Chenzhou had a pounding headache. An afternoon of meeting after meeting and no time to stop and breathe.
And he was still out of shorts about everything on the bridge. He had brought Eirian here to help the Camelia, but he'd thought he'd be beside her while she did it.
At least, until he was…
He'd thought he'd get to be a part of something one last time. Something that would help this place he loved so much. The home that had craddled him, raised him, and given him everything that made him happy and even everything that made him sad and tired and exasperated and everything else.
He had never considered life outside the Camelia. Despite Eirian's insistence that a presence in the capital was necessary, Chenzhou had never wanted anything that was available here. The Camelia, despite the responsibility it carried, was also blessed by that responsibility. People came from all over to serve in the Crimson Army. Merchants from all over the rock came to trade at the outposts, and they had to travel through the Camelia to reach them. The market street in the Camelia contained items from every corner of the rock.
Sometimes, those items even turned out to be dangerous enough that Chenzhou had to confiscate them before they ended up in the wrong hands. Eirian was sure to be amused by some of the items in the Inventories. She might even be able to destroy a few of the more dangerous ones…
Provided she didn't want to keep them.
…
Maybe he'd wait a bit before letting her take anything out of the vault.
"Lord Ye." The judgemental voice of Lord Zhao brought him out of his thoughts.
Of the three families closest in stature and wealth to the Ye's, the Zhaos were probably third, but they often acted like they trump even the Ye's. Zhao Mingzhe was a few years older than Chenzhou and had spent all of his informative years on the battlefields in the borderlands. He hadn't returned to the Camelia until Chenzhou's Rite of the Assending Blade when Chenzhou turned sixteen and took full command of the Camelia. Zhao senior had been one of Chenzhou's regents, leaving Mingzhe to take over his father's role in the Zhao family. Mingzhe had stayed behind at the Camelia after the ceremony, and his father was no longer regretful, while his father had taken his place on the battlefield.
Zhao senior had been killed in his first battle, and Mingzhe had immediately left to avenge him. Something had happened behind the closed doors of the Zhao family after that, and Mingzhe had returned to the Camelia, though it was obvious he didn't want to be there. He picked apart any plan, any order, any issue that came up. Whatever happened, Zhao Mingzhe had a hundred things to say about it.
And the worst part was that he was usually right.
Chenzhou glanced at Mingzhe, who was sitting at the far end of the table. The other lords didn't like him any better than Chenzhou; as bad as Mingzhe was to Chenzhou, he was much, much worse to his peers. Aside from a few official and unofficial alliances, Mingzhe was rarely part of their social circles.
Actually, Chenzhou wasn't sure if he had any friends among his peers. Or if he ever stopped working long enough to make any. He wasn't married, had no concubines, and showed no sign of getting any of either. Not that he wasn't attractive; according to Yuze, the young Lord Zhao was one of the most attractive people in the Camelia. His long dark hair was common among them, but his light blue eyes were one of a kind. They were eerie, almost like Eirian's, but both Mingzhe's parents were from the Camelia.
Although the Zhao family did manage to keep the majority of their scandals under wraps. It was possible one of Mingzhe's parents wasn't who the family claimed.
It was always hard to tell with noble families.
"Yes, Lord Zhao?" He tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but sometimes it was hard to tell if he was successful.
"Congratulations on your marriage." There was a complete lack of emotion in Mingzhe's statement.
"Thank you." Why was he bringing this up, Chenzhou wondered. He had not asked the opinion of any of them when he'd started searching for a wife. He hadn't kept it secret because there was no way it would have stayed that way, but he'd also refused to acknowledge it when it came up.
Lord Yin scoffed, "Yes, congratulations. She seems…strong-willed."
Chenzhou gave him a flat look. "She is. She will be an excellent Lady for the Camelia."
"And yet we've had no introduction." Lady Yang put in. The Yin and Yang families were cousins and diametrically opposed in their opinions of everything. Lady Yang was tall, willowy, and commanded the contingents of archers in the Crimson Army. Lord Yin was short, stout, and commanded the defensive line of the infantry.
They argued about everything.
"She's still settling in."
"She seemed well settled during the wedding feast. I think she ate more than everyone in this room." Lord Yin snorted.
Chenzhou's eyes narrowed. "Her magic requires fuel."
"She has magic?" Lord Zhao suddenly leaned forward, and Chenzhou cursed himself. Magic was rare, and while Eirian seemed to have no issue displaying it, they had not discussed any of the circumstances around it.
There hadn't been a wizard in the Camelia in generations, and he wasn't sure how her magic could be employed to benefit the Camelia.
Although, even if all she did with it was cure this miasma she spoke of, that would be more than enough.
Magic was a rare commodity, and now that it had returned to Camelia, every one of the lords and ladies around this table would be fighting to control it.
It was comforting that nothing about Eirian suggested she was controllable at all.
Which felt rather odd because Chenzhou had no hope of controlling her either.
An uncontrollable magical element running around the Camelia doing whatever she wanted was actually rather terrifying when he thought about it.
~ tbc