Only death hurts worse than betrayal
Eastern Sage
It had been a month since he arrived at the gates of the Mu Manor, inches away from death. Essa-kest' Mu had patched him up pretty well, and Tez' Mu had for want of understanding the new political situation avoided the palace, and his duties as Head of the Onan Desar. Kal' Yu was acting in his place, and so far Tez' Mu hadn't received a summons from either Hu' Ran or the Dowager herself. He didn't know what Kal' Yu told them and he frankly couldn't care less.
There was one very large change in the Mu Manor, though, and it wasn't just Tez' Mu acting as lord in absence of his father, brothers, and older sister; even though he would have liked if it was just that. It was the largely conspicuous absence of a very key element.
"Where is Chan', mother?" Tez' Mu had asked as soon as he could talk. His mother had sighed and rubbed her forehead in what was clearly stress.
"I wrote to your father but I don't know what he could do about it if anything. Tez', shortly after you left I noticed a very strange thing about your sister."
Tez' Mu tried hard not to roll his eyes. Sure, just noticing.
"I still can't believe it, but she's been having contact with a group outside the manor for years. They are the ones who gave her the cultivation technique she's been practicing, Tez'." Essa-kest' Mu's face became even more worried, "And then they came for her."
Tez' Mu frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"They took her away. Chan' told me not to worry, that she's now their leader; but I can't imagine what will happen if news of this gets out, what with all that's going on already."
"Who are 'they', mother?" bells tolled in Tez' Mu's head. Chan' Mu had been, what, kidnapped by some people?
"The Court of the South," Essa-kest' Mu dropped her face into her hands as she revealed the name, "Ancestors, what have I done! Why is all this happening?" her voice hitched, as her shoulders started to heave. Tez' Mu propped himself up and put his arm around her.
"Don't worry, mother. If Chan' says she'll be fine, then she's probably got everything under control," Tez' Mu tried to ignore the goosebumps crawling up his arms. His hunch was proved right.
"How can you not expect me to worry?" Essa-kest' Mu raised her tear-streaked face, "The kingdom is in the middle of a war and my father and yours are in the thick of it; your elder sister's currently who knows where chasing after whoever killed her fiancé, and now Chan' has been taken to Alhui in the south! To become the leader of a group of rebels that antagonizes the kingdom! What have I done, what?!"
"Wait, what did you say about Sis Royan'?" Tez' Mu paled as he asked. Essa-kest' Mu sighed, slumping against one of the bedposts.
"She's trying to find whoever killed Dor' Yan. Tez', I am so afraid for this family. I don't know what we shall do!"
"We'll be fine, mother," Tez' Mu gripped her hands in his, "I promise."
He wasn't too sure he could keep that promise now.
Sari entered the room with a grave expression on his face. But it was not Sari's expression that sent his mind reeling. It was what his servant said.
"The Dowager withdrew imperial support from the Ru Army," Sari said, crossing the room and placing the plate of fruits on the bed where Tez' Mu could reach it. Tez' Mu dug into the apple slices with relish.
"Why? What did they do?"
"They rode to Darin and aided them against the Imperial Army."
"WHAT?"
"And you've been summoned," Sari continued, "The Dowager expects you at the Scith this morning."
"Oh no," Tez' Mu groaned, spitting a core into his hand, "Oh no, oh no!"
"What?" Sari frowned, already at the wardrobe.
"Things are going south! With the Ru army helping the Kests, the balance is tipped! There are only two great-generals left, and father is already held up at Najan!"
"So what's going to happen?" Sari asked, showing as much concern as if he was asking about a bet placed on a gladiator.
"I don't know! But whatever it is, it won't be good!"
"Oh," Sari shrugged casually, "but at least you must look good at the Scith today," he threw open the wardrobe.
Tez' Mu grabbed a pillow from his bed and lugged it across the room at him.
Tez' Mu took a carriage to the palace because he didn't want the folks in Muii to cheer at him again. Also, he wanted to clear his head in anticipation of the report he was to give to the Scith. Pieces of parchment littered the floor of the carriage, as he got up to date on the many seemingly small details of Scith lords and judges.
"We're here, my lord," Annir said all too soon. The carriage door swung open, and Tez' Mu gathered his papers and stashed them into his spatial ring before alighting.
He strode across the garden lot and entered the Scith quickly, along with a few other judges who were running late. At the dais sat the Dowager, wearing an emerald gown with a sash over it, with a circlet on her polled white hair. Beside her, Hu' Ran was dressed in a blood red tudan, and he kept glancing at a certain lord on the far left.
The Scith was not full, Tez' Mu noticed, as he approached the dais to take a knee. Many lords were absent, and it was jarring.
"Tez' of the House of Mu pays his respects."
"Rise," the Dowager responded. Tez' Mu rose, and raised his feet to ascend the dais.
"Halt," barked Hu' Ran. Tez' Mu glanced up at him with raised eyebrows.
"You stand before the Scith today as the Imperial Peace Envoy to Darin Dal-kest and the western province, not as the Head of the Onan Desar. Take your pledge," Hu' Ran said, his eyes narrowing as he nodded to a blue robed Scith clerk, who came forward with the formal oath taking scroll used by witnesses and petitioners.
Tez' Mu frowned as the clerk, a short man with a razor straight mustache, gestured at him to read aloud the oath on the scroll and then append his thumbprint. Taking a deep breath, he squinted and read aloud.
"I, Tez', third son of Great-General Raq' Mu, hereby swear with my life on the line that I shall witness the truth and nothing else before the Scith on this day," he paused, then continued, "If any part of my witnessing is found to be untrue, I shall receive in good faith the consequences as determined by the Scith."
The clerk, in what he thought was a helpful gesture, took hold of Tez' Mu's thumb and pressed it on the scroll after dipping it into the red ink. He then gave him a smile, which Tez' Mu did not return, and took the scroll away.
"I hand the witness over to the Scith," the Dowager spoke, startling Tez' Mu. He turned around, his back to the throne, and bowed to the gathered lords and judges. One of the doors creaked open as a few more lords entered. Tez' Mu frowned. Had these stragglers heard he was witnessing and hurried here to watch the spectacle?
"I shall ask a question," a wiry haired judge rose and smacked his lips, "one which we all are very interested in. Envoy, what was the west's reaction to the peace treaty?"
Tez' Mu sighed, "Troubling, your eminence," he replied, "The West refused the peace treaty, intending to carry on with the rebellion at all costs."
"Did you meet with Lord Offal' Kest?" another judge asked.
"No, I did not, your eminence. I met with seven western lords, Lord Jin' Hei and Lord Dar' Kel being among them—"
"Those traitors!" the lords swore, as Tez' Mu expected. He paused, and then continued.
"—who treated the Scith's hand of peace in the most contemptable manner possible," he shook his head regretfully, "I am afraid to say Lord Jin' Hei—"
"Don't call him 'lord' anymore!" Lord Nur over trading affairs rose angrily, "He voluntarily left the fellowship of the Scith, therefore will not be accorded the Scith's respect!"
A few officials murmured in agreement. Tez' Mu nodded.
"Very well. Jin' Hei—" he waited to see the lords' reactions, and then continued, "burnt the treaty scroll to show how the west was not intending to go back on their decision. This put me and my escorts in a precarious position later, when the Imperial Army attacked."
"Halt," Hu' Ran's voice sounded behind him, "Remember your oath. The Imperial Army did not attack Darin. Continue."
Tez' Mu turned around and frowned. The Dowager was leaning on one hand placed on the armrest, her green eyes impassive. He looked at Hu' Ran, who was equally frowning.
"Pardon, steward? So who were the army that attacked?"
Hu' Ran's brows narrowed. "How am I supposed to know—was I there? It is you, envoy, who was in Darin, and you are the only one that can tell the Scith the truth. Ask Lord Lu and Judge Ka, who are over the undertakings of the imperial army; whether any missive crossed their desks about an order to attack Darin."
"No, steward, nothing of the sort," the two men responded immediately. Tez' Mu's heart raced as Hu' Ran's lips lengthened into a small smirk.
"This need not be argued," the Dowager finally spoke, her voice light, "Just ask him what flag the army carried."
"That's right. Envoy," Muri' Ji's voice came from the crowd, "What flag were they flying?"
Tez' Mu closed his eyes. Was he wrong? The army that attacked Darin indeed did not fly the Imperial flag.
"A coyote with a sword, on red," Tez' Mu replied. Murmurs started, and he turned around again. Muri' Ji was frowning, and whispering to a few lords beside him.
"I don't know any noble family of Ochelon whose banner is a coyote," Lord Lu said, "but it is definitely not the Imperial family."
"We shall begin investigations on that, then," Hu' Ran said, "Meanwhile, continue."
"I have a question," a judge raised her hand. Receiving a signal from Hu' Ran to continue, she turned to Tez' Mu.
"Which direction did this rogue army come from? And also, what was the state of Darin by the time you left?"
"I didn't leave," Tez' Mu retorted, "I escaped, for dear life. One of my escorts was killed in the struggle. The army's orders seemed to be to wipe Darin off the map of Ochelon entirely, with the way they torched every building they came to; and killed wantonly. The Kest army pushed them back, but at the time I escaped the situation was still in a deadlock—"
"You didn't answer my first question," the judge snapped angrily, "Which direction did they come from?"
Tez' Mu narrowed his eyes. Was that more important than the lives that were lost?
"From the east, so they must have come through Guho Valley," he wanted to turn around and frown at Hu' Ran again, for that was what the steward had clearly proposed, at the Imperial Council meeting.
"From Guho Valley, you say?" Judge Ira' Sen chuckled, "Well, that puts the Lord of Guho in a fix," and he smirked at said lord, who rose, flustered, immediately.
"Your Majesty and the Scith! This humble one is innocent and has no hand in any rebellion—"
"We didn't say you had a hand in it," Lord Nur chuckled, "At least this rogue army was acting in the interests of the Scith, even though the wanton destruction was uncalled for. We also know, Lord Gu, that your banner is not a coyote."
Lord Gu heaved a sigh of relief and lowered himself back into his seat. Tez' Mu however, only grew more suspicious. It seemed whoever ordered that rogue army to attack Darin wanted the job done while still painting the imperial family as the untainted merciful party. But that image wouldn't hold for long.
"So, envoy," Hu' Ran spoke again, "Has Darin fallen?"
Tez' Mu's breath hitched. It seemed the Imperial Council in his absence had gone along with Lord Ren's plan anyway, only using a decoy. Unfortunately for them, the west hadn't fallen. It had been about to, if not for the Ru Army's intervention.
"No, steward," he answered without turning around, feeling angry for whatever reason, "As at the time I escaped, the Kests had pushed back the rogue army, as I am now corrected, to the edge of the Ksada forest."
"And now the Rus have disobeyed imperial charter and gone ahead to offer assistance to Darin!" Lord Lu fumed. Tez' Mu raised his eyebrows.
"I do not think the Ru Army has done anything wrong, now that we have determined the coyote banner army is a rogue one," he said, surprising himself. "It was never the Scith's intention to wage war on Darin, or I would not have been sent as a peace envoy. The Rus simply aided Darin in their time of need against wanton rogues no different from the Haru Invaders," he paused, "Or the Keolyor. Had the Ru Army aided the Hes without imperial charter, against the Haru, is that a crime?"
No one answered.
"You speak well, son of Mu," the Dowager's light voice came, "Come up here."
"I—I still have a question," a judge timidly raised a hand.
"No, that's enough. This queen has understood what occurred in Darin. Come up here, Tez'."
Tez' Mu turned around and ascended the steps of the dais. The Dowager held out her hand. Tez' Mu walked up to her and took it in his, unsure of what to do. She smiled, her face easing from what appeared to be stress.
"I heard you were injured," she said, putting her other hand over his.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Tez' Mu replied, feeling all of a sudden his oasis contracting. He gasped, and withdrew his hands from hers, then realized immediately the disrespect. He glanced at her, but she smiled again.
"You have worked hard," she muttered, her voice so low even Hu' Ran would not be able to hear her, "I am giving you some time to rest well. Return to the Mu Manor. Kal' Yu will see to your duties."
Despite being thankful for the break Tez' Mu found himself being annoyed. So after almost dying in Darin the Dowager suddenly had no use for him anymore? Was this her casting him aside after he had completed his purpose?
"Thank you, Your Majesty," was all he could say, inclining his head.
"That's alright!" the Dowager waved him to stand at his usual place behind her throne and addressed the Scith, "We shall all remain calm. Ochelon will pass through this trying period unhurt. All shall be well. Lord Lu, Judge Ka, I want you to investigate the rogue army that attacked Darin."
"Yes, Your Majesty," they bowed.
"And with that, I declare this session of the Scith closed," she rose, and swept off the dais. Hu' Ran followed her, whispering urgently in her ear.
Tez' Mu felt conflicted as he slowly descended the dais, while around him lords and judges bustled and argued among one another. What about the imperial support of the Ru Army, he wondered. He thought he had given a good argument in their favor—
"Envoy, or, should I say, now that that mission is completed, Lord Mu?" the female judge that had questioned him earlier appeared before him, her eyes twinkling as she surveyed him. Tez' Mu frowned.
"And you are?"
"Mali' Il—your mother and I were contemporaries at the Academy," she introduced herself, and upon closer look Tez' Mu found her to be truly in her late forties or early fifties.
"It's my honor to make your acquaintance, Lady Il," He bowed.
"I must say, your mother must be proud of you—barely an adult yet already making waves in the Scith. Only the ancestors know how powerful you will be when you're your father's age," she laughed.
"It's all the Dowager's favor, Lady Il," Tez' Mu deflected the flattery with a formal quip. She chuckled.
"Yes, that much is clear." Mali' Il concurred, "However, navigating the Scith is not dependent on only the monarch's favor. You have to have connections of your own."
Tez' Mu raised his eyebrows. "I suppose my lady is intending to make a connection with me, then?"
Mali' Il laughed. "You have your father's sharp tongue." She poked him in the chest, "But it is the other way round. I am offering you a chance to become my ally. To survive in these treacherous waters called the Scith, you must have more than one person looking out for you," she paused, and then her face relaxed, "Also, I want an invite to your house. It's been a while since I saw my friend," she added.
Tez' Mu considered his mother's frail emotional state. "I'm not sure if my lady mother wants to meet anyone at the moment, but I will check with her and see if she—"
"Oh no, Tez'," Mali' Il interrupted him, "I want to surprise Essa'—yes, goodbye, Lord Yi," she waved in passing to a lord that bumped into her, "can't that be done?"
"I'm afraid not," Tez' Mu replied firmly.
"Why? Is she missing Raq' and therefore is in a sulk?"
Tez' Mu raised his eyebrows. Mali' Il was the only person he had seen who dared to call his father by name.
"Pardon?" he frowned.
"What?" Mali' Il shrugged, "Oh, get used to it, child!" she finally caught on, "I know you're friends with the fourth great-general's nephew. Are you telling me when he inherits you'll be calling him lord?"
"Are you friends with my father, then?" Tez' Mu wondered aloud.
"I was very nearly his wife," Mali' Il revealed, and Tez' Mu froze. "This is what we'll do: as we're in a partnership now I'm free to visit the Mu Manor as I please so I'll just pretend I ran into your mother."
"Hold on," Tez' Mu frowned, "Since when were we in a partnership?"
"Since now," Mali' Il swooshed her hair around as she waved goodbye to Tez' Mu. He was left standing there with unconcealed irritation. Had he just been played?
The cool air of the palace gardens greeted him as he stepped outside, a stark contrast to the tense atmosphere within the Scith. Tez' Mu's steps quickened as he made his way back to the carriage, but his mind remained tethered to the labyrinth of power plays and unanswered questions he had just left behind.
Annir and Sari were waiting for him by the Mu carriage outside. Tez' Mu climbed in without a word. His servants looked at each other, and shrugged.
"Go to Joavir," Tez' Mu commanded, his voice muffled. Sari whipped the horse and they turned from the main street almost immediately.
The backstreets of Joavir crisscrossed around the whole imperial capital, and only a person familiar with the terrain could navigate it without getting lost. Sari expertly made a few sharp turns, and in no time at all the carriage screeched to a halt in front of the weathered, but clean Rion House.
Tez' Mu was soon ushered in by an excited Yui, one of the orphans. She informed him that Ar' Rion was yet to return from the Academy and that Heyu' Rion was also not around.
Tez' Mu settled into a fetal position on one of the plush rugs in Heyu' Rion's parlor-room, propping his head up with one of the throw pillows. Sari entered, took one glance at him, and then retreated.
The silence was so comforting that Tez' Mu did not know when he fell asleep. He was startled awake later, in the evening, when Heyu' Rion placed a kettle on one of the tables in the room.
"Sorry," she said, glancing at him from the couch, a book open in her lap, "I've been so quiet."
"How long have you been here?" Tez' Mu rubbed his eyes as he registered the faint glare of the setting sun from the window.
"A while," Heyu' Rion returned, "You looked like you needed the rest," she commented, watching him over her book.
"I did," Tez' Mu agreed, surprised that he actually slept off. Musing on the mystery of the rogue army was the last thing he remembered. "Is Ar' back?"
"Yes—the Ruan girl is with him too."
Tez' Mu got up. A blanket fell off his body. He reached down to pick it up, and glanced at Heyu' Rion, whose face was now completely covered by the Plays from Nurak book. He smiled, folding the blanket and setting it on another couch.
"Thanks, Rion-deran."
A soft grunt from her told him she heard.
Tez' Mu made his way into the narrow corridor, after exiting the parlor. He faintly heard cheers and laughter coming from the back courtyard, and he turned his steps in that direction. The children were playing hoops, shooting balls through essence circles that Ar' Rion, Sari and Annir held up. Kel' Ruan kept score, cheering the teams on as the hoops went higher and higher. One of the boys threw a shoe through Sari's hoop, and it smacked him on the head.
"Hey!"
"Ten points!" Kel' Ruan hooted.
"That's not a ball!" Annir countered, his hoop descending as he laughed. Yui quickly took the opportunity to lug two balls through it in quick succession.
"Twenty points to Yui!"
"No fair! I wasn't paying attention!" Annir shot back. Kel' Ruan stuck out her tongue at him, recording the score nonetheless in her book. Tez' Mu stood underneath the archway, watching them with a small smile. He was suddenly transported back to the times when he was a child, playing this same game with his brothers. Things were simpler then.
None of them noticed him standing there, all engrossed in the game. Tez' Mu moved, crossing the yard and sitting next to Kel' Ruan on the low fence. She started.
"Tez'! You're awake!"
He nodded, leaning over to look into her score book. She handed it to him, chuckling.
"Hira is simply beating them all," she commented, taking a sip from the glass set on the wall next to her.
"Hmm," Tez' Mu murmured. She turned to him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he raised his eyebrows. Kel' Ruan examined him, her eyes resting on his midriff, where his injury was scabbing over, covered by layers of clothing.
"I haven't seen you in such a long while. I came by your house when you returned from Darin, but Lady Mu sent me back, saying you couldn't receive guests yet."
"You came to the Mu Manor?" Tez' Mu was surprised, "No one told me this."
She shrugged, "I guess it skipped their minds."
"So you've met my mother."
Kel' Ruan smiled. A ball went through Ar' Rion's hoop. "Ten points to Elva!" she shouted, "Yes, I have," she replied Tez' Mu, taking back the book and scribbling the score next to the girl's name.
"Hmm. I wonder how that went," Tez' Mu smirked.
"I just told you. She simply asked me to leave." She raised her head to look at him, "What were you expecting?"
"Nothing," Tez' Mu said quickly, "I'm just surprised you didn't tell her you were a candidate for Third Young Lady Mu."
Kel' Ruan laughed, her hair streaming behind her as she threw her head back. "Don't be silly, Tez'," she said, after stopping, still chuckling, "I was just there to check on your welfare."
Tez' Mu watched as a lean lanky boy—Hira probably—levitated himself as he swung a ball through Sari's hoop, which was the highest. The children on the ground cheered, and an even bigger audience on the other side of the fence hooted and whistled. Tez' Mu frowned as he stared at them.
"Who are those?" he pointed as he nudged Kel' Ruan. She looked up from recording Hira's score.
"Oh," her voice dipped, "the district children," she replied, furrowing her brows, "they work for their own living. I swear Rion-deran wishes she could take them all, but there's only so much she can do," she glanced at the Rion house kids, significantly healthier and happier looking than those from across the wall.
At that moment, a gruff man's voice suddenly shouted, echoing across the street and startling everyone into silence.
"Enough now!" he yelled, appearing over the heads of the district children and shooing them along, "You have orders—work to do! You can't afford to play your life away like these ones!" he shook his head at the Rion house children and shuffled the spectators away, ignoring their cries of disappointment. Tez' Mu sighed.
"I see," he murmured. The appearance of the man seemed to douse the mood, and Annir's hoop went down first.
"I'm tired," the stable boy declared, as he lowered his hands. Sari and Ar' Rion followed suit, and the children started to gather the scattered balls. Tez' Mu slid down from the fence as Ar' Rion approached him.
"I see you're up. Sari said you were at the Scith this morning," he reached out to clasp Tez' Mu's hand.
Tez' Mu nodded. "Yeah."
"What happened?" Kel' Ruan asked, "We heard that Darin was attacked."
Tez' Mu sighed. "It was. I gave my report on my envoy mission—which didn't go well. We're in a civil war now. The west's not backing down, and now the Rus have complicated things."
"Speaking of the Rus, someone's here to see you," Sari reported, as he walked up to them, nodding at a foreign presence in the yard. It was a young girl wearing a green servant's robe with the crest of the Ru family enclosed in a circle, embroidered on the front. Annir ran up to her, and then after some words, pointed at Tez' Mu.
"My lord," she bowed, touching the hem of her robe as she nervously glanced at the people present. Kel' Ruan gave her a small encouraging smile. She didn't return it.
"What is it?" Tez' Mu asked her.
"Our butler sent me to fetch you, my lord," she responded, "We—we haven't seen lady Keiran' since yesterday," she revealed, her eyes round with worry.
"What?" Kel' Ruan was shocked, "Keiran' Ru is missing?"
Tez' Mu's heart clenched, but he frowned.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"I was sent to the Mu Manor, but Lady Mu said I could find you here. Our butler is contacting everyone my kel knows, to help find her. No one else is in the manor that can help, not even my lady Sayi'," her breath hitched as she held back tears.
"Why? Where is she?" Kel' Ruan prompted, confused.
"They're all in Nahyu," the servant answered, sniffing, "They left at the beginning of spring, but my kel had to stay behind because she had to attend the Academy. It's just been me, her, and Butler Hai, in the manor. But yesterday morning, I noticed that she didn't come out of her room early, as was her custom. I thought she was sleeping in, so I didn't investigate. By the time she was supposed to leave for the Academy, I realized she was gone."
"Was there a sign of a struggle in the room?" Tez' Mu asked, his mind reeling. Of course. Niari' Ru might have thought her daughter was safe in the capital, but she didn't take into account her latest decision.
"Yes, my lord. Her things were scattered everywhere. Butler Hai said he sensed essence outbreak in the room, so my kel must have fought with the person too," she started to cry. Kel' Ruan slipped down from the fence and put an arm around her.
"What do we do, ke?" Sari asked at once, turning to Tez' Mu, who had crossed his arms.
"Let's go. There must be something we can find that will point to whoever took her," He replied, his limbs tense. Whoever had taken Keiran' did it in retaliation of the Rus helping Darin, and to Tez' Mu, that was the biggest lead they had.
***
"Thank you for coming, my lord!" Butler Hai of the Ru Manor, a round elderly man with long black hair, glanced with apprehension mixed with gratitude at the motley crowd Tez' Mu barged in with. Ar' Rion and Kel' Ruan flanked him, looking around with astounded gazes at the opulent architecture and furnishings that Tez' Mu did not even notice. Behind him, Sari and Annir moved in tandem.
"This way, please," the butler led them directly to Keiran's bedroom, on the second floor of the mansion. The house was built differently than most noble manors in the capital, favoring Calsourian architecture and its elegant stairways and multiple floors over the traditional Ochelon-style of large courtyards and detached houses for each member of the household.
Butler Hai pushed the door to the bedroom open, revealing, as untouched as possible, the scene Keiran's servant had witnessed the previous morning—ripped hangings of the poster bed, shards of glass scattered on the floor, a hint of blood on a side cabinet, and, most conspicuously left lying on the dresser; Keiran's Academy uniform.
"Wait here," Tez' Mu told everyone on the threshold, and stepped into the room, his brows furrowed. He was not here to determine who took Keiran' Ru, but where she was taken to.
He crouched by the shards of glass and then raised his head. Keiran's windows also doubled as a door to the balcony, which by the look of things, had been forced open from the outside. Whoever had taken her seemed to have come from there, he thought, so he rose, marching towards the window-door and pushing it open.
The balcony overlooked the impressive Ru Manor garden, kept, again, by Calsourian standards, with a small duck pool in the center. Tez' Mu looked down. There was no way up from the garden, so the abductor had possibly levitated themselves in.
"My—my lord?" the butler called Tez' Mu's attention, and he turned around.
"I found this yesterday," he said, as he entered the room, holding in his hand two pieces of a torn scroll.
"The abductor teleported?" Tez' Mu's frown deepened as he collected the scroll, "it'll be harder to track her then!"
"I know, my lord. But I've contacted a teleportation scroll expert from the Academy—not telling him what happened of course—and he has promised to try his best to determine the coordinates imprinted onto the scroll," he said, "I only want to beseech you—when we find the location, will you help find my lady?"
"Of course," Tez' Mu gave his word, "Inform me anytime you have updates, be it the middle of the night."
Butler Hai let out a sigh of relief, taking back the pieces of the scroll, "I knew I could rely on you, my lord."