“Kai! Step quick, lad, the Lord wants to see you in his tea room, immediately.” One of the guards called down from the main home as Kai was herding a chicken back into its coup. He frowned and in confusion and once the chicken was locked away, he would sigh.

“I just knew that when you got out, it was going to be a bad day. This is your fault, Ima...” he blamed at the chicken who clucked at him angrily for being locked up again. He sighed and ran a hand through his bangs and along with the headband that rested beneath them before looking up to the grand manor. “The tea room..... must be a serious talk, then.” Making sure the chicken couldn't get free again, he turned and began to make his way back to the house with a slight yawn. It was early afternoon, right about the time the Lord took his tea, though he usually liked to take it alone as it was a time for him to honor his late wife.

“Quickly now...” called the guard again and Kai smirked.

“I hear you, Bang, I'm coming!” He shook his head and set into a light job towards the main doors of the manor. It had been eleven years now since he had come to the manor with the old man, the only time they talked in the tea room was for something serious. Making his way through the many halls and up a set of stairs to the next story and down another hall, Kai would come to the tea room and giving a light sigh would knock twice and wait for permission to enter.

“You may enter, my boy...” With that Kai opened the door and stepped in, moving to stand towards the side of his table and give a soft bow of his head. The Lord waved a hand at his formalities and pointed to a seat in front of him. Kai frowned and looked to him with a questioning gaze. “Sit...” Something serious was going on after all. Kai moved to the chair and took his seat, taking the moment to pour the tea for them both and waited with his hands wrapped around the now-warm cup. “My boy..... my Kai, I think that.... it is time that we discussed some things that you have been hiding from me...” the old man said as he sipped his tea.

“M-Milord... If this is about Ima and her escape jobs, I swear I've no idea how she keeps getting out....” Kai stated, now worried and sitting more rigid in his chair, finger lightly tapping the rim of his cup in a nervous habit. The old man shook his head and waved him off again with a soft grunt.

“That damned bird would be dinner by now if she didn't lay the biggest eggs... but, no son, this is about something much bigger than the chicken... It has been many years since you came to live with me here. And though you have been one of the best of my staff here, and possibly have everyone else fooled, I have seen through your lie since the beginning.” Kai felt his palms starting to sweat and let go of the cup to lay them on his legs beneath the table. His features, though, gave away nothing but an odd concern of this otherwise serious talk. “I believe that you are old enough now to explain to me why you are masquerading around as a boy when I've known from the start, you're a girl...”

Kai, originally named Kaila, felt her stomach drop to the floor beneath her as she stared at the old man wide-eyed. She had known that it wouldn't last forever, but to let her believe that it was working all these years was cruel. “Was I so obvious? Why let me think I had you all fooled if you had known from the start?”

“Not everyone knows. Bang knows, I know, and of course, the physician knows, and they all swore to keep the secret at my word. I figured you had your reasons for why you needed to remain a boy, so I let it slide, but you are growing older, your body is already developing as the Gods have birthed you to be. How long do you believe you can continue this for?” Kai didn't answer, instead, she would stare into the teacup. “So then... tell me what happened...” Kai was silent awhile, the nightmares and flashes of that summer night racing through her mind before she sighed and told her story, of how she had been a concubine tribute when she was younger to be given to the palace for the Emperor. That night they had been freed by the young Crowned Prince and ran away. Someone spotted them fleeing and the hunt had begun. Kai's mother had hidden her away where she stayed for three days before she thought it safe to travel to the next town where she started her masquerade as a boy to avoid being sent back again.

They sat in silence for awhile drinking the tea as they gave the emotional tension in the room ease softly. When her cup was near empty she looked up at the old man. “Are you going to send me away now?” He looked to her like she'd asked him if the sky was purple.

“If that were the case, then why keep you all of these years? Child...” he started then sighed to lay his hands folded on the table a moment. “I will be leaving in a month... I am joining the others in this war to stop the Emperor. Something has to be done about his reign before more innocent lives are lost.” Kai looked to him with wide eyes and started to stand, claiming that she would go with him, fight with him. “If you so much as step one foot off my lands to fight, I will expose you as a woman to the entire world....” he said sternly and she froze in fear.

“Milord... you could be killed if you go...”

“I will be killed if I stay... we must strike first. You are to stay here and care for those here while Bang and I do our duty.” She lowered her head in a defeated bow to his words and soon she was dismissed. Over the month of preparing, she tried to get him to change his mind, but he would never budge. When the time came to leave, she tried to look strong for him, then spent the night in her room praying and crying for his safe return home.

Over the next two years, the news of the war was devastating. The Emperor would take out whole villages and set up bastard ambushes to take out those that opposed him. When news traveled of his death it was like the country herself took a deep relieved sigh. Kai was brushing what few horses remained in the stables when calls came from the main house and the staff came running out. Looking towards the road, they could be seen. The old man and Bang, looking almost twenty years older than the day they left, war-torn, and tired, but alive. Her joy at them coming home was short-lived with the Lord told Kai that she was to be escorted to the palace, immediately.

She was to become the Crowned Prince's advisor and to help him rise to become the new Emperor. Packed up and set to one of the best horses the Lord held in his stables, they rode for the Palace to return to the place that had killed Kaila and birthed Kai.

Pale fingers tremble and billowing breaths like plumes of smoke escape into the crisp morning air. Winter has come early and the capital has reactively barricaded itself off from the world even more. The streets are empty save the most drunk of midnight revellers and those eager to finish their business early so they may return to warmer abodes. Three men huddled tightly around a small hearth in a cramped shack near the southern gate, the Gate of Gold as called by the merchants who's trade travels through it most.

“What am sayin', an I do think this is quite clever, right, is that the Crown Prince, right, 'ee's smart to gets ‘is dad out the way.” One of the three men, the youngest, states in a matter-of-fact tone to his two fellow seekers of warmth. They want to ignore him, but alas the second youngest cannot.

“Oh no. No! not again,” the second man says as his numb fingers come up to grasp the frayed cloak about his shoulders even tighter, “don't you start with this bloody nonsense Martin.”

“Nah nah, am jus' sayin' lads-” He quickly stifled any attempt to defend his position as he caught the third man's stern glare. His cloak was less worn than the others, his face more weathered and his temper much thinner.

“Martin, if you're going to spout your crazy conspiracy theories again, you can take yourself outside and talk to the damn wall. I got next to no sleep and it's too cold today for your.. ‘thinkin’.” He grumbled, rubbing at his rouge tinted nose before he tried in vain to massage some feeling into his well worn hands.

“Fellas, c'mon, I was only tryin' to talk. Since the war stopped, its bin so boring.” Martin tried to plead his case to continue the conversation but the others were shaking their heads in disagreement in moments.

“Martin, boring is good. Boring is safe. You know, I'd rather live another thirty years, and do nothing with the rest of my life, than deal with another~”

“Rider coming.” The second man had stopped listened to the others bicker and instead perked up to the world outside, his head on a swivel as the other two were now straining their ears to try and pick up the sound. They knew better than to argue against his call, he was known for having a sixth sense towards these sorts of things, so with a further nod of confirmation from their friend they collected their tin helmets and spears from near the door and stepped out into the frigid cold. 

Rushing outside they would take up a loose screen across the path into the city. The few poor souls stationed atop the walls were already calling up and down the wall about the incoming rider, the guards preparing to cast down the gate and secure the entrance. Years of war had left their nerves frayed and any approaching rider - not least one coming at great speed - was an unpleasant sight to them all. The older man, the one in the well tended cloak, raised his hand up ready to give the signal to release the portcullis. His experienced gaze fell on the man who had first heard the rider who now peered out with his younger eyes.

“Wait,” he called back from a top a box he'd stepped up onto and the older mans hand held strong, “it's Jeremiah from the river crossing.” He called out.

“Oh no,” Martin replied as his brow furrowed, “Jerry ne'er brings good news.” He shook his head gently.

“Look what you did Martin. You just had to go and say you were bored,” the older man grumbled as he felt his body tensing with apprehension at the mere mention of the mans name. “Whatever he's busting a gut to come say, you spoke it into existence.” He would have thrown his helmet at the man if he wasn't busy fixing the strap under his chin. Whatever was coming, he'd be ready regardless.

“My Lord Lyrin, you honour us with your presence. It can't have been more than a month; it is as if you never left.” Disdain and anger crackled like thunder in his tone as Crown Prince Cedric stared at the old man who had bested his father not but three months before. “I believe the last time we spoke face to face was across my fathers still cooling corpse in the grand hall. I must beg your forgiveness then, for had I known you were coming I would have had him sent for.” Though the young man attempted to add humour to his voice, he sounded closer to tears than laughter.

A small gust of wind blew in through the open gateway where Lord Lyrin and his entourage had been stopped. It had been a hasty gathering of the court but with the Prince came his personal Royal Guard and several of his advisors who had heard and tagged along, now huddled around in thick and heavy furs. For his part, the young man had come as if dressed for a spring time walk through the Kings Wood, light leathers and the like. Perhaps he had been too quick and forgotten his heavier garments, or perhaps he was trying to show that the cold did not bother him. Either way he kept his hands clasped behind his back, fingertips slowly turning a light pink hue.

“With pleasantries out of the way, would you be so kind as to state what brings you here, unannounced, with two dozen armed men at your back? If I thought any less of you,” it was evident the old man could not sink lower in his viewpoint, “I would think you are here to seize control from your Crown Prince.” A cold bark of laughter left his lips, though his dark umber eyes burned with anger. “But, that would just be ludicrous of me to even think of. After all, the man who started a rebellion that killed the Emperor would never do it… again. Would he?"

The weather had turned cold since the word of the end of the war, Kai had been prepping the estate for the winter months when Lord Lyrin had come home. He spent a week home, letting them finish the Winter Preparations, and then had Kai and some men pack up to travel back to the Capital and the Palace. Kai wasn't given details, supposedly Lord Lyrin had been offered a reward for ending the war and bringing peace back to Yuara. Kai was told he planned to use that reward to get Kai in as an advisor to the Crowned Prince. Kai didn't think he would be able to do so, nor did he understand why he would want Kai to go back to the place he had been avoiding all his life. Kai was furious in a sense, but the Old Lord didn't do anything without a reason or a purpose.

It took them a couple weeks to make it to the Capital, not easy in the coming winter season, and with the war still freshly over, the way to the capital wasn't safe, so the men that came with them were an extra precaution. It was a good thing, too, as they had been jumped more than once by highwaymen muggers, and once they even tried to raid their troupe. Between the dozen men, and Kai, as well as Lord Lyrin, the fights were easily won, despite the thicker attires for travel.

When they showed to the Palace gates, Kai was on edge, not having been to this place in nearly twelve years. They handed off their horses to the stable hands and started towards the front gates to go in and see the Crowned Prince, but to their surprise, he had met them at the gates. Kai watched warily, beating down the sudden rise in fear he felt. It had been years, and they had both grown since the night the Crowned Prince had set the concubines free. Who would remember Kaila anyway? She had only been about five or six back then. Kai stood now, nearly eighteen years old.

The Prince began to speak, and Kai heard a bite in his tones. He could only wonder what this man had grown up with being raised by the Tyrant of Yuara as a father figure. He couldn't tell if the Prince was happy or sad about his father's passing. Sure, the man had been Gods awful, but that had still been his father. Lord Lyrin kept respectful when he spoke to Crowned Prince Cedric, though he didn't answer the biting in his tone. The tension here was near suffocating.

“Your Highness…. our condolences to your loss of a Father, and we wish you an easy ascension to your Birthright.” He said honestly to him and giving a bow of respect towards his Prince. A gust of wind came through and had most of those around them pulling their winter wares closer around them. The Princ, Lord Lyrin, and Kai all stood still as ever, seemingly unaffected to the outside world. To be honest, Kai felt the cold, but had learned at an early age how to push it from his mind so long as he wasn't going to get frostbite. Prince Cedric spoke up again, and the thinly veiled accusations as he asked of why they were here, and so many in weaponry.

Kai knew that Prince Cedric kept them at the gates as a symbol of how much he was not happy with Lord Lyrin, despite the supposed reward he was granted for ending the war. Kai wasn't sure if he was angry for losing the emperor, or angry for losing his father. But then again, Kai didn't know anything of the Royal family, except of how much of a Tyrant the Late Emperor had been. Lord Lyrin spoke up, keeping his respectful tones as he went on to answer.

“Contrary to what is said, Your Highness, I did not start the rebellion. I merely put an end to the war before it brought out country to the ground and we had nothing left. I have no want or need to repeat my actions as there has not been given any proof that you should be handled in the same manner, and in such I wish you a long and happy life. I come here to answer the reward that was granted. I bring my men as the travel can be dangerous come the winter months, and no reason more. Had I not thought hem needed, they would be back at my estate resting. I also bring with me, my ward, Kai. If you would permit us, we would come in where it is warmer for all and discuss things.”

Condolences? Who does this old fool think he is to offer sympathy for the man he killed?!

Cedric’s lips pulled taut as he stared down the old Lord Lyrin before him. The animosity that had once simmered under the surface now comes to the forefront and he cannot supress the sneer that begins to form. He felt the man was pushing his luck and was alarmed by the audacity he had to then continue and claim he had not started the rebellion!

A rebellion cannot be started by the emperor, it must begin with his underlings. He thinks me a fool to start a war and blame the defender.

His brow has furrowed now as his he mentally throws about barbs and curses at the old man who dares to continue the disgrace his father’s name – but still his tongue holds still. Despite his smug tone as he proclaims he is here to accept his reward, proffering the boy beside him as his ward, Cedric can not take his eyes from the old man who comes to him as if they are long time friends and close allies. That couldn’t be any further from the truth.

“Hold there my Lord,” Cedric finally speaks and lifts a hand forward to stop any advancement from the old lord or his retinue. His fingers are a light pink at the tips now, his skin pale where the cold had taken its effect. Once more his rich carob eyes stare ahead with all the intensity of his deceased father. “I do not give you permission to enter this capital. My capital.”

There is a tensing of muscles from both sets of guards though the Crown Prince remains completely calm knowing that the odds are decisively stacked in his favour. He seems to take delight in holding them all out there in the cold and a strong gust blows through the gatehouse as if orchestrated perfectly by the young royal.

“Given your recent armed rebellion against the crown, I have deemed it prudent to ensure the safety of the citizens, my people, by barring the passage of any of the rebellion’s leaders beyond the city walls.” He placed great emphasis on who’s rebellion this was, keen to ensure those present knew how he saw their betrayal. “I am sure you would agree that their safety is of utmost importance.”

Now his lips curled in an overly strained smile, hand falling back to behind his back as for the briefest of moments he let his attention turn to the boy who had been somewhat introduced. Something seemed to trigger in his mind, a sense of unease in his chest that sunk into his stomach, and his smile faltered before he looked back to Lord Lyrin.

“Now, tell me what brings you here my Lord. What ‘reward’ has personally brought the great Lord Lyrin to my gates with outstretched hand?” He mused with waning interest in talking.