The palace was more opulent then he'd ever seen. Zen was used to the wealth and nobility since he lived at Qi's side, but most of the people who had large sums of money back in their country did not flaunt it quite so aggressively. Even Qi, who was likely soon to be given the title crown prince, only had on two rings and one earring. He was not one for trinkets or money, and hadn't even brought enough on their own journey in case they got delayed and needed to buy extra food. Thus, they had run out by the time they had entered the city.

The front gates to the palace were a solid bright red steel that rose high above their heads. It took two men on each side to slowly slide it open with mechanisms. Once inside the massive main courtyard gold statues abounded, buddhas of all shapes and sizes guided them down a long, decorated walking path. That lead them past several different pavilions, all with shining plaques inscribed with one good virtue or another.

His master had never bothered with putting phrases or sayings upon his home. Instead, he simply had healer posted above his doorway, and if someone ever sought him out who was ill or wounded, he would not hesitate to try his best to aid them. It mattered not if they were of noble blood or a simple beggar in the streets who had gotten into a tussle over food scraps.

Looking over at his master, Zen couldn't help but smile warmly. The man was a gift to the world. The man was his world.

"What are you looking at me for, Zen?" Qi asked with a curious smile of his own as they continued to follow the group in front of them. Prince Yuen had left as soon as they'd stepped inside the palace gates, but that was fine with him. The man just felt off, especially when he'd touched his hand earlier.

Feeling a soft finger gently nudge a strand of hair away from his eye drew Zen's attention back into focus. He hadn't meant to get lost in his thoughts, and he realized right away that he had forgotten to even respond to his master's question as they'd slowed to a stop.

He quickly bowed his head, but of course, Qi wouldn't let him remain leaning over for long. He placed a bent finger beneath Zen's jaw and lifted it slowly so that their eyes could meet.

"We must go in and meet the emperor, Zen. Are you unsure of your current suppressed skills should something occur?" he asked, making Zen lick his lips and, after a brief moment of hesitation, shake his head.

Qi squeezed his hand and nodded toward the entrance, then looked back at him.

"Then we should not delay. Just be yourself," he said as he calmly guided him inside the massive gold and beige building they had arrived at.

The party who had lead them there was stationed on one side of the large hall while several advisors and two young men in armor, possibly generals, stood on the other. To Zen's surprise, prince Yuen was nowhere to be seen.

He let Qi guide forward as he used his eyes and the spiritual energy he was being lent to scan the area for any possible dangers. Hidden weapons abounded around them, especially on some of the eunuchs that stood close to the emperor, but it was highly unlikely that one of the men would try to harm them right in front of their ruler.

They came to a stop a few feet away from the base of the large dais and finally released each other's hands. Zen was reluctant, because his ability was immediately cut off without Qi's consistent flow of energy, but he knew that they couldn't very well keep their hands joined while greeting the ruler of the country. Especially not one they were trying to maintain a very fragile peace with.

He watched in silence as Qi pressed the top of his closed fist into his opposite hand and extended them forward to form a circle before bowing... but he did not move to mimic him. Zen remained standing straight, his attention on as many people as he could focus on while still remaining inconspicuous.

"Rise, prince Qi. I am grateful that you have come from such a distance to visit with us," emperor Yuen Mingsu said before immediately turning his attention to Zen.

"Your friend here..." he started saying, expecting Qi to respond.

He did so, offering another bow before straightening and turning to Zen, who continued to keep his focus on those around them as his master started speaking.

"This is my personal guard, Zen. I do apologize, but ever since he was little he has bowed to no one but me. He does not mean it as an insult, but he is always hyper aware of things around him and even if I ordered him to bow to someone else, it would be the one command he would not obey," Qi said, drawing Zen's attention for the briefest moment before he heard someone running toward them from a side corridor a little farther ahead of them and to the left.

He couldn't tell who it was because of his lack of spiritual energy, but judging from the barely-there sound, the incoming person couldn't be more than a young child.

The emperor seemed to not have noticed their incoming intruder and instead had his eyes narrowed on Zen. Of course, he knew that not bowing to a foreign emperor when visiting, and especially at such tense times between countries was considered disrespectful, but he had no reason to pay respect in such a reverent way, to anyone but his master. He did not even bow to his own emperor.

Thankfully the child appeared moments before the emperor was able to question his dishonor and turn the situation negative. The owner of the sound had been a little girl with honey brown hair and eyes that were a familiar brown so dark that they looked almost black.

Prince Yuen...

Think of the devil, and he shall appear.

Prince Yuen came briskly walking out of the same hallway his sister had appeared from moments earlier, a stern but somehow entertained look on his face. Well, that was until he noticed Zen and his master standing before his father.

His expression immediately turned to ice as he called for his sister to return to his side. She stopped her advance toward him and Qi, but after processing the situation as best as her six year old mind seemed able to, she decided that the complete strangers were perfectly safe and stepped right up to stand nearly toe to toe with Zen.

He stared down at her quizzically, knowing that she was no threat... but her actions could definitely open up a chance for prince Yuen or one of the generals or guards to take a shot at them if they moved the wrong way near such royalty.

"What is your name?" she asked, not even bothering to greet him properly.

Zen stared at her for a moment, clearly not responding fast enough because the little girl quickly turned to Qi and pointed up at Zen.

"Is your friend dumb? Why does he not speak?"

Zen looked at Qi, who spared him a small smile before bowing slightly at the princess and replying calmly.

"My friend is quite smart, princess, but he has no voice to speak with."

That seemed to confuse the little girl, making her take a step back and put one hand on her hip, the gesture quite unladylike. She then pointed at Zen with her other hand.

"I order you to speak!"

Zen didn't even pay attention to her order, because he clearly couldn't accomplish it, and prince Yuen was walking toward them with a curious light in his eyes that had him on edge. Thankfully, the prince stopped beside his sister and took her hand, then turned and began tugging her away with a single word to them, much to her loud dismay.

Once they had disappeared back down the hall they had appeared, the emperor returned his attention to their previous situation, but his former ire seemed to have dissipated for the moment.

"Eunuch Hong, please take our guests to the Laughing Crow pavilion so that they may relax before dinner in the great hall this evening," he said, dismissing them without any further discussion.

It was a relief. Zen waited for Qi to bow one more time, then begin following the eunuch before he turned and did the same. The walk to the pavilion took a bit, but neither of them minded. The scenery was beautiful and there were quite a few gorgeous birds around with all sorts of plumage and colors that they had never seen before.

"His highness prince Yuen is a collector of odd creatures. His bird collection is one of his favorites. Please enjoy viewing them, but I would advise against trying to catch any," Eunuch Hong said before bowing, then seeing himself out of the pavilion courtyard they had stepped into.

Zen nodded and Qi bowed slightly, thanking the man for his guidance before they were left alone. They immediately locked hands and shared energy, allowing Zen to use his ability to scope out the entire area in seconds. He let his eyes close in order to focus, going through each room, bush, and tree canopy on the property. Once he opened his eyes again and nodded to his master, Qi allowed their hands to drop and headed inside to look about the large building.

Zen decided to walk off the path instead of following, however, and turned toward where he'd found a pond with his ability a short distance through some foliage. A wisp of wind brushed against his face and rustled his long hair as it freed a few leaves from the sheltering trees above. They danced along the strands of his hair as he walked, then landed nimbly within his lightly tousled lochs as he knelt before a large pond.

The large gold, yellow, and silver koi within it were quick to greet him, their large mouths gulping at the air in hopes of a morsel being offered.

I am sorry, but I have nothing to offer you.

He looked up after a moment, hearing a familiar sound. His lips tilted upward as he noticed their two horses grazing amongst the trees nearby. Their broken harnesses had been removed and they seemed to have been groomed.

"Zen?"

Hearing Qi's call, Zen immediately stood and walked toward their new temporary home. When he stepped inside he noticed that it was not lacking in decoration, nor was it dirty. Everything was clean and immaculate. the layout was open, with screens sectioning off a small area to his left and a much larger room to his right that likely stretched most of the way to the back of the pavilion. Directly in front of him was a smaller room, clearly set up for a guard or companion who was not of royalty.

He began walking forward to set down the small pack he'd been carrying on his back when he heard Qi approach from behind and turned. As soon as his master appeared he offered a quick bow, then blinked in surprise when the man took his hand and guided him through the screen leading to the larger room that had been slid aside, barely allowing him enough time to set his pack on the floor.

Curiosity had him looking around with his eyes, but since they were holding hands again, he took the opportunity to borrow a little more energy and rescan the area for threats. Thankfully, there was nothing out of the ordinary, though he did sense quite a large amount of birds hanging about. There had been several feeders for them in the trees above the koi pond, now that he remembered, so he supposed that it wasn't too odd that they would remain in the area. The eunuch had also mentioned that prince Yuen had quite a large collection around the pavilion.

"Sit please," Qi said, making Zen immediately drop down onto the bed he'd been brought to.

The mattress was surprisingly comfortable, but it did not compare to the one his master had gifted him back home. Hearing Qi approach again after having walked away for a moment, Zen looked up.

"I'm going to put up a barrier spell so that we don't have to worry as much about the curse master," he said, making Zen blink and tilt his head. They had not confirmed that such a master even existed in the vicinity of the palace yet, but he would never deny his master anything he wished to do.

Qi reached forward and gently tugged Zen's mask downward, letting it drop to settle against his chest before he placed the tips of his fingers on either side of his face, just barely brushing the edges of his lips.

"Open a little please," Qi whispered as he leaned closer, his own mouth only a few inches from his. The man was clearly somewhat lost in thought, likely going over the words for his spell as he gave directions.

Zen did as told, then waited patiently, not minding the gentle mist of Qi's breath as he focused. For some odd reason, his heart always sped up when so close to his master. There was never a reason to bother the man about it, though. It did not cause him issues concerning his job, so he did not wish to worry Qi with the trivial matter.

It was just a tad uncomfortable, especially when it was necessary to share a room on some occasions or, in his current, new case, when his master was going over a spell in his mind to make sure that it was absolutely correct... but he had forgotten to move away until he was ready to cast it.

Feeling a faint pressure from Qi's fingertips again, Zen refocused his attention, meeting his master's eyes without hesitation as the man leaned closer, whispering the beginnings of the spell right up against his mouth. It was odd feeling his master's own lips brush against his every so often, but he turned his mind away from the feeling, as it, too, seemed to make his heart beat uncomfortably fast. He instead turned his focus toward the seal he could feel being cast within his mouth.

It warmed his tongue and soothed its way down his throat, heating the entire area. His eyes closed of their own accord as his master finished the last word of his spell and sealed his mouth with his own, closing his lips in the process, silently directing Zen to do the same. Without his mouth open, the man's spell bounced and crackled around inside his upper body, but with no way out, the energy from it began building an invisible barrier right behind his teeth, stretching from the bottom of his mouth to the roof, then back again.

He turned his attention inward at that time, calmly sensing the growing spiritual energy within the area. His mind was so focused on the spell that he hadn't realized that his master had broken their contact and was now gently sifting free the leaves Zen had let fall into his hair earlier.

Blinking open his eyes as the energy withn his mouth finally dissipated, he looked up to see Qi smiling down at him with a rather large leaf between his fingers.

"You are quite the character," he said with a look that made Zen want to press his head against his chest like he had when he'd been a child. Qi would hug him close and pat his head, telling him of all the amazing things he would help him do, and all of the places he would take him. He had sifted dirt and leaves from his messy hair the day he had saved him, too, and the action had always drawn those memories back to the forefront of his mind when the man paid him such attention.

Feeling a soft pat atop his head drew Zen from his thoughts again and brought a smile to his face.

"I have one more thing for you," Qi said, making Zen tilt his head in question.

He wasn't kept waiting long as his master withdrew a small wilting lotus flower from his sleeve and held it out in the palm of his hand. It's petals were a faded pink and purple mixture that held Zen's attention. Even dying, it was beautiful.

As he watched it, the flower began to glow with energy from Qi's internal force. It's dull petals slowly began to unfurl from their sunken-in positions and their color brightened as it filled with life.

"This flower had lost most of its life energy and was preparing to die," Qi said as he looked up at Zen. "I am returning energy to it," he added as he lifted the now-gorgeous, full flower to settle into Zen's hair by his left ear.

"I know that it was unfair of me to seal away your internal force, but you know that I cherish you and cannot stand you being hurt just to protect me. So, I wanted to try using this flower as a spiritual device. I have stored as much energy as I can inside of it so that you are not defenseless in an emergency. You should also be able to keep up your scanning ability, though you will have to test how often you can use it before it begins to drain too much energy.

Zen reached up and gently brushed his fingertips over the smooth surface of the flower, then looked at his master with relief. He would be able to use his abilities, sparingly.

"I am going to go to the dinner later this evening, but I want you to remain here and practice using that flower to channel your abilities," Qi said, making Zen stand abruptly, but he immediately stopped his coming protest when a soft finger pressed against his lips.

"I can take care of myself tonight, Zen. You need to practice with that flower or you could cause more harm then good when I do need you. I am able to decipher poisons and have several barriers already around myself. No harm will befall me this evening," Qi said sternly, his words taking any remaining fight out of Zen.

While he was still upset, and would be for quite some time, he quickly bowed to his master and replaced his mask over his mouth and nose, then dismissed himself to go practice in the small grassy area beside the pond he'd found earlier. He would learn to use the spiritual device quickly, then take his place back at his master's side.