I blinked at her phrasing; Lady Jila sliced up meaning as finely as a master cook cut up shark fin.
'Will you do that?' she asked.
A darkening at the doorway made us both turn. The straight-backed figure of Prince Kygo was silhouetted for a moment then stepped into the room, a quiet command sending his retinue of eunuchs back out the door. We both hurriedly dropped to our knees and bowed.
'Will you promise?' Lady Jila said, her voice low and urgent.
'Yes.'
The Prince's feet stopped in front of us, clad in soft leather slippers dyed the exact royal blue of his trousers.
'Greetings, Lord Eon, Ladyjila. Please rise, both of you,' he said. 'Lord Eon, we are waiting for you in the pavilion.'
1 pushed myself upright, sucking in a breath as my aching muscles unlocked. Ladyjila remained on her knees.
'It is my fault Lord Eon is delayed,' she said, bowing lower. 'Please forgive me, dear son.'
Prince Kygo looked down at her, startled. How long had it been since he had heard his true mother call him son? He glanced across at me, acknowledging the trust of the moment. 'Then there is no fault at all,' he said softly, 'Mother.'
He held out his hand and she took it, rising with the grace of a dancer. They smiled at one another, the same sweet hesitancy mirrored in their faces.
'I must, however, take Lord Eon away from you,' he said. 'Teacher Prahn awaits us.'
'Of course.' She patted his hand and let go, then nodded to me, her eyes holding my promise.
'Farewell, Lord Eon.'
'My lady' I nodded politely and followed the Prince out of the room.
In the courtyard, he beckoned me to walk beside him. A jerk of his head repositioned his eunuch guards further away, out of hearing range. We walked along the garden path towards the larger middle gate, the birds fluttering in their cages as we passed. I saw him glance at my limp and subtly slow his pace.
'My mother must think highly of you, Lord Eon,' he said.
'I am honoured, Your Highness.'
'Did she, perhaps, ask you to befriend me?'
My misstep answered his question. He smiled at my surprise.
'It was not so hard to divine,' he said. 'My mother is a woman and so believes the bonds of friendship and love are stronger than the bonds of political alliance.' He stopped and turned to face me. 'Which do you think is the strongest bond. Lord lion?'
I looked into his dark eyes, searching for some clue to the answer. Was he like so many others of rank who just wanted to hear his own thoughts echoed, or was he truly interested in my view? All I could see was curiosity and openness. I would have to guard against his charm — his warm manner could make it easy to fall into the trap of voicing an unguarded opinion.
'Political alliance, Your Highness.'
Even as I said it, my thoughts flashed to Dolana and the salt farm. The first night I arrived she pushed me against the wall and slept in front of me, her body a shield. The next morning she sewed a pocket in my rough tunic for my few belongings, and showed me how to hold my body to avoid the whipmaster's attention. Later, at the salt pit, when she fell to the ground coughing, I hauled her sack and mine to the carts and kept the line moving. In that one night and day, there had been no time for the higher pursuits of friendship or politics. Our immediate bond had been far more basic.
'Well, my father will be pleased,' the Prince said.
He started walking again. I matched his pace, pushing through the stiffness that was fast overtaking me. He was frowning. Was my answer wrong, after all?
'I believe love and friendship are stronger,' he said abruptly. 'Do you think me weak and womanly?'
'No,' I said, startled into bluntness.
He gave me a quick, self-conscious smile. 'Sometimes I wonder if my thoughts are too much influenced by living here. With the women.'
We paused in front of the large middle gate as the porter hurried to lift the latch. Through the gilded bars I saw another courtyard, this one dominated by an elaborate pavilion set in the centre of a large pond. A wooden bridge arched over the water to a small veranda, the corners of its gold roof sweeping upwards into a carved dragon at each point. Two large folding shutters had been pulled back and showed the figure of a man watching our approach.
The porter swung the gates open, falling to his knees as we passed under the arch of the wall.
'Men also think friendship is a strong bond, Your Highness,' I said, feeling the gods' whimsy in my sudden role as authority on manliness. 'But it is not something that happens on order and the trust at its centre can take a long time to ripen.'
The Prince nodded. 'That is true.' He tilted his head and gave me a long considering look.
'Lord Eon, I will speak plainly I doubt that you or I have a long time ahead of us if things are left as they are.'
It was said in a matter-of-fact tone but I saw him swallow hard. In the last few days of whirling fear, I had thought the danger and terror was all mine. But now the truth of the situation wrapped itself around me, like a giant web binding me to the destiny of this young Prince. Every move I made would send ripples through a dynasty of Emperors. A line in one of the Dragoneye texts sprang to mind: Beware the friendship of a Prince. I was sure it was good advice.
'We may not have friendship yet, Your Highness,' I said, my heartbeat quickening at the boldness of my next words. 'But there is a bond which we can agree upon immediately'
'What is that, Lord Eon?'
An image of Dolana, her thin chest heaving with spasms, flickered through my mind.
'Mutual survival,' I said.
We looked at one another; a silent sizing up of a new ally.
Agreed,' he said, and swept his hand from forehead to heart, sealing the bargain.
The Pavilion of Earthly Enlightenment was sparsely furnished compared to the opulence of the other palace buildings. The most interesting decoration was Teacher Prahn: an old eunuch with skin so pale it showed the blue of his veins, and a shaven head topped by a scalp lock that proclaimed his devotion to the scholarly life. Apparently he lived in the pavilion, although I saw
no evidence of his tenure. He must hide his bedroll each morning in the tall bureau that stood against the wall. Or maybe he pushed together the hard cushions we were sitting on and slept under the low table.
'…and the library covers nearly every subject known to mankind. It would be my honour to show you the holdings after our lesson,' Prahn said, sweeping his arms to either side to indicate the buildings that formed the courtyard.
I nodded guiltily, aware that I had drifted into my own thoughts. 'Thank you. I would be most interested,' I said.
Outside, the intricate weavings of ensemble music drifted from somewhere in the harem complex. The ladies practising their instruments, the Prince had whispered to me when the haunting melody had started.
'We have all the works of the great philosophers,' Prahn continued, 'and our maps cover all of the known world.'
'Teacher Prahn is the keeper of the library,' the Prince said. 'He knows everything in it.'
The teacher bowed his head modestly. 'I don't know about that, Your Highness. But it is my honour to care for the collection. It is truly superb — scholars from far and wide come to study our scrolls.'
'They come into the harem?' I asked.
'Only to this courtyard,' Prahn assured me. 'There is a small gate to the east, the Scholars'
Gate, that allows entry to the library And all credentials are strictly checked.'
'The library is only open to scholars in the afternoon,' the Prince said. 'The ladies of the harem have their lessons in the morning, after me. Is that not right, Teacher?' His voice was edged with amusement.
Prahn's complexion deepened into a blotchy red. 'Correct, Your Highness.'
