~600 years later, at the Imperial Palace of Teredkar, the Elaian Capital~
Shihara walked idly through the crowd of dignitaries and emissaries, sipping wine from his cup and occasionally smiling. Strolling around the royal gardens where the banquet was held, he noticed that he drew several suggestive gazes from the onlookers, some of them expressed mere curiosity while the others glared with prejudice. Shihara had grown accustomed to this sort of behavior from those unacquainted to him.
He was, as anyone would say, an oddity. This was mainly because despite his features being Renkayan, he wore a bright red Elaian tunic instead of the shoulder-less robe popular among the Renkayan nobility. Other than that, he had a light tan skin tone rather than the bronze complexion distinct to his people. It was due the fact that Shihara was, as one might say, an ethnic mess.
Serdaeans, with black hair and light tan complexion, Elaians, with brown hair and deep olive complexion, and Renkayans, with cherry-blonde hair and bronze complexion, were all considered to be Cerhin or descendants of Cerha the Survivor. However, due to the years of war and conflict among the three, it was difficult to find individuals with mixed heritage. But that was before Elaia took the initiative to reunite the three people with war, diplomacy and marriage alliances.
Following this, Shihara's mother, the late Emperor's sister who was half Elaian and half Serdaean, married the son of a Renkayan warlord. This left Shihara with cherry-blonde locks over a light tan complexion and dazzling green eyes. He personally didn't find himself that unusual when compared to the dignitaries from far away lands. For example, the Veshari had dark brown skin with deep red hair looked much more exotic. Or the Hiyarjin with their massive stature and grey eyes. And this was without counting the Yavirethi from the eastern edges of the continents, who had extremely pale skin and stark white hair. Of course, he didn't count the people north of Tibmak who were too reclusive for diplomacy.
After the Cerhin, the second most common group of people in the banquet were the golden haired sea-merchants from the island nation of Temer, which was an unofficial protectorate state of the Elaia empire. One couldn't walk through a street of a port city without running across one of them.
Then there were emissaries from Ilnanar. The Nanar were land-based counterparts of the Temeri, other than the fact they the Nanar preferred self-governance and established their towns and villages in secluded reaches to the south. Shihara stumbled across a couple of these and exchanged salutations.
"Lord Shihara!" a gravelly voice called him from one of the cushioned seats, "Could I interest you with a fine vintage? There's still time left before His Highness is ready."
The voice belonged to Highlord Brenedar, a young Elaian man with a stout frame who governed the lands west of the Capital. He lay on an elevated carpet with two attendants at his side and a gorgeous Temeri woman lying beside him. Shihara made his way to the highlord and took a seat on adjacent carpet.
"Seems like you are enjoying yourself, Brenedar." Shihara noted.
"What can I say" he smiled, taking a bite of dried fruit from the plate held by his attendant, "Your cousin knows how to throw a feast."
"Well it's his coronation, first coronation among the Elaia to not be an aftermath of a civil war." Shihara said, to which the Temeri woman chuckled. Shihara turned to her.
She seemed to be about the same age as Brenedar. Wearing a light blue sleeveless dress over her tan skin, the woman had left her long golden hair open, allowing it flow down her back. Shihara had a slight idea of who this was.
"Wouldn't you introduce me to the good lady, highlord?" He asked.
"Of course, this is…" Brenedar began but the woman cut in, "It is really not necessary, so you can cut short the niceties, songmaster. But know this, I have staked a lot on this venture and I haven't seen anything worth my money yet."
"Oh, calm down miss," Shihara pleaded cheerfully, "You are too impatient to be a good trader."
"Well, that's because I am a shipwright and not a trader." She sighed with frustration, "You mainlanders think so narrowly of us, stereotyping us all as haggling merchants. And you are evading my inquiry. How is this plan of yours proceeding? When will the prince be ready? Where is Ges…"
"All in due time, Lady Therice." Shihara said, trying to remember the name of their secretive Temeri associate.
"It's Themisi," she hissed angrily, radiating lifesong. Judging by its rhythm, Shihara could tell that she was a skysinger, which was an individual who could alter lifesong into skysong and vice-versa.
"Forgive my memory, Lady Themisi." Shihara apologised, "My intellect has been preoccupied by too many things of late."
A serving girl holding a tray of wine cups arrived at the seat. "May I replace your cup, sir?" She asked Shihara.
"As you can see," Brenedar huffed, "We already have…"
"Yes," Shihara told the serving girl with a smile, interrupting Brenedar, "I would very much like a new cup. This one is too large for savouring a fine vintage."
The girl nodded, taking the cup from Shihara and handing him a smaller one from the tray. Then she bowed, retreating back to the crowd.
Shihara looked at the cup and found a small piece of parchment attached to the side. Raising it to his face, Shihara began reading.
"What is that?" Themisi asked.
Shihara read the parchment, "The palace has been sealed off, the garrison subdued and ah, they are here too. It seems that everything is going as planned. Lady Themisi, you will be soon seeing something worth your risk."