Chapter 538

538 Ceremony Of Honor(Part One)

Hana had not been wrong in her assumption. By the time their carriage had arrived back at the castle, four senators had already arrived. It wasn’t surprising that Hang Zhao was one of them, but it was surprising to see the other three there..

Senators Kurama, Uri, and Bakugo were discussing something with Hang as they unloaded from the carriage. Hana began directing the servants on which items went to which room when Hang cut his conversation short, and approached the group. Peggy stood back along with Kari, and gave a polite bow similar to Skye and Mei’s.

She eyed the man who had intercepted the disgruntled doctor before with a leery expression. Having overhead bits of gossip from the other servants running about, Peggy already didn’t like the man. Especially the way his eyes bore into Mei like she was on trial.

“What took you so long to return? Go wash and dress quickly. The guests are already arriving, and it is Your duty to greet them, not mine,” Hang stated coldly as he stopped in front of his wife.

“W-We came back as quickly as we could,” Mei muttered as she kept her focus on the ground.

Hang stared at her with unchanging features for a long moment before sighing, his face somewhat softening. He raised his hand to her chin, and had her look into his eyes as he spoke; “I had the dressmaker fashion a dress for you, to match me. It is laying out for you with all other necessary items. I also bought you a new jewelry set, but you only need wear what you wish. If you want for anything, tell me.”

Mei tried to avert her eyes, but he kept her chin firmly in place as he added; “And make sure that you visit me some time this week.. We still need to produce an heir. One that our families will accept.”

“But Rukia-”

“I have already told you that Both of our families have refused to accept her, unless she turns out to be our only child. Your Father may be the head of your family, and accept her as a possible heir, but the rest do not. Not unless we prove to them that we truly did try for another..”

.....

Seeing Mei’s complexion pale slightly, his voice turned hard again; “I know that I am not the one you want, but you are My Wife. You will preform your duty and as least attempt to provide a Male heir, or there will be turmoil within our families. Do you understand?”

As Skye watched the exchange, she caught a glimpse of fleeting pain as Hang looked down at Mei’s solemn nod. He was quite tall, and practically had to tilt his head straight down to talk. His long braid swayed with every little breeze, and the fading sun cast dark shadows across his face.

If Skye were being honest, he was a very attractive man.. ‘He be no Tidas, but I can see the appeal.. The question is: why doesna Mei? She seems mortified by the idea of sleepin’ wit her own husband..’

Sensing hostility, Skye turned her head slightly to get Hana within her peripheral vision. She was watching Mei and Hang with murder in her eyes, but Skye couldn’t tell who exactly it was that she wanted to kill. When Hang glanced at her, she also looked away to avoid him seeing her glare.

Skye couldn’t tell what was going on between the three, but it seemed very complicated. At first she had thought that Hana was Hang’s mistress, but she wasn’t so sure after their trip to the marketplace. Seeing Hana’s reaction was definitely evidence that there was some type of love triangle situation going on, but who was the crux?

Mei seemed to gravitate towards Hana, but Hang obviously had feelings for her. Hana got along well with Mei and seemed close, but there was a wall of some sort that Skye couldn’t suss out. She became different whenever Hang was around, but Skye couldn’t tell if it was attraction or repulsion.

Feeling like a trapped little bug in their web of emotions, Skye barely heard Peggy’s whisper; “I dinna like the way he talks ta our lass. If he canna get that glare of his under control, then I might get killed in this damned place fer strikin’ the troll..”

Skye forced a small smile down as she took a couple of steps back, so Peggy could hear her reply; “You’ll do no such thing.. I have immunity: I’ll do it.”

“You’ll do what?” said a familiar voice from above them.

Skye glanced up just in time to see Genie’s robes fluttering as he descended. She immediately shut her eyes and exclaimed with a dramatic yelp; “Me eyes! The horror! I’ve been blinded! Ima scarred fer life!”

After gracefully landing, Genie looked at her with a cocked eyebrow as he asked; “What’s wrong with your eyes? Did I kick dust up when I landed?”

Skye sighed loudly out of partly-fake exasperation before saying; “Na, ya-ya ken? Nevermind.. Just, wear pants if yer gonna be flyin’ around!”

When Genie’s quizzical expression didn’t change, Skye blushed lightly as she added; “Why do ya think I wear pants when I ride Zazzy?!”

After a solid minute of staring at Skye in utter confusion at her words, the meaning had finally dawned on him. As Genie’s ears turned red with embarrassment, he coughed and waved Skye off like she had been seeing things. She was about to start in on him when another carriage pulled up after theirs had left.

Skye figured that it would be more senators, but she had only been partly right..

A Senator had stepped out of the carriage, but he had brought a guest along. Skye’s eyes went wide as Richard Yaris thanked the driver with a gold coin, then turned to face the quickly-growing group. When he saw her gawking at him, a wide, cheshire smile stretched across his face as he walked over to her.

Without warning, he grabbed Skye’s hand, and kissed it as he said; “Princess Skye.. I am delighted to see a familiar face in this foreign land. Especially such a beautiful one.”

Her senses returned instantly, making Skye nearly rip her hand away from him as she exclaimed; “What the bloody hell are You doing here?!”

Unperturbed by her reaction, Richard grinned as he replied coolly; “I come to Sai yearly for my business dealings. I was in Meccano delivering my goods when I heard that you and Prince Tidas had come to Sai as diplomats. I knew that if I came here early, I would get to see something interesting..”

“And what could be so interesting to pull you away from your dirty dealings?” Genie inquired as he stepped around from Skye’s side.

Richard had seen Genie, but ignored him until he had finished smiling at Skye; “Ah! Mr. Laos! It’s a pleasure to see you again-”

“The feeling is not mutual.. What do you want, Yaris? Why are you here? At MY home? I did not invite you,” Genie’s voice had a hardness to it that made Skye want to shrink back, but she remained visibly unfazed.

The tone that Genie had used was his simmering anger voice, which Skye was all too familiar with. She had heard it many times as a child, and knew that he was being deadly serious whenever he used it. As her eyes darted between Genie and Yaris, Skye felt the tension in the air thicken..

Richard grinned broadly at Genie as the lines on his face wrinkled with irritation; “Oh, don’t be like that, Jin. Did I not find those detoxification elixirs for you last year? And what about those supplies I delivered to you in Warrick For-”

“Your tongue moves too freely for my liking. Control it, or lose it, Richard,” Genie’s voice was akin to death’s whisper as his eyes narrowed on the merchant.

Putting his hands up in a defensive manner, Richard waved them in the air as he said; “No need to become hostile! I would never intentionally incite Your ire! I was merely visiting Senator Pho when he told me about the dinner ceremony, to honor the Guardian of the Last Dragon. I asked if I could come for a small discount off of his order, and he agreed.”

Genie’s face went hard as his mind went into deep thought. It happened to her on occasion as well, so Skye distracted Richard by asking; “So ya cut yer dealings in Meccano short, and took a hit on yer profits just ta come see me? That’s not a very wise thing ta do, fer a businessman..”

A darkened smile stretched across his face; “Dear Princess: I never go anywhere that doesn’t offer more gold.”

Like his words had triggered a scenario in his mind, Genie snapped his head up, and asked in a serious voice; “How much?”

Richard’s eyes shifted to Genie; “A lot of gold.. More than I can turn down.”

Skye felt like she could cut the air with a knife, it was so tense. Only when Senator Pho came over did the two act as though they had been discussing the weather. Seeing her nerves were frayed, Genie placed a hand on Skye’s shoulder as he said; “Do not worry about Yaris. He and I have been playing cat and mouse for years..”

“What do ya mean?” Skye asked in the same low voice that Genie had spoken with.

“Yaris is a greedy man, but he’s no villain. He can’t tell me anything directly or he risks the anonymity of his clients, which he won’t do: no matter the threat. But he does have a conscience, somewhat.. Anytime something dangerous is coming into Sai, we have an...exchange, like that.”

Skye eyes clouded with thought for a moment before realization crept into her mind.. ‘The weapons! He Must be the one transporting the weapons!’

As if reading her mind, Genie put his finger to his lips, and whispered; “Keep your thoughts to yourself for now.. One never knows who has an ear to the ground.”

Right as Skye agreed, Mei came over to her with a flustered expression. She grabbed Skye’s hand with her trembling one, and started to wordlessly pull her along towards the castle. Genie had nodded to her, letting Skye know that they would talk about the information they’d gotten from Yaris later.

She wanted to corner Richard and make him talk, but knew that would most-likely turn bad. Besides, Mei seemed to need her attention more..

Her eyes shined with unshead tears, and her complexion had paled by at least two shades. Skye had only caught part of her conversation with Hang, and feared that she had missed something that might’ve incited her anger. Before she could ask, however; Mei yanked her into an unused room..

Unable to hold back her tears, Mei let them stream down her cheeks as she wailed; “What do I do, Skye?! I don’t want to have another child! It will Kill me!”