Groggy and eyes filled with sleepy grit, Teal began to eat his breakfast, hungry from his night-time adventures. Lana and Ralen were at the table as well, quietly discussing their plans for the day. A bird sang in one of the trees not so far away and the brook continued with its steady soft flow of water. Teal leaned back and sighed. It was peaceful and serene, and then, Jale stormed onto the veranda. It was the first time Teal had seen him angry and it ran deep, flooding out of his body.

"What do you think you were doing?!" Jale demanded. Teal rose to his feet while Ralen watched on in shock with Lana frozen in her seat.

"What do you mean?" Teal tried to feign ignorance although with a sinking feeling, he knew his night-time trip had been reported.

"Traipsing about the palace in the middle of the night?! Climbing and scaling walls?! Clambering over rooftops!? Even stopping to sit down and stare at the view?" Jale threw his arms up in the air. "Did I not explain to you that you are to stay in the confines of the consort area? Within these walls?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Teal cried, suddenly unable to hold back. "Within these walls!!! I'm going crazy! I've gone from all these wonderful open spaces doing whatever I want, to suddenly being unable to see past my very own nose due to these horrible walls. I went out to stretch my legs, that's all."

Jale scoffed and leaned back, eyes narrowed. "Stretch your legs?"

"Yes, and I feel much better for it."

"That's too bad," Jale snapped, "because it's not only me that is angry and wants to have words with you. Galton and the Emperor are waiting to speak to you. You are lucky you didn't get killed last night because Teal, Galton was more than aware of your night-time excursion!"

Teal's face flooded with panic. "I didn't mean anything by it! I really didn't. I just, I just needed to get some air and move my body. I've always been so active."

Jale tilted his head, thinking. "Unfortunately," he said, his voice calmer than what it had been. "It is not up to me to decide what is going to happen to you. That is up to the Emperor, but I'll give you fair warning, his official criticizers are not happy." Jale pointed to the tunnel of trees leading to the Emperor's quarters. "Go! They're waiting for you right now."

Teal's heart pounded inside his chest, and his mouth ached with dryness during the entire walk along the tree-branched tunnel. Once they reached the end, they were met with additional guards. Jale took the lead, guiding the way to a part of the main building Teal had not been in before.

They turned in on a room that was dominated by a large wooden table filled with men and women. It was a meeting room, full of the Emperor's criticizers and council officials.

Teal caught the end of their conversation as they entered, and he swallowed down his fear when he saw the amount of people in the room, standing and sitting around the Emperor's table.

"He needs to be punished!" An old wrinkled man was in the middle of saying.

"Why do you try to cause so much trouble? Taking a concubine like him?" another complained. "You know nothing of what he is capable of."

A woman on the opposite side of the table quickly added her own opinion. "Letting that animal roam free in the palace, you're lucky he didn't kill or eat anyone in the process."

Teal stopped at the top of the table as the Emperor gave both the men and woman a look of disdain. His eyes fell on Teal and anger flickered over his face.

"Or how do we know he hasn't gone and killed someone and we just don't know about it yet," the old man on his left continued to assert. "How do you know you can completely trust him? The palace could soon have half eaten bodies turning up every night."

"Do not worry," the Emperor said, calmly waving him off. "I'll see to it that he is punished to match the crime."

Only merely satisfied, the man huffed and turned to look at what had caught the Emperor's attention. "You brought him here?!" the man gasped.

Fear filled his face, and Teal took a step back. Several other people in the room revealed their shock, and the sound of chairs scraping across the floor as they startled to their feet reached Teal's ears.

"Calm down," the Emperor ordered forcefully.

The room instantly fell quiet, but the fear was still prominent on their faces. Galton was also there, arms folded over his chest with a look of amusement all over his face as if he had expected this all along. Ladet, with his crossbow over his shoulder, also stood at Galton's side, and Teal was not happy to see he still held the same amount of dislike for Teal as the first day they had met at Cleaven Estate.

Teal trembled. He was going to be executed on the spot. He should never have been so stupid. The Emperor had only been kind and patient with him since he had become his concubine, and now, Teal had broken his trust. Teal didn't want it to end here. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed in front of the Emperor and the other people in the room, keeping his forehead planted to the ground.

"Rise, Teal," the Emperor ordered him firmly.

Teal jumped to his feet and kept his head low, his eyes trained on the floor.

"Galton here tells me that you decided to go for a little wander last night."

Teal's head dropped even further, aware that all eyes were on him.

"Answer me and look me in the eyes when you do it," the Emperor demanded.

Slowly, Teal lifted his head and met the Emperor's gaze. He swallowed nervously before answering. "Yes," he managed.

"How long have you been here now?" the Emperor asked, his tone still harsh.

"One week in the capital," Teal mumbled.

"Yes, one week and I'm sure in that week, including the two and a half on my ship, Jale outlined all the rules that you are to follow."

"Yes, Jale has told me all the rules," he quickly responded.

"Go wait outside with Ladet," the Emperor told him. "I need to discuss what we're going to do with you. And I wouldn't go far, Teal, Ladet is Galton's best bowman. I doubt that even you could out run his aim. Official critizers and my council leave, too."

>>

In the quiet of the room, Jale, the Emperor, and Galton stood close together.

"Are you sure?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes," Galton answered. "He wasn't up to anything. He sat under the tower for fifteen minutes straight, looking out to sea."

"He stated to me that he wanted to stretch his legs," Jale added. "It appears as if being stuck behind the walls of the Purple Jade Palace has left him restless. His eunuch has also confirmed that he's also adhering to the no self-pleasure rule."

"He can move," Galton said, shaking his head. "He's fast, really fast, and he has power in those arms stronger than any man in the empire. The way he scaled up the outer wall."

The Emperor nodded while he listened. "I have a feeling we're going to have to keep him busier than what he has been."

"Agreed," Jale said.

Galton crossed his arms over his chest. "How about some training with some of my men? That should keep him busy."

The Emperor and Jale looked at Galton in surprise.

"And you were the one who was against him being in the palace in the first place, and now you want to put a weapon in his hands?" the Emperor asked.

Galton shrugged. "I'm intrigued. I watched what he could do last night. I'm not ready to pull the guards off him yet, but let's test that theory of these so called amazing warriors, shall we? Maybe he could be handy to have at your side, after all."

"It might be a good idea," Jale said.

"I have an idea of who could train him too," Galton said.

The Emperor gripped Galton's arm. "Glad to see that we're finally on the same page."

"Not completely, but we're getting there."

>>

Fear pummeled through Teal as he waited. This was serious. If Galton had managed to follow him, he would have known all the places he had explored. He had been all the way over the rooftops of the palace to the servant quarters, to the horses' stalls, to the kitchen, even to some of the sleeping areas of the imperial family although that had been quite by accident.

He fidgeted outside for a long time under the continuous and watchful gaze of not only the old man who insisted that the guards kept their hands on their weapons, but also Ladet, although he kept his crossbow over his shoulder. The only time Ladet made eye contact with him was to glare. Never before had Teal felt so alone.

Eventually, Jale opened the door.

"They're waiting," he said, his voice neutral.

Shaking, Teal entered, and he went to kowtow again.

"No need, Teal," the Emperor stated coolly.

Teal stopped and waited, waited for whatever punishment he was about to receive.

"I believe that I am a reasonable man," the Emperor began. "Jale has reminded me of how you have not been brought up with court training.”

Teal felt an instant surge of emotion for Jale. He had been so angry before, but now Jale had tried to defend his actions.

"And I," the Emperor continued, "remembered how you told me of the activities that you used to do back at Hulena and how you are used to being more physically active. You have also pointed out some flaws in our security as Galton managed to lose you on several occasions last night, although we've never had anyone of your agility scale and travel along the walls like that." Teal risked a glance at Galton, and this time, he returned his look with an angry glare. "Those weaknesses are something that Galton will have to work on."

The Emperor leaned forward in his seat. "This is serious, Teal. Many people in the palace are nervous with your presence. Your own home town must have needed time to get used to you, and just like them, so does the palace. Knowing that you were by yourself going wherever you pleased last night, did not make many people happy. Worse, it made them scared, and people do irrational things when they are scared. The rules are there for a reason. You'll have to be punished for not following them."

"For one hour in the morning after breaking your fast,” the Emperor continued, “you will clean the guard's armor. For the next two hours after that, you will help the soldiers in sword fighting and defense. I think the extra training for my men will be very useful."

Teal couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I also think the physical work will be good for your health as well,” the Emperor stated. “I wouldn't want you to become unfit and your body undefined from sitting around the consort quarters all day." The Emperor cast his eyes over Teal's body from head to toe. "Your punishment will run for two months and if you enjoy the work, you may continue if you wish. That is all," the Emperor said. "You may leave."

Teal turned on his toes and almost sprinted out of the room. He wasn't sure whether he was truly being punished or whether he had been let off the hook. His skin still crawled with the desire to be in the open space, but he was also looking forward to the training. Although, he stopped suddenly, it meant he would be closer to Galton and that wasn't a pleasant thought.

He heard Jale behind him once the beating of his heart had started to settle.

"Thank you," Teal said, turning around. "Thank you for helping me."

Jale gave him a wry look. "Yes, it was so hard for me to convince the Emperor not to send you out of the Purple Jade Palace," he said walking past him. "Come on, you start your punishment today. I will guide you there, and Teal..."

"Yes."

"Don't do it again.”