The Silent King of Puppets

Zheirah

——

Zheirah fastened the plain white veil around the lower half of his face. He wore a pale blue tunic, white trousers, and white boots - the uniform worn by Shezen servants during a party.

Zheirah was no servant of the Imperial Shezen. He was of the Common Revolution. Those fighting for non-royal magic users to be allowed to practice their gifts.

Zheirah lifted his left hand and tilted it to the left. A door appeared. Zheirah opened it, and found himself in a crowded hallway full of people wearing the same white mask combined with a blue tunic and white trousers or skirts.

A servant girl with dark skin and curly hair walked up to Zheirah. She wore a blue tunic and white floor-length skirt. Her mask was embroidered.

'Tang,' a voice whispered in Zheirah's mind as he met her eyes.

"Are you new here?" Tang asked.

Zheirah opened his mouth to speak, then felt the absence of his tongue in his mouth. A cold memory to…

To nothing.

Zheirah simply pretended to not hear Tang. He pointed to his ear and shrugged.

Tang nodded. She hurried away and spoke to another servant, soon returning with a piece of stone, a chalk, and a damp rag.

'Are you from Shezen?' she wrote on the rock.

Zheirah shrugged. That was information that Klal had never told him.

Tang nodded in understanding.

"Tang!" someone called from across the crowded hall.

'Use this to communicate,' she wrote on the board before hurrying away.

Zheirah stuffed the stone, chalk, and rag into his pocket and joined a large group of servants walking towards a door at the end of the hall.

Through the door was the ballroom of the Shezen castle. Royals and nobles stood around, talking in poor attempts to be friendly. Glowing blue vines hung from torch holders on the walls.

The servants lined up, each one spaced about an arm-length apart. Zheirah followed.

King Lonek and Second Prince Zentik walked up the stairs to a platform in the back of the ballroom. Smaller versions of their normal thrones were on the platform. They stood before their respective throne. The bright, snowy moonlight caused their shadows to cast darkness across the ballroom floor closest to them. Everyone seemed to take care to avoid standing in their shadow.

"Thank you all for coming," King Lonek said. A hush immediately fell on the crowd as the King's deep voice echoed across the ballroom. "Today is a very special day for the kingdoms of Shezen and Shezil."

An excited whisper roared through the room. King Lonek shared a glance with his brother before clearing his throat. The room silenced in the echo.

King Lonek held his left hand forward. Princess Kiran of Shezil - who wore a black tunic and pale blue skirt - walked up the steps and took his hand.

'Fear,' Zheirah's mind whispered. Both the King and Princess were shaking - not enough to be noticeable by anyone other than Zheirah.

"We believe this will bring a new era of peace among the nations of Shezul," the King said, voice shaking as he said "we." He sighed almost inaudibly. "Let the festivities continue."

King Lonek guided Princess Kiran to the throne to his left. She would not sit in the real Consort throne until the two were married, but sitting in the ballroom throne was perfectly acceptable.

King Lonek sat in the throne in the middle. Second Prince Zentik sat in the throne to the King's right.

The servants by Zheirah stepped forward into the crowd. The group he was in was closest to the throne. To Zheirah's left and right, the servants walked towards where the King, Second Prince, and future Queen Consort sat. Zheirah followed.

He watched the servant who had been standing opposite him along the walls. They took a tray from the servant to their left. Zheirah turned to his left, and took the tray that was being held out to him. He imitated the other servant, who stood in front of the King. Zheirah's tray held food; the other servant's tray held a cup.

The voice of Klal echoed in Zheirah's mind:

"When King Lonek is offered food, use your magic."

For barely a second, red flashed before Zheirah's eyes. The kei in the golden goblet on the other servant's tray flashed red in a way that could easily be passed off as light reflecting off the liquid. The upkima in Zheirah's tray did the same.

Zheirah and the servant stood before King Lonek and bowed as they held forward the trays.

King Lonek first drank the kei. He took the spoon from beside the bowl and ate the upkima.

After that, Princess Kiran was offered food. She took a drink of kei and a spoonful of upkima.

When she was done, Second Prince Zentik did as both before him had done.

Zheirah and the servant stayed still. Zheirah's heart pounded in his chest.

Zheirah watched the servants who stood behind the thrones on the platform as they took their own trays and walked throughout the crowd. Each tray had multiple bowls and goblets. Unlike the gold of what was offered to the Royal Family, the other bowls and goblets (and spoons) were silver.

"I've never seen more people at a Shezen party," Princess Kiran said. She had a warm, deep voice, but it sounded almost strained - like when someone tried to sing lower than they could.

"They're probably only here for the gossip," Second Prince Zentik said. "After your dance during the Harvest, not even the servants would stay quiet."

King Lonek set his mouth in a thin, straight line, but nodded as he took another drink.

"Gossip spreads far too-"

The King's voice was cut off with a choking cough. He put a hand to the front of his neck, eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you okay?" Second Prince Zentik asked, leaning towards his brother.

King Lonek only coughed in response.

Princess Kiran motioned for a servant to come closer and whispered to them. The servant ran away.

"King, can you breathe?" the guard who stood by the King's throne asked, kneeling beside the throne and looking into his eyes.

"Barely."

King Lonek fell into another fit of coughing.

At this point, his coughs were the only sound in the ballroom.

"Is everything well?" the voice of King Abil of Shezil - Princess Kiran's father - asked from the crowd.

"Abil, he's been poisoned!" the voice of Queen Consort Zild of Shezil gasped, putting a hand on her husband's arm.

Doctors rushed into the room and motioned for Zheirah and the other servant to move aside.

As Zheirah stepped aside, the guard by King Lonek stood and grabbed his left arm, glaring into Zheirah's eyes. Zheirah's tray fell to the floor with a crash, the soup inside the bowl spilling on his shoes. King Lonek was being taken out of the room.

'Noka, Head of the Shezen Royal Guard.'

"Did you poison the King?" Noka asked, their grip tight on Zheirah's arm.

Zheirah went to point to his ear, but the guard knocked his hand to the side, likely thinking that he was about to attack.

"Wait!"

The servant girl named Tang ran up to the guard.

"He's deaf," she said. "He has a slate and chalk in his pocket to talk. Ask him there."

"You do it," Noka said, steel grip now holding Zheirah's left arm and right wrist.

Tang took the rock, chalk, and rag from Zheirah's pocket and wrote 'Did you poison the King?' on it. She held it up to where Zheirah could see.

Zheirah shook his head.

"Of course he wouldn't admit it," Noka muttered. They turned to a few guards nearby. "Take every servant who touched these trays to the dungeons. Start interrogation immediately."

Two guards grabbed Zheirah's arms and began to drag him away.

Zheirah met the eyes of Princess Zoneen of Shezon. The one who spoke to him when he freed Klal from Shezon's castle dungeons. Her eyes widened and she whispered to the woman next to her. Zheirah met the second woman's eyes.

'Iris, future Queen Consort of Shezon, current Princess Consort of Shezon.'

Princess Zoneen ran up to Noka and spoke quickly to them.

"Kaink, Bell!"

The guards by Zheirah stopped. They turned around, and Zheirah faced the Head Guard.

"You can hear, can't you, Zheirah?" Noka asked. They stepped forward and took down the mask hiding Zheirah's identity.

"Klal must be nearby," Princess Zoneen said. "He wouldn't send Zheirah alone."

He did.

"Where is Klal?" Noka demanded, voice low.

Zheirah only stared.

"Take him to the lower dungeons," Noka told the other two guards - Kaink and Bell - as they stepped back to return to talking to Princess Zoneen. "He's a fugitive of Shezon."

Kaink and Bell turned around again and dragged Zheirah through the downward spirals that created the halls of the Shezen castle. They stepped through an iron door. On the other side was a hallway lined with dungeon cells.

The first few cells were stuffed with what Zheirah assumed were regular criminals. The rest only had two people in each: a servant chained to the bench on the back wall and a guard holding a sword. Every guard was asking the same question: "Did you poison the King?"

The last cell Zheirah passed before a group of empty cells held the servant who gave King Lonek his drink. Zheirah met the servant's eyes.

'Kelek.'

The look in Kelek's eyes told Zheirah two things: everyone knew Zheirah posioned King Lonek, and everyone knew Zheirah was never even a servant.

The betrayal that wet Kelek's eyes forced Zheirah to look away.

Through another iron door was a stairway that led to a hall filled with iron doors spread far apart. Unlike the other cells, these cells only had a tiny square of bars on the upper middle area of the doors. The only light in the room came from a candle in the very first cell, and dim lanterns down the middle of the ceiling, one lantern hung above every fifth door.

"Keep them separated," one of the guards with Zheirah whispered to the other, taking Zheirah two doors down and on the other side of the hallway from the other inhabited cell.

One guard let go of Zheirah's arm to open the cell. Zheirah was shoved in. He moved to use his magic, but felt a weight on his arms.

"There's wards against combat magic in these cells," one guard said. Zheirah met zir eyes.

'Kaink.'

Kaink lit the candle in a tiny shelf carved into a wall by the ledge on the back of the cell.

"You're currently six floors underground," ze said as ze walked back to the door and stood by Bell. "As you are wanted in another kingdom, no harm will come to you while Shezen holds you, unless Shezon requests it. I cannot speak for what will happen should Shezon take you, but an assasination attempt on the King will not be taken lightly by our courts."

Bell waved with one flick of his wrist.

The door closed.

It was dark.