Summer Festival - Part 2

I have no idea what the prince is up to, Leiyu thought as leaned against a tree near the front gates of the palace. How exactly is he going to get past all those palace guards anyway?

There were currently two guards flanking the front gate of the palace, standing as stiff as statues. He hoped that the guards that were with Prince Thallios the first night would not show up and spot him. Since he was already outside the palace, they could very well just keep him from re-entering. He did not have any belongings stored in the guest quarters, but Bakhat was still in the stables.

The prince had not given him any additional details about how he would be disguised, so Leiyu just had to wait for him to show up. “Half an hour” was about a quarter of a shichen, and Leiyu felt like that much time had already passed. He scanned the area and looked at the passersby. Since the palace was still open to the public during the Summer Festival, random men in chapan robes and women with long headdresses and tunic dresses sauntered in and out of the palace gates.

Leiyu had only known Prince Thallios for two days, yet it felt like more than a week. Other than his martial brothers when he was training under Shifu, he had not spent so much time continuously around the same person. He still was not sure what to make of the prince. On the one hand, the prince was friendly and generous, and Leiyu found himself opening up to him more than he ever had with anyone else, even the shixiong and shidi he had grown up with. On the other hand, the prince was rather unpredictable with his moods and actions. Lastly, there were the questions of his unexplainable strength and glowing golden eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his arm. He turned and saw a woman wearing a headdress with flowing fabric that stretched to her feet. Dangling gold pieces covered her eyes. She also wore a loose blue tunic dress with colorful, swirling patterns. Her shoes peeked out from under the hem, and they were embroidered with multicolored floral designs.

“Can I help you, miss?” he asked.

The stranger grinned and pushed the dangling gold pieces aside, revealing a pair of familiar kohl-lined amber eyes. “Hi Leiyu!”

Leiyu’s eyes widened. “Your Highness?!” This is the second time I’ve made this mistake, he thought, flustered.

Prince Thallios put his index finger up to his lips and whispered, “Shh, not so loud.”

Leiyu was at a complete loss for words. This was the disguise that the prince had been planning? He had to admit that it was quite effective, since he would have been none the wiser if he had merely glimpsed the prince in these clothes from afar. The fact that the prince was still wearing the eye makeup from the dance performance only enhanced the illusion.

“Your Highness?” Leiyu whispered. “Where did you get this…disguise?”

“My mother’s chambers,” Prince Thallios replied. “No one else has been in there since her passing, and everything has been left as it was since that time.”

Leiyu’s jaw dropped. “This is your mother’s dress?”

The prince smiled. “It wouldn’t be proper for me to go into the female servants’ quarters to borrow a dress, so I only had one option.” Leiyu stared at him, dumbfounded.

The prince continued, “This is one of the plainer ones I found in her closet. The other ones were too fancy, so they’d attract too much attention. Also, I’m about the same height as her, so it worked out.”

“Your Highness, forgive me for asking, but is it considered…proper…to wear…”

“To wear my late mother’s dress? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe it might be considered disrespectful. Or maybe I’m honoring her memory, like I was doing with the dance performance earlier. I just needed a disguise to get me past the guards, and since the palace is open to the public right now, it’s easier for me to blend into the crowd coming in and going out of the gates.”

Leiyu stared at the prince’s kohl-lined eyes. He was not sure whether he should keep asking questions, but curiosity won out again. “And this eye makeup…is that your mother’s as well?”

“Oh this?” the prince asked, pointing to his eyes. “Ah no, that’s mine. I don’t wear it often though. Just for performances. And sometimes when I’m bored.”

Leiyu raised an eyebrow, and decided that it would be best to switch conversational topics. “If you were able to get past the guards so easily, then why have you not left the palace before?”

“Oh, I don’t want to go out into the city by myself, since it might not be safe. But since you’re here now, I don’t have to worry so much.”

Leiyu was flattered that the prince trusted him, but was also worried that he still seemed rather naive. Well, maybe he can unleash that hidden power of his if there are any dangers out there.

“Your Highness-”

“Wait,” the prince whispered. “It wouldn’t be wise for you to keep calling me ‘Your Highness.’ Others might hear that, and then this disguise won’t work.”

“Oh, right. Then how should I address you?”

The prince looked upward for a moment. “How about…you call me ‘Amara’?”

“Amara?”

“Yes. My mother once told me that if I had been born a girl, she would have named me Amara. Or if I had a sister, her name would be Amara. I guess my mother really liked that name.”

“Your mother said that?” Leiyu never had a mother himself, so he had no idea if this was a normal thing to say to a son.

“Yes. My father wanted a son to inherit the throne though, so she had me.”

Leiyu arched an eyebrow. Although he was not well-versed in these matters, he was pretty sure that it wasn’t so simple to have a son just by wishing for one. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many expectant mothers in the Eastern Region repeatedly going to the temples to pray for their next child to finally be a boy.

“Maybe if my mother hadn’t fallen ill, I could have had a sister too. But I guess things don’t always turn out how we expect.” The prince looked downward, and the dangling gold pieces covered his eyes again. Leiyu wondered if he was trying to hide his tears.

After a moment, the prince lifted his head back up and smiled. “Well, it’s such a nice day, and we shouldn’t stand around here too long. Let’s go see the city!”