~Hometown~

Oris could just imagine how she looked, hunched over, holding a piece of paper over a candle flame so furtively. If anyone smart saw her they would think she was about to burn the letter.

I wonder who it is now. Between Meéarine and Hermes, she was honestly tired of unexpected visitors.

Resisting the urge to blow out the candle, she leaned into her chair and and folded the letter until it returned to the state it had been when Andrea handed it to her.

She slipped it into her sleeve and made sure it was snug before scooping her veil from where it lay on the floor.

When she was done putting it on, Andrea took her by the arm and helped her to her feet. "Who do you think it is?" she whispered.

Oris shook her head. All she hoped was that it wasn't more trouble. She had enough things to worry about, from Nian Fey, to Wei Wei, to Mikeal, to Hermes. What she needed now was time to take deep breaths and rework her plans to suit the situation.

Since Bren had initiated communications with her, he was clearly safe and alive. She needed to know how many men they had lost to his suicide attack. She needed to know how the New World felt about her rebellion. She needed to know which States were now allied with her and which former allies she needed to snatch back.

With so much work to be done, there was no time for harem drama.

"Come in," she called out, knowing that the servants at door would hear her and obey.

"Mistress, you should have let me do that," Andrea complained. Together, they walked to the center of the room.

"It's okay, Andrea. I'm not trying to impress anyone with my manners."

The doors opened the moment her last words fell and a procession poured through it. In a matter of seconds, the once spacious room was crowded with servants, maids and all kinds of palace staff.

They parted at middle to stand at either side of Oris, leaving only four people in front of her.

Mayree and Keziah stood behind two men, one of which was the physician that had been in the Great Hall just some hours ago.

"Mayree," Andrea mumbled then glanced up at her mistress, "they're back."

Oris gave the hand holding onto her a soft squeeze, not able to keep herself from smiling. "Go."

"Yes Mistress," Andrea courtesied and rushed to their side.

Mayree and Keziah held their hands in front of them with their thumbs interlinked and bowed to Oris.

"This servant greets the Lady of Inqa," they said together.

The maids and servants behind them bowed and curtsied in return, disregarding the objects balanced on the trays they carried.

"Rise." Oris walked to her maids, helped them to their feet and held them to her chest.

"Oh, how I've missed you two." Andrea cried as she warmed her way into the hug. "I didn't think I could survive—"

She was interrupted when someone cleared their throat. All the gazes in the room shifted to him because of the sound. Pleased to have their attention, the man held up the scroll in his hands. "All kneel for the Emperor's decree."

Oris turned to him as Andrea and the others fell to their knees and clasped their hands. He was the first eunuch she had seen apart from Faeradaigh—who apparently preferred not to be in uniform. A slender, willow-like man, with a fair, delicate features and a boyish voice.

His uniform was a blue tunic with long, cuffed sleeves decorated with lace on the neckline, and an even bluer chequered skirt whose hems nearly brushed the floor.

As Oris slowly lowered herself to her knees, she concluded that he was very pleasing to the eye, another piece of evidence giving validity to the rumors that King Abbadad indulged in the beauties of all sexes indiscriminately.

He opened the scroll and read. "His Majesty Hermes II, conqueror of States, uniter of realms and child of Sūn, during their time together found The Lady Of Inqa virtuous, kind and in possession of incomparable intelligence. In addition to the rewards previously bestowed, she is granted a personal physician and a jade statue of Nihuhid The Benevolent."

Oris bowed her head and held out her hands to recieve the scroll. She kept her face blank in order not to show the surprise she felt. "This servant accepts the Emperor's decree."

The eunuch nodded, evidently pleased with himself, and commanded the maids and servants to deposit the gifts.

As they went about the room arranging this and that, he held his hands together and bowed. "There are also ten maids bestowed by the Empress Dowager... Where would you like me to place them, my Lady?"

Oris liked him a bit more after considering his question. Andrea, Mayree and Keziah stood quietly by her side but she could tell that they were worried. Maybe more for her than for their positions as her only aides, but they still worried.

This eunuch clearly viewed palace relationships with more clarity than she did. With a simple question he had told her that she couldn't slight the Empress Dowager's people but also reminded her that she still had options.

"I will have them serve in the outer rooms. Having four maids is already too much for me, I fear I will not be able to manage them well. I will leave it up to you to decide since you would know what they are best at," she replied.

"Of course, my Lady."

"Milord, you know the palace much better than I," she cupped her hands and bowed to him, "I will need to seek your guidance while I am here."

"Oh, please," he rushed to stop her, "I am your servant. No need for this... this—"

"Andrea," Oris beckoned her with a wave of her hand and as though sensing her intentions, the girl pressed a small pouch into the man's hand.

"Eunuch Rai, please accept this," she flashed him her widest smile, "as my Mistress' thanks."

"I couldn't possibly—"

Oris took a step back and offered him a smile of her own. "Please do."

"Well," he tucked it away somewhere in his tunic and bowed again, "how can I refuse?"

He left soon afterwards, taking the entourage of maids and servants away with them.

Oris let out a quiet sigh of relief then turned to the one stranger who had stayed, the man that was now her personal physician.

Noticing her gaze on her, he rushed to bow.

"No need," she said and Keziah took him by the arm to stop him. "It would be tiring if you had to bow every time we met."

"Many thanks, my Lady."

"You must be the physician the Emperor promised me," Oris said while walking back to her chair, just because she felt like it. When the man's expression didn't change, she slipped her hand out of Andrea's and sat down. "Didn't you say my condition was hopeless?"

He fell to his knees and bowed again. This time Keziah wasn't quick enough to stop him. "Forgive me, my Lady."

Apart from that, he said nothing else. Oris sighed and watched Mayree and Keziah shuffle around to empty the teapot and the basin where most of the tea she had drank now slushed in. "Out of all the Imperial Physicians, why were you chosen to serve me?"

"The Emperor wanted someone who did not work for the Empress Dowager."

"Oh?" she clasped her hands and leaned forward. "You do not know where your loyalties lie, do you?"

"Mistress. Mistress," the words seemed to terrify him, "I would never forget what the Young Master did for me."

His words caught hee attention then. "Young Master?" she repeated, knowing he could not have been referring to Hermes. Adding to the fact that he also called her mistress, he definitely wasn't a random physician.

"Andrea, help him up."

When he was on his feet again, she noticed how much he trembled. Is he guilty... or just scared?

"Explain yourself."

He nodded. "I... My hometown is a small village on the border of Heibey and Orse. If not for the Young Master, I would not have been able to move my family to the capital or gotten the opportunity to work in the palace."

"You are..." Oris thought back to the letter. Hometown was the word that had caught her attention then and now. It was too coincidental to not be a sort of signal. "My hometown?"

"Yes. Yes. I'm from Bujasku too," he seemed relieved now, "if not for the Young Master's help, my daughter and I would not have jobs in the palace."

"Daughter?" Oris frowned. Bujasku really was her hometown. It was where she grew up. It was where her adopted family still lived. Did Bren plan on using them as cover? He wasn't that reckless. "The Young Master you speak of, is my brother?"

"Yes, Mistress. When the Young Master told me that you were in the palace, I knew I had to find a way to repay him. Who knew that not soon after he told me, the Emperor demanded for me to treat you and now I am to serve you permanently. I truly thought that I had done my job well. Now, I have to tell the Young Master that... I truly don't know how to face him."

~

English annoys me sometimes, ahh. Like I hear some of my dialogue in Chinese because I watched too many dramas and I can't translate that to English, lol. If I ever get to rewriting/editing, I'm definitely half-hearted crafting languages for Queensmen.

Sorry for the late update. I just finished the chapter... Ah, I have no excuses. I'm just sorry.

Anyone notice that Seline is missing?