The hollyhocks bobbed in the breeze as Peregrine, Bronzefinch and Retba waited in the courtyard. Court had long ended, and everyone had gone home for the week but those with a little something more important to say lingered. When Court Lady Ma summoned them, the men followed her to the king's office where they went into the queen mother. Bak Hayoon stood at the center of the room, and they all bowed.

"Such a lovely day, and you have not taken advantage of going home," Bak Hayoon said. "This must be about the court official case."

"I wish permission to continue investigating the corrupt minister," Peregrine said. He and Bronzefinch bowed.

"I request you decline such an investigation," Retba said. "The evidence is not substantial, and it lowers the morale of the court. No one of good breeding or good sense would grow the deadly wizard's robes."

Bak Hayoon looked at the other men. "What do you have to say?"

"The secretary of foreign affairs knows the court," Bronzefinch said. "He must also know how easy justice can be miscarried. How the time our country is currently in can cause men to behave beastly."

"I am not sure I appreciate your tone, Secretary of War Bronzefinch," Retba said.

Bronzefinch bowed.

Bak Hayoon sighed. "Chief Aide?"

"The ministers are recently considered for promotion," Peregrine said. "No one wants the label of a criminal looming over their heads."

"Well I suppose I could send the red feathers to everyone's houses to find the evidence," Bak Hayoon said.

"Majesty." Retba bowed.

Bak Hayoon smiled. "Chief Aide, you resume the investigation. Today's hearing in this regard is annulled. Dismissed."

The men bowed and left. As Peregrine was going out the door, Bak Hayoon called him back. He watched her climb dais to the throne and sit herself there.

"Hasn't it always suited me, Peregrine?"

Peregrine bowed.

"When we married, the king and I shared everything. The greatest regret of my life is abdicating for my son. Am I not ideal to return to the throne? If I am not queen, who will resist Bak Haneul?"

"Your Majesty, the king has hardly departed, let's not speak this way."

A door to the side chamber opened and a boy in hanbok ran out followed by his nursery maid. Bak Hayoon stood as the boy led the girl in a chase all about the office and around the throne.

"Please Prince Rim, you must come back to Hexagon Palace."

Rim ducked behind the throne. "No! Granny said this is my house and I can go where I want."

"Get control of him and take him out," Bak Hayoon said.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Zaynab said.

Peregrine looked at the stubborn boy. Between him and Bak Hayoon he didn't know who was more likely to throw a fit. "Come here, child." He waved the boy over. "Now, why are you troubling this nice young lady?"

"I do not want to study."

"Ah, but a boy needs to learn his lessons to grow and become smart."

Rim looked up at him. "Are you smart?"

"This is Chief Aide Peerless," Zaynab said. "He is the smartest man in the kingdom."

Rim's mouth hung open. "Then if I go to my lessons I will be as smart as you?"

Peregrine smiled. "Smarter."

Rim took Zaynab's hand. "Come on!" He dragged her out the door through which they'd come.

Bak Hayoon dabbed her eyes with her sleeve. "You should not have had to see him."

"It was a pleasure, Your Majesty."

"You may go."

Peregrine bowed and left the room. As the doors clicked shut, he let out a heavy breath then turned to Bronzefinch.

"You were brave to continue the investigation. Chief Aide or not, the person behind this is bold enough to kill you."

"Well, I appreciate your support even if it was just to put Retba in his place."

"Do you ever get tired of reading people like books?"

"Do you ever make friends without political benefits?"

Bronzefinch smiled. "I am old. I've seen kings and officials killed before my own eyes. There is no longer time to make friends. Eh, so who do you think is playing into the devil's hand? Retba?"

"This came out of the dark. Importing wizard's robes is illegal, but it won't get you sent to the gallows. Once processed properly it is no longer a poison. Used incorrectly and you are dead. One can make a good fortune from those willing to buy."

"Godspeed, Peerless."

Peregrine gave a nod. "Have a safe trip home." Eager to do the same, he left the Royal City.

****

When Adolph arrived in White Decent there was a telegram waiting. Hoopoe was vague, but the message, sent by pigeon, was clear to him. There was trouble in court and his father was investigating. He had to assume his father was managing the problem to the best of his abilities and he would join him after he met Benjamin. He replied to the message. As soon as his horse was ready, he rode out to their family home.

The Bronzefinch owned a large estate. The family printery was nearby on the water and those who lived in Numberland liked to say Marquis Bronzefinch resided there as king. Numberland was a city with the best schools. With arithmetic painted onto the streets as a local custom. From Bronzefinch's point of view education is for the masses.

A servant welcomed Adolph onto the property. Adolph followed him across the estate where gardeners groomed the topiary and women picnicked and sampled sachets. At last, they came to a secluded field, where a man his own age stood with a bow shooting targets. Adolph watched him draw the arrow and hit the mark.

"Impressive, isn't he?" the servant said.

Adolph agreed. "Very good, Benjamin."

Benjamin Bronzefinch looked at him and grinned. "You made it. I thought you were giving me the runaround."

"Of course, I had to see how the most handsome man in the country was fairing."

Benjamin chuckled and picked up another arrow. "That is very accurate. How are your parents?"

Adolph joined him on the platform. "Very well. And yours?"

"Anxious. Father is beset with transcribing books and scrolls of the world. My mother...all her sons-in-law are stationed away, and they are lost of their only son."

"The secretary of war has enough to concern him than transcribing all these books."

"The king commanded it."

Adolph looked down. "Why don't you undertake it?"

Benjamin nocked his arrow and shot. "Hm, you must be making me nervous."

"My apologies."

"Are you staying long? We should ride up to the coast. Maybe shoot some game."

"My wife will want me back. I'm only here for business."

"The sorrows of a married man." Benjamin gave Adolph a soft drink from the bucket at his side. "Now, don't play the judge with me. Relax. You are in Bronzefinch Hall."

"Very well, but I would like to know why you called me here."

Benjamin fell back on the piles of cushions on the platform. "Adolph, you used to sing in college."

"Is this relevant?"

"Everyone liked you. Everyone except that one fellow. Goodness, what did they call him?"

"I called him Sasha Roamer."

"Sasha! Yes. They called him the Teeco Kid, like the chamber pot, because he smelled like one. People can be so cruel."

"Well, not everyone could send their clothes home by their own wash maid each week."

"You think that was why?"

"No," Adolph said. "What is all of this about?"

Benjamin sat up. "Sing for me, and I will tell you."

Adolph stared. The sound of the mourning dove rustling in the woods seemed louder as he grew anxious. So, he sang. Singing, singing was good.

"There it is." Benjamin applauded. "Isn't that what you always wanted?

Adolph smiled.

"Father's are always driving us to be exactly what we do not wish."

Adolph's smile faded.

"I have a boat, Adolph. I plan to sail around the peninsula. Why don't you come with me? You can sing all you want; be the person you want to be."

Adolph tongue stuck to his mouth. "Is that what this is about? We've hardly spoken in years, and you want me to... you must be joking. I have a family and a career and-"

"I'm dying, Adolph.

"...Benjamin..."

"I'm incurable. I'm going to die."

Adolph felt he had been hit with one of his arrows. "How...how much longer."

Benjamin shrugged. "I have disappointed my parents, but I haven't made a mess of things. I hope I didn't tear you away from anything too-"

Adolph shook his head. "No, no, no. It's fine. It's all fine." He looked at Benjamin's hands. They trembled. They had calluses from his arrows and an old scar from a misadventure or two. He looked at his own hands. All the marks were there of someone who used ink and paper too much. It was life, but when had he stopped living? How much did he miss out on Kanga?

****

When they reached the house, Benjamin sent his manservant inside. "I hope you don't mind a minor delay. There is someone here that would like to see you."

On the porch, Adolph stood at the railing and looked out at the mountains. "There is no need to rush."

Benjamin patted his back. "Don't pity me, old friend. I've had a lot of fun in this life. A lot more than I would have had as a judge."

The man servant returned. "Your Lordship, the princess."

Adolph turned around, his mouth hanging open. The woman that stood before them was no stranger, but it had been several years since he had seen her. Her hand rested on her very pregnant stomach. "Benjamin?"

"No."

Adolph looked at the woman again. "Princess Hazel."

"Adolphus, how nice to see you again."

Adolph cocked his head. One thing that charmed birds from heaven for Hazel was her honeycomb voice.

"Exile has been very unfair to me. I was sick on the ship and sick almost every month for a year after arriving."

Adolph remembered the climate in the country she had been exiled to being very different and Hazel had always been delicate. She was similar in appearance to her younger sister Kailyete, with the Layland olive skin and gray eyes. She held a lacquered box, which Adolph may have assumed held the broken hearts of the men she rejected. This she set aside on a nearby wicker table.

"When did you return to Yellow Mountain?"

"If you are asking when I was pardoned, I haven't been," Hazel took a seat in a wicker chair.

Adolph turned to Benjamin. "And you hid her?"

"I could not refuse the king's woman."

The connection made in Adolph's head was clear to them both. He found it impossible to believe such duplicity could not have been known by his father. Impossible for the king to be so clandestine. It disturbed him in a way.

"The king has chosen Prince Kim Seo-jun to succeed the throne," Adolph said. "If you mean to raise this child here-"

"I have every confidence the crown prince will protect my child."

"The queen mother had you exiled for turning the king's head."

"Nothing is how it used to be," Hazel said. "Queen Bak Hayoon knows she is losing control at court. She needs all the power she can manage. You wait and see. She too will protect my child."

Adolph shook his head. "Ever since you were a girl, you always dreamed of life in the palace, but this..."

"But I never knew I would fall in love with a king. Ask yourself, Adolphus, did you know you would fall in love with a duchess? How is my story any different?"

"I do not have dangerous aspirations at the risk of my offspring."

"Had you offspring, you do not know what you would risk."

Adolph felt every inch of his heart stabbed in a way he did not know Hazel could do. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to have faith in me. I know what his majesty wished. He wished for harmony. I know I can bring it." She passed him a slip of paper.

Adolph unfolded the paper and read it. "Protect my queen. This is his majesty's hand."

"Could it be clearer?" Hazel asked. She opened the box on the table.

Adolph stepped forward. The neatly folded golden fabric pulled him in. "This... this is the number one longevity brocade." He looked at Hazel. Her once merry eyes had become challenging. He returned the look. "How did you get this?" 

"You are a wise man. You already know the answer." Hazel rubbed her stomach.

Adolph knew only one person could have gotten it out of the palace. His majesty. "Princess, I must ask you not to haste." 

"I will not."

"My father must be aware of this. He knows the palace better than I do. I do not want harm to come to anyone."

Hazel stood. "I am not asking you to be my protector. I only wish to have a helper. My husband, his majesty, never gave up on a friend." She bowed.

****

Rain speckled the kitchen window as Adolph stared across the yard. Days like this made the lawn look particularly lush. That was how he would have described Benjamin back in college. A lush vibrant young man, readily making friends. He could see him, walking the halls with a bright smile, flanked by his nearest friends. Getting into mischief, pulling a prank on a professor, sore over a grade. Always eager for attention and hard to stay angry at, that was Benjamin Bronzefinch.

"Adolph, you gave me a start."

Adolph turned around. Hoopoe stood in the doorway with her hand over her heart. "Sorry, I just came in."

Hoopoe took a towel from the linen closet. "From the back door?" She brought it to him. "Do you want something warm?"

Adolph dried off. "I'm fine, thank you. What was my father saying?"

"It would seem something has gone awry at court with one of the ministers."

Adolph stood by the stove to dry as Hoopoe helped him out of his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. "Do you remember-"

Hoopoe took a letter from the pocket. "This is from Kanga."

"I almost forgot. Benjamin wanted you to have it."

Hoopoe read over it. It was open, well-worn and addressed to Benjamin. She pulled out the letter inside accompanied by a photograph of her daughter. The letter. She remembered helping Kanga write it. It was two years before she went missing.

Dear Mister Lord Benjamin. It was fun to play at your house. I want to come back again and play with you on the swing before the plank breaks. Thank you. Duchess Kanga Peerless.

Hoopoe swallowed. She looked at the photograph. Kanga wore her favorite hat. It was pulling teeth to get her to leave it. She had pinned a brooch to it for the picture and never taken it off.

"Hoopoe..."

Moving too quickly, Hoopoe knocked over the bowl of beans soaking on the table. The mess spilled across the kitchen floor. The couple looked at each other and Hoopoe hugged the letter to her chest.

"I'll clean it up," Adolph said, stooping down.

"You're all wet."

"It is fine, I can do it."

Hoopoe went into the hall where she nearly ran into Naomi.

"Is everything all right, Your Highness?" she wrote.

"It is fine," Hoopoe said. "Please help the judge tidy up."

Naomi went into the kitchen.

Hoopoe unfolded the letter, for a moment hearing the little voice again.