The Commoner (hiatus)

Chapter 4

Suho wakes up before the sun. Meiko is still asleep and continues to do so as he begins to prepare for the day. Sehun comes in a short while after to retrieve Mieko.
“From now on, Sehun, I'll send for you when Mieko awakens naturally,” he whispers to the eunuch. Sehun nods slowly then, after glancing at Meiko, pushes Suho into the washroom.
“The haram is beginning to talk, your highness,” Sehun informs quickly. “I respectfully advise that you don't request for Mieko so consistently.”
    “They speak through jealous lips,” Suho brushes Sehun off. “My father has not touched many of them in months.”
    “They wonder how Meiko looks so well after being with you night after night. How she doesn't limp, how she never seems to be in pain. Your Highness, if these rumors spread to the emperor…”
    Suho nods in understanding, his mind now reeling. He would have to refrain from calling on her every night. He couldn't put her in danger.
    “I'll refrain from calling her tonight and tomorrow. Make sure she is well.”
    Suho leaves the washroom and kneels down by his bed. Mieko was sleeping deeply; Suho hated to wake her up. She was so formal and stiff while she was awake. He likes how relaxed she is. After a few moments of admiring her though, he knows he can't put it off any longer. Ever so gently, he brushes her hair away from her face was calling her name softly. She wakes up quickly, her eyes blinking rapidly. It was so childlike that he can't help but smile. She sits up slowly and swings her legs out of the bed.
    “Have I overslept, my prince?” she asks, her voice raspier than usual.
    “No, Mieko, I wanted you to rest a bit more. You seemed weary yesterday.”
    “My apologies,” she replies with a yawn. She stands and stretches. “Is there anything I can do for you this morning?”
    Suho shakes his head so Sehun takes her back to her room. Suho finishes his morning routine silently and goes to work on other things. His dinner with the King of Foeteli wasn't until after sundown, so he had time to work.
    To his surprise, the dinner comes quickly. He does his best to look at ease but his words come out awkwardly. The king seems impressed anyway and agrees to sign the betrothal contract. As soon as the dinner is over and he's in the safety of his room, he breathes a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he would mess something up, despite being the best speaker among his brothers. With another sigh, he calls for his bath to be filled so he can wash up. It feels odd to have his normal attendants helping him once again. Their hands are gentle, but they don't soothe and massage the way the Mieko’s long fingers manage to do effortlessly. But he doesn’t complain. In spite of his discomfort, nobody could find out that he is not sleeping with her. She deserves his protection in every way he can manage.
    As he lies down to sleep, he can’t help but wonder how she is. Is she waiting for him to call for her? Is she already asleep? What had she done while he was working and having dinner? Did she build her garden more? Did she and Yerim spend time together? Did she care for Lucas again?
    He has trouble sleeping that night and after a few hours of tossing and turning, he relents and gets up. He dresses and summons Sehun.
    “What is wrong, your highness?” the eunuch asks once he arrives. He had clearly just woken up but his stance indicates that he is alert.
    “I cannot sleep. I’m going to go for a walk in the gardens.”
    “If you are hoping to see her, you will not,” Sehun warns. “She, Yerim, and Lucas went to sleep hours ago.”
    “Lucas?”
    “Yerim is very insistent on taking care of him. She ordered that he sleep in her quarters with her and Mieko.”
    “She has to be more careful,” Suho sighs as they start to go toward the gardens. He waves the guards off when he arrives, insisting that Sehun would be enough protection. The jasmines were in full bloom. Their thin, delicate white petals remind Suho of Mieko, so he plucks a few of them off the stem. He tells Sehun to deliver them to her when the sun rose. Sehun takes them from him carefully, as to not harm them. Suho finishes his walk soon after and goes back to his chambers. Sleep does not come easily but before he realizes it, he is being shaken awake by Sehun.
    “It is late, your highness,” Sehun informs dryly. “I told your father that you felt slightly ill late last night. But be cautious, he knows that you went for a walk in the gardens.”
    “Father knows that when I feel ill or cannot sleep, I take a walk.”
    Sehun nods a bit, then leaves close to Suho's ear. “Mieko thanks you for the flowers. She made a tea out of it to ‘rejuvenate and refresh’ herself.”
    Suho smiles a bit; he knew Mieko would probably do that. He then shakes his head. Mieko could not occupy his mind all day. He has things to accomplish.
    The day goes by excruciatingly slowly. None of Suho's friends and acquaintances have replied to his plea for them to marry his sister. It had been nearly a week. That meant they only had a few weeks left to save Yerim. Suho tells himself that it would be fine, that a few weeks is enough. But anxiety makes his body twitchy and after a while of attempting to work, he gives up. He can't think straight now.
    He calls for Sehun and tells him to inform his brothers that he challenged them to a game of scores. He then gets changed into something he can get dirty and makes his way to the courtyard.
    Scores was a ball game. One directs the ball with their feet and body to get it into a stacked goal. The goal was stacked, the first part about a meter and a half off the ground. The second part is mounted about two meters high, and the third is four meters off the ground. There are four goals, so traditionally, the game is for four players. One goal for each player to score in. The goal parts had scores ranked lowest to highest, the bottom goal being the lowest score and the top goal being the highest.
    The four brothers had made the game up when they were young, but it was now so popular that annual games were held all across the country in formal playing courts. For today though, Suho was just going to use the courtyard. Keep it simple.
    The courtyard was divided into two parts, the greenhouse (which is the only place that merged the rest of the palace from the harem, rather than divide it. The greenhouse could be accessed by anyone is they had royal permission) and the open area (meant for outdoor celebration and, in this case, score games).
    Suho helps attendants set up the court and hangs his flag (a ribbon really, colored a deep red) on what he wanted to be his goal. It didn't really matter what goal he got since they are all equally apart from each other. But Suho always has the same goal and he isn't going to change that.
    His brothers all arrive practically on top of each other. Kai was grinning widely, as was Chen. Even Xiumin had a slight grin on his face. They were all excited to play.
    A small crowd had started to form in the greenhouse and just outside of it. He could see Yerim standing there with a smile on her face, but he didn’t see Mieko. He shakes his head as Sehun approaches the princes with the ball in his hands. After explaining the rules, reiterating on the fact that you could not carry the ball nor throw the ball (everyone’s eyes went to Chen when that was stated. Chen cheats on that rule more often than not.), he gathers the boys in the center and tosses the ball into the air. Kai, because of his height advantage, manages to grab it and start dribbling it down the court to his goal. Xiumin steals it halfway there but Chen flicks his hand under Xiumin’s grip, causing the ball to drop to the ground. Chen kicks it away from Xiumin, only for Suho to steal it and kick it toward his goal. If he had been a less experienced player, it wouldn’t have gone in. however, he had been playing since the creation of the game. It slides into the second tier of the goal with ease, making Suho the first to score. Everyone cheers as Suho’s score is counted, but Suho can’t help but glance hopefully at the greenhouse. Mieko is still nowhere to be seen, although, a boy had come to stand by Yerim’s side. He was tall and lithe, but his face and neck were battered and bruised. Lucas. His father and the king of Forteli had arrived as well, although, they were on the other side of the courtyard. Suho focuses back on the game, but he finds he's not as motivated anymore. It shows when Xiumin manages to steal the ball right out of his hands. He jerks in surprise when it happens, then chases after Xiumin and kicks it away from the Crown Prince.
    After about a half an hour, Kai and Xiumin are tied up with scores of 15 points each. After Chen makes a score, Suho glances at his sister and Lucas again. A familiar face had joined them; Mieko sat on the ground, legs folded under themselves. She was watching with an intrigued face and asking Yerim questions every few seconds. Suho isn't sure why, but his heart tightens and he starts to play harder. His brothers notice and immediately team up on him whenever he gets the ball, which isn't really in compliance with the rules but it makes the game exciting. Even with his brothers on his back constantly, he manages to catch up to Kai and Xiumin. When the hour is nearly up, he makes a final goal, putting his score at 21. Sehun announces Suho as the winner, and Suho glances over to see if Mieko is still there. She is, and she spares him a small smile as Lucas helps her up.
    Suho grins but is careful to leave it on as he looks around to the small crowd. Everyone is cheering for him. Even his father seems to be happy with the results of the game, and his father was always rooting for Xiumin if he showed up. It is probably because he made himself look good to the King of Foeteli by winning.
    His father invites him and his brothers, as well as the King of Foeteli, to join him for dinner. Suho's smile drops a bit. He hates eating with his father. There's always something wrong with the food and his father has someone beaten, imprisoned, and sometimes even executed. But he knew this time, there was no getting out of it. So he goes to his room to clean up a bit before heading to the dining hall.
    “I've truly never seen such a spectacular game!” the King of Foeteli announces several hours later, his words slurring together. His father hits the other man on the back weakly while laughing. They are both hopelessly drunk. At this point, Xiumin finally asks permission for the brothers to take their leave. He gets waved off as the two men laugh about something else.
    “What gave you the idea to play Scores today?” Chen asks as they're walking down the halls. “You are normally so… Boring. You are always working.”
    “I could not focus today,” Suho admits sheepishly. “I needed to release tension.”
    “I understand,” Xiumin affirms. “I was sending a messenger to ask if you wanted to train today when I received your invitation.”
    “Would you like to train tomorrow then?”
    “Yes.”
    Kai and Chen then make plans to go into the city the next day. Suho arrives at his room first and bids his brothers a good night. He wants to bathe but he finds that it feels strange, rather than comforting and relaxing. He rests his head on the back of the tub and sighs. Mieko’s face comes to rest behind his closed eyelids. She is what he dreams off when he eventually falls asleep.
    The next day he makes sure to constantly occupy himself. The more he did, the faster the time passed (perceptively). When the dark finally falls, he tells Sehun to fetch Mieko for him. Even though it has only been two days, it feels like it has been much longer. While he’s waiting, a messenger brings him a single letter. He takes it hesitantly.
The seal on the letter indicates that it's from the Eastern Isles, where Crown Prince Taeyong lives. The letter has to be from Taeyong, considering Suho's most recent letter to the prince was asking him to marry Yerim.
“My prince?” a voice cuts into his thoughts and he glances up, the letter was forgotten. Mieko was standing timidly by the entrance to his office space. Suho smiles upon seeing her, then his face twists in concern. She looks more than skinny now. She looks frail.
“Mieko, are you well?” he asks. She smiles a bit and nods. He gets up and walks over to her. Normally, she stood around the same height as he but now, she seemed so tiny in comparison to him. He puts a hand on her head to check for a fever. But he finds himself to be more anxious when he is met with ice cold flesh.
“Meiko, have you not been eating?” he asks softly, not wanting her to fright. She blinks at him several times.
“I've been eating,” she starts slowly, then she seems to become even smaller. “But I can't… It won't… I've tried drinking tea to soothe my stomach, but…”
Suho has never seen Mieko look so lost for words. It's unsettling for him, and he can't even imagine what was making her so anxious.
“Is there something wrong, Mieko?” he inquires in the gentlest voice he can muster. He used to use this voice to soothe Kai when the younger prince woke up from a bad dream. He hopes it's still soothing.
Her eyes flick up and she takes a deep breath before releasing it.
“I have a problem with anxiety,” she whispers after a few moments. “Whenever I'm truly alone, or overcrowded, or even meeting new people, my body becomes so tense that it doesn't… function correctly. I can still work properly, but when I eat… It just…” her cheeks flush pink as her next words fly from her mouth, “I get sick until everything I've eaten is out. I've tried drinking relaxing teas and eating only a little bit at a time, but it hasn't worked. That's why I look… like this.” she gestures to herself.
Suho stares at her for a few seconds. So Sehun was right about her weight loss caused adjusting to a new environment; it is simply more intense than he realized. Suho can't help but feel bad for her. Being anxious was bad enough, but not being able to even eat properly because of anxiety? Suho can't imagine.
“I'm sorry if I've displeased you, my prince,” she mumbles, her head hanging. Suho reels.
“Don't be sorry for something you can't help, Mieko,” he replies, his voice lacing with concern. “What usually helps when this happens?”
“When this happened when I lived with my father, he usually made me relax for a while and would perform acupuncture to help my body, as a whole, relax. I drank tea quite often as well.”
“Then relax tonight. You look ill and your skin is so cold. Later, you can try to eat again before we sleep.” Mieko opens her mouth to say something, but she shuts it again and nods in agreement. “I don’t know acupuncture, so I can’t help with that. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, my prince,” Mieko shakes her head. “You’re already doing too much.”
“Mieko,” he gently tilts her head up so that she can meet his eyes. “I don’t want you to be sick. I would send for a doctor, but the doctor isn’t allowed to treat the women of the palace. We have a midwife, but that’s it. And I don’t think I midwife can help you if I’m being honest. I can get you anything you need, but I’m your doctor for now.” He rubs a thumb across her cheek. She is as cold as ice. “Is there anything I can do for you? Do not be afraid to ask.”
“I…” she pauses. “Whenever I felt sick, my brother would brush my hair.”
“Then come,” he takes her hand and leads her to his bed. He lays pillows on the floor for her to sit on then takes his brush off the vanity. After he cleans it out, he sits behind her and starts to brush her long, black hair. After a few minutes, he hears her exhale. She shudders then becomes completely still. He can see how she has become lax after brushing through her hair with a light but firm hand.
“Mieko,” he asks softly after a while. She hums to show she was paying attention. “Do you want to try eating again?”
“Yes,” she mumbles. He leaves for a few seconds to order food to be brought to his public chambers. Sehun comes and lets him know when it arrives. He sets the tray down before her and sits across from her. She looks sleepy, so he is quick to break the bread, dip it in the broth, and hold it up to her mouth. Mieko blinks at him blearily before opening her mouth and accepting the food. Suho feeds her a few more bites before moving behind her to continue brushing her hair. She finished off meager amount before yawning. He smiles and tugs her up.
“Do you want to go to sleep?” he wonders. Mieko nods sleepily and doesn’t protest when he tucks the blanket around her on the bed. Within a few meager moments, he hears her deep, steady breaths. When he is absolutely sure she is asleep, he gets up from the bed and pads out of his chambers.
“I'm going to the archives,” he tells one of the guards patrolling the halls. “If the whore,” he tries to make his voice sound as convincing as possible in spite of the bitter taste of the word, “wakes up, make sure she stays in my chambers. I'll want her when I come back. If she asks where I am, tell her.”
“Yes, sir.”
    Suho then strides down the torch lit halls. He wonders where he was going to find remedies for anxiety. It isn’t a commonly talked about an issue; it didn’t usually become a physical ailment like it is for Meiko. Then again, it could and nobody spoke of it.
    The librarian is in the archives, putting numerous books and scrolls away. He glances at Suho when he walks in. Kyungsoo, the librarian, is a bit shorter than Suho. But what he lacks in height, he makes up with attitude. The only reason that Kyungsoo isn’t dead by now is that he was the only person who knew the history of the kingdom and where every single thing in the archives was located. He also never seems to age, which had left the whisper that he was actually a gift from the gods to the kingdom.
    “What do you want?” Kyungsoo grunts. “It’s past the witching hour.”
    “Do you know how to cure anxiety?” Suho inquires. “Or where I could find it.”
    “There is no such thing as a cure for anxiety,” Kyungsoo deadpans, shoving a scroll back in its place. “Anxiety is an ailment of the mind. The best thing to do is to avoid any stressors, don’t drink tea, and to meditate.”
    “Don’t drink tea?” Suho questions. Kyungsoo nods.
    “Many times, tea makes one more alert,” a shelf falls somewhere in the archives and Kyungsoo swears like a sailor. “This can make anxiety much worse. Mint teas don’t cause this, but other tea more often than not does. If you have anxiety, you want to make sure you’re drinking a lot of water and eating plenty of vegetables. Meats without a lot of fat are good too, such as chicken and beef shoulder.”
    “I see,” Suho muses.
    “Be careful when you care for her though,” Kyungsoo warns. “I've met her before, outside the palace. Her father says that when she's sick, she's a nightmare to treat. She doesn't like anything new very much.”
    Suho stares at the librarian. “Are you talking about Meiko?”
    “Who else would I be talking about?” Kyungsoo replies. “Now hurry back. She doesn't sleep well when there is no one by her side.”
    Suho shakes his head and obeys the librarian’s order. When he gets back to his room, Mieko is awake. Judging by the way she is still rubbing the crust from her eyes, she hasn't been awake for long. She blinks at him.
    “Did you go somewhere?”
    “To the archives,” he answers honestly. “I couldn't sleep, so I decided to read for a little while.”
    “Are you sleepy now?” the innocence of her tone makes his chest feel light and he smiles at her.
    “A bit more,” he answers, climbing back into the bed. He turns onto his side so he can look at her. “Go back to sleep.”
    “I can't possibly sleep if you can't,” Mieko protests.
    “Tell me a story then,” he chuckles. “It'll help us both sleep.”
    She ponders this for a few moments, then snuggles a bit closer to him so he could hear her more clearly. She is still far enough away that she isn't touching him, but she is close enough that if he wants to put an arm around her, he can.
    “There was once a little turtle who thought his shell was the most beautiful shell in the world. He would boast to all of his friends about how it was shinier than theirs. He even told his own mother that he was more beautiful than she could even fathom.
    “Now, his mother was a wise old turtle and she decided to teach him a lesson about pride. So she sent him on a journey to see the great turtle of the sea. The little turtle went on his way, singing his about how beautiful he was. On his way, he met a tiny caterpillar who told him despite his ugliness, he would grow up to be a beautiful butterfly. The turtle laughed and said that he would never be as beautiful as him. But the look on the little caterpillars face made his shell tingle.  He didn't like it, so he moved on.
    “The next creature he met was a beautiful frog. The frog had brightly colored patterns etched across his back that immediately drew eyes toward the scaled back. Even the prideful little turtle had to acknowledge it. The frog, however, warned the little turtle about his beauty. The frog was poisonous! He was beautiful so that other creatures were warned away. The frog had no friends. The little turtle thought that to be horribly sad. The frog called it ‘the price of beauty’ though. The little turtle wanders away with a heavy heart; if he was beautiful, did that mean that he too, would have to remain friendless?
    Finally, the little turtle arrives at the sea…”
    Suho wakes up the next morning surprisingly warm. When he opens his eyes, he is shocked to find that Mieko had skillfully managed to wrap herself around him during the night. She doesn’t look quite so deathly pale anymore, which is good. But he has no idea how he is going to untangle himself from her without waking her up. Her arms are latched around his torso, her head is resting on his shoulder, and her leg had ridden up so it rested folded on his thigh. She is cuddling him like one cuddles a stuffed toy or a pillow.
    He, in all honesty, is quite comfortable but he knows that if she wakes up in that position, she will never agree to sleep in his bed again. As carefully as possible, he unhooks her arms from him, replacing them with the pillow that she was originally supposed to sleep on. He eases her head from his chest and lays it on another pillow before easing his body out from under her leg. She stirs slightly but doesn’t wake up. He calls for a bath to be drawn for himself since he didn’t get to take one the night before. While he waits for it to be filled, he opens the letter from Taeyong.
    Taeyong said that he was flattered by the offer and wanted to take it since he already knew Yerim from when they were young, but upon bringing the matter to his parents he discovered that they were already planning engagement for him. Suho sighs in disappointment as Meiko starts to stir in the bed. He folds the letter and slips it under a few other documents. She sits up a few moments later. She looks refreshed and he smiles at her. She blinks at him a few times before the edges of her mouth tilt up ever so slightly.
    “Good morning, my prince,” she greets, then notices the servants moving to fill the tub. “Are you going to bathe?” Suho nods
    “You will help me?” he questions. She nods and swings her legs out of his bed. Her skinny legs catch his attention immediately but he is careful to keep his attention on her face. She deserves his respect and courtesy. He strips and gets in the tub, where she immediately starts to wash his body with her long fingers. He relaxes easily under her steady     touch.
    “Are you well?” he asks while she rubs soap into his hair.
    “Yes, my prince.” Mieko’s soothing voice return.
    “Have you made any friends besides my sister and Lucas?”
    “No, my prince.”
“Why not?”
“If I may be honest, the harem women are a bit… crude. The last time I left your chambers, they asked why I did not smell of sex.”
Suho whirls around to stare at her. She jumps back to avoid the water splashing on her white sleep dress.
“My prince?” she asks, her eyes wide in shock.
“What did you tell them?” he questions urgently.
“I told them that I washed with a rag,” Mieko responds unsurely. He sighs in relief and relaxes.
“That’s good. If you would like, I can call for more water to be brought so you can bathe in here?”
    “I don’t need more water,” she answers after a few moments. “That is a waste of a limited resource.“
    “You would use the water that I just used?” Suho skeptically asks. That notion seemed a bit… disgusting. After all, how would one become clean if they used dirty water to wash?
    “Of course.”
    He shakes his head in disagreement. “No. Even if it's considered normal among the common folk, I'll not have you bathe in old water.”   
    Mieko is silent for a few moments and Suho fears that he said something insulting.
    “As you wish, my prince,” she finally mumbles. After she finishes washing him, he calls for food to be brought as well as new water. They eat while the tub is being filled again. She didn't vomit after a few moments, so she went to take a bath. Suho finds that it takes all of his will power not to peek in. Mieko is beautiful and he is a man; it's natural for him to be attracted to those who were beautiful. He screws his eyes closed and wills his desire away.
    “Suho!” Chen comes barreling into his room's public chamber. Suho jerks in surprise and before he can respond, Chen runs into his private chambers.
    “Chen, what are you doing!” he exclaims, turning the other man so he faced away from the doorless entry to the washroom. Mieko is ducked down in the tub so much that he could only see her head. Her eyes are wide.
“Sorry, I couldn't wait to tell you!” Chen exclaimed. “Crown Prince Genisim agreed to my proposal of Yerim’s hand in marriage!”
Suho stares in shock for a few moments before a smile graces his face. He grabs Chen by the shoulders and pulls him in for a tight hug.
    “Have you told Xiumin or father yet?” he asks when he pulls away. Chen shakes his head.
“You and Xiumin are Father's favorites, but Xiumin has to tell Yerim.”
    “Xiumin has to tell Father. I'll have Mieko tell Yerim,” Suho answers quickly, then stops pauses as he realizes what he just said.
    “Who is Mieko?” Chen tilts his head. Suho curses himself.
“My woman.”
    “You have a woman?“ Chen stares blankly. “I thought you said that you were saving yourself for the woman you love or the woman you marry?”
Oh, Goddess above.
“I gave up,” Suho shrugs nonchalantly. “I'm a man after all. Now just more officially.”
    “I never thought I'd see the day!” Chen laughs. “Is she pretty? Is she good in bed? Is she both? Does she have a nice voice? What's your favori--”
    “Chen, don't ask me questions about my sex life,” Suho interrupts, a heat filling his cheeks. Mieko could hear everything they are saying from the next room over. She probably won’t mention it, but still. The thought of her hearing him makes him shudder.
    “Suho, we’re brothers. At least tell me if she’s pretty!” Chen whines.
    If it would get Chen to stop asking uncomfortable questions…
    “She’s the most beautiful girl on under the sun,” Suho finally attests. “Nobody can compare to her.”
    “Not even Mother or Yerim?”
    Suho smiles and nods. “Yes. She even puts them to shame.”
    “I need a woman like her,” Chen sighs. “I’m bored of all my girls.” Chen perks up. “Care to share her?”
    “Never,” Suho snaps. “Go tell Xiumin about Prince Genisim.”
    Chen pouts childishly but leaves. Mieko comes out of the washroom then, a small smile on her face. She has a towel wrapped around her body, her clothes in her hand.
    “Did you mean it, my prince?” she asks softly.
    “He’ll never have you to warm his bed,” Suho replies firmly. “Nobody ever will.”
    “Except for you,” she chortles. Suho chokes on his saliva.
    “You don’t have to if you don’t wish it,” he struggles to answer.
    “I know, my prince,” she sighs. “I didn’t have any extra clothing.”
    “I have a robe you can wear back to your room. If somebody asks, tell them that your own clothing was ruined and I didn’t want anyone else to see you,” Suho says, going to enter his closet. It takes him a few moments to find the robe among his undergarments. He smiles when he finds it though. His mother had given it to him the night before he turned 19. She had had it personally made for him by designers from her home country.
    “Every man is given one when they come-of-age,” she had said, slipping it over his shoulders. She smiled and he smiled back. “It likely won’t fit in a few years, but that’s to be expected. You’re becoming a man. It’s supposed to be the last gift you receive as a child.”
    “It’s beautiful, Mother.” He admired the patterns on it. They didn’t have a specific shape or form, but the abstractness of it made it even more lovely and unique.
    “I had ones made for Chen and Kai as well,” she said softly, placing a cold hand on Suho’s cheek. “Promise me something, my love.”
    “Anything you ask, Mother.”
    “If I don’t live to see them grow into men, will you give them theirs?”
    “Don’t speak like that, Mother!” Suho gasped.
    “Suho, I’m old now. I don’t know how much longer I have. Please, promise me.”
    “I promise, Mother.”
    She did live long enough to give Kai his coming-of-age gift, Suho thinks with a smile. He folds the robe over his arm and leaves to give it to Mieko. He finds her sitting on the bed, running her hands through her hair to detangle it.
    “Here,” he offers it to her and she takes it. She doesn’t put it on immediately though. She stops to look at it.
    “This is a coming-of-age gift from Zilandia,” she mumbles, running a hand over the designs. “How do you have this?”
    “My mother was Zilandian. She had one made for all of her sons.”
    “She must’ve loved all of you very much.”
    “She did.”
    Mieko looks like she’s going to say something else but decides not to. Instead, she goes back to the washroom to change into the robe. Suho has Sehun waiting to take her back to the harem.
    “Princess Calinda will be arriving at the end of the month, correct?” Suho asks the eunuch.
    “Yes, your highness. And her father will leave the day after the wedding. Prince Kolin of Andival will be arriving soon after.”
    “Will I be expected to consummate the marriage immediately?”
    “I would assume so, Prince Suho.”
Suho sighs and rubs the back of his neck. The thought fills him with dread. But it will be his duty when the time comes. No matter what he wishes.
    Mieko comes out of the washroom and yawns. Sehun greets her and she follows him out of Suho’s room. He likes the way the robe looks on her.