A small clack on the floor, and Mae turned around in confusion. There was no-one else in the apothecary, and to her awareness she had also not brushed anything off a surface. And there it laid.
Almost unassuming, really. Crude, one might say.
And yet, it was her whole world.
It wasn’t the first time the thin leather band had torn, and at some point in history it also had been still long enough to just tie it together again, but that time had long since passed. Some of the wooden and bone beads rolled off their confinement due to the uneven floor boards. Mae cursed.
Most of the time, she forgot the armband was even there, it was with her in every bath, knew the steam of the public bathhouse just as well as the freezing water of the nearby lake. It knew snowstorms and the seething summer sun. Tree barks and puddles of mud.
“A good-luck charm,” Kou had said with a smile, almost shy because they hadn’t been used to kissing yet. A charm that revealed its presence whenever it was missing. Mae’s wrist felt awfully cold.
Mae collected the beads, counting them all whether she had overlooked one, the rhythm of the beads familiar like a rosary, an unconscious prayer for her sanity whenever her fingers played with it.
She halted as her fingers brushed over the small white pendant that usually sat in the middle of it all, a white lily engraved in the small plate. It was so delicate. Almost like it didn’t belong to her.
“It reminded me of you,” Kou had said, and Mae still kept wondering what Kou saw in her; she had never been delicate nor pretty, she had made sure of it.
Mae smiled, a bit forlorn at the ache in her chest, and took upon the quest to find another leather string to replace the old that would hold herself together.
Caspar watched from the shadows as the prince exited through the garden door in the backyard, still fiddling with his sachet to close his longcoat properly, not even bothering with his thrown-on jacket. Caspar's mood soured.
He knew that Endres was in his blossoming years, and since he spent most hours of the day behind a desk and occasionally a short stroll through the palace gardens, he probably had plenty of energy to spare -- not like Caspar hadn't been the same just a couple years prior.
And yet, the glance Endres threw over his shoulder, his features lighting up as he tentatively waved at the girl in the window, made Caspar sick. He hadn’t paraded his sexual endeavours like that - they were in the city, and even if it was close to midnight almost, there was still a likeliness to be seen. How dared he to radiate this type of bliss and happiness?!
Caspar huffed in dissatisfaction, close to throwing away the veiled hat in his hands, blatantly ignoring that he well knew he himself had been caught rolling in the hay multiple times by Master Basay, which was terribly embarrassing, but still. The audacity to not even hide his face from the public, risking to be seen at the family residence of the opposition leader nonetheless - he had no words.
Instead, he huffed again, this time alerting his Highness, who now turned around in confusion to spot his friend under an olive tree. Endres stepped a bit closer to make out the other’s face vis-à-vis.
“Caspar?” he asked, his surprise not waning a bit, “What are you doing here?”
Caspar was contemplating whether he should treat him according to etiquette but with his dampened mood, he was inclined to let his big brother mentality loose.
“Your Highness,” he said with a slight bow of his head and a frown on his face, “may I inquire what you were thinking of doing here, nonetheless at this hour of the day?”
The prince was obviously taken aback by his harsher tone but caught himself quickly.
“I was invited for a poetry recital - oh come on, don’t look at me like that, there’s nobody in office tomorrow anyway with the celebrations coming up.”
Caspar huffed again.
“What did you think, not only reciting some poetry but also sleeping with the daughter of the leader of the opposition?! Do you have no shame? Don't you know what this scandal could mean for the current parliament?!”
“She doesn’t even know I’m the prince, and first and foremost, complain to Saoirse for not introducing us properly!” Endres hissed. At least now, they both were annoyed.
The prince snatched the hat out of Caspar’s hands before he could say any more and unceremoniously placed it over his topknot. With a quirk of his eyebrows he even drew the veil over his face and Caspar almost wanted to laugh at his spiteful behaviour, reminiscent of the petty little boy he had been ten-or-so years ago.
“That sufficient?” Endres asked and strode into the direction of the harbour without waiting for an answer.
Caspar was surprised at Endres’ stamina to keep his stubbornly fast pace for so long, but he probably was glad they didn’t need to converse at the moment. The obvious topic was nothing he himself would’ve been comfortable talking about and talking about anything else would quickly hint to the prince that there was something Caspar would like to avoid. He easily picked up on Caspar’s quirks as of lately.
They continued with their pace downhill through the nicer neighbourhoods of old until they reached the merchant district at the West Port. It was bustling not only with business as usual up into the late evening hours but last orders were placed, last items made before the holiday tomorrow. Of course there would be more tourists than usual, some even turning their heads if they had a short glimpse at Endres’ face when his veil chose to not stay in place. Of course.
They had to slow down a little for their slalom through unloading carts, groups of girls excitedly gushing over hair pins, or the occasional drunkard that stumbled to the next tea house. Endres weaved through the crowd seamlessly like a weasel and Caspar prayed to the gods above and beyond that he didn’t lose him like last time.
It wasn’t until they reached the Iron Bridge that the prince allowed himself to pause for a moment.
“Why were you there in the first place?” he asked, not quite angry but rather puzzled, as though it didn't make sense in his head.
Caspar shrugged.
“You didn’t come with the carriage you were supposed to come in, so I had to investigate before you got in trouble.”
Endres raised his veil in exasperation.
“I don’t get in trouble!”
“You will if her Majesty finds out!”
“There hasn’t been a curfew for me since I turned twen--”
“Oh then pray tell how you want to explain this mess--” Caspar gestured wildly into the direction they came from-- “to her! You weren’t at the dinner as promised--”
“As you promised, I told you it might get late!”
“Can’t you make my job easy for once in my lifetime?!”
“You aren’t even my personal bodyguard so what is your issue! It was a private party and you can easily ask Saoirse for a guest list.”
“That is exactly what I did since you got the brilliant idea to send your actual bodyguard back home directly with no further information of your whereabouts.”
“Well I didn’t die for that matter so stop pretending you’re my governess. And yes the sex was great, thanks for asking.” The prince turned on his heel and walked briskly towards the other riverside.
“Do you really think you’ll get home that easily?”
“Watch me,” he almost sang with a chipper spring to his steps as he walked further and further, and Caspar was inclined to just let him go and figure out this mess on his own. He should meet the consequences but then again, was it really fair? Caspar hadn’t been any different and he knew that Endres sooner or later would need to marry in order to maintain peace and alliances for their country, so shouldn’t he be allowed some leeway for now? It wasn’t like he wasn’t careful or attentive of who might know or find out, and Kojo Saoirse was a master at tricking and manipulating people, a masquerade probably the easiest task for her. If she hadn’t wanted to, Caspar probably would’ve never found out about where his Highness had strayed.
The queen had stood by the window for a while by now, pondering over the letter in her hands with crinkled eyebrows and staring out at the balcony as though it had personally offended her. The afternoon sun was beating down on the marble in a blinding fashion, so Endres didn’t like to watch his sister for an excessive amount of time and instead dedicated his attention again to the foreword the medical scholars had asked him to write. They remained like this for a few minutes of silence until Malika turned around with a sigh and observed the prince’s writing.
“It is no use,” she said, obviously still unsatisfied with the content of the letter, “I hope you don’t mind a short vacation to Chunnan to clear up this mess.”
“Chunnan?!”
It wasn’t like Endres explicitly disliked that town but there was only so much religious zealots he could bear. Malika scoffed.
“You know that the royal family couldn’t participate in the Ianh Te for almost a decade by now. They are becoming impatient without the blessing.”
“Cousin Seto is younger than I and much more suitable.”
Endres hadn’t really seen the boy since after the latter’s naming ceremony but he knew that Master Riwang always seemed very fond of the youth. If he remembered correctly he was about sixteen by now and probably would be excited to travel to the Eastern provinces.
“It is not like you are too old either. Take Cousin Seto as your company if you will, he is an intelligent boy so it will compensate for Ardseong not coming with you. I need him to take care of something else.”
Now it was Endres’ time to frown. He at least had hoped to drag Caspar with him into the nuisance that was Ianh Te but apparently his sister denied him that specific pleasure. The more embarrassing thing, he just realised, was that Malika immediately knew Endres would choose him over anyone else. If it was this obvious to his sister already, he should seriously make his favouritism less obvious.
“I will propose Your Majesty’s suggestion to his family,” Endres said, pulling out a new piece of paper to start the letter, the queen nodding in satisfaction.
