scene. He only barely stopped short of running Gaori through with his sabre.

“Woah!”

“Peace, friend!” Rae cried before a tragedy could occur, “Young master Kaolin is permitted wherever this one goes,”

If the sentry offered any apology, Rae didn’t hear it. All his senses were overwhelmed by Gaori’s crushing embrace.

“Rae. Rae, you’re really safe?”

Gaori had been ten years old when Rae came to live with him, and from the very start, he’d known his cousin was delicate. Sensitive. In need of protection. Until this week, he’d always thought he was up to the task.

“There, there,” Rae said, and when he felt a dampness on his shoulder, he added, “Let’s go back to my rooms, Duke Ashem is near, and he’s not in a good mood,”

“When is he ever?” Gaori laughed through the tears and allowed Rae to lead him back to the Shak’s chambers.

Neither Rae nor Gaori were badly hurt. Bruised and shaken, but otherwise unscathed. It didn’t take much more than a warm seat by the fire and a hot pot of tea to bring them back to their usual selves. Still, the spectre of the day’s events, both what happened at the baths, and in the Shana’s Palace, still loomed.

“What motive might one have to harm the Shali?” Goari wondered, once Rae had told him all he had learned.

“I don’t know. I intend to ask around the camp and see if I can find out who might have a grudge against Duke Ashem,”

“You’re going to help him, after how he’s treated you?”

Rae didn’t need long to consider it, “I will. If the attacker is willing to target an innocent child, they can’t be allowed to exist in the camp. Duke Ashem be damned,”

Jiwat wasn’t the only one Rae was acting for, however. And neither were the other innocents of the Ashem clan… At the back of his mind, Rae couldn’t shake the image of the frantic terror reflected in amber eyes. Rae had never seen a beast so loyal, and even though that loyalty had frightened him, it was surely something worth preserving.