The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter VI: The Good Doctor

"Doctors?" said Ron, looking startled. "Those Muggle nutters that cut people up?" -- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

By order of the king almost the entire royal family was assembled in the throne room before Mirio's carriage had even entered the palace gates. There were only two people missing. The Second Prince, Zi Guang, and the Ninth Prince, Zi Yao. Both of them were too ill to be expected to wait for hours in the cold throne room. The Ninth Prince would be summoned when his cousin arrived and not before. The Second Prince would not be summoned at all.

Last night Lian had examined the Second Prince. He reported his conclusions to the king afterwards.

"I see no cause for immediate concern," he'd said. "The Second Prince has a slight fever, but his temperature is already lower than it was when the Imperial Physician checked this morning."

All the same, the king ordered the Second Prince not to leave his room until his fever was completely gone. That still left the other six surviving princes, the ten princesses, the queen, the three consorts, the nine royal concubines[1], and of course the king himself. Add to that the king's siblings, the ministers, the court officials, and the servants, and the Dragon Palace's throne room and courtyard were packed to capacity.

On the other side of the palace Bai Jiu struggled to get the Ninth Prince ready. It was a very difficult task when he had spent the last hour playing in the mud and wanted nothing more than to keep doing that.

"Don't want a bath! Don't wanna don't wanna don't wanna!"

For all that his health was so delicate there was certainly nothing wrong with his lungs.

Wu She, the eunuch who was Zi Yao's main attendant, carried the screeching prince over to the bathtub with the resigned expression of someone facing a terrible ordeal. He and Bai Jiu tried to take off His Highness's outer clothing. The Ninth Prince screamed like he was being murdered. Eventually Wu She had to hold his arms behind his back while Bai Jiu undid the fastenings of his tunic. Once he was in his underwear the two of them lifted him into the bath in spite of his protestations.

Bai Jiu turned away for a minute to look for the soap. A thump, a pained groan, and a splash made her head snap round. The Ninth Prince had just hit Wu She with the handle of a dagger -- where did he even get a weapon? What idiot had he stolen it from? -- and scrambled out of the bath. He made a wild dash for the door, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. The cleaners would be absolutely delighted to see that.

The door opened just as His Highness reached for the handle. The surprise made the Ninth Prince slip and fall to the floor. He immediately began to sob as if he was badly injured.

If he had been an ordinary boy Bai Jiu would have boxed his ears like she did when her brothers were being idiots. Unfortunately he was a prince, and so she had no choice but to pretend she wasn't annoyed with his behaviour and act as if he had some real reason to cry.

She hurried over, pretending not to see Lian standing in the doorway with the most bemused expression she'd ever seen him wear. Behind her Wu She grumbled under his breath about the bruise on his head.

"Are you hurt, your Highness?" she asked even though she knew he wasn't. This loud, constant crying wasn't the way he behaved when he was truly in pain. This was sheer histrionics.

The Ninth Prince continued to sob like he'd just heard his entire family were dead. Lian recovered from his surprise and knelt down next to him.

"A-Yao[2]," he said. Bai Jiu's mouth fell open at this presumptuously familiar way of addressing the prince. "You want to see your cousin, don't you? You told me you want to show him your drawings."