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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Nao-Zai couldn't thank the gods enough that he was there when Kai-Se collapsed. Later, he gleaned from the servants that the prince was known to have a limited amount of energy and would tend to shut down when he overexerted himself. Today was a fine example.
Now that Nao-Zai was on it, Kai-Se didn't sound like he was sleeping well either. Nao-Zai could get a few hours here and there especially when Kai-Se was just in his rooms where he could leave the guarding to Wen-Shao or anyone for a short while. But Kai-Se...
Apart from nodding off in the carriage when he was supposed to be studying everything about Dansarun, the prince had juggled attending political meetings and being a piper on the streets over the course of the journey. He would often go back inside when the sun was already beginning to rise and would then prepare for the meetings and traveling on hand.
So, yeah. Kai-Se wasn't taking care of himself as he should.
As much as Nao-Zai didn't care about the prince, he couldn't brush this aside because if the prince kicked it somewhere in this tour, Nao-Zai would still be paying with his head. That's something he should avoid at all costs.
The room they were stashed in was in the same pagoda the trade meeting took place but only a few floors down. Nao-Zai had given up trying to count the total number of floors or measure the tower's total height. All he knew was that it's high.
Cold wind blew through the open balcony, bringing a wave of fog with it. The sound of tree leaves rustling was loud as thousands, or maybe even millions, went along with every direction the wind was going. Up ahead, the sky had changed from a brilliant blue, first, to a pinkish sunset to, finally, a deep shade of purple.
Kai-Se should be getting dinner now.
As if on cue, a servant dressed in beige layers came trotting up the steps, a whole lot of men in muted colors and women in skirts trotting behind him. Porcelain utensils clanked against the wooden tray with every step the servants took in rounding the pagoda's circumference before stopping in front of the door to Kai-Se's room where Nao-Zai stood.
It's the custom Nao-Zai had come to get used to. He learned he was supposed to ask the servant if the food had been tested for any assassination attempts and when he did, the servant nodded his shaved head vigorously before bowing two more times in the past one minute. He still found it odd that servants were bowing to him, a lowly soldier, but he was in a foreign country, after all.
Nao-Zai bowed back and slid the door open to let the servants in. They're just going to drop off the food and scamper away to wherever they came from. And when they did, Nao-Zai ducked into the room to find Kai-Se sitting in front of a mirror, staring at himself without moving or blinking.
"Your Highness?" Nao-Zai called. Kai-Se flinched and turned to look at him. He gestured at the trays of food laid by the door. "You should eat."
