At the foot of the staircase that led to the Crown Prince's quarters, the three courtesan sisters lingered in the shadows near a marble pillar, their faces tight with worry as their eyes continued to dart up the stairs. They were anxiously waiting for their Jia to return to them.
"Do you see her?"
Lian took two steps forward, almost tempted to go up the stairs completely and Join Mia who crouched ahead, seemingly risking another peek past the corner where two imperial guards stood on duty.
Mia shot Lian a sharp look, gesturing with her hand to her lips that she should remain quiet before they both got caught.
The third sister, Su, lingered below, and she shifted nervously beside the pillar. The truth was, none of them were supposed to be this far from the guest quarters. But can you really blame them? Their Jia had been in there for far too long.
When the second prince himself had sent for her, the three sisters hadn't known what to think.
Why her? Why now?
The Prince didn't sound happy in the slightest. It made sense: his brother, the Crown Prince, was lying sick in his chamber, but what does Jia have to do with any of this? There was already more than enough tension hanging around the House of Balance like a storm cloud.
They were about five physicians – renowned court doctors who had tended to nobility their entire lives. It made no sense that they'd send for their precious Jia.
Unfortunately, they could do nothing about it but wait.
Mia's soft gasp soon drew their attention, and she turned to her sisters.
"She's out."
Meanwhile, Jia had stepped out of the Prince's chamber and was ordered to wait outside, only for her to catch sight of three familiar heads peeking out from around the corner.
Her brows drew together. What in the world were they still doing here? Shouldn't they have returned to the brothel to get some proper rest by now?
Observing the imperial guards that lingered near the doorway, just a few steps away from her, she waited patiently for them to round the opposite corner before she walked toward the courtesan sisters. They barely gave her a chance to properly face them before Lian rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her.
"Jia! Are you alright?"
Jia blinked, stiff as a board. "Was I supposed to be unalright?" she asked flatly, her tone laced with confusion rather than the usual humor.
Both Mia and Su released audible sighs of relief. "We were worried," Mia murmured, her hand pressed to her chest.
Lian nodded fervently, finally letting go but keeping her hands on Jia's shoulders. "You were with the Princes, and all those high nobles and guards. The royals can be terrifying when they want to be! Our little Jia, caught in the middle of it all – how could we not worry about you?"
Jia exhaled through her nose and rubbed her temples. "So instead of getting some rest, you decided to loiter around the corridor like suspicious thieves? There are guards everywhere. You could get into serious trouble for trespassing."
Lian's mouth fell open. "That's not—! We were just—"
"Waiting for you," Su's soft, melodic voice came through, her smile faint but sincere. "We didn't want to leave until we knew you were safe. We were the ones who brought you here, so how can we leave without seeing if things were really okay?"
Lian nodded quickly, folding her arms. "Exactly! You don't always have to scold us, you know! We're older than you!"
Realizing they were genuinely worried about her, Jia's expression softened, if only for a little, though she wished they would stop calling her their little Jia already. She felt she was too old for that nickname. Facing Lian, she reached out and pressed the back of her hand to Lian's forehead, assessing her temperature before nodding.
"As you can see… I'm alright. No one threw me in the dungeon… if this place even has one. You still have a lingering fever, Lian. You should return and get some rest. I'll stop by the brothel tomorrow to check on you."
Lian huffed but smiled anyway, also feeling her own forehead with the back of her palm.
"I didn't even realize. I was too busy worrying about you."
"Then worry less," Jia clicked her tongue. "It's bad for your health."
"But are you done here?" Mia asked carefully. "Why did the prince send for you? Don't tell me–"
Jia nodded. "I had to look into the Crown Prince's health, for one. He's fine now, which means I get to keep my head. Still, I can't return just yet. There's something else I need to take care of first."
"Are you sure you don't want us to wait?"
Jia shook her head. "You waited long enough already to make sure I was doing okay. That's more than enough. You must be exhausted. Go get some rest. Besides, this is beneficial to me. Imagine the huge payment I might get from treating the Crown Prince."
That, at least, made this whole thing feel worth it. Truthfully, Jia hadn't stopped thinking about it, and money was always a comforting thought, as well as motivational.
The courtesans exchanged knowing glances, their smile soft and amused. Jia, however, was already turning back to business mode.
"Okay, times up, you need to go."
She stole a brief glance back toward the guarded chamber. "I'd rather not be caught gossiping in front of the royal quarters before I receive the earnings of my hard work and sweat."
"See you tomorrow, then," Su gave an elegant wave before gliding down the stairs, her sisters trailing behind her. Jia watched them descend until their figures disappeared around the corner. Only then did she let out a quiet breath and turn back toward the doorway, taking up her place just outside the chamber.
Her hands folded loosely before her, her gaze following the guards who had turned to patrol another side of the corridor.
The courtesan sisters had mentioned something about the second prince seeking her out first, yet all she had seen in the room were the Crown Prince, his guards, his physicians, and a handful of stiff-backed ministers.
Not that it made much difference to her; she wasn't here to gawk at noblemen. Still, curiosity nagged at her. This might be the only time she ever came this close to seeing an Imperial Prince.
They said the second prince had been shut away in the palace for nearly ten years, avoiding public life. Ten years.
Jia frowned slightly at the thought.
If she were the one living in the palace, she'd probably step outside once in a while – if only to make sure the rest of the world hadn't perished without her.
*********
Inside the chamber, the four ministers gathered around the prince's bed. The chief physician, who was an elderly man with thinning gray hair, carefully withdrew his hand from the prince's wrist after checking his pulse. His eyes lingered on the royal's young face, studying his breathing and temperature.
Then, a flicker of astonishment crossed the physician's face after he was done. He turned to the ministers to confirm their hopes, his voice low but filled with relief and disbelief.
"My lords… his fever had gone down considerably. The Prince's condition is stabilizing. He is–" he drew a shaky breath, "–out of danger.
For a moment, silence filled the room.
The ministers exchanged uncertain glances, their expressions caught between relief and confusion.
Minister Rowan broke the quiet first. "But how can that be? The taste of a coin? Was the healer… the village girl… implying His Highness had been poisoned?"
Minister Alden frowned deeply, his hands clasped behind his back as he paced near the foot of the bed. "Poisoned," he murmured under his breath. "But who would dare to poison the Crown Prince? And for what purpose?"
He stopped, turning toward the others, his tone sharpening. "The Prince is beloved by the people. He has no known enemies within the court. His movements are guarded at all times, his meals prepared under tight supervision. How could such a thing even happen under our watch? We almost lost the heir to the Empire."
The flickering lamplight cast long shadows across the faces of men of power and influence, yet all struck by the same troubling thought.
If someone had managed to poison the Crown Prince, then there was a threat far closer to the throne than any of them had dared to imagine. But they could not ignore the Prince's savior too.
"Let us not be too hasty to glorify this… girl," Rowan said smoothly. "A commoner who appeared out of nowhere. In the middle of a royal procession, and somehow knew the exact cause of His Highness's illness? That alone is suspicious."
The others turned to him, and the words hung heavy in the chamber.
Minister Graves narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you suggesting she had something to do with this?"
"Isn't the timing a little too perfect?" he replied. "A healer arrives from a backwater village, offers aid, and by some miracle.. or design… the Prince survives. It could be a coincidence. Or it could be something else entirely. We cannot say for sure."
Minister Ellis frowned. "That's a grave accusation, minister Rowan."
"And yet," Rowan countered, stepping closer to the Prince's bed, his shadow falling over the sleeping royal, "we cannot dismiss the possibility of it being true. If we announce that a nameless village girl cured the Crown Prince, rumors will spread like wildfire. The people will question the competency of the Imperial physicians, perhaps even suspect internal weakness. The Emperor's authority will suffer for their mistake."
He turned to them.
"Do you wish for that?"
No one answered.
"What you're saying isn't wrong," minister Alden replied. "But I believe she could be far more of an advantage to us, than to the royal family. There's no way we can hide this from the Emperor, he'll find out. We'll just… have to twist the story a bit."