His mother’s grave was closer to the palace, only a ten-minute walk from Rae’s old rooms in the Shana’s palace. When Rae had chosen this spot, he hadn’t known he would soon be ousted and had chosen with convenience in mind. It was close enough that no matter what his duties might be, he could visit every day.

The land there was relatively flat, overrun with wild grasses and flowers. The exact spot where Rae’s mother was laid to rest was at the edge of the clearing, shaded by a willow tree. Her stone had a thin layer of moss growing over it, and at its feet sprouted an abundance of little red flowers.

“Here lies the Kaolin Shana, dearest mother, who died in childbirth aged 30. Nukaim, the second Shakje, a treasured son and brother. Always missed, never forgotten,”

Rae had long run out of tears to shed in this place, but it was nice to see the grave, with those words that he had once agonised over, gently embraced by pretty flowers. Mother would have found it beautiful. If Nukaim had lived, Rae would have played ball games with him in clearings like this.

He stayed sitting in the grass next to the grave for some time. Listening to the rustle of the leaves, the flaps of wings. He only realised how long he had been daydreaming of the past when a quiet ringing sound broke him out of thoughts.

A small grey cat had padded over to the grave on silent paws. It looked at Rae with wide blue eyes, as if he was somewhere he didn’t belong.

“Greetings, kitty,” Rae said, in a voice low enough that even if someone was spying on him, they wouldn’t have heard. The cat made an indignant sound, that was neither a growl nor a mew, but soon enough came ambling over to press its head against Rae’s palm.

“Hello gorgeous, where have you come from?”

It was normal for cats to be kept at the camp. They kept vermin and evil spirits from taking hold, which kept the disease under control, which was the line between a camp’s success or ruin.

This one had shiny smooth fur and a full moon stomach, clearly a doted-on pet. And it was quite happy for Rae to dote on it, twisting its way around his legs and nuzzling his hands. How sweet, Rae thought, his mother would have liked this kitty.

Just as Rae was thinking of sneaking some food from the kitchen to feed his little buddy, he heard footsteps traversing the gravel path up from the palace.

“Bell! Belly! Bell, come here!” a voice called.

Rae flinched at the sound of it and the cat grumpily mewed. That voice was familiar. If the cat knew it too, it didn’t react. Didn’t even glance toward the path until a gentle tapping sound rang out. Then the cat scampered off without so much as a farewell glance at Rae.

The grass was damp, and the afternoon breeze was turning into an evening chill. It was well past time Rae returned to the palace.

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“Peace, friend,”

Rae didn’t want to alarm the one on the path when he emerged from under the willow, so he said this on the way out. Behind the veil of leaves, holding the cat in his arms, was Ven Ashem.

“You-!” Rae startled at the sight of him, considering running off into the forest before gathering himself.

Ven had startled too, earning a hiss from the cat as it tried to escape his grip.

“Hey, hey,” he whispered to the creature, wincing in pain at the claws in his arm, “come now, don’t run off again,”

After a few moments, the creature settled, earning a scratch behind its ear. The sight reminded Rae of something unpleasant, of helpless terror and being laid bare, but he wasn’t going to lose his cool again.

“So it’s your cat?” Rae asked. The creature clearly trusted him, and he seemed quite familiar with its temperament.

“No. My father gave my nieces some kittens a few years ago. Out of the litter, this one is the escape artist, so I’m often sent out to retrieve him,” Ven said, he eyed Rae for a moment, as if in thought, before putting the cat down and taking a cloth package out of a pocket.

It was full of scraps and bones from the kitchen, which the cat was quite grateful for. It would remain there for some time, cracking bones and licking up the juices.

When Ven’s eyes met Rae’s again, he felt an unfamiliar twisting in his stomach and indistinctly glanced around the clearing. His hand edged infinitesimally closer to the blade at his waist.

“You don’t think I’m an assassin, do you? After everything that I’ve done to help you out?” Ven spoke jovially like Rae had made a jest, but there was a tension behind it. As if he was secretly nursing a wound.

“I’m sorry. I should thank you. My nerves just got the better of me,”

Ven had saved him at the guest house and defended him against Duke Ashem. Rae owed him two debts, it would be wrong to continue to distrust him after that.

But… if his intentions weren’t to kill Rae, what game could he possibly be playing? Was he a rebellious young master, just doing anything he could to enrage his father? Or was this all part of Duke Ashem’s plan, to have someone close to Rae, trusted, ready when the time to strike comes?

“It’s alright,” Ven said with a glowing smile, “What are you doing out here anyway? Did the palace become too much for you?”

Rae glanced back, “I was visiting my mother’s grave,”

Ven stepped forward and brushed the willow leaves aside with an astonished expression.

“I had never known there was a grave here,” he said, confirming a suspicion Rae had been nursing since he arrived, “It doesn’t look like it’s been tended in… Would you like help clearing the weeds?”

Rae was shocked speechless at first. The knowledge that no one had visited Mother in… not even the Shak. Then the thought of an Ashem, on his knees, diligently tending to his mother’s resting place. His mouth moved, but it took some time for the words to come.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“It’s alright. The red flowers… they’re fitting, mother would like them,”

“You’re an odd one aren’t you?” Ven said, before walking closer to the grave.

A sense of protectiveness came over Rae, and he stalked after him.

“What are you-?”

Ven knelt by the headstone, squinted at the moss-covered text, bowed his head and muttered a prayer.

“My respects to the late Shana,” he said, after he had finished, “are- are you alright?”

Rae’s eyes had filled with tears before he could stop them and were close to overflowing.

“I…” Rae said, but his throat closed up before he could explain. Before he could think of an explanation.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I overstepped. Don’t cry,”

All Rae could do was scowl at Ven, but that made his embarrassing state even more obvious. When he saw Ven’s face twist in sympathy, he covered his eyes with his sleeve.

“These last few days have been overwhelming,” he said when he finally regained his voice.

“I’m sure they have,”

“Speaking of such matters, are you going to explain why you saved me at the guesthouse? That ‘beast’ of yours… Even if you didn’t know my identity, he was there on the orders of Duke Ashem, why not let him finish his job?”

Having slept twice since the incident, Rae’s mind had cleared and he was ready to hear answers.

“The beast was acting in my father’s interests, but not on his orders. He is little more than a poorly trained dog,” Ven said, his expression dark, “he won’t act on his own again,”

So the unruly beast had been punished? Rae almost felt pity, wondering just how enraged Duke Ashem had been.

“My father doesn’t intend to harm you. I can’t guarantee that will last, especially if the baby… Once the baby is born, it might change things.

It might only buy Rae a few days, but that sentiment was a relief all the same.

“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you step in?”

At that, a glistening smile appeared on Ven’s face. Once, Rae had thought it was the look of a wolf baring its fangs, and it still made him queasy. But he’d been at the wolf’s mercy before and it had never taken a bite out of him.

“I thought you were nothing but a beautiful youth, about to be cut down by a vicious beast. The man in me couldn’t help but intervene,”

At that moment, Rae realised the wolfish look was certainly the same one he used on the women he took ‘tea’ with. It was more intense than any he had been faced with before, so he couldn’t help but blush. Ven stepped in because he thought he had found a nameless beauty in distress, and if he became their saviour, they’d offer him something trivial in return.

“Ah… were you upset when the truth came out?” It took all Rae’s effort to keep his voice steady. Ven was shameless and loose but clearly wasn’t a bad person. Plus, Rae was Shak, it wouldn’t do to be driven over the edge by a little teasing.

“What truth? Everything I said was true, and still is,”

Rae spluttered, which he tried to play off as a laugh, “Young master Ven is shameless. Don’t tease me any more,”

Rae couldn’t allow the AShem young master to see how red his face had gotten, so he turned on his heels and stalked back towards the palace.

The cat let out a squeak and Ven was soon next to him, with the creature in his arms.

“Your majesty, even if I didn’t know the weight of my words back then, what I said before still holds true. If you ever need anything… you can come to me,”

Fuck off! Rae wanted to say. The alternation between shameless teasing and sincerity was giving Rae a headache. Heartburn, chills, A fever. Rae’s body wasn’t used to enduring such nonsense. If he didn’t speak to someone normal soon, he might end up bedridden.

Ven followed him until they reached the gates of the Shana’s palace, where someone had been waiting for him to return with the cat.

“So you found him,” the Shana said, eyeing Rae but thankfully not commenting on his bloodshot eyes, and sour expression, “you took so long, the girls have been inconsolable with worry,”

She had recovered somewhat since their first meeting, perhaps reassured that Rae hadn’t yet banished her from the palace. Even so, there was a pervasive weakness in her stance, a tiredness in her breath.

Ven stroked the cat, which had relaxed bonelessly sleepy in his arms and was purring, “they better learn not to let him out, if it makes them so worried,” Ven said, before glancing to Rae, “I thank Your Majesty, for taking good care of him. Would you like to come in? Your sisters will want to thank the one who found him,”

A frown fell across the Shana’s face. She glared at Rae, who considered it for a moment. Rae had expected he might live out his whole life without so much as meeting his half-sisters and hadn’t felt much grief over it. Innocent as they were, their existence was evidence of his father’s and the Ashems’ desperate wish to replace him. Each new daughter was another step in the countdown to Rae’s doom.

“I need to go see Duke Bejuk. It’s already quite late, so I won’t keep him waiting any longer. I don’t require any thanks,” As he spoke, disappointment flitted across Ven’s eyes. The sight made something in Rae’s heart seize again, and he hurried off before the Ashem young master could drive him unwell.

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Duke Bejuk was taking tea in a secluded courtyard with his son when Rae finally found him.

“Your majesty,” Sebi greeted him, “did you sleep well?”

“Yes… um… quite well!” Rae said, still a little unsettled from his meeting with Ven. And Sebi had witnessed him acting quite pitifully the previous night also.

“You looked feverish,” Duke Bejuk said. He reached out to check Rae’s temperature, but Rae stepped away.

“It’s alright. I’m not as frail as I used to be and I feel perfectly fine,”

Duke Bejuk frowned but didn’t argue anymore.

“Myself and Sebi were discussing your health, and I’d like to make an unusual recommendation,”

Rae glanced at Sebi. The night before, had he really been in so bad a state that he had decided to seek out a second opinion? He was just a little tired! A little touch starved. It wasn’t like he was an invalid.

“It’s actually a treatment I considered for your father, but the facility was barely finished a week ago, so he never got to try it. Sebi has conducted some research and concluded that stress relief has a big impact on health, so I started work to build a personal spa for the Shak’s use only.

It’s a volcanic thermal bath, built into a secret cave a little way up the mountain. I think it would be a shame for all the work to go to waste, so I think you should give it a try,”

The palace was not lacking in baths, and Rae didn’t see how they could be improved by being half a mile up a steep uphill trail, but he couldn’t help but feel curious. A cave? It must be more than the steel drum baths the servants would bring to his room and fill with hot water with buckets. A volcanic bath could likely chase the cold out of Rae’s bones better than any other.

“Tell me where it is exactly,”