King Pangberan led me out into the hall and we nearly crashed into Arian. She paced the floor outside the door and had worn away any inkling of dust on the floorboards. My friend leaped at her father and grasped the front of his imperial garb.

  “Please, Father, have mercy on Anna!” she pleaded as her eyes filled with tears. “Whatever punishment you have for her, know that I am just as guilty as she! Give me the same and we’ll leave here after we’ve fulfilled your judgment!”

  Pangberan set his hands over hers and smiled down at her. “There’s no need for that, Arian. Your friend isn’t going to receive a punishment.”

  She blinked at him before she turned her attention to me. “No punishment?” I suppressed a laugh but nodded. “But what of the guards? And the rules about the feld?” she countered as she returned her focus to her father. “She broke all of them and tempted Dian to join her.”

  A dark cloud began to settle on her father’s brow. “You won’t be helping your friend by reminding me of her transgressions.”

  Arian sheepishly smiled and wrapped her arms around one of mine. “My apologies, Father. We shall be going forthwith.”

  He nodded at the room down the hall where Dadan slept. “Your friend will want to go there first.”

  “Of course,” Arian agreed as she scooted me down the hall before she opened her big mouth.

  I couldn’t help but smile at my companion. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

  She blushed and dropped her eyes to the floor. “I fear I was more hindrance than help.”

  “I think it amused your dad,” I countered as we reached the door.

  Arian released me and turned so we faced each other in front of the entrance. Her worried eyes inspected my person. “How are you?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck and winced. “A little sore and a lot dirty. How’s your brother?”

  She bit her lip and cast her concerned eyes down the hall. “Unharmed, but he seems rather melancholy.”

  My mind recalled the last interview I’d had with her beloved brother. The questions he’d asked me had all pointed to more than a hint of jealousy.

  I clapped a hand on her shoulder and offered her my best fake smile. “I’m sure he’ll be alright. He’s probably just remembering all those ghouls we had to fend off. It can’t be easy fighting your own people, dead or not. You should go check on him.”

  She whipped her head around and grasped my shoulders. “But I would not leave you alone!”

  I snorted and jerked my head in the direction of the door. “I won’t be alone. Grandmother’s still in there, and then there’s Dadan.”

  My friend looked me up and down. “Will you keep this appearance in front of him?”

  Confusion bounced around in my head before a wisp of my brown hair floated into my view. “Oh, this?” I mused as I grasped a lock and wriggled it about like a worm on a hook. “I’ll keep it up.” For as long as my pea provisions will hold out.

  Which reminded me. The provider of said peas was only a wooden door away.

  “Then I will let you to your watch, but I will check on you in a few hours,” Arian warned me.

  I laughed and stepped back. “I’ll be sure to look my best, now go on. And tell your brother I’m sorry I was so short with him the last time we talked.”

  Arian gave me a curious look but didn’t make inquiries. She moved past me and disappeared down the hall.

  I turned to face the door and took a deep breath.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Grandmother’s voice cut through the entrance. “Stop breathing so hard and get in here.”

  I wheezed out a stifled laugh and opened the door. She had scooted a chair close to the bed and angled it so it partially faced the entrance. Her sharp eyes glared at me and she drummed her long thin fingers against the top of one leg.

  “Well? Have you finally come to watch this trouble finder?” she questioned me.

  I strolled over to her and set a hand on the top of her chair. “Yes, but I had something I wanted to ask you. Could you make more of those strange peas for me? The ones that change my appearance?”

  She looked me up and down and wrinkled her nose. “What would you be wanting more of those for?”

  I scratched the back of my head and sheepishly smiled at her. “I, um, sort of dropped most of them.”

  Grandmother narrowed her eyes and eased herself onto her feet. “Then I won’t be making any more for you. You’ll only be careless with those, too.”

  My face drooped along with my arm to my side. “But I promise to be more careful! It was just I was opening the bottle in the Tianfeld and, well, my hands were shaking pretty bad.”

  She swatted my hand off the back of the chair and set hers in the same spot. “Even if I did trust your shaky hands, the answer is still no. I can’t make any more until there’s a full moon, and even then I can only make one at a time.”

  My eyes widened. “Once a month? Then the bottle you gave me-”

  “Was several years’ worth of effort,” she confirmed.

  My heart fell as the full implications struck me. I turned my face away and bowed my head. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have been more careful with them. I’ll make do with what I have.”

  Grandmother’s lips twitched and she tapped a finger against the top of the chair. “How many do you have left?”

  I drew the vial from my pocket and inspected the contents. “About five.”

  “I can’t extend the time they last but I have this.” She rummaged in her pocket and drew out a tiny glass container. Two peas rolled around inside those transparent walls. “I was saving them for an emergency but I suppose you can have them.”

  My face brightened and I gladly accepted the container. “Thank you so much! How can I ever repay you?”

  She jerked her head toward the sleeping man. “Watch over him like he was your most dearest possession. Do that and you’ll have repaid me.”

  I blushed a little but stiffened my jaw. “I promise to watch over him like he was the most important person in the world to me.”

  Grandmother studied me for a moment and I thought I detected a faint hint of a smile. She tamped down whatever tried to bubble up and wagged a finger at me. “You see that you do that! Now I’m off as soon as I find Lujun.” She shuffled past me and toward the door, grumbling all the way. “That general needs to stop playing with his toys and get to focusing on the real problems.”

  “Like what they’re going to do with all the weapons?” I suggested.

  She gave me a sharp side-eye and scoffed. “Of course not! He needs to be helping carry my bag back for me!” She swung open the door and marched out into the hall. “Lujun! Where are you, you old coot? Help me with this dang heavy bag!”

  I couldn’t help but smile as I snatched up the bag from its place on the floor beside the bed. A soft murmur from the bed made me pause and I whipped my head in that direction. Dadan stirred but his eyes didn’t open. His face was deathly pale. I couldn’t see his chest because Grandmother had drawn the bed covers over him, but his bandaged arm lay atop the sheets. The blood hadn’t seeped through and a faint scent of flowers floated out of the wrappings.

  I swallowed the temptation to plop myself down in the chair beside him and instead hurried over to the door. Heavy footsteps approached the room and I crashed into General Lujun as I stepped out into the hall. He caught my arms and kept me from falling.

  I hugged the bag close against my chest and shrank beneath his stoic gaze. “Sorry. I only wanted to bring you this.”

  “Thank you,” he replied as he grasped the top handle and drew the bag out of my arms. I stepped backward so I stood in the doorway. He didn’t move away like I expected but continued to study me.

  “I-is something wrong?” I asked him.

  He cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize to you.”

  I froze and blinked at him. “Come again?”

  “I shouldn’t have snapped at you as I did in the Tianfeld,” he admitted as he set his hand on the hilt of the sword. “I wasn’t prepared to see my younger brother’s sword ever again, and to see you holding it roused emotions I thought I’d buried long ago.”

  My heart fell and I gingerly set a hand on his shoulder. He tensed beneath my fingers. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you have something to remember him by.”

  The old war dog lifted his chin and the corners of his lips twitched. “Yes, well, I’d better get going and leave you to your post.” He took up the bag and bowed his head to me. “Goodnight, Lady Roberts.”

  I watched him stride down the hall with a certain degree of reluctant pride. If I had cleansed that battlefield, his brother was free now.

  A smile slipped onto my lips as I stepped back into the bedroom and closed the door behind me.