Chenzhou was still absorbing the news about Mingzhe hours later when he and Eirian could no longer put off seeing her mother and father. Eirian had spent the rest of the afternoon quizzing Mingzhe on his limited abilities. Chenzhou had watched quietly, only occasionally asking a question of his own and mostly thinking about the work he had to do.
Mingzhe had looked exhausted by the end of it, maybe even a bit shaken now that Chenzhou had some time to study him up close. Eirian had made him promise to join them for dinner later, before letting him finally leave.
Then she'd turned on Chenzhou, who'd wilted a bit under her gaze. "Do you really think he has something to do with the miasma?"
Chenzhou sighed. "Probably not, but we don't know anything for sure."
Eirian shook her head. "We know it started before any of us were born. If he's involved, his entire family is."
"Which is the same for anyone in the Camelia. At least those in the Court, the most recent noble family to join the Camelia was a hundred years ago."
"Magical poison and artifacts cost a lot of money. They'd be the only ones who could reasonably afford either." Eirian pointed out.
Chenzhou breathed out, relieved. "I suppose that's something. At least it's a smaller pool." He paused, thought about it. "But a heavily resourced one."
Eirian nodded; he wasn't wrong. "I won't say that it's definitely not the Zhaos, but most people born with magic who don't want to immediately join the Illuminated City, or who want to have some say in their life, hide their magic until they're strong enough to fight."
Chenzhou chewed on his lip as she took his arm. "I can understand that. It's such a valuable resource."
Eirian snorted as they walked inside, turning down the hallway to head to the Great Hall. "It's a double-edged sword. People with magic don't generally take to being ordered around." The side-eye Chenzhou gave her made her smile. "But everything you've said about Zhao says he's been loyal all these years."
"He has been. Even though he doesn't like me much, he's always been loyal to the Camelia."
"I don't think he dislikes you personally." Eirian's nose scrunched up as she tried to offer him comfort.
"It's fine." Chenzhou drawled. "I cared less before, with everything else."
"Which is understandable," she agreed. "And there's still time to fix it. Finding out the truth about the miasma and the pendant will go a long way to fixing that."
Chenzhou nodded. "I know."
They passed a handful of servants cleaning the tapestries, who paused in their work to bow. Chenzhou waved them off as he studied them. "I didn't realize we had these. Are these kesi?"
Eirian nodded. "The place needs some color. Hopefully, the gardens will come back healthy enough to bloom."
"There used to be beautiful red camelia flowers everywhere. They grew out of the rocks the estate is built on."
Eirian turned to him in surprise. "Really?"
"Before I was born," Chenzhou explained. "There are several paintings in the Main Hall that depict it. I can't imagine how beautiful it was in real life."
"It might still come back," Eirian offered. "That the grass has already started to grow is a good sign."
"I thought that was you," Chenzhou confessed, surprised.
"I was nudging it along, but it started to grow on its own."
"It must be the volcanic rock," Chenzhou realized, excitement growing. "It's why the Hearthland is so fruitful."
Eirian turned to him in surprise. "Volcanic rock?"
"It's full of nutrients," Chenzhou explained. "It helps fuel the soil for growth." He blushed at her incredulous look. "It's basic knowledge."
"It's not."
"It's interesting."
"It's not." But she looked amused. "You like that kind of thing?"
His expression was incredulous. "You don't?"
"I love fresh flowers, I don't care how they grow." She paused. "I wonder if whoever created the miasma realized?" Chenzhou gave her a confused look. "The miasma would have destroyed the Camelia down to the foundations. It would have poisoned the land until nothing could grow, just like it was doing to your bloodline."
"They want to destroy the Camelia. We know that." Chenzhou frowned.
"Do they?" Eirian studied a tapestry depicting an ancient king leading his forces into battle. "The Camelia is incredibly valuable. For many reasons. Destroying it outright… really only makes sense if it was Arnheim and he was just so far gone in hatred that he had no plans to try and take it back. The same for your female ancestor."
"Right? You think there's another reason?"
"I think we forgot that not everyone understands magic. Or has the ability to think long-term. What if destroying it wasn't the goal, just an unintentional side-effect?"
"Then what would the goal be?"
"Taking over. Your mother wore the pendant. Someone gave it directly to her."
"But my bloodline was ill before her."
"What if they wore the pendant too. It was in the Vault. It wasn't made of anything particularly valuable, right?"
Chenzhou shook his head. "Just gold wrapped iron. Its value was more sentimental than anything else."
"Right. And it was small. So maybe whoever made it gave it to one of your ancestors, intending to end the Ye line, but not the Camelia. What if they just wanted you out of the way so they could take over?"
They started walking again as Chenzhou processed her words. "I mean, isn't that still the same suspect pool? It doesn't change that it would take money and resources."
"No. We need to look into the noble families in the Camelia. Figure out whose motive would be which." Something visceral shot through her. Excitement, anticipation, and curiosity, all tinged with the taste of danger.
"We need to figure out who to trust first," Chenzhou argued. "We need allies."
"We have Yuze and Finn and Finn's friends."
"We need allies among the Court."
"We have Zhao."
Chenzhou hesitated.
"Do you really not trust him?" Eirian's eyes narrowed. "Be honest."
Chenzhou took a moment and considered. There was anger, and he was still hurt, as irrational as Mingzhe and Eirian's arguments made it. "I do. But I'm still angry. He had a long time to tell me. And he didn't in the end, he told you."
"Because I have magic." Eirian tugged him down the hall. "It's fine that you're angry. As long as it doesn't cloud your judgement."
"You sound like my tutors."
"I was quoting mine."
It made him grin, then she pulled him around a corner. "Wait, where are we going?"
"To deal with my father."
~ tbc