Prince (?)

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"Papa, can I borrow this?" I held out a book about a type of alchemy I'd been studying called alkahestry. It was mainly used for medicinal purposes and originated in Xing.

Papa glanced over at me from his desk. "Sure, just don't cause any trouble if you're going outside with it. We don't want to spoil the hospitality we've been granted."

Papa was referring to the hospitality given to us by the head of the clan of Xing we were living in: The Yao Clan. Papa had settled a dispute that had started between this clan and another, among other things. For the past few months, the local government had called upon him for favors. Settling that first little conflict had only been the beginning. The Yao Clan knew Papa had been in the presence of princes and chiefs to the west, so they acknowledged how beneficial he was, and now we had a larger house nearer to the palace.

About Papa mentioning to me to not cause trouble... Well, he usually wouldn't say that, but a few days before I had snuck onto the palace grounds and tended to a flower in the garden that had started to wither. Of course, I'd been caught by the royal gardener, a young man with deep brown eyes who had a thing for botany. I had thought I was going to get my ass kicked, but he just smiled at me and started helping me with the flower.

"You know," he said, packing new soul around the flower, "this little guy is an azure flower. Very rare, only grows in Xing." He lightly smacked his forehead. "Oh, listen to me rambling on! I don't even know your name!"

"It's Jamie. Jamie Prell."

"So you're that foreign guy's daughter. The one who lives in that house over there?" He pointed to Papa and I's pleasant pistachio green house that just peaked over the northern edge of the gardens.

I nodded.

The gardener held out his hand and grinned. "Well, nice to meet you. My name's Eberetto. Thanks for the help with the flower."

I smiled back and shook his hand. I liked this guy. We talked for a while longer about plants and animals and how stupid Amestris's current conflict with Ishval was. Eberetto then decided to walk me home, which I knew would be a sign to Papa that I had definitely gone into the royal gardens against his wishes. He didn't seem to mind too much, though. He just said not to do it again unless Eberetto was there.

Papa took an immediate liking to the pale young gardener and vice versa. They would later talk for hours, sipping tea, until one of them realized that they had to go back to work.

From then on, I snuck into the gardens every day, waiting for Eberetto, who would let me help him with the plants. Sometimes we would even play hide-and-seek. Eberetto was like the big brother I'd never had. He called me his little azure, after the flower we had tended to together.

Anyway, on this particular day, I set out for the gardens, as usual, book in my hand, curly hair tied back into a ponytail. I silently made my way onto the palace grounds.

"Eberetto?" I called. No answer. I'd just have to wait.

I was about to sit down with the book when I noticed something poking out from behind a hydrangea bush. A rock? I'd never seen it there before.

Now, what you must understand is that I didn't have the best eyesight, and I refused to wear glasses because it felt so unnatural. Like seeing the world through someone else's eyes. So, even though the object behind the bush was only twenty or so feet away, I could not identify it.

I slowly walked toward it and made out that it was a lot less stiff and rigid than a rock. My eyes widened as I realized what it was.

"Food..." I jumped as the person groaned. Their feet and legs were sticking out of the bushes. I grabbed one of their bare feet and struggled to drag them out into the open.

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