The King clapped his hands and servants wearing red cotton robes with a gold sash came forward.

"Escort these saviours of our Kingdom into the room with the best view." He turned to Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. "You must be tired from your long journey into the desert. This place is the first respite for any travellers, so I would urge you to rest before dinner. And may I take this opportunity to thank you once again for saving my wife and consort." He bowed.

"No, no...no need for thanks." Wei Ying replied. "Anyone would have done the same."

Lan Zhan snorted under his breath, and Wei Ying nudged him with his elbow.

"Thank you for your kindness." Lan Zhan replied automatically, and Wei Ying beamed.

"Please take some rest." The King sat down apparently dismissing them.

The servants bowed and escorted them up the swirling staircase. To actually ascend it was awe-inspiring anyway, the high ceilings reaching far, far upwards, the brilliance of the white walls and the blue flowers very picturesque indeed.

Wei Ying kept one hand in Lan Zhan's and the other firmly wrapped around Rumi, while Lan Zhan carried Li XiWang. Their eyes spoke volumes, but they didn't want to speak just yet, given that they didn't know where the loyalty of the servants lay.

A wide open landing greeted them with a gold carpet, and many white marble doors siphoned off a long corridor. The servants opened a single door at the far end and bowed, leaving them inside.

When Wei Ying heard the sound of a key turning, he knew they had been locked inside.

"Oh well, I suspected as much. We're prisoners, not guests."

"A bed!" Li XiWang squealed and jumped onto it, bouncing around for a while with Rumi joining her before they collapsed in a heap and fell into a nap.

"Wei Ying should lie down, too." Lan Zhan pushed him onto the bed and took off his boots.

He opened an adjacent door and discovered a bathroom and a bowl, so he filled it with water and brought a towel. Then, he sat cross-legged by Wei Ying and dipping the towel in the cool water, wiped Wei Ying's face.

"That feels so good." Wei Ying smiled.

He reached into his sleeve and quickly drew silencing talismans, flinging them in in four directions and the ceiling.

"Now we can talk." He murmured, closing his eyes because Lan Zhan was concentrating on cleaning his feet. "Why do you think the King wants to keep us here?"

"He suspects we know something. I do not think he believed Wei Ying." Lan Zhan replied, keeping his voice low anyway because both children were resting.

"I think so, too. Plus, did you see his face? He was surprised to see the Queen was alive. That alone had bells ringing in my head. So my theory is this: I think he hired the Priest to kill the Queen and the trial, asking him questions and all that in front of her was all a show because she was there, and he doesn't know when the next available opportunity will happen." He moaned as Lan Zhan hit a sensitive spot.

"Mn. But we have no proof." Lan Zhan was admiring the paler skin of Wei Ying's calves, the curve of muscle and the smooth skin. He thought about licking it, but he glanced at the children and decided to plant a kiss there instead.

"We have motive, which is even better." Wei Ying was saying, utterly relaxed.

"Mn?" Lan Zhan switched legs, keeping them in his lap.

"Do you remember the scouts? We asked them what was going on down here?" Wei Ying sighed with pleasure at his ministrations.

"Mn."

"They said he quarrelled with his brother, suspecting him of cheating with his wife. If that's the case and he thinks she's unfaithful, he might have decided to get rid of her like this, and what better way than in such a public setting? She is the source of contention either way." He continued. "And Rumi doesn't like him."

"Neither do I." Lan Zhan admitted. "I did not like the way he looked at our children."

"Oh, definitely. Maybe we can ask him some questions at dinner. But I'm thinking, he will want to blame his brother to gain support for the war. If he announces that his brother was responsible for trying to kill the Queen, people will be up in arms already, because how dare her brother in bond try to kill her?" Wei Ying tugged on Lan Zhan's sleeve, a small sigh of satisfaction passing from his lips when Lan Zhan lay down next to him and gathered him into his arms.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, back then. It was instincts, pure and simple." He whispered, not having the energy to open his eyes.

"Mn.Wei Ying will be forgiven. Later." Lan Zhan kissed his forehead and fell asleep with him.

**********

They were woken by song.

It was unusual and Wei Ying much preferred it if they had knocked instead of marching in silently, and then opening their mouths to sing them awake. He had sat up in alarm, and thereby waking up both Lan Zhan and the children, who were bleary-eyed and still sleepy.

Twenty four ladies were singing a song about treasures lost in the past and times gone by, stopping only at the end.

"You are to be escorted to the dining room in ten minutes." They said.

"Ah, then kindly please wait outside." Wei Ying all but shoved them outside of their room. "Right, children, let's freshen up."

Once everyone was ready, they opened the door and found two servants dressed as before in red robes with a gold sash.

"Please follow us." They said, keeping their eyes on the ground.

Wei Ying did not much like this type of deferential behaviour. They had servants in Cloud Recesses, but everyone was treated with respect... not like this. Wei Ying often joked with the staff at Cloud Recesses, but here he suspected that was so far from the case. The young ladies escorting them to the dining hall were perhaps in their late twenties, and if they had all been back in Cloud Recesses, no doubt Wei Ying would have cracked a joke or two.

But these people were....just sad.

So he followed along silently, watching where he was going and memorising the way, in case he had need of it later. A plan was starting to form in his mind, and he wondered what Lan Zhan would think about it.

Ideally, they didn't need to interfere here at all. Once the King let them go tomorrow, they could be on their merry way and think nothing of this matter. But there was something about the Priest that irritated Wei Ying no end, and he knew he had to do something.

And soon.