I awoke the next morning in my room to a pounding headache and the uncomfortable feeling of dampness on my upper lip. I wiped it away in my grogginess and had to look twice before realizing it was blood. Strange.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t so strange. The climate was drier here than I’d been used to over the past several years, enjoying a climate-controlled utopia back at headquarters.
Ghost noticed but said nothing, and it was impossible to read his expressionless face.
“Breakfast is prepared. May I enter?” I heard from the other side of the curtains. Oh, how I missed an actual, real, functional door. Even the zone I grew up in, a low-tech desert village, had doors.
“Come in,” I said, quickly wiping away the last traces of blood. I was immune to the virus, but the last thing I needed was for them to think I was infected with something and toss me out without an opportunity to explain. Explaining to a group of people who had never seen a syringe exactly how a vaccine worked, while something I hoped I’d be able to do eventually, was impractical at the moment.
A young servant girl entered with a tray, placing it down carefully before bowing.
“His Majesty requests that you accompany him this morning. He would like for you to join him for a hunt.”
I looked to Ghost, who tilted his head slightly.
“A hunt?” I asked, caught off guard by the request.
“Yes. I believe His Majesty is curious what your foreign falcon is capable of.”
Before I could respond, angry voices erupted from the hallway. Through the curtain, I could make out several figures, including what appeared to be Chief Adviser Tannis and several other court officials.
“Your Majesty, this is highly irregular,” one voice insisted. “Lady Ming has waited for days to meet with you.”
“And she will continue to wait,” Renyi’s cold voice rose ever so slightly above the others. “I wish to hunt this morning.”
“But Your Majesty,” another voice protested, “there are three noble girls awaiting your attention. To go hunting with this... this outsider? Were she a man, that would be one thing, but I’m afraid hunting with a woman at this time would be—”
“Are you suggesting I cannot hunt with whom I please?” The temperature in his voice dropped, intentionally revealing only a hint of his irritation.
Silence fell over the hallway.
“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Tannis finally said. “They merely wish to ensure proper protocol is observed during this delicate time. Perhaps if we disguise the girl to look like a—”
“I will not slink about my own palace like a scared animal,” Renyi said. “Now leave us.”
I heard the shuffling of feet and muttered complaints as the officials retreated. A moment later, Renyi himself stepped through the curtain, already dressed for hunting in more practical attire than his usual formal robes.
“I trust you know how to ride?” he asked, not bothering with pleasantries.
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“Of course I do,” I said, finding myself oddly amused by his business-like demeanor.
“Good. I’ve had proper hunting clothes prepared for you. We leave in an hour.”
He turned to go, then paused, looking at Ghost.
“I look forward to seeing what your companion is capable of.”
“I hope he and I won’t be expected to hold back for the sake of His Majesty’s dignity,” I said.
A hint of a smile touched his lips before vanishing. “We shall see.”
***
An hour later, we rode out from the palace grounds, Ghost perched on my shoulder and Renyi’s own falcon, a beautiful creature in its own right, on his. A small contingent of guards followed at a discreet distance, led by General Junwei. It seemed that despite his harsh words, some protocol would be insisted upon. Junwei did not seem a man easily dissuaded.
“Your court seems unhappy with your choice of hunting companion,” I said as we rode.
“My court is always unhappy with something,” he replied. “I follow and enforce every law to the letter, but they believe I should be controlled at all times.”
“And you disagree with their expectations?”
He gave me a sidelong glance. “How obedient of a woman are you, I wonder?”
“What’s the lowest score possible? Let’s go with that one.”
“I’m somehow not surprised,” he said. There it was. That tiny hint of a smile again.
We rode in silence until we reached a clearing at the edge of a forest. Renyi dismounted gracefully, and I followed suit. Despite myself, I found my eyes drawn to the fluid way he moved, the practiced ease with which he readied his falcon for the hunt. Although Ghost and I had been companions for a long time now, it seemed Renyi and his falcon were also close.
“Let’s see what Ghost is capable of,” he said, a hint of challenge in his voice.
Ghost ruffled his feathers. “This should be interesting,” he muttered.
I worried for a moment that Ghost might find this beneath him, but as soon as we began, I found that my concern was unnecessary. He took to the hunt with surprising enthusiasm, demonstrating why shadowfalcons were considered such legendary creatures. Even though I had no intention of holding back in the slightest, Ghost was more polite to the other falcon than I’d expected him to be.
Renyi’s falcon was impressive as well. Very well trained and in tune with Renyi’s thoughts and intentions.
I caught the prince watching Ghost with poorly concealed fascination. A few times, I noticed him studying me too when he thought I wasn’t looking. The cold mask he wore seemed to slip slightly during these moments, revealing something warmer underneath. What that “something” was, I had no idea.
Not that I was paying him any special attention, of course. I was simply being observant. His interests could become important to my mission here.
As the morning wore on, we fell into an unexpected rhythm, working together to flush out game and coordinate our falcons’ attacks. Even Ghost seemed to be enjoying himself, executing diving attacks that were more typical of his species.
“Your falcon hunts as though he follows his own path,” Renyi said during a brief rest. “Almost as if…”
“As if he only listens when he feels like it?” I finished, grinning. I hadn’t meant to grin like that.
“Yes.” He looked at me with dark, piercing eyes. “Much like his owner, I’d wager.”
I felt a rush of heat to my cheeks that had nothing to do with the morning’s exertion. “I’m not his owner. Ghost is my friend and partner.”
“Partner,” he repeated thoughtfully. “An unusual way to think of a falcon… according to most.”
“I’m an unusual person.”
“So it seems.” Something in his voice made me look at him sharply, but his expression was as unreadable as ever.
The hunt concluded with an impressive showing from both falcons. As we prepared to return to the palace, I caught Renyi watching Ghost again with growing admiration.
“Perhaps,” he said carefully, “we could hunt again tomorrow? Assuming you’ll still be in my kingdom, of course.”
I thought of the angry court officials and the waiting noble ladies pining for the prince’s affections. “Won’t that cause more trouble?”
“Trouble?” A familiar cold smile touched his lips. “I’m about to become emperor. They should worry about the trouble I could cause them. They should worry more about themselves and whether their own affairs are in order. Whether they have been doing right by our people.”
I found myself fighting back a smile of my own. This proud, difficult man was starting to make a dangerous amount of sense to me.
“Tomorrow then,” I agreed, immediately wondering if I was making a mistake.
As we rode back, Ghost settling comfortably on my shoulder, I could feel him judging me.