I entered the palace alongside General Junwei, our weapons still drawn and ready for anything we might encounter. Two guards inside nearly attacked us on sight, on high alert from the commotion outside, but quickly sheathed their blades and stepped back. They snapped into a salute, answering the general’s question before he’d even asked it.
“The prince is safe, sir.”
The general placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, squeezing it firmly, but said nothing.
We moved past them, entering the prince’s private chambers.
He stood ready, blade drawn. In fact, he seemed more irritated than afraid.
“It’s good to see you safe, Renyi.”
“Are all the men okay?” he asked, ignoring the general’s statement entirely.
Junwei lowered his head.
“We lost two. I’m sorry.”
Prince Renyi turned his back to us, slamming his sword into its sheath.
“The next time this happens, I will not stay in this room.”
Junwei’s voice hardened, taking on the tone of a scolding father rather than a subordinate.
“Prince Renyi… you will soon be the emperor of this great kingdom. I care for each and every one of my men, but our duty is to give our lives to protect you if that day comes. It’s an honor that every soldier is proud—”
“You may go,” Renyi said, coldly but calmly.
“What about this girl?”
“Where did you find her?”
The general looked at me, as if to reassure himself that he wasn’t getting any details wrong amidst the chaos that had just unfolded.
“She alerted us about the attackers. I spotted her snooping around the military quarters and—”
“Leave us,” he said, sitting on the edge of his bed.
The general did as he was asked, leaving the prince and me alone in his chambers.
“Well?” he asked, looking up at me impatiently, tapping his finger on his other arm where they crossed.
“What did you wish to speak to me about?” I asked.
“Don’t play coy. Did you want to speak with me so badly that you’d sneak into my palace?”
It wasn’t the whole truth, but confirming his suspicions would be the safest bet now that I was in this situation. Telling him I was trying to find members of Adversity Management would make him think I was trying to undermine him… which isn’t exactly wrong.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. I’m afraid the matter I need to discuss with you is dire enough to warrant such drastic action.”
“Then out with it,” he said, raising his voice.
“The virus… plague, sickness, or whatever it is you’re calling it here… won’t be long before it takes your entire kingdom. I don’t know if that will be in months or if it will stretch out over years. Make no mistake, everyone here will die. I have a cure, but it comes at a cost.”
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“A cure from PanTech for an affliction from PanTech? That’s what you wish me to believe?”
“Everyone at PanTech wasn’t unified for the cause. Some of us opposed the virus. I wasn’t the only one who worked on a cure. This virus was at the core of why headquarters collapsed. Our president wanted to use it for eugenics, to quell those of lesser intelligence, to mold humanity so we could enter some kind of… next stage of evolution. The president of PanTech was a madman. Maybe still is. I don’t know what became of him.”
The prince didn’t really react to anything I was saying. It was clear by his unmoved expression that he didn’t entirely believe me, assuming he believed anything I said at all.
“We quickly realized that the virus was brought in by the animal soldiers PanTech created. We could have easily turned them away. That is something my father regretted until his final breaths. A law was unanimously ratified to reject all foreign aid. There are many things he and I disagreed on. Most things, in fact. This was the one thing we agreed on the most. I helped him convince the officials, ministers, and the general population. A law that is enacted unanimously must be repealed unanimously. That will never happen.”
“If we don’t find a way to make it happen, everyone is going to die.”
His reaction surprised me. He laughed, rising to his feet, stepping forward and standing close to me. He put his hands on my shoulders, and for a moment, I thought Ghost might bite into one of them. I had nearly forgotten Ghost was there until he shifted his feet.
This close, I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I tried to take a step back, but he held me firm.
“I… don’t… believe… you…”
He whispered the words, but I could sense the anger behind them. It was as though he had shouted them.
“Let go of me,” I said, just as quietly, just as angrily. “Now.”
Just then, a servant entered through a curtain, carrying tea on a large tray. When he saw us, he gasped, smiled from ear to ear, and ran from the room.
The prince let go of me and placed a hand on his forehead, shaking his head slowly.
“You’ve just created even more trouble for me.”
“I didn’t do anything, and don’t touch me like that again,” I snapped.
He removed his hand from his forehead. Something about the way I spoke to him seemed to pull his interest all of a sudden. Being a prince, I doubted he’d been spoken to that harshly by someone he considered a commoner before, especially not a woman.
“An empress should have a wife selected before his coronation or soon after. Now that they’ve seen me with a woman in my chambers, my hands on her no less…”
“That’s no one’s fault but your own,” I said. “You’re lucky Ghost didn’t bite your finger off.”
“I doubt your pet falcon understood our conversation.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Ghost said.
The prince’s eyes went wide for a moment, but he didn’t react the way most would. After that passing moment, he was composed again.
“Your falcon can speak. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Don’t let her lie to you. It’s much more likely she’d attack someone than me.”
“You’d consider attacking a prince in his own chambers?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Attack? No. Defend myself? Absolutely.”
“Leave,” he said. Unsurprisingly, he had grown tired of our conversation.
“I am the last person who can save your people. You should consider that before ordering me out of your kingdom.”
“Not my kingdom, my room,” he snapped. Something had him on edge all of a sudden, and I wasn’t sure what it was. “You are welcome to stay in our kingdom as a guest for a while longer. I will speak to you again tomorrow if you’d like, but there’s no need for any further discussion on the cure you’re peddling. We have no need of it.”
“You can say you don’t want it, but to say you have no need of it is a bit disingenuous. Or do you disagree?”
The small twitch in his cheeks betrayed his clenched teeth. I was finally getting under the man’s skin.
“I’ve ordered you out. Or do you think yourself above my authority in my own kingdom?”
“I don’t serve any king or emperor, so any order I follow is out of respect for you, not your so-called authority.”
We shared another bitter glance, but despite my increased aggression in the conversation, something in his demeanor had begun to soften. Perhaps he was finally coming down from the excitement of nearly being assassinated. Or maybe it was something else. I was too frustrated with his stubbornness right now to delve too deeply into the question and was more than ready to leave. As I stepped toward the curtain, he stopped me.
“One of my servants will put you in a room tonight here in the palace. Don’t bother trying to sneak off. You’ll only cause more trouble.”
I didn’t turn to acknowledge him. Trouble? This man had some nerve. It was likely because of me, no matter what my intentions were for sneaking in here, that he was even still alive… and he has the nerve to accuse me of making trouble. The one person with the means to save his people.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”