Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 14

As we came through the palace gates a series of drums beat loudly. Soldiers stood by with torches to light a path for the Crown Prince. It was quite a spectacle this late in the night. How did the people already sleeping feel about it, not that they had a say in how the Crown Prince was received. Our carriage came to a stop. I could hear Blake speaking with someone, in a respectful yet pleading voice. As we stepped out of the carriage a quiet choke sound came from Nomi and her eyes turned to me and widened.

The Crown Prince stood close to Blake as Lei and Blake spoke to an elderly woman. She looked respectable, dressed in conservative robes that were well made. While the clothing was finely crafted and custom tailored to her, it was rather dull in appearance. The robes themselves were white, but over top she wore dark blue panels that came down to the ground before sweeping back up and wrapping around her arms loosely.

"It's the Empresses' Edict." She said in a no nonsense tone. It was obvious that arguing would be in vain. Nomi looked like she wanted to tell me something, but dared not.

"It's late, we can do this later." Blake said. The woman was irritated with him and raised her hand, placing it on his shoulder as if to push him aside.

She walked straight to Nomi and reached out for her arm. Nomi, aware of what would happen, stretched her arm out wrist down. The old woman wrapped her hand around Nomi's wrist, I could feel the lightest channeling of energy coming from her. It was so light I really had to use all of my senses to detect it. The elderly woman's assistant held a lantern near Nomi's hand. I watched as a single yellow flower surrounded by designs appeared on the back of Nomi's hand.

This elderly lady learned this technique from someone, what it was I couldn't be sure. The energy was searching for something, seeking a specific answer. Either way, it wouldn't harm me and it was doubtful that it was looking for threats. My natural instincts told me I didn't need to take action against her. Nodding acceptance at Nomi, she moved towards me. I obediently held up my hand.

"I haven't finished with the training, she isn't officially a servant yet!" Nomi tried to delay this, whatever it was.

The elderly woman ignored Nomi completely and made contact with my wrist, she wrapped her hand around it gently. The men reflexively came closer, wanting to stop her but unable to. Instead they just stood near. The three of them alternated between looking at my hand and looking away. A mix of curiosity and embarrassment maybe? Nomi hit Blake and Lei as if trying to get them to move away, but the gesture was so light they didn't notice.

Across my hand a large bright red lotus appeared with what looked like gold bamboo behind it and a few designs in the surrounding areas. The lantern fumbled as the helper nearly dropped it. Unable to remain impartial any longer, and ignoring the men, Nomi leaned over to look as well. The three men made strange noises and showed varied reactions. I couldn't figure out what sort of expressions they wore. As their curiosity settled, they quickly stepped away as if they hadn't clearly been looking. The elderly woman's face lit up as she looked up at me, she patted the back of my hand where the flower was.

"Good, very good. You're a good girl." She stated as she made agreeable noises to herself. She promptly turned and left, her helper followed closely behind with the lantern. I looked down at the picture, it was ever so slowly starting to fade.

"What is this?" I turned my wrist, showing it clearly to Nomi. I asked in a light inquisitive voice. She averted her eyes slightly and didn't answer. "How long will it stay on my hand?" I asked, moving to something easier.

"It will fade away in a few hours." She replied. Lei wasn't far away, I knew he'd clearly seen what it was. Here in the palace it wasn't convenient for me to approach the Crown Prince so casually, but maybe Lei could explain. I took the four steps in between us to close the distance.