As an imperial concubine, Teal was not allowed to train near the other soldiers. Instead, Jale led him to the private imperial training compound, a square building with various small courtyards that had viewing balconies on each side. It was set back from the palace's main training arena but close enough that the training soldiers’ efforts could still be heard.

Galton's number four man, a handsome young man with rather square strong features, curious brown eyes and thick brown hair, was also the same soldier who had approached Teal on the wall the night before. Once they were alone, Satner took him up onto the third floor of the imperial training building. It was here Teal saw members of the imperial court training in privacy. The everyday common soldiers on the other side, were forever under the watchful eye of the elite.

Satner's purpose for taking Teal to the viewing level however, was to show him the soldier training grounds, a large sparse area that covered a good proportion of the southern part of the palace grounds.

"So," Satner said. "As you can see, we have various training going on in the morning. Everyone receives basic training for stamina and health, but each person is stationed to learn two types of fighting or defense."

He pointed to men and women with wooden swords. "The men and women over there, train to use a wide variety of different swords. Over there," he said turning and pointing, "people train for hand-on-hand combat, no weapons."

Teal watched in amazement, and Satner smiled.

"On the other side of the pavilion,” Satner stated, “soldiers are being trained on how to use bows. And on the other side of the wall, where you can't see right now, men are also training on horses."

"This is so much more than I was expecting," Teal uttered in disbelief.

Satner nodded, pleased. "Yes, Galton took over from his father a few years ago and has continued with the very strict training that he had put in place."

Satner paused noticing the audience they had acquired from below. He held his head high and took on an authoritative tone so different to the one that he was using to converse with Teal. "Get back to it," he called out, and Teal was surprised to see the men and women turn away and continue with what they had been doing, no questions or objections given.

"You'll have to forgive them," Satner told him. "News spreads very fast. When the soldiers heard that the Lombock concubine was coming down here to train, it gave way to much conversation and speculation. Unfortunately, I can't tell the people in the imperial section to leave you be, but I can tell the soldiers to move on."

Satner took a step closer to Teal. "I told Galton that I saw you," he confessed. "I had to, but it wouldn't have mattered even if I hadn't. He's had extra men on patrol around the Purple Jade Palace. They were given orders to watch out for you and report on your actions if you ever left the grounds."

Before Teal could respond, Satner turned and started back down the stairs to the private training courtyard. To Teal's dismay, several people gathered around the inner balcony above to watch them. They were the Emperor's imperial court, the elite, stiff lipped and judgemental men and women who had been objecting to his presence, the very ones Jale was teaching him of in his lessons.

"Let's see what you've got," Satner said. "I'll try to ignore the irony of handing you a sword, but I am also intrigued to see whether some of the legends are correct of your race’s fighting capabilities."

"I think you're about to be greatly disappointed," Teal muttered. "My father, the man who raised me, was a fisherman."

Satner laughed out loud, a surprising and delightful sound. He tried to recover quickly, but Teal's sarcastic tone had broken a barrier between them and they shared an even smile.

Satner appeared to deem it safe to reveal more of his witty personality. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't go hard. I just want to see what you have and anyway, it would not go down well if I injured the Emperor's new concubine, especially on the first day."

Teal's eyes narrowed, and he flicked his hand in the direction of the wooden training sword indicating for Satner to pass it towards him.

"I guess, you'd better just hope the legends of the Lombock aren't true!"

Teal rolled the handle of the sword around in his fingers getting a feel of the sword's weight and the best grip as to hold it. He wished he could back up his friendly threat but in truth, he had very little knowledge of how to use a sword, apart from play fighting with Cokrin when they were young boys.

"Ready?" Satner asked.

Teal shrugged, and Satner stepped forward.

Satner might have said he wasn't going to hold back but in actual fact, he started off gently, mere taps of his training sword determining whether Teal could block and defend himself.

After several gentle taps of his sword that Teal easily parried, Satner increased his pace. Teal tried to keep up to the best of his ability. Several strikes he missed, still gaining his feet and becoming familiar with the sword. He was also self-consciousness thanks to the haughty snickering from up above. Maybe this demonstration wouldn't be such a bad idea. Maybe they would see his sword-fighting skills or lack of them and determine he wasn't that much of a threat after all.

Satner lunged hard and fast, and Teal could tell that it was still within his comfortable range, he was barely extending himself. Teal, on the other hand, struggled to block and nearly fell over his own feet tripping backwards.

"You can attack if you want to," Satner told him while Teal regained his balance. "And forget about those watching or worrying about whether you might hurt me with the sword. Show me what you have."

Teal narrowed his eyes and nodded, and seeing that he had Teal's complete attention, Satner came at him again faster than any of his other attempts. Teal focused and allowed his eyes to home in on the movement of the sword, and on to the hand that held it, and then the arm and body that controlled its movement.

He stopped using his sword that was useless in his hand. Instead, he began to anticipate where Satner was going to go. Easily and with grace, Teal skirted around several attacks he instinctively knew he would not have blocked. He twisted his body to the left, bent backwards when the sword went close to his head, and ducked and rolled over the ground to miss another onslaught.

"Very light and fast on your feet, aren't you?" Satner commented lowering his weapon. "You’ve never been trained with a sword though, have you?"

Teal shook his head, and Satner laughed in a non-condescending manner.

"Your movement shows promise especially towards hand-on-hand combat, but learning how to use a sword will also be useful as well."

"What are we going to do now?" Teal asked following Satner out of the small arena and into a dark room. He was glad he was now away from the crowd of people.

Satner stopped and pointed. "Cleaning," he said with an apologetic smile. "The Emperor's orders."

Teal's shoulders dropped when he saw the amount of armor in front of him.

"Tomorrow you will come in here first,” Satner continued, “and then come out with me to train. It'll be the same for the next two months."

Teal sighed when Satner left. He picked up the cloth and dipped it into the bucket of water that had been provided. The armor was caked with dust and grime. It was going to take a lot of scrubbing. He watched as Satner closed the door behind him and knew exactly what he preferred to be doing.

>>

"I heard there was some excitement this morning," Empress Crael said, placing her cup gently down onto the table before her.

"Yes. Our new arrival decided to go exploring last night," Jale informed her before taking a bite of the bread he had just finished buttering.

"Ahh, now I know why Opelan was so wound up," she said with a warm smile. "I doubt that he had ill intentions, surely."

"No," the Emperor answered for Jale who was still chewing on the bread in his mouth. "And it's been taken care of," the Emperor continued. "He'll be busier from now on."

They were sitting on one of the balconies of the Emperor's private quarters, their midday meal spread on the table before them.

"I hope for your benefit that he is," Jale heard a voice state suddenly from behind them. "The fact that he was able to leave the Purple Jade palace over the walls..."

Startled they turned, to find a servant and Nala standing a short distance away.

"The Health Giver has asked for your audience," the servant said, his face red with embarrassment.

The Emperor graciously waved the servant away ignoring the lack of protocol, and Nala stepped forward, her arms full with two heavy and large books.

"Forgive my interruption," Nala continued, her tone serious. "But I have discovered some interesting information regarding your Lombock."

The Empress smiled kindly and pointed to the last spare seat at the table. It was positioned in between the Emperor and Jale. "Please, join us."

Nala approached. "I know it is not usually asked, but I would like to offer my council."

"What have you found?" the Emperor asked, leaning one arm onto the table.

"I thought that you might not of had the time to visit The Grand Library since returning, so I took it upon myself to do so."

She opened the book to a marked page in front of the Emperor, the Empress and Jale.

"There is not much on the Lombock,” Nala continued, “only three texts that I could find. The Lost Seas Sagas, The Kindra Legend and this one, a book of mythical creatures from the ancient days."

She paused ensuring she had all of their undivided attention. "It says that they are meant to be capable of change, of shapeshifting."

They took a moment to process her words. Jale and the Empress sharing a quick glance. It was the Empress who spoke first.

"Are you suggesting that Teal could be a shapeshifter?" she asked incredulously.

Jale pulled the text closer to him so he could flick through its pages.

"Well," Nala said, tilting her head to the side. "We can't know for sure but the text says it was not always so. To stop their race from their brutal cannibalistic ways, a spell was put over them, melding them with the animal world, specifically the mind of a tiger. It gave them the ability to shapeshift back and forth. Not only that, it would appear that the everyday Lombock actually took on the characteristics of the standard orange, black and white tiger. Our histories and stories however have clung onto the silver and black traits - the rare traits."

Her voice lowered gravelly. "Teal is not just a Lombock, he is a rare Lombock for he is tied to the rare black and white tigers with their vibrant blue eyes."

"But what happened to those other Lombocks?" the Empress asked.

Nala shrugged. "It is believed they were unable to feed on their natural diet, so they died out."

"Shapeshifting to a tiger?" Jale scoffed, flicking through the pages of the book. "This book's origin lies in made up stories and conjectures. And if I remember my ancient classic texts, even if it were true, all mythical creatures were slaughtered in the Great Exorcism."

Nala shrugged unperturbed by Jale's skepticism. "A common ex-soldier schooled in the ancient classic texts?"

Jale cursed inside his head at his mistake. "I was not always a common solider," he said quickly, hoping it would be enough to stop her from enquiring further.

Nala's eyes narrowed. "If you know your ancient classic texts you certainly were more than a common soldier."

"Now, now," the Emperor warned.

Nala took heed and turned her attention back to the texts. "Teal shows a good heart, but I should tell you what else I found," she stated. "If he can shapeshift, the texts say that he will not remember his human life when he is changed. Yet, when he is changed, if he is bonded to you emotionally in his human form, he will be bonded to you in his animal form as well."

Jale and the Emperor shared a quick glance.

"Could that be what happened in the Kindra tale?" the Empress asked, glancing at the pages of the other book Nala had brought along.

It wasn't a question directed at anyone in particular and out of the corner of his eye, Jale saw the Empress frown.

The Emperor saw it as well.

"What is it, my love?" he asked.

"The medallion that Kindra is wearing," she murmured. "I could have sworn I've seen it before."

Jale and the Emperor waited patiently, but she did not speak further.

"I want all the three texts left in my personal quarters," the Emperor instructed.

"I'll see to it," Jale told him.

"I would also like to conduct some research of my own and visit the halls of the Denroin Monks if I can have your permission for leave," Nala asked. "My ties with them are still strong. I am confident they will give me access to their archives."

"Granted," the Emperor said straightaway. "Lolena is more than qualified to take your place while you're away."

Without another word, Nala rose and left. Empress Crael stood as well her frown still prominent of the features of her face.

"Forgive me," she said. "I need to check on something.” She paused before she continued, “I wouldn't mention any of this to Galton. I don’t think he would be very pleased."

Jale chuckled. "I agree. I think adding shapeshifter to cannibal descendent is not a good idea. But to be honest, I don't believe it. Teal hasn't eaten anyone yet, has he?”