Silent Storm

Chapter Two: Bellflowers in the Breeze

Esen had been inside the Gilded Palace a handful of times throughout his lifetime, mostly to attend banquets and conferences along with his parents in preparation for the day when he would become the head of the Gale House. The resplendent halls still looked much the same, all kinds of glittering gold ornaments and paintings lining the walls, but the atmosphere had certainly changed.

A deep gloom seemed to have settled in the palace, seeping into every nook and cranny of the place. There were noticeably fewer people bustling about the halls. The last time Esen had been here for the Battle of Wills, servants had been in a constant state of rushing about, doing this and that, and many high-ranking guests had been invited to stay in its rooms for the duration of the tournament.

He glanced around warily, sticking close to Zaire as the group of heirs followed the lone assistant showing them to their rooms. They were silent, the only thing interrupting the thick quiet around them being the sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty halls.

The kernel of dread that had been forming in his gut since he'd left his home yesterday was evolving and growing into something much larger. Something about all of this felt wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He tried to shake off his mounting sense of dread. Maybe the Empress just wasn't the kind of person who liked having people around.

Their rooms had, unfortunately, already been assigned to them in advance, leaving Zaire and Esen on entirely different floors of the west wing of the palace. Now there were no more friendly faces among the crowd as those remaining sized each other up. Esen swallowed thickly. He was the only member of a main House on this floor, and he could already feel their hostility leeching into the air.

He wasn't sure if being on the same floor as the other heirs of the Wind Houses would have been worse than this assorted mix of other clans. It was no secret that the secondary families reviled the Main House for their strength and status, but paired with the fact that he was from a different clan altogether added an entirely separate layer of hostility.

This was fine, he tried to remind himself. They couldn't do anything to him except glare and whisper behind his back. He could deal with that. He kept his eyes low as he was directed towards his room. He shuffled in, the door clicking shut just as quickly behind him. Only once the door separated him from them did he fully exhale, the tension bleeding right out of his shoulders.

He leaned back against the door, his eyes easing shut. This was going to be a long month.

~

The heat was unbearable.

Esen tossed and turned, the sheets kicked off around his feet. He wasn't used to being so far south; he lived on the coast, where the breeze was always light and salty. Being stuck this far inland where the air was about as stagnant as the marsh deep within the woods he'd visisted with his siblings once, was nothing short of a nightmare. He felt like he was melting.

He stared at the ceiling. Fatigue dogged each and every one of his muscles, but he couldn't manage to get comfortable enough to force himself into sleep. Between the awful heat and his mind whirling with constant thoughts and dread, it was no wonder.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, tossing the sheets aside as he went. Even the floor was warm against his bare feet. He hadn't even been here a day and he already wanted to go back home. Rubbing his tired eyes, he glanced out through his window at the clear night sky expanding across the horizon.

Tugging on some shoes, he slipped out of his door, walking with light steps down the dark, empty hall. He didn't want to wake anyone up.

He managed to somehow find his way to a door that led out onto one of the palace's private gardens. A wall separated it from the other side — likely the courtyard. It was small, but there was a beautiful assortment of flowers all around, their floral fragrances sitting heavily in the wind.

Esen closed his eyes, basking in the feeling of the air on his face and the gentle (albeit warm) breeze that caressed his skin. Slowly, as he stood there in the open air, a certain measure of calmness returned to him, a single strike of clarity splitting his thoughts. He inhaled deeply, a small smile lifting the corners of his lips. Even if he was so tired he'd probably drop at some point the following day, he couldn't help but relish in this quiet solitude, a small taste of freedom prefacing a month that would bring anything but.

As with any garden, there had to be a bench somewhere. With slow but steady steps, he made his way through the garden, fingers grazing leaves and petals as he followed the small stone path deeper inside. If he ignored the warmth lingering on the wind and the unfamiliar smells that came with it, he could almost pretend he was back home in his own garden, hiding from his responsibility.

His eyes landed on a small stone bench lit aglow by shards of moonlight streaming down from above. It took him a moment to realize that there was a dark figure standing off to the side, staring down at a particular patch of flowers.

Esen stopped abruptly, surprise colouring his features. The man must have heard him, because his head snapped up in his direction. For the second time that day, Esen found himself staring into dark, glaring eyes. It was the same man he'd bumped into earlier.

He fidgeted uncomfortably under the heaviness of that gaze. "I— um— sorry." What was he apologizing for? He swallowed thickly. The man said nothing, only turning away and storming past him.

Esen was left alone in the garden once more, as though he had never been in the company of anyone else at all. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. The man clearly didn't like him. Had they met before? Had he offended him somehow? If he had, that was... rather embarrassing.

His eyes settled on the patch of flowers the man had been staring at. They were bellflowers, their deep purple petals drifting gently in the breeze.