Isetzar left Nuriya's room in a foul mood.
Bathed in the light of the pale blue moon, he dashed across the dark halls towards the palace hunting lodge. His teeth gnashed and his calloused hands curled into a fist.
"No good…I can't. I can't trust this," he said to himself. As he moved, he looked at the moon again from one of the palace windows–hanging above the world like a shining silver coin.
Then he stopped. And took a pause.
"The old man is sharper than most men a quarter his age. If he….No! Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe he hasn't…No. No, he's definitely on to something…The timing is too suspect!"
Isetzar looked at his shaking palms and clenched his teeth.
"Nuriya…"
Then another name struck his lips.
"...Arue…"
Isetzar shook his head and scratched his dark hair. "I won't…I won't…"
Isetzar went outside, past the courtyards and the palace gardens to make his way to the Emperor's hunting lodge located between the palace and the imperial family's private hunting grounds.
"Ah, Lord Sasan! Welcome back!" said Polraz as he tended to the hearth. "How did the talks with Our Lady–"
"Not good, Pol. It didn't go well," Isetzar said plainly. "Pol? Sunzar? Kairm! I need you three with me tomorrow. We're going to the Sasan Estate."
"Oh, you're taking them back, Setzya?" said Zaratzam Panza, the chief of the imperial huntsman and one of the Imperial Twelve.
"Only for a while, Tziram Panza," Isetzar answered. "I promise I'll send them back in one piece. Also, can I have some paper and something to write with?"
"We are yours, Lord Sasan," Kairm raised his bow. "Always."
'Thank you, Kairm," Isetzars hard lips curved into a smile as he continued to write. "Thank you."
"Does it have anything to do with that, Setzya?" asked Zaratzam. "That thing you told me about during one of the hunts with the crown prince?"
"Yes…It is."
Isetzar then handed the note to the panza. "Make sure this gets to Prince Valri and no one else. If it gets into the wrong hands we could be looking at a bloodbath."
...….
The bells of the Novrada rang at the first sign of light. Usually around the fifth hour of the morning.
Nuriya handed a notice of her departure to the Maiden's Temple and arranged for a ship from the imperial family's private port to take her and her household entourage back to her hometown: Sali, the place where the main house of the enigmatic House of Sasan was located.
She also left Mafaye a note to take to Prince Valri. She embraced her handmaid and friend before leaving.
The morning air was cold and dewy. Nuriya's fingers felt cold so she breathed into them in an attempt to warm herself.
The ship gently left port by the seventh hour of the day.
The ship the Sasan entourage was in was called "The Red Hind". It was a magnificent ivory-wood and gold barge with sails dyed in expensive scarlet.
On deck, she saw the brother who hardly spent time with her in the Capital. He looked into the sea, he was accompanied, she figures, by his friends. People she saw him with in the palace.
They weren't part of the original number of people sent to attend to her in court. That number changed as circumstances demanded–some people were sent back or had to do something else, and sometimes new people were added or replaced the old ones.
These three she figures are probably her brother's creatures.
"Well, Setzya. We're going home for a while. Has your mood improved at all?"
Isetzar looked at her once and then went back to looking at the sea.
Nuriya wasn't bothered. She didn't care.
She decided to enjoy the view of the Ursan sea too.
And she was.
"!"
Until she saw the wrapping on Isetzar's hand.
"What happened?" Nuriya asked.
"Some mischief during the hunt."
Nuriya furrowed her brow and immediately reached to grab and examine the bandaged hand.
"...Thank God..It's nothing serious."
Isetzar continued to stare at his sister before he decided to take his hand away from her.
"I'm fine, Niya," he said as he looked back into the sea. "You don't have to–"
Their eyes met.
"!"
And for a brief second?
Nuriya's heart…
"Milady?"
One of her brother's companions called out to her.
The Sasan siblings broke eye contact and resumed as before.
"Oh, who is this?" Nuriya asked.
"My name is Polraz, milady! I serve your lord brother."
"Serve?...Ah…I was right," Nuriya thought. She smiled and bowed her head in greeting "Pleasure to meet you, Polraz Panza."
"Ah, no!" Polraz waved his hands. "I'm not a panza yet. I would like to be one day."
"You will, Pol," said Isetzar, still looking at the horizon. "Don't sell yourself short."
"Ah…Well…Thank you, milord."
"Where'd you two meet?" asked Nuriya.
"Ah…"
"Oh, wait. My apologies. I hope the question didn't sound too rude?"
"Rude?! God no, milady! It's just…"
"Pol was a dog-butcher who sold stray meat in one of the Capital's slums." Isetzar answered.
Nuriya's eyes widened.
"Yes…It's true. Milady…"
"How have you found yourself in that line of work?"
Polraz fidgeted.
"How? Ah…Milord?"
"How else? He's poor." Isetzar answered again and turned towards Nuriya. "Novrada is beautiful…but it isn't perfect."
Nuriya stared daggers at her brother. "I'm not an ignoramus, brother."
"Polraz I think we should…" Kairm interceded.
"And that's not all…" Isetzar continued. "Sunzar is a mute assigned to guard one Ursan lord's mistress. And Kairm was–"
"A bed slave, my lady," Kairm finished with his own words. "I was taken as a prisoner-of-war, castrated, and used–as many of the rich and powerful often use slave boys."
"....."
Nuriya closed her eyes, and her lips began to quiver.
"Forgive us…I think we shoul–"
"!"
Without another word, she embraced Polraz, Sunzar, and Kairm in quick succession.
"...!..."
"You all…did very well!" Nuriya said with a hint of tears. "Please…You three don't have to explain yourselves. You don't have to justify your being here. Not to anyone. Least of all me."
Nuriya stepped back, and wore a big welcoming smile. "Welcome to the House of Sasan," she bowed more formally this time. "I pray you lend your strengths to ours."
All of Isetzar's companions were gripped with dumb silence.
Isetzar's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Setzya? I'll leave you four for now. I have to see how our uncles and the rest of the house is doing. Do try to be happier once we get home. I'd hate to have Grandfather's time with us ruined."
Nuriya left soon after that.
His three companions looked at Isetzar for a while. All still in dumb silence.
"I told you guys. Maiden of Sasan or Maiden of Mille-Sezanze–Nuriya is Nuriya." He stretched his arms and straightened his back. "She's exactly as she looks."