The Wandering God

52 Where Mountains And Streams End 1/4

山窮水盡
Shānqióng-shuǐjìn
Where the mountains and streams end.
At the end of one's rope.

*~*~*~*~*~*

I did not leave when Gakare arrived with his troops a week later, or when the rainy season turned to summer a week after that.

I did not know why I stayed. Often I would look at Kageyama's sword, and contemplate how I could hand it to the prince, and tell him it was time for me to go at last.

But I didn't.

Kageyama knew I would not leave the prince by himself, I thought. The damn fox planned it.

After Kageyama left, Sanli withdrew into himself. He was quieter, and hardly laughed or smiled at all. A preoccupied shadow of his usual self.

Just as he had done for me after Zakhar's death, I tried to find little ways to cheer the prince. I would bring him fresh baked bread, pretty rolls dyed pink with the juice of berries and smooth green cakes filled with melon paste. I got him up in the morning, insisted he dressed, and encouraged him to leave Kageyama's house at least once a day for a walk with me, to the nearby pond or the market.

It is like caring for a child, I thought. Did Kageyama think this as well?

It was time consuming, but I found caring for the little prince was not entirely unpleasant.

I made sure the prince didn't drink too much wine, as that seemed to trigger his worse moods. And knowing his propensity to not eat, I ensured he ate healthy and regulars, ordering from the best restaurants in the area.

It was receiving one such ordered meal that I learned of Sanli's brother's death.

"Why are you wearing a mourning band?" I asked the delivery man, pointing to the white cloth band around his left upper arm.

The man took my coin and then passed the lacquered boxes filled with our lunch and dinner to me with a bow. "Didn' you 'ear? The Regent is dead. Found stabbed to death in his own bedroom."

My eyes widened. "Who did it?"

The delivery man shrugged, bending to pick up the boxes from our meals from the day before. "Nobody knows. Investigating now though. The first prince has vowed not to take his father's position until the culprit is found. Nice of 'im, respecting his father like that, but it means the Green Kingdom doesn't have a leader now."

I doubt the move had been done out of 'niceness'. It was political. The delivery man offered a few more speculations and then left.

I made my way across the courtyard, lunchboxes in hand. The two soldiers from Zhangyu's guard who were on duty today were unknown to me, and I did not want to ask them. I would wait until Gakare came at the end of the day for the night shift to learn more.

It was early morning, but the sun was already hot on the pavers of the courtyard. I sighed with relief as I stepped into Kageyama's home. The thick wood beams of the building reached down to the stone foundations, which in turn reached down into the lake bed. It kept the inside of the house cool and pleasant.

Upstairs, I found Sanli awake and sitting on his bedroll, looking out onto the sunny morning canal.

"I have our food for the day," I told the prince, setting the boxes beside him. "Do you want to eat now?"

Sanli shook his head, eyes still on the sunny window. "I wonder if Sho Sensei has found Ermi," he said wistfully.

He already worries about so much. I do not want to tell him about his brother. I knew there was no love lost between Sanli and his older half brother, Xiangli, but I did not want to add to the prince's cares.