Yawning like a sleepy lioness Shian stood in front of Mai's door. One might think it was unusual that she got up so early after her nightly excursion to the prince's desk, but in reality she simply didn't go to bed. Admittedly, it wasn't the smartest decision given that she had been ill yesterday but except for the heavy fatigue Shian was feeling quite well. And so she went directly from doing paperwork to freshening up a bit and from there to Mai's door. It was almost time to get up anyway.
A good portion of worry had remained inside her head, even though she had tried to mimic Koumei's handwriting and put the finished document deep in the "done pile", she was still anxious that he would find out. But she also felt pride for what she had done and a part of her brain knew that it wouldn't have been the last time.
The squeaking of the door brought her back to reality, Mai had opened the door just a gap to glare at her visitor under her messy mane of hair. Shian chuckled quietly and put on her best "isn't it a wonderful morning?" smile.
"Rise and shine, we have work to do!" she piped, only to receive a disgruntled groan from her fellow maid who promptly shut the door again. The grin still on her face, Shian entered nonetheless, sitting down on the bed while Mai got ready for the day.
"How come you are up so early? And so happy!? Aren't you supposed to be ill?" "Thanks a lot", Shian replied sarcastically, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Of course Mai wasn't serious about her words. Even the energetic brunette was not immune to hating getting up early.
"I am feeling way better, really. And because I was practically sleeping through all of yesterday I woke up early." "I'm happy for you but that doesn't mean you can torment me now!", Mai whined, putting on her apron and fighting with her hair so it would stay in a bun.
Shian was just about to answer when Hadi burst into the room. "Up up, no time to lo-"
Surprised at the sight of both of them already up and ready, Hadi paused. "It seems my visit here is unnecessary. But nonetheless, it's good that you're here Shian – are you healthy again?" She nodded, wondering what was going to come. "Could you take over for Nami today? She sprained her ankle yesterday evening trying to chase a squirrel."
Both maids chuckled quietly. Of course they felt sorry for Nami, but what happened was so typical for the kind-hearted and clumsy girl. "Of course", Shian replied finally, mentally already scheduling her already existing tasks with the new ones. "Nami worked with Hou and Tian in the eastern wing, right?"
The eastern wing – of course opposite the familiar west wing – housed the higher generals when they weren't out on some kind of battlefield or mission. It was mostly unknown territory for Shian but she did work there from time to time as a substitute. As far as she remembered it was less work, given that the chambers of the generals were far smaller than the ones of the princes and princesses, but Shian still preferred her usual work space. The people were kinder here.
Hadi nodded in response and hurried away, ready to force the other poor souls out of their well-deserved rest. Mai and Shian shared a quick glance. "How are we going to do it?" Mai asked, earning herself a shrug from Shian. "I'll still do Lord Koumei's office but if you and Kara could clean his private chambers, that would be nice. I'll do it right after breakfast so I'll be able to head to the eastern wing afterwards right away." "Sounds like a plan to me."
A couple of minutes later both of them were sitting in the servants' kitchen next to their peers, eating and chatting before the day would start. Nami was also among them, an elastic bandage around her ankle and a guilty look on her face. She sat across from Shian and had apologized at least three times already and Shian had reminded her three times that it was okay, she herself had been ill yesterday as well. "Let me at least take over your kitchen duties, okay? I'll only have to stand at one spot like that" she offered.
Shian smiled and swallowed her last piece of bread. "That would be good, yes." Happy about Nami's offer she stood up and took her plate over to the water tub. Like this she would just have to deal with breakfast, which she would take with her to Koumei, and not worry about dirty dishes and dinner. She occupied her usual work space and started slicing bread while her colleagues swarmed out, either to prepare food as well or to start their daily cleaning.
It didn't take long for the kitchen to fill with the smell of eggs, fruit and various teas and shortly after, the first servants headed out to bring their trays to their respective recipients. Shian couldn't help but chuckle at the silver tray with a single bowl of peaches – there was no doubt who would receive that one.
She grabbed her own one from the countertop and after a last look at the buzzing kitchen she headed out. The way to Koumei's office seemed shorter than usual. She was quite certain that he was in there given how he had spent the night so she didn't bother checking his bedroom.
In front of the familiar door she listened for a second before knocking. "Come in"
His voice sounded somewhat distracted and as she entered, she could see why. He sat at his desk, two documents in front of him, looking confused. It were the documents she had worked on last night and Shian could feel the blood drain from her cheeks. She curtsied anxiously before coming closer and putting the tray down on a corner of the desk. "Is everything alright, My Lord?" "I think so. I just…have absolutely no recollection of working on those two."
He tipped on the paper before him. Shian gave him a shy smile. "Maybe you were too tired and did them unconsciously?" "Yes, possibly…", he mumbled, not sounding convinced. Then he finally looked up at her, causing her to lower her gaze respectfully. "Never mind it. Are you better again?" She nodded. "I slept pretty much all day yesterday so I'm feeling pretty good right now. Would it be okay if I take care of your office now?" Koumei scratched his head, seeming almost embarrassed. "I have a lot to do right now, there are some war meetings coming up. Please do it later."
Biting her lower lip Shian had to be careful not to object. She would simply have to do the eastern wing first, no big deal. "Of course, My Lord. If breakfast is to you satisfaction I will go now." He nodded and she bowed again before heading out. Now, what was the fastest way into the eastern wing?
Shian met Hou and Tian, the other maids responsible for her destination, on the way and they had split their tasks for the day. Hou would take care of the corridors and Tian cleaned the meeting rooms. That left Shian with the private chambers of the generals, two of which were currently occupied. The others didn't require daily cleaning so the three of them got a pass there. She assumed that the two rooms were roughly as much work as Koumei's rooms and his office, so she didn't worry too much about it. She just hoped that the generals didn't have any special habits or wishes which she didn't know about.
She watched as Tian and Hou disappeared down the corridor and timidly knocked on the first door. It was not likely that someone was in there but one could never know. Sure enough there was no answer and so Shian entered the room – only to stop on the threshold.
Now, she had cleaned the rooms of three princes in her life. Kouen had a lot of weapons laying around, together with books and scrolls and a surprising amount of dirty tea cups.
Koumei's room was always overflowing with books, documents, scrolls and broken feathers, while Kouha generally didn't take a lot of care of his surroundings. Not that he didn't value neatness, he just wasn't the one to uphold it. That' what servants were for.
Keeping that in mind, Shian had cleaned quite a few messes up until now. That still didn't prepare her for the disarray that was this room. Instantly Shian could see that it wasn't the maids' fault. The sheets on the bed looked fresh and there was no dust to be seen.
Apparently the inhabitant didn't care much for keeping his place clean though. Clothes occupied almost every empty spot on the floor and furniture, the blankets on the grand bed were crumpled and twisted. The desk under the window was overflowing with loose papers and open books, their spines broken and their pages kinked. It hurt Shian to see them like this, precious knowledge treated like scrap paper. The heart of the mess formed a big longsword, simply leaning against the footrest of the bed. Its sheath laid on the ground in front of it and she wondered cynically whether its owner knew for what purpose the sheath existed.
Huffing silently Shian entered the room, immediately wrinkling her nose because of the stale smell. Determined she crossed the room, careful not to step on any clothes and threw open the window shutters to let some air inside. Then she started to take on the mess.
It felt like she folded a hundred shirts by the time the room started to look less cluttered. She had put the clothes neatly into the big wardrobe next to the door. Next thing to tackle would be the overflowing desk but her eyes landed on the sword instead. She was not sure what to do with it. On the one hand it was quite disrespectful to take someone else's weapon without permission, but on the other hand, she couldn't just leave it at this. It was clearly a hazard. Hesitantly Shian took the heavy sword, struggling a bit to lift it up. She wiped it with her trusty rag and then re-sheathed it. Now that was better. She leaned it against the wall next to the desk and grabbed the first book to straighten its pages.
She didn't get any further.
With a loud bang the door flew open, causing her to flinch and drop the book on the desk. In the doorway stood what Shian could only assume to be the resident, a tall, broad-shouldered man with a grim expression on his face. She had seen him maybe one or two times in meetings and when he was training outside, but that was about it.
Instantly feeling the uneasiness settle in her bones, she hurriedly bowed deeply before him. "What are you doing there!?"
His voice confirmed what she had guessed from the way he looked – he wasn't an easy man to deal with. Her head still lowered she replied: "My name is Shian, Sir. I'm assigned to your quarters today. Please tell me if there is something in particular I can do for you and I'll be happy to assist."
She could hear him snort disdainfully at her introduction. "For the time being you could stop being such a kissass and do your actual job! It's past breakfast and all you've done is meddle with my weapon, apparently." With a few big steps he made his way over to her, causing Shian to recoil in fearful anticipation. Sure enough, as soon as he reached her he shoved her rudely out of the way, causing her to bump against the bed with a small yelp.
Everything she had achieved in the last week disappeared into thin air. All the confidence she gained while working with Koumei, who treated her so nicely, and his brothers, who at least granted her basic respect, vanished, leaving her old, scared self. She just hoped he would be content with scolding her verbally.
Shian regained her balance and took a step backwards towards the door. He shuffled through the paper mess on his desk, maybe checking if she had done something wrong. "Please forgive me" she said meekly, her body language showing clear submission. Bothering to tell him that she had done much more than just "meddling with his weapon" would only result in more shouts, that much she knew.
He turned to her abruptly, causing her to flinch. When he answered his voice was full of rage. "Why would I!? You come in here, disrespecting me by messing with my stuff and then you have the nerve to ask me for forgiveness!" He grew louder with each word and Shian could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She fixed her gaze on the floor fearing to anger him more and just kept silent, hoping he would be happy with that.
He wasn't.
"Look at me!" By now he was legitimately shouting and she quickly raised her head in shock.
The blow came so fast Shian had troubles processing it. She only saw him raising his hand and then she could feel the sharp pain shooting through her cheek and her head. He had hit her with so much force she stumbled backwards, barely finding grip on the doorframe to keep her from falling to the ground. The impact had made her dizzy and so she noticed too late that he was already on his way over to her, his hand raised once more for another strike. Shian shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to come again.
But it didn't.
Instead she felt another hand wrapping gently around her waist and pulling her back, against something that felt like someone's chest. To be exact, it felt like a chest she ran into once before. Daring to peek through barely opened lids she took in the scene. Someone had caught the incoming hand of her attacker and held it with surprising strength.
Finally looking normally she raised her head, looking at her savior. Koumei seemed to ignore her, his gaze fixed on the person before him rather than the frightened maid.
The general seemed as surprised as Shian was that he had been stopped and she could almost see his wish to yell at the prince fight with the knowledge that he had to be respectful in front of him. Finally he lowered his head. "My Lord." Koumei let go of his hand. "Why did you think it was appropriate to hit her? Twice!?"
Clearly at a loss for words the general stuttered a bit. It really didn't fit the behavior he showed mere seconds ago, but that's just how those people are. Only brave in front of others less powerful than them. "Well, she…she defiled my property! I clearly saw her going through my private documents! And she barely got anything done, clearly she is totally useless as a servant."
His voice had gained confidence again, obviously he expected the prince to believe him. Named prince looked down at the maid who still leaned against him, held by his grip around her middle. He felt a spike of anger rushing through him at the sight of her cheek which was bright red. Around her eye her skin had already turned to a reddish purple, it must hurt a lot. "Shian? Do you wish to say something about his accusations?"
Of course she wished to say something. But that was the problem – it was just a wish. Her lips were sealed by fear and although the body of the prince behind her reassured her, her strength was gone. She just wanted to bail.
"Shian!?" The concern in his voice brought her back a bit. The fact that he was worried about her sparked a warmth in her heart that protected her from the cold the general's attack had left in her. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a shaky breath. "I swear I wasn't going through his possessions in an inappropriate way." Her voice was barely audible but both men were totally silent, Koumei because he wanted to hear her, the general because he couldn't believe what was happening. "I was simply planning on organizing his items, the way we always do. And I apologize that I wasn't done by the time he came back, but there was a lot to clean up."
Instantly the older man flared up again: "Are you implying that I am disorganized!?" Shian flinched at him raising his voice again, but this time she wasn't alone.
Koumei squeezed her waist slightly. It was just a small gesture, only the two of them could know that it happened, but it meant the world to her. She took a deep breath and then looked him directly in the eyes. "Yes."
Koumei had heard enough. Of course he hadn't believed that she actually did any of the things he said but having her defend herself was the better way to go about it. And he was actually quite glad that his presence was apparently reassuring to her. "There you have it", he said, sounding resolute. "Now if you would kindly refrain from hitting our employees when you have a problem, that would be nice." Although his wording was polite, his voice was cold as ice. He took a step back, pulling Shian along with him and shut the door in the face of the still speechless general.
There were a few seconds of silence before Koumei loosened his grip around her waist. Almost instantly Shian's legs gave out under her, now that the immediate danger was over she just needed a break. With a dull thump her knees met the floor and she stared into nothingness. The prince rubbed the back of his head, thinking what to do. His view fell onto her cheek again and he bit his lower lip in anger. Bending down to her he carefully grabbed her chin and turned her head so he could look at it better. He could swear that she blushed but with all that red already on her face it was difficult to determine.
"Wait for a minute, I'll just finish why I came here and then we'll do something about that bruise of yours."
He was half on his way again when Shian's brain clicked and she stumbled to her feet again. "Oh no, please, you've done too much already." She bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for helping me." "No backtalk this time! As one of the highest ranking persons in this palace I feel responsible if one of my subordinates treats the servants badly."
Yeah, that was a good explanation, he thought to himself. Totally has nothing to do with the fact that I just want to see you smile again. He shook his head briefly and turned again. "It won't be long."
He hurried down the corridor and vanished into one of the meeting rooms, leaving Shian struggling between the remainder of her fear and the bubbling joy about his actions. Said joy was muffled a bit by the sight of the door to her right, behind which an angry general lurked. She hurried to get a bit of space between herself and the crime scene, only to get half a heart attack when suddenly Tian popped up next to her. "Dear rukh, what happened to you!?"
Executing a weird little jump, Shian hopped to the side, barely managing to keep from screaming. "Damn Tian, don't scare me like that." She shook her head. "Had a little run in with whoever lives there." She pointed behind her before her voice became laced with embarrassment. "It really hurts and…well…Lord Koumei offered to help me get some treatment. So I'm afraid I'll have to leave you for a bit." Tian blinked in surprise. "Don't worry about that. I've finished with the meeting rooms so I can take over what's left." She eyed the door over Shian's shoulder suspiciously, clearly not eager to meet the raging general. Shian really couldn't blame her.
"Don't bother with his chambers today. I'll take responsibility." Koumei had left the room and returned to the two maids, a few scrolls tucked away under his arm. Tian curtsied and nodded. She shot her colleague a curious look and vanished into the room next to them, the one Shian didn't even enter yet.
"Come on, the sooner someone takes care of that the less painful it will be." He laid his hand flat on her back and gently pushed her along with him, their steps leading to the hospital wing which connected to the eastern one. "My…My Lord, people are going to talk!" She was clearly embarrassed by his action but Koumei only smiled. "Let them talk. I don't care" But I do, Shian thought to herself although she didn't dare to speak up again.
Koumei pushed open the door leading into the healing chambers where they were greeted with multiple cots and a few room-dividers which granted the patients a little bit of privacy. Right now the big room was empty except for a physician who was in the process of organizing a small shelf full of medicine bottles. The man seemed to be quite young, not much older than Shian herself, his blonde straight hair draping over his back like a short cloak. He looked up at the sound of the opening door and surprise presented itself on his face when he saw the two of them. He bowed briefly and then went over to Shian who looked like she felt out of place. Which she did, by the way.
Koumei lowered his hand from her back. "She got hit, please make sure it will cause her as little pain as possible." And with that he opened the door again and disappeared into the palace, leaving behind the still flustered Shian and a very curious court physician.
