Rooftop Garden

Leiyu glanced at Prince Thallios’ right hand as it rested on the parapet. The prince wore a silver ring around his index finger. A thin chain connected the ring to a bracelet. His fingers were slender and soft, like a person who never had to do any manual labor in his life. Leiyu looked at his own hand, which was half covered with a black fingerless glove. He had many calluses on his palm and his fingers were rough.

Now that they were standing so close to each other, he also noticed that the prince was half a head shorter than him. The moonlight caressed the prince’s face, illuminating his delicate features.

“The Summer Festival is coming up in a couple of days, “ the prince said. “The city will look even more beautiful then.”

“I see,” Leiyu replied. He wondered if he should say anything else, but given his earlier faux pas, he decided to fall back on his usual taciturnity.

The prince turned and detached himself from the parapet. Leiyu was taken aback. Was saying so little also a bad idea? He really felt lost now.

The prince walked toward the tabletop fire pit and settled down on one of the divans. He leaned against the armrest and glanced back at Leiyu. Leiyu took this as a cue to follow suit and walked to the divan opposite the prince’s. He sat down cautiously. The prince was reclining leisurely, but Leiyu felt that it would be improper for himself to do the same, so he remained upright. The fire crackled in the pit as they glanced at each other.

“So,” the prince said as he rested the fingers of his left hand on his right arm, just above his bracelet. “What’s your story?”

“Story?”

“Where you’re from…” the prince said as he leaned his head against his hands. “Your travels…”

“Oh! Well…I am originally from the Eastern Region.”

“Is that so? I’ve never met anyone from the other regions. Are you a merchant like the others in your group?”

Leiyu shook his head. “Not a merchant. Just a wanderer.” The prince tilted his head with curiosity. Leiyu continued. “I left the Eastern Region a few years ago and began traveling. I lived in the Northern Region with the nomads for about a year.”

The prince’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that sounds interesting! What was it like?”

“They were quite welcoming. I learned some of their language and they taught me archery.”

“Ah, I see. But…you didn’t end up staying with them?”

“No, although they were more than friendly and would have let me stay as long as I wanted. But I wanted to keep going westward, so I took off again. I wandered the desert alone for a while until I encountered a trade caravan that was being attacked by a group of bandits.”

The prince looked at Leiyu, as if imploring him to tell more. Leiyu took a deep breath and began his tale. “The bandits had already slain the caravan’s guards by the time I found them.” The prince gasped. Leiyu thought about how he wanted to tell the story without shocking the prince too much, but decided not to overthink it. “One of the bandits was about to slay the merchants, so I stopped him with one of my arrows.” The prince’s eyes widened. “Should I go on, Your Highness, or is this story too gruesome?”

“Oh no, please go on. You cannot just leave me hanging after saying all that.”

He told the prince how he saved the caravan merchants from the bandits and battled their scythe blade-wielding leader. He went into detail over how he unleashed his wind magic to scare the horde away. Smoke curled from the tabletop fire pit as Leiyu finished telling his story to Prince Thallios. The prince had not budged from the divan during the entire time and was wide-eyed with wonder.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “You can use wind magic? That’s amazing!”

Leiyu smiled. He was not used to being flattered, especially by someone with a higher social status. “Eh, it’s nothing.” The prince raised an eyebrow.

Leiyu continued. “After that, we did not encounter any more bandits, although we still had to trek through the desert for weeks. We finally reached the edge of the desert and encountered a mountain. We stayed there overnight while traveling through a narrow passageway.” He wondered if he should talk about the ghost voices, but decided to keep it to himself for now, since he was not sure how the prince would react to that. “Near the end of the passageway, I had to cut through a lot of thorny brambles to clear a path. We finally reached the end, we ended up in an open field and saw this city in the distance. We eventually ended up here, delivering the full shipment of silk and porcelain.”

The prince’s mouth was agape. “I had no idea how much effort it took. Or how dangerous it was.”

“The trade caravan will remain here for a while and then return East.  One of the merchants mentioned to me that they might try to buy some glassware and gemstones here to bring back home to sell in the markets.”

“Ah yes, Ishkhandar is known for those.”

Leiyu glanced at Prince Thallios and noticed all the gemstones that were on him. In the twilight and firelight, the prince’s ruby forehead jewelry, earrings, and necklace glistened. Even the silver ring on his right index finger seemed to sparkle. He continued to stare, mesmerized.

“Will you continue traveling?” Prince Thallios asked, bringing Leiyu’s mind back to the present.

“I’d like to,” Leiyu replied. “I still haven’t visited the Southern Region.”

“I want to travel someday. I’ve never been outside of this palace.”

“What? Never?!”

The prince shifted in the divan and sighed. “In all my twenty-one years, I have not set foot outside of these palace walls.”

He’s twenty-one? Leiyu thought. Just a year younger than me. He thought of a question but was not sure if he should ask it. However, curiosity got the best of him, so he just went for it. “But, isn’t a prince supposed to go out and become familiar with the land that he will someday rule?”

The prince sighed. “Yes, it’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? I have not been prepared at all to deal with the outside world.” He lowered his eyes solemnly. “Ever since my mother passed away, my father has been overprotective and just wants me to stay in the palace.”

“Oh…” Leiyu had not expected the conversation to take this turn. “I am sorry…about your mother…”

Prince Thallios was silent. He spent a long time staring at the flickering tabletop flame. Leiyu began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut. It was always safer to say less, even though that also frustrated others.

“It is all right,” the prince finally said. “It has been over ten years already.” He looked upwards at Leiyu. “What about your parents?”

Leiyu froze. This was not something he was prepared to talk about. “Oh…I… don’t have any…”

The prince glanced at him, confused.

Leiyu continued. “I’m an orphan. I don’t remember who my parents were.”

The prince’s eyes widened. “Oh…I’m sorry.”

Leiyu shrugged. They both stared at the fire. The loudness of the crackling flame contrasted with their awkward silence.

The prince finally glanced over at him again. “Was there anyone there to look after you? Like a relative?”

Leiyu stared at the flame. Did he want to talk about this to someone he had just met? He was usually very closed off, even to people he regularly interacted with. But the prince had already told him something personal. Maybe it was okay. He looked up at the prince and spoke solemnly. “I lived on the streets as a child.”

The prince clasped his hand over his mouth. Leiyu thought he saw the prince’s eyes water, although maybe the sparks flying up from the flame were playing tricks on him.

The prince then uncovered his mouth. “I am so sorry,” he said as he blinked several times. “I cannot even imagine how difficult that must have been.”

Leiyu raised an eyebrow. Back in Yunshan, he saw how the magistrates and gentry acted like they owned everything, and how common folk quickly cleared the streets to make way for their horses and fancy carriages. He also heard tales from street storytellers of arrogant nobles who mistreated their servants and anyone else lower in social status. The prince’s compassion was a refreshing surprise, and it seemed genuine.

“It’s all right, Your Highness,” Leiyu said. “It was long ago. I don’t think about it much. Also, I wasn’t on the streets for too long, since a shifu took me in when I was probably around four or five.”

“A shifu?” the prince asked.

“A martial arts master,” Leiyu explained. “He was elderly and found me huddled against a storefront during a stormy night.” He paused to glance over at the prince. The prince’s expression implored him to continue. “It was very cold and I was wearing thin, worn-out clothes and shoes that were too small and full of holes. He was walking by, carrying an umbrella and holding a parcel. He saw me and stopped.”

Leiyu’s mind went back to that stormy night. The old man who found him had snowy white hair tied up in a simple bun held together by a wooden hairpin. He had a flowing beard and plain white robes. His expression was serene and kind.

“He asked me if I was hungry,” Leiyu continued. “I just nodded. Then he gave me a fresh bao from his parcel.”

“A bao?” the prince asked.

“Oh, sorry, Your Highness, that’s Dongyu for steamed bun.”

“Oh, I see. I haven’t had one before.”

“I think you have something similar, Your Highness. At the banquet, there was a triangular meat pastry that reminded me of a bao, although it had a flakier crust.”

“Oh, yes, that’s called a samsa,” the prince said. “I suppose our cuisines have some similarities since so many people travel back and forth between different regions on the trade routes. Anyway, pardon my interruption. Please continue telling your story.”

Leiyu smiled. “The bao was still warm, and I ate it so fast. Really wanted another one, but I didn’t want to ask him outright, so I just looked up at him.”

“Did he give you another one?” the prince asked.

“No, but he asked me if I had a family. Didn’t know what he was talking about. I just wanted more food.” Leiyu paused to take a breath and then continued. “ He asked me if I had anywhere to go, then said a lot of things that I didn’t really understand at the time but I think he was offering me a place to stay. I was cold and hungry, so I just nodded. We walked through the flooded streets and up these stone steps to the top of a hill. There was a small house there and we went inside. There were a lot of other kids there, running around. They ran to him and he gave them all bao.”

“So what happened after that?”

“I spent the rest of my childhood there. Shifu taught us to read and write and trained us in different styles of martial arts.”

“Ah, that’s where you learned it,” the prince said with a smile. “That’s good to hear that things worked out. You were lucky that he found you.”

“Yes, but I was also lucky shifu was genuine,” Leiyu said. “He could have been lying to me, and I’d have ended up dead. A lot of street kids don’t survive.”

“Oh…” the prince looked solemn.

Leiyu stared at the flame. He was surprised at how much he was telling the prince, given how he hardly said much about himself to Chen Yun or anyone else.

“So where is shifu now?”

Leiyu became quiet. The prince looked concerned. Finally, Leiyu spoke, “He passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh!” the prince lowered his voice. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right. He was old and his health was deteriorating,” Leiyu said. The prince looked at him sympathetically. “It was after he passed away that I started traveling. That’s how I ended up here.”

The corners of the prince’s mouth turned slightly upward. He shifted his head so that it was resting on his arm. Leiyu noticed that the prince’s eyes were starting to droop. It was getting late. Perhaps he wanted to sleep.

“Your Highness, should I go?” Leiyu asked. “I can return to the guest quarters.”

The prince shook his head. “Mm, you can stay a little longer. It’s nice having someone to talk to.”

Leiyu looked at him. Was the prince lonely? The prince grew up in an extravagant palace surrounded by luxuries that Leiyu could not have even imagined when he was a child living on the streets. Yet, beneath that smiling face, Leiyu sensed melancholy. Losing his mother at a young age must have affected him deeply. Leiyu could not remember his own mother or father, so he could not quite relate, although he remembered feeling sad when shifu passed away.

He noticed that the prince’s eyes were already closed. I should probably go, he thought. He looked up at the night sky. The crescent moon hung overhead and the stars twinkled. It had been a long day, and he had not rested much since the caravan arrived in Ishkhandar. He laid down on the divan.