The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 3

  ‘As honoured as I am, Eminence, I hope to excuse her from the Choosing.’

  ‘Truly?’ The emperor drew out the word in a way that made the general cringe.

  ‘She is promised to another,’ he said, trying to sound apologetic.

  ‘She is of age?’

  ‘Eighteen.’

  ‘Did she visit for the last Choosing?’

  He shook his head once, but said nothing. It had been too dangerous then to bring her with them. She had developed her magic so young and so clearly that he’d been sure she would have given herself away—or worse, and he would have lost two daughters. They had claimed she was ill.

  ‘Your eldest would have been of age for Crown Prince Ta-Sho.’

  He nodded once.

  ‘It may be well that she was not chosen then. But I will see the youngest.’

  ‘On her own?’ he asked, unsure what that would mean and whether he should be relieved or more concerned.

  ‘In the line. She is not married yet. She should have the option of the other girls.’

  General Long bent low before the emperor. When he looked up, the emperor was already talking with one of his advisors.

  He moved quickly out into the sunshine of the courtyard and sucked in a deep breath. He didn’t want Lis here. The risk was too great. But he had no choice; if he were to hide her away or try to return home, it would be taken as a personal insult to the Empire and he would lose more than his daughter.

  The Empire from his vantage point didn’t look nor feel any different. All those years of hunting and killing during the magic war, and the world still went on. He shook his head to dispel the images starting to take form in his mind, images of what he had seen and what he had done in the name of his Empire. He had been released from service with the only gift he wanted, somewhere safe for his family, somewhere safe for Lis to grow without being discovered.

  ‘General Long,’ a deep voice said behind him, and he turned to find a fit, handsome young man bowing. Unlike his father, he wore white, his jet-black hair tied neatly on top of his head with a small, simple crown pinned in place over the bun. ‘I could not wait until the Choosing to meet you, for I have heard much of you and what the Empire owes you.’

  ‘Your Highness,’ the general said, returning the young prince’s bow. ‘It is an honour.’

  ‘I was not sure if I would see you,’ the young man went on, and the general waited for an explanation. ‘Your daughter may not be lining up with the others.’

  ‘Your father has declared she will, so you will see us all.’

  The young man’s face clouded. ‘I thought her promised to another.’

  ‘She is not yet wed, Your Highness, and so she is eligible for the Choosing.’

  ‘Do you know how many have come?’

  The general shook his head just as the young man continued, ‘It matters not. My mother will make the choice she thinks best for the Empire.’

  ‘I hope your hidden princess is all that you need her to be.’ The general bowed before the prince.

  He was not the boy the general remembered, he was already a man. If he had been the eldest son, the general guessed he would have considered differently when the hidden princess was chosen at eight. Now he was choosing a woman of eighteen. It would be a very different prince looking at very different prospective princesses. The crown prince bowed again to the general and then turned and walked away.

  The general watched after him. He probably wanted to be focused on different tasks, such as finding out what had happened to his brother, for there was very little information about the death or what was being done. He had been cremated the same day he was found, and although the prince wore white, the general was sure he would be dressed as his father was by the time the girls lined up to be viewed.

  He hurried down the steps towards the little palace he shared with his family. He still thought she would be going home with them when the time came, but he was nervous to tell her she would have to line up with the others in the afternoon sun.

  Chapter 4

  Despite her father’s calm assurances, and the number of people standing in the large open courtyard that led to the throne room of the palace, Lis felt nervous. When her father grabbed her arm, his fingers biting into the skin, she felt even more so.

  ‘Why is she here?’ he asked, so quietly Lis wasn’t sure if he had spoken.

  ‘Who?’ she asked as she looked around.

  ‘The high priestess,’ he said, motioning towards the top of the steps.

  The royal family stood together, all in matching deep-blue robes with silver trim. Lis noticed, even with the distance, that the trim was different for each, the pattern varying enough to differentiate the three.

  The empress was perfect. She should have been a similar age to Lis’s mother, but she appeared years younger. Her slim figure accentuated the size of the men beside her, and her hair was pulled back perfectly into a number of curved shapes. Her crown shone brightly in the sunlight, as did the golden pins that showed just how powerful this woman was and the wealth of the Empire.

  The woman beside her was simple in comparison. Her robes were white and, although they crossed at the neck in the same style as worn by everyone else in the Empire, that was where the similarity ended. They fell almost straight to her feet from her armpits, her arms covered in fitted sleeves rather than the wide, flowing sleeves everyone else wore. Thick bands of gold surrounded each wrist, almost reaching her elbows. She was marked as a priestess of the gods, the size of the armbands noting her as High Priestess, and Lis wondered why she was present for such a day. She had thought someone of this woman’s station would remain on the Sacred Isle.

  Lis remembered vague stories of their involvement in the magic war, although she wasn’t sure where she had heard them, nor could she remember any detail of their involvement. She wondered for a moment if that was why her father had reacted so.

  Lis tried to slow her breathing and pull her magic deep inside, where this woman couldn’t read her, but she was sure the high priestess’s eyes were already focused on her through the crowd. A deep gong sounded and the girls around her started to move forward, Lis’s father’s hand still tight around her arm. Her mother murmured something in his ear and he released her. As she stepped forward slowly to take her place in the line, Lis only hoped that her long silk sleeves hid the mark she was sure her father’s grip had left.

  Despite the different coloured gowns, embroidered flowers, fantastical hair styles and beautiful pins, Lis thought they all looked the same. As she looked between the girls being directed into the line by various advisors, all with strange angled hats like that of the man who had visited their island, she found some looked more confident than others. One girl looked so nervous, Lis worried she would faint. Some held themselves still; others fiddled with hair pins or sleeves.

  Lis had selected pale colours. Her dress was white with tiny embroidered blossoms in the palest pink. She had thought they should all be dressed in mourning, but as the emperor himself was not, she was sure it would not go against any one of them. She cleared her throat, clenched her hands before her and then looked up at the priestess watching her.

  The advisors moved back, and the royal family stepped forward. The line of girls raised their arms before them and bowed as one. Lis tried to contain her smile. They had actually managed, without practice, to be synchronised.

  The prince was a tall, broad man who looked older than Peng, and it surprised Lis how much more like a man he appeared to be. In some ways she had expected a boy, thinking of the usual traditions associated with such a day, but he was far from such. He was similar in his features to his father, and he rolled his shoulders with a glance at the line of women before him as the empress slowly walked down the stairs.

  Lis didn’t want to focus on the girls beside her, instead watching the priestess follow the empress towards them. The empress walked slowly along the line, the priestess a step behind. All they did was look
, and the longer it took the more uncomfortable Lis felt. She chanced a glance at the emperor and his son standing watch over the proceedings and found the prince watching her. She shifted her gaze back to the front.

  The empress moved back to the front of the line. ‘A beautiful group of girls,’ she said softly, but her voice carried across the expanse of the yard. Lis gulped down her growing unease. ‘My son will look,’ she said, waving her hand along the line.

  As the emperor walked down the stairs with the prince, Lis wondered if they would eventually choose a bride as they might choose a horse. Would she be expected to show her teeth?

  Again, the viewing seemed to take an age, given the number of girls. She tried to maintain a downward gaze as the two men stopped before her. The emperor looked over her too long, and she raised her eyes a little to find the prince studying her seriously. She wanted desperately to cough as her throat closed and the saliva in her mouth dried up instantly. She wanted to turn and see what her father was doing, whether he understood what they might think of her. She could feel her magic pushing its way to the surface, and she thought she would burst.

  The emperor and the prince joined the empress to discuss each girl, quite clearly. At times one would turn and point to a place in the line. Lis felt ill. They might as well be horses, she thought as anger grew in her chest and pushed aside her previous fear. Several girls were described as pretty, and one girl gasped out loud. Lis couldn’t see her face but assumed she was the one the emperor referred to as chubby.

  They talked amongst themselves for some time whilst the sun grew hotter in the sky, and Lis regretted wearing all that she had. She longed for a cool breeze. The emperor was becoming more animated, whilst the prince looked mostly at the ground, occasionally glancing up. Lis caught his dark eyes more than once. The empress was quite forceful with her words, and the priestess whispered in her ear.

  Eventually, the empress held out her hand and silenced her husband. Then she turned to the line. ‘We shall review the line one more time,’ she said in her quiet way. ‘If you are told yes, you will enter the next round of investigations.’

  Lis looked at the woman seriously. ‘Investigations’ was an odd word to use, and she wondered what they would do to these girls to see who was fit to be Empress. The current empress wore a serene face and perfect hair, but Lis wondered what trials she had undergone to become the woman she was now.

  She tried not to flinch as the group drew nearer and the priestess still watched her closely. Lis tried to look beyond her, out across the stones, and count the steps that led to the throne room. She must have distracted herself well, for suddenly the group stood before her and the priestess was placing a hand on her forehead. Her first thought was that she hoped it didn’t damage the hours of work her mother had put into her hair. The woman nodded and the empress said, ‘Yes.’ And Lis found she couldn’t form a single thought.

  The emperor smiled again and, as they focused on the next in line, Lis turned and looked for her parents in the crowd. She wished Peng was here.

  The girl beside her lifted her hands to her chest as she was told ‘yes,’ and Lis was sure she was pleased. Whoever was chosen from this group to represent them as the future empress would spend the next three years in isolation, learning all there was to know about being Empress and pleasing the emperor.

  It could have been worse. She might have been chosen as a child to spend thirteen years in training. Locked away somewhere in the palace, hidden from the world and the prince. The current hidden princess had spent twelve years hidden, so close to becoming the wife of the crown prince, yet now she had no place in the world she had trained for.

  Lis wondered again what would become of her, but now was not the time to ask. She closed her eyes, listening half-heartedly to the empress tell each girl yes or no. There appeared to be far more yeses than noes. Still not enough of a crowd to disappear into, Lis thought. Then she remembered her father’s words, that the empress would talk with each of them individually.

  Lis was sure the sun had started to dip when the empress resumed her place before the line. Despite some of the crying, the woman’s voice carried clear. ‘If you were told no, you may enjoy the rest of the festivities with your families or return to your homes. The girls to continue in the line will be sent for.’ With that, they turned and walked slowly up the stairs to disappear into the throne room.

  Lis let out a breath and turned to the girl next to her, who narrowed her eyes. A girl a little down the line started to sob, but Lis only wanted her family, so she searched the crowd until she found her father’s serious face. As she drew closer, her sister gave her a half smile and her mother just stood in stunned silence.

  They stood as they were for a moment, and then her father pulled them into an embrace that locked them all together.

  The next day, Lis sat in the pink light of the morning sun, enjoying the crisp, cool air and the silence that surrounded her as she dipped her fingers into the pond. Large, white coy appeared from nowhere and kissed her fingers. When she sprinkled food across the surface, they followed it back into the depths.

  She wanted to push her bare feet into the cool water and wake herself from the strange dream she seemed caught in. She could still feel the priestess’s hand on her forehead, and she wondered just what the woman had found or felt that made her choose to keep her.

  She couldn’t picture remaining here, as beautiful as it was. She missed her home, and she wondered whether the prince actually wanted a bride. But then, he had seemed to study her for far longer than was polite. Had he looked at them all in the same way? she wondered. He was a handsome man with an intense look, she thought with a blush, and she was sure he would find someone to match him within the small group on offer. Her memory of the priestess was clearer, and she wondered if the woman’s piercing eyes only concerned her because of her father’s reaction. Lis ran her hand through the water again.

  What if they know what I am and it is a trap?

  She shook her head. She didn’t think they would be so subtle. If she’d been discovered, she would have been dispatched, and the viewing of the line would have continued as though she had never been there.

  She ran her damp fingers through her hair, thankful it was free. Her mother had wanted her to sleep in it so she would be ready if she was called the following day. But the pins had hurt her head and her hair had been so tight. She stood slowly, stretching her arms high over her head and closing her eyes, thankful for the cold stones beneath her feet. With the sky starting to turn orange, Lis headed for the house, where she was sure her mother would soon appear demanding that she dress.

  It would take time to talk to each in the line, if they were to be spoken to individually. It could take days to work through them all. Just as Lis’s foot found the first step, a loud banging started on the gate, and the maid raced from the house to open it before anyone could stop her.

  ‘Long Lisabet is requested to attend the empress,’ an older man called in a singsong voice.

  Lis’s mother appeared at the front door with a look of horror. ‘We shall dress immediately.’

  ‘You are required to attend the empress,’ the man said again, turning his back and waiting by the gate. ‘Now.’

  ‘Hurry,’ her mother whispered.

  ‘There is no time,’ he said, his voice losing the patience it had held so briefly. ‘The Empress of Rei-Een waits for no one.’

  Lis squeezed her mother’s hand and followed the man out into the narrow laneway that ran beside the wall of their palace. Men waited at other gates and girls appeared in similar states to Lis. Most looked tired, and some had their hair still done. One even had a pin sticking neatly from the side, small jewels hanging from the end of it. Lis wondered if she had slept in that too, or if her mother had managed to secure it as she left.

  When they arrived in the courtyard, they continued through to a part of the palace that Lis had not visited, and she was in awe at the size of it. The girls’
journey ended with a large group in a small room. Lis discovered that despite their differences, she was the only one with bare feet.

  The advisors appeared and worked their way through the girls, looking over them with disapproval. They organised the girls into a short line and then stood at the doorway. The silence was overwhelming. Lis looked around and discovered she was similarly placed as the previous day, though the girl behind her looked far less friendly. Lis realised she would be seen as competition. She had just opened her mouth to reassure the girl when the advisor at the door ‘shushed’ the room, so she closed it again without speaking.

  Lis leaned carefully to the side and counted four in front of her. The advisor at the door glared at her again, and then the door opened. The first in line was ushered through before the door quickly closed again. Lis listened, but she could hear nothing. They all remained in line, waiting their turn for whatever might lie on the other side of the door. Glancing around, Lis was finally able to count the girls behind her. Six. Who knew there were so few eligible girls within the Empire? There would have been at least three times that number when her sister was called.

  It was half an hour before the door opened again and the next in line was ushered through. Lis wondered what had happened to the first one. Had she been shown home, shown to another room, given back to her family? Would they open the door and announce the hidden princess had been chosen and they could all go home?

  Lis wasn’t sure she could endure the waiting. But when the door opened again and the next was moved through, it had barely been five minutes. Lis wondered why the girl had been dismissed so quickly.

  Will I be sent away? Can I tell them of Peng?

  The waiting was becoming unbearable when the fourth in line was shown in. Lis wondered what she might be asked—and how she could answer in a way that would not embarrass her father but also would do her no favours. She smiled to herself then. There was no way they would choose a country girl, particularly one with bare feet and free hair.