FIRST BOOK OF THE PIPER OF MIRCHAEK TRILOGY
When the walled city of the gods, Dansarun, opens its doors for trade, Xuijae's ruling clan sends its perfect representatives: the troublesome prince, Kai-Se, who wants nothing to do with palace life, and...
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The central provinces whizzed by in Nao-Zai's memory like the wind. As usual, the prince vanished every night from whatever room he was put in and Nao-Zai had stopped bothering finding out where he was going. The other soldiers caught wind of this but they didn't press Nao-Zai for more information about why he was nonchalant about the prince disappearing.
Instead, Nao-Zai used the time to clear his head by either walking around the property of whatever Governor welcomed them, admiring the grand architecture, the lush gardens, and the menageries full of exotic species of birds, mammals, and plants. Sometimes, he ventures out into the town where he browses around the local shops and markets, studying the patterns in their textile, the craftsmanship in their pottery, and their skills in their cuisine.
At some cities, Nao-Zai comes across the piper who could cast magic and sometimes, when he has time to spare, he would listen in to his tales. They never cease to amaze him, given how magic wasn't an everyday phenomena for people like him. Could the piper be from the neighboring continent of Cheongreong? The rumors did say there was a race of dragons there or something. Perhaps there's humans who could cast magic there as well?
If so, why hasn't the practice of magic spread among the humans in Xuijae?
Well, that's none of his concern because today, after barely exiting the Central Governor's palace in one piece, it was time to come to the last part of the old Shencai territories, which was the East Provinces. The hairs on Nao-Zai's arm still stood on its ends whenever he recalled what happened.
It was a fine day and, after the successful zhunxi with Kai-Se, the Central Governor was pleased with himself. He invited His Highness into a private conversation about possibly more politics. If Nao-Zai cared enough about it, he'd bet his boots that the Central Governor was cutting his own ribbons to get something from the prince's visit to his territory. Nao-Zai could see it gleaming from the back of the Governor's fake grin and dripping from his carefully minced words.
Then, Kai-Se just had to be late to the private talk.
Why? Because he fell asleep on his desk and none of the servants could wake him up and fix him on time to get to the meeting.
Nao-Zai remembered him having to stand on the door to the pavilion with Wen-Shao on the other side, whispering updates on where the prince was. Nao-Zai's job was to pacify the Central Governor by distracting him from the fact that, indeed, the prince was running late. At one point, Nao-Zai must have failed at the distracting part because the Governor began telling him about how he didn't like latecomers and felt like his time was being wasted. Nao-Zai, being used to his uncle doing the same thing, told him that patience was as important a virtue as integrity and love. It was something Nao-Zai wished he had the courage to slap into his uncle's face for the longest time.
The Governor wasn't impressed.
He began threatening to storm out of the palace to report to Urkaze about this disrespect and just before he could, the doors burst open and the prince stepped through. Nao-Zai was one with the Governor in wanting to tear that smug expression on Kai-Se's face off as they both watched the prince sink into the cushion and apologized with a thin voice.
