He didn't feel anything wrong with his body. All he knew was that upon hearing his uncle's words, his heart stopped for a second.
"The king wants to see me?" Jin asked, " Do you know why?"
"I wish I did nephew. But it appears there are a lot of mysteries surrounding the royal family nowadays."
Ming sounded genuinely confused about the circumstances surrounding the summons. He was the manner of a man who liked to know as much as possible about everything.
"Can you think of any reason the king would want to see you, nephew? Perhaps you could share it with your dear uncle" Ming inquired sweetly.
Jin merely continued walking up the stairs. He reached the landing before looking down at his uncle condescendingly. "Even if I did uncle, you're not the sort of person I would tell something so important. You've delivered your message; so now you can leave like the good lapdog you are". Then, he was gone.
Back down in the living room, the teacup shattered in Ming's hand.
....
Jin could think of no explanation for why the king would summon him. His city didn't have any outstanding taxes and he hadn't offended any member of the royal family recently.
He searched through the memories he inherited and tried to find any point where he encountered a member of royalty. He was about to reach a moment in the memories that seemed important to this body; when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head.
'Ugh, what the...'
He leaned back into the wall and squeezed his eye shut till the pain faded.
"What was that Spectre?"
"I do not know Jin," Spectre replied in his head, "It is possible that the memories were too traumatic to your body. Resulting in them being locked out" he added
" sigh~ I suppose I'll find out later, I need a bath. Come on Fang"
Fang - who had been clawing at Jin's leg while he was in pain - stepped in line with him and followed him to his room.
They entered the room and Jin removed his clothes. He grabbed a robe and walked behind the screen leading to the bath with Fang.
During the bath, Jin heard someone come into the room and sit on his bed quietly. He knew it was Lynne, so he wasn't worried. And that must mean his uncle already left as well.
"Jin, can I talk to you?" Lynne asked
"You're already talking Lynne," jin said cheekily
"sigh~ This is serious Jin. We need to talk about this. The King doesn't just summon a Lord without a reason." Lynne said
"Okay, I know the king doesn't do that without a reason. But I can't think of any reason for me to be called to the palace." He said while coming out of the bath. His robe was tied around his waist and he was using a towel to dry his hair. Fang came out from behind him and shook his fur dry.
"Oh my goodness!!" Lynne exclaimed "Jin, where did you get that"
He looked behind him to see what she was talking about. "Oh, you mean Fang? I picked him up in the forest"
Lynne walked forwards and knelt to pick up Fang.
"You picked him up in the forest? But, what about his family...won't they be looking for him?" she asked
"I don't think they will. He was being chased by bears, so his family may already be dead"
Jin walked over to his dresser at the corner of the room and pulled out a change of clothes. He wasn't shy about changing in front of Lynne. She had been seeing him naked since he was a child and wouldn't make a fuss about it.
"Hold on, what were you doing in the forest? And how did you know it was being chased by bears? Don't tell me you fought a bear, Jin" Lynne said sweetly. Too sweetly
As she was saying all this, she walked closer and closer to Jin. Until she was standing right in front of him, and staring him down. Even though she was a whole head shorter than him.
"Well, I won't say I fought them off, exactly" Jin said while avoiding her gaze "It's more like I just.. ran from them"
"What!!" Lynne shrieked "You idiot!"
"Ow! Ow! Stop hitting me already! It isn't my fault that I was there, they ran into me. And would you be happy if you heard I left Fang to die?"
Lynne stopped hitting him and looked back at Fang who was sitting on the floor and looking at them curiously. It tilted it's head cutely at her.
" sigh~ Fine, I'll overlook it this time. But I don't want to hear you got into such trouble again. And I clear?"
"Crystal" He replied "Now could you leave me to change? Or do you simply not want me to put my clothes on?"
"You...."
Lynne's face started turning red from embarrassment. She didn't understand how Jin could be joking about something so serious.
"Just put your clothes on already. We still need to talk about what will happen with the city when you're away."
Jin walked back to his closet and began putting on his clothes. "What do you think is going to happen? It's obvious I'm leaving you in charge"
"Huh...No! No, you can't. I'm not fit to rule an entire city. I mean, there are all the people you need to order around, all the citizens to watch out for, even the amount of paperwork just for the trade section of the city is great. How do you expect me to do all that, I can't even advise you properly most of the time and now you want me to rule in your place, I can't do....."
"Lynne, breath... I know you can do this, you aren't just my best friend, you're also an amazing leader. You've held me up throughout my reign as a city Lord and you've always been an amazing advisor." He took her hands in his. "You'll do great Lynne, I know it"
"And besides, you won't have to lead for very long. I'll probably only be gone for a month or so."
Lynne took a deep breath to calm down. She then grabbed Jin into a fierce high
"Promise me you'll be alright"
"I promise Lynne, I won't let anything happen to me. I'll be back before you know it"
After a while Lynne let him go and they both left the room to carry out their other duties.
Jin tried talking to Spectre again when he had some free time, but he was no longer answering his summons. So he simply decided to wait till later to call him.
.....
It was late at night now and we find Jin in his bed, trying to rest from the long day of work he just went through. Fang was asleep at the foot of his bed on a small mat Lynne put out for him.
In another part of the city, a meeting was taking place.
"Are you sure you still want us to do this, my Lord? He has already been summoned by the King" said a man. He wore black trousers, a black shirt, and had a black mask on his face. Hiding his identity from view.
"Of course I still want you to do it! That boy ought to be dead already, but he somehow survived the poison you claimed to be lethal. I want him dead" Ming replied to the man.
They both stood under a bridge. Ming's carriage parked in front of the entrance of the bridge gave them cover from prying eyes.
The man grunted at Ming's declaration. He did not like people disrespecting his business but knew he couldn't say anything to the Lord. The poison didn't work, after all. He had seen the boy himself in the city and he looked perfectly fine.
"Very well my Lord. Consider it done"
"Good. If you manage to complete the task this time, then you will be handsomely rewarded"
Ming then got back in his carriage and left the bridge. The man stood on the bridge for a while, watching the carriage as it disappeared into the distance.
He turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.
"Come forth. We have work to do" He said. And from the darkness behind him, appeared two figures in black.
"Are we really going to do this? The boy seems to be quite skilled from what we saw in the market place" One of them spoke up. It was a female elf with blond hair tied into a ponytail and three rings pierced into her left ear.
The other member of the trio, a male elf with short brown hair, chuckled "Don't tell me you're afraid of him Mai. Compared to us, those royal guards he fought are basically cannon fodder"
"I am not afraid Hiro. I simply think we should exercise more caution with him. He seems different from the boy we poisoned"
"Huh, I didn't see any difference, Mai. I just think you're scar-"
"Mai is right, Hiro" The first man spoke up. "Don't be complacent with him, either of you, he might just kill you if you are"
"Yes sir." They both replied
No more words were said amongst them. They simply disappeared into the night.