Sunlight crept into the cave.  Leiyu went out for a while and returned after hunting down some small animals.  He started a fire outside and began roasting them.  After the meat was done cooking, he stood at the cave’s entrance.  Prince Thallios was still curled up under his cloak inside the cave, his back facing Leiyu.

“Your Highness?”  There was no response.  “Do you want anything to eat?”

“No…”

Leiyu had a concerned look on his face.  Last night, it had taken Prince Thallios a long time to calm down from crying and finally fall asleep.  He was probably still not feeling well.  “Your Highness, I’ll just leave some food next to you.  You can eat it whenever you want.”

He placed some meat on a piece of cloth next to Prince Thallios, and then went outside to extinguish the fire.  Sitting down on a rock, he began to eat his share of the food.  There was a soft stirring from inside the cave and he turned to look back inside.  The food he had placed in the cave was gone, and the prince resumed curling up on the ground.  Feeling somewhat relieved, he continued eating.

***

Leiyu sat with his eyes closed in meditation inside the cave.  Several hours had already passed since their meal.  He heard another stirring and opened his eyes.  Prince Thallios had finally sat up.  His eyes were reddish and had dark circles underneath.

“Your Highness, how are you feeling?”

Prince Thallios looked at him.  “Do you have any water?”

“Oh!  Of course…here, Your Highness…”  Leiyu took his flask out of his sleeve and handed it over.

Prince Thallios stared at him uneasily as he took the flask.  “Did you just…take that out of your sleeve?”  He was confused since the flask was shaped like a medium-sized gourd and did not look like it would fit into Leiyu’s thin sleeves.

“Ah yes, my sleeves can hold a lot of things.  They have a magical storage space inside them.  That’s why I don’t have to travel with any extra bags.”

“...”  Prince Thallios held the flask in his hand, hesitating before finally he drank from it.  “Thank you.” He handed it back.  After a while, he stood up and headed to the entrance of the cave.  Walking outside, he looked into the distance. “The Sword of Ages is in the mountains to the northeast.”  Turning to Leiyu, he said, “We should get going…”

***

They rode through the wilderness for hours and eventually found a dirt road that cut through a hilly area.  Dusk was settling and it was starting to get cold.  In the distance, Leiyu could see a thin column of smoke curling in the air.  Riding further ahead, they spotted a small inn.

“Your Highness, we could rest there for the night.”

They stopped in front of the inn, dismounted from their horses, and tied the reins to the wooden post in front of the entrance.  As they approached the inn’s door, Leiyu turned and paused.  He was staring at the ruby ornament on Prince Thallios’ head.

“Wait,” said Leiyu.

“Hm?”

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Leiyu said as he reached over and pulled Prince Thallios’ hood over his head.  “You should cover this up since it might attract too much attention.”

Prince Thallios gave him a look but said nothing.  They entered the inn.  No one was there other than the innkeeper at the back, who had his head buried in his arms on top of a table.

The innkeeper stirred and lifted his head.  He yawned and looked at his two guests with bleary eyes.  He focused on Leiyu first and addressed him in lethargic Sargeshi.  “Welcome…”  He then looked at Prince Thallios.  Although the prince was wearing a hood, his face was still visible.  The innkeeper narrowed his eyes.  “A woman?  We don’t get those too often around here…”

Prince Thallios’ eyes widened.

“Sir,” the innkeeper said to Leiyu, “this woman is…?”

“She’s…” Leiyu began.

The innkeeper continued staring at them.

“She’s…my wife,” said Leiyu.

Prince Thallios’ eyes became even wider and his cheeks flushed.

“Ah…forgive my rudeness,” said the innkeeper.  “Will you be staying the night?”

“Yes,” Leiyu replied.

“All right.  Here’s the key.  First room upstairs.  Kitchen is closed but here is some wrapped-up flatbread if you’re hungry.”

***

Leiyu held a candle lamp while Prince Thallios held the flatbread as they walked upstairs.  They entered the room and Leiyu set down the candle lamp on a small table.  He walked back to the door and locked it.

Prince Thallios glared at Leiyu.  “I’m your wife?!”

“Ah, forgive me, Your Highness.  The innkeeper already mistook you for a woman so I had to play along with it.  Besides, better to let him think you are my wife rather than a…um…I don’t want to say it because it’s not polite…”

Prince Thallios’ face turned red and he coughed a few times.  “Yes, yes, I get the picture, no need to continue.”  He sat down on the floor in a huff.  

Ah, I hope he’s not too upset, Leiyu thought.

After regaining his composure, Prince Thallios unwrapped the flatbread and tore it in half.  He offered one of the halves to Leiyu, who accepted it immediately.  They both ate without saying a word.

***

Later that night, Prince Thallios peered at the moon through the window.  “Leiyu?”

“Your Highness?”

“Will I really be hunted down?”

“...”

Prince Thallios pulled the curtain over the window.  He walked over to sit down on the floor next to Leiyu.

“My father must have made a lot of enemies…”

“Your Highness, please do not worry.  I swore to protect you no matter what.”

Prince Thallios smiled.  “It’s getting late.”  He looked over the room and his expression suddenly changed.  “Oh…”

“Something wrong, Your Highness?”

“There is only one bed…”

“Oh!”  Leiyu’s face turned red.  “You can have it, Your Highness.  I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Prince Thallios turned to look at him with an expression that Leiyu could not quite read.  “Thank you,” he finally said.  He walked over to the bed, sat down, and removed his boots.  He then removed his hair ornament and his long loose auburn hair cascaded downward.  Leiyu stared at him with a strange stirring feeling in his chest.

“Good night, Leiyu,” said Prince Thallios, pulling the blanket over himself as he lay down.

“Good night, Your Highness.”  He blew out the candle and settled onto the floor.

***

The next morning, while still lying on the floor, Leiyu could hear faint galloping in the distance.  His eyes shot open and he ran to the window, pulling the curtain aside.  There was a cloud of dust on the horizon and he could discern a mass of soldiers on horseback.

Running to the bed, he whispered, “Your Highness, wake up!”

“Hm?” murmured Prince Thallios, opening his eyes slowly.

“Your Highness, we must leave now!  People are approaching!”

Prince Thallios’ eyes widened and he shot out of bed.  He quickly scrambled to put on his boots and gathered his belongings.  Before they left the room, he put his hood back over his head.  They descended the stairs in a hurry and Leiyu gave some gold coins to the innkeeper on their way out.

“Leaving so early?  Hope you enjoyed your stay!” said the innkeeper.

“Thanks!” Leiyu replied.

Leiyu and Prince Thallios untied their horses from the wooden post outside the entrance, mounted them, and rode off into the distance.

***

Some time later, the soldiers arrived at the inn.  One of them went up to the door and knocked loudly.  The sound of shuffling feet came from within the inn and the door slowly creaked open.  The innkeeper poked his head through the doorway and then gasped at the sight before him.

“C-can I help you?” the innkeeper asked in Sargeshi.

“Have any travelers stopped by recently?” the soldier demanded.  “Anyone who looked like a noble?”

“The only guests here last night were an Eastern-looking man and a local woman who was his wife,” the innkeeper replied nervously.  “They just left earlier. Both of them looked like commoners.”  Then he added, “The wife was quite pretty though.”

The soldier gave him an odd look.  “All right, thank you.” He motioned to the others that they could continue down the road.

***

Leiyu and Prince Thallios were hiding on a nearby hilltop overlooking the inn.

“They really did send soldiers after you, Your Highness,” Leiyu said.

Thallios shuddered.  Then he turned to Leiyu.  “You can hear them from here?”

“Mm yes, my hearing is quite sharp.”

Prince Thallios sighed.  “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Leiyu grinned and turned to look at him.  Prince Thallios’ hair was still loose since he did not have time to tie it up before they left.  A gentle breeze blew and his hair strands danced around his face.  Leiyu’s breathing quickened.

“We should go, Your Highness,” he said, trying not to get distracted.

They continued riding their horses into the wilderness.

***

Later that day, they stopped by a river.  Leiyu stood at the riverbank and spotted some movement in the water.  His hand shot through the surface and pulled out a wriggling fish.  He placed it on the ground, picked up a rock, and dealt with it quickly so that it would not suffer too long.  Then he took out a knife and gutted it.  Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Prince Thallios wince.

After the fish was cleaned, Leiyu gathered a pile of sticks and started a fire.  He skewered the fish and roasted it over the flame.  Hearing a tearing sound, he turned around and saw Prince Thallios use his dagger to cut a strip off his cloak.  The prince then used the strip to tie up his hair in a loose bun.

“Your Highness?”

“Hm?”

“That hair ornament you were wearing yesterday…”

“Oh, don’t worry, I didn’t leave it at the inn.  It’s in here.”  Prince Thallios pointed to the small pouch strapped to his waist.  “You said it would attract too much attention, so I won’t wear it anymore.”

“What about the jewel on your forehead?”

“Oh…this…was a gift from my mother before she passed away.  I never take it off.”

Leiyu understood and did not comment further.  He turned his attention back to the roasting fish.

***

Leiyu and Prince Thallios sat before the fire and ate.  The meat was moist and the flavor was mild.  As Leiyu carefully removed the small fish bones from his mouth, he saw the prince examining the dagger in his hand.

“Your Highness, that is an intricately crafted dagger.”

“Indeed.  Want to see something interesting?”  Prince Thallios flicked his wrist and an extra blade rotated out from the existing dagger blade.  It straightened itself so that the dagger now looked like a sword.

“Wow…” said Leiyu.

“And if you want to retract it, you just press this here.”  Prince Thallios pressed the jewel on the hilt and the extra blade folded back in.  “My father gifted this to me on my eighteenth birthday.”  Then his face turned solemn.  He put the dagger back into its scabbard.  “I used to wonder why he didn’t want me to leave the palace.  Perhaps he didn’t want outsiders to know what I looked like since he was afraid people would come after me.”

Leiyu discreetly removed another tiny bone from his mouth and placed it in the ever growing pile in front of him. He hesitated but curiosity got the best of him.  “Were you and your father close?”

Prince Thallios frowned and had a faraway look in his eyes.

“Sorry, Your Highness.  You don’t have to answer.  I should not have asked.”

“No, it’s fine.  We should get to know each other better if we’re going to be on this quest for a long time.”  Prince Thallios sighed.  “I can’t say that we were that close, since we hardly spoke after my mother passed away.  I was very close to her and was only ten when she left us.  I had a lot of difficulty eating and sleeping in the days after that.  However, I think it affected my father even more.  He did try speaking with me a little after the funeral, to reassure me that my mother was at peace now, after suffering from her illness for so long.  But it wasn’t long before he disappeared.”

Leiyu looked at him.  “Disappeared?”

“Not truly disappeared, since he was still at the palace.  But he locked himself into his chambers and refused to come out unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“But…he’s the king.  Wasn’t he supposed to rule?”

“The ministers ended up taking over most of his duties.  The palace attendants said he was in mourning.  However, the mourning lasted for five years.”

Leiyu’s eyes widened.  “Five years?”

“Yes, I hardly saw him during that time.  He was practically a stranger.”

***

Night fell and they found another cave to take shelter in.  Leiyu sat in quiet meditation.  Opening his eyes, he gazed upon Prince Thallios’ sleeping figure a short distance away.  The prince was breathing softly and his face looked serene.  Leiyu let his eyes linger for a bit before closing them again.

Leiyu thought about what Prince Thallios had told him earlier.  Even though the prince had just lost his father, it seemed like the real loss already happened long ago, and he was essentially an orphan too, at least for those first five years.  Leiyu’s thoughts turned to his Shifu.  Ever since Shifu rescued him from the streets, he was a constant presence in his life until he passed away.  Shifu was always there to train and mentor him and his other martial brothers.

Maybe I wasn’t so unfortunate after all, Leiyu thought.  He felt the pull of sleep and his mind drifted to oblivion.