Legends

The next morning, Leiyu left the dining hall after eating breakfast on his own. The merchants had said that they were visiting the city again to check out more bazaars, and Leiyu had once again politely declined to join them.

Last night, after many hours of wandering from courtyard to courtyard and eating a simple dinner in the dining halls, Leiyu had retired to the guest quarters to spend the rest of the evening in quiet meditation. When he heard the merchants return from their visit to the city, he laid down and pretended to be asleep. It was probably for the best, because Liang Fusheng was drunk again, spouting nonsensical things with slurred speech while being carried in by Chen Yun and Wang Yihui. No doubt they had found a tavern somewhere in the city after a day scouting the bazaars. No, it did not seem like he missed much by politely declining Chen Yun’s invite.

As Leiyu wandered through the corridors away from the dining hall, another attendant walked toward him.

“Good sir, are you the one named Leiyu?” the attendant asked in Sargeshi.

“Yes…” Leiyu said, not sure whether he should start worrying.

“His Highness the Crown Prince wishes to meet with you at the Palace Library,” the attendant said.

“Oh!” Leiyu’s eyes widened. “Of course. Um…could you take me there? I have no idea where it is.”

“Certainly, good sir. Come this way.”

They traveled through another combination of left and right turns before exiting through a pair of doors into a quiet courtyard. On the other side of the courtyard was a tall building with rosette-shaped windows positioned up high. They traversed the stone tiles, stepping over the fallen leaves and blossoms, and walked up the stairs leading to the building’s entrance. The walnut double doors were carved with ornate curling patterns and floral motifs.

“The Palace Library, good sir,” the attendant said as he pushed the doors inward. They opened with an extended creak.

The interior of the library had a monastic air. It was very quiet and dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the sunlight filtering through the colorful stained glass of the rosette windows. There were rows and rows of towering bookshelves. Along the walls, the shelves nearly went to the ceiling, and ladders were propped up against them. The musty scent of centuries-old paper permeated the space.

This is like a scholar’s dream, Leiyu thought as he walked slowly over the polished marble tiles, trying to make as little noise as possible.

“Leiyu?” a familiar voice said softly.

Leiyu turned and saw Prince Thallios. The prince was wearing his usual lilac cape and embroidered chapan robe. Leiyu smiled, then felt self-conscious as he saw the attendant kneel. He dropped to his knees and lowered his eyes. “Your Highness,” he and the attendant both said in unison.

Prince Thallios turned to the attendant. “You may be dismissed.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the attendant said. He got up and bowed before exiting.

Once the doors were closed, the prince approached Leiyu. As he got closer, he smiled. “Leiyu, please stand. We’re already familiar with each other, so you do not need to be so formal.”

Leiyu stood but kept his eyes on the floor. “Your Highness.” He did a quick check around them and then whispered, “Um, about the other day…”

“Shh,” the prince said, holding a finger to his lips. “We can discuss that later.”

I said the wrong thing again, Leiyu thought, his cheeks heating up.

“Did you rest well?” Prince Thallios asked.

Leiyu looked up briefly, meeting the prince’s amber eyes. “Oh…yes, Your Highness.”

“That’s good to hear,” the prince said. He smiled gently. “We’ve already seen many courtyards in this palace, so I wanted to show you something different.” He walked into an aisle and Leiyu followed. “I used to spend many hours here when I was younger.”

The prince led Leiyu through many aisles until he stopped at one. He reached into the shelf and pulled out an old volume, smiling. “I’ve read this one many times.” The book was decorated with curling gold swirls and the cover had a script that Leiyu could not comprehend.

“What does this say?” Leiyu asked.

“Hm?” the prince looked at him, then smiled. “Oh right, this is written in Heliglossan. It says Ancient Legends and Tales.” He opened the book carefully and turned the thin pages. Each leaf of paper was covered in beautiful calligraphy and interspersed with colorful illustrations. “This one tells of the goddesses of the four elements that keep the world in harmony,” He flipped the page and there was an illustration of an ethereal dancing female figure surrounded by ribbons of bright orange flame. “We in the Western Region worship the Goddess of Fire.”

The next page had an image of a celestial female figure surrounded by blue silks, levitating above water.

“Oh, that’s the Goddess of Water of the Eastern Region!” Leiyu said. He clamped his hand over his mouth when he realized his voice was much louder than a whisper. The prince grinned.

The next page had the image of a female warrior on horseback, surrounded by curling wisps of wind.

“That would be the Northern Region,” Leiyu whispered. “They worship the Goddess of Wind.”

The next page had an illustration of a masked female figure with long dark robes.

“The Goddess of Earth of the Southern Region,” Prince Thallios said.

Flipping a few more pages, Prince Thallios stopped when he reached an illustration of an ornate sword. “This is the story of the legendary Sword of Ages. According to ancient legends, it dwells in a cave in the mountains. In times of need, warriors of the past have used the sword to save our lands from invaders.” He paused. “Yet, at some point, the sword always ends up vanishing. It is said that the sword returns to the cave when it is no longer needed.” He closed the volume and turned towards Leiyu. “There are a lot more stories in this book. We can go to the courtyard where it’s brighter.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

***

They sat on a stone bench under the shade of a wisteria tree in a courtyard. Prince Thallios leafed through the book, stopping every few pages to talk about mythical beasts, enchanted items, and countless princes and princesses of bygone eras. The stories were all blurring in Leiyu’s mind, but he liked hearing the prince’s enthusiastic narration. He also noticed that the prince was sitting very close to him.

Are we going to talk about…this…later? Leiyu wondered. He briefly looked around the courtyard to see if there were any other attendants wandering about.

Prince Thallios paused. “Leiyu? What are the stories from your land like?”

Leiyu’s cheeks flushed. “Ah, I don’t read that much…”

“Oh?”

“I haven’t spent much time reading since I was either looking for food as a kid on the streets or training under Shifu.”

“Oh!” Prince Thallios’ eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been rambling on and on. I didn’t want you to feel bad because of-”

“Ah, don’t apologize, Your Highness. I can read. Shifu taught us the basics. I know enough to get by. Mostly street signs and lists of things to buy at the market.”

Prince Thallios exhaled slowly, as if he were relieved.

“We have myths and legends too,” Leiyu said. “Storytellers would tell them to crowds during festivals.”

“Oh? I’d like to hear them.”

Leiyu fished around in his head for a folktale, but then stopped when he heard a shuffling of feet in the distance. He looked toward the outdoor corridor bordering the courtyard. A man wearing a midnight blue doppi and chapan stared at them as he walked by. Leiyu bristled and shifted on the stone bench so that he was not sitting so close to the prince. The man then faced forward and continued walking down the corridor.

“Who is he?” Leiyu asked after the man was out of sight. “I saw him on the day I arrived. He was standing next to the king.”

“Oh, that’s Lord Oganesson,” Prince Thallios said. “He is my father’s advisor. He was also my tutor. Taught me history, calligraphy, painting, poetry…”

“Poetry?” Leiyu turned to look at the prince. “You write?”

“A little…” the prince replied, his cheeks flushing. “I can show you sometime…”

“Poets are highly respected where I’m from. People spend years memorizing poems and learning how to write them. Some of them end up governing us.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. The Eastern Region is ruled by poets?”

Leiyu chuckled. “Well, it’s probably more complicated than that, but poetry is one of the things they study.”

The prince smiled. “I just write my poems to pass time. I can show you later in my study.”

A gentle breeze blew. Stray strands of Prince Thallios’ hair danced around his face while wisteria petals floated down around them. Leiyu gazed at him for the longest time. There was a strange stirring in his chest. He finally turned back towards the corridor Lord Oganesson had just walked through. “Anyway, why was the king’s advisor staring like that?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, he was probably just curious. I’ve known him for many years. Since my mother passed away, he has been the closest person to my father.”

Closest? There was something about the way Prince Thallios said that word which piqued Leiyu's curiosity. “Oh, really? Does he have any family of his own?”

“Family?”

“Like a wife? Children?”

“Ah, no.” Prince Thallios lowered his voice to a whisper, “He’s a eunuch.”

Leiyu’s eyes widened. “Oh…”