The teacup rattled vigorously as soon as the heavy man’s fist hit the table. He leaned forward towards his friend, his eyes widening by the second. “They say it was the Prince that murdered the King!”

The friend, a thin man with an equally thin moustache that sat below his nose, calmly took a sip from his cup of Oolong tea before speaking in a high-pitched voice. “Ah, yes. The Prince Cho Kyuhyun. His character is far from benevolent, much less human. It is not surprising that he should murder his own father.”

It was early morning at the Black Bird Tea House yet the inhabitants of Kasaka City were all fired up at the recent event. The tables were filled with people, most of them travelers, curious men and gossiping women who want to share what distorted information they have gathered as well as to absorb inputs and insights of all kinds.

“The King was a gallant man. He did not deserve such an indecent, untimely death.”

“Why couldn’t the Prince just wait? He’s the king’s only heir anyway.”

“Prince Kyuhyun is an evil, impatient man. He is a disgrace to the Kingdom of Geoson. He should be hanged!”

 “More tea, gentlemen?” the owner of the teashop asked. She was a statuesque woman in her fifties, with a narrow face and dark, deep set eyes. Upon realizing that just like everyone else, the two men were too involved in their heated discussion on the King’s murder to notice her, the owner scurried back to the kitchen.

Far off to one corner of the kitchen was a small girl with almond eyes. She was standing on tiptoes, peeking at the pot of stew she was stirring with utmost enthusiasm. A worn beige apron hung from her shoulders and reached past her feet to the floor.

“Good morning, omma!” said the girl, smiling up at the owner.

“Naeyoung, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Yumako-san?” the owner muttered as she walked towards the stove to refill the teapot. She wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her robes and gave a strange, meaningful smile. Her eyes shifted to a small window, where a tiny slice of the sky could be seen. “The Black Bird has never been so crowded. People love to gather when there is interesting news to throw about.”

Suddenly, at that moment, the back door of the kitchen flew open. A tall, lean girl entered, her arms embracing a basketful of onions and garlic. Her shoulder-length hair was carelessly tied in a ponytail and disobedient strands fell on her face here and there.

“Did you hear the news?” the girl grunted as she set down the heavy basket on the floor, cringing at the smell of the vegetables.  

“It’s all over town, Kari” Naeyoung answered, taking a step away from the basket. She wrinkled her nose and turned towards Yumako, who was now busy preparing another pot of tea. “And they’re saying the Prince did it. Right, omma? They say the Prince is an evil man, with a heart colder than the wintry mountains of the North. I should very much like to meet this Prince to see if what they say is true, but that is very unlikely.”

The strange smile re the older woman’s face. She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and turned her back towards the girl. “We are in no position to determine the probability of events.”

Kari and Naeyoung both looked at each other, their brows rising in unison.

“What’s with the old Geosonese proverb? You’re hiding something from us,” Kari declared, giving Yumako one of her signature piercing glares.

“Yeah!” Naeyoung piped up.

Yumako turned around, took a step towards them and held up her index finger. Her smile widened into a mischievous grin. “Patience, girls. We shall talk about it tonight. But first, can anyone tell me where Zhu Li is?”

~~~

Zhu Li was still at the marketplace.  With oversized robes draping over her frail frame, she looked more like a lost child than a twenty-year old girl. An empty basket dangled from her arms as she took awkward steps down an alley. A worried look crossed her face. Now where is the way to the docks?

Wooden stalls selling fruits and vegetables of various shapes, colors and sizes rose to her left and right. A chorus of voices calling their wares permeated the air. Children zigzagged in between the stalls, chasing each other and were joined by dogs that would once in a while stop to sniff around for scraps of food on the dusty ground.

Not far away was an obese man with greasy hair, dressed in a stained gray robe. He was holding up a bunch of decapitated chickens by their feet. He cupped his arms around his mouth and called out to the unfortunate Zhu Li. “Ya need help, young lady?”

Zhu Li froze at the voice of the man. Without giving him a glance, she quickened her pace, turned a corner and ran. She did not stop until she realized she was out of breath. Panting, she slowed down and looked about her. The smell of fish wafted through the air and an obstructed view of the sea could be seen between the stalls to her right. She was finally at the docks.

Crash!

Splinters of wood and milkfish scattered everywhere. Zhu Li turned around and saw a young man was on the ground, lying atop a pile of fish and broken crates. He had fair skin and clean, angular features. In front of him was a wide-shouldered brawny man whose face resembled that of a boar’s.

“How dare you come back here, wearing that grandiose costume of yours!” The boar barked. He jammed the other man’s chest with his foot. “Do you think we’re going to kiss your feet and worship you like a sun-god?”

“I wish you no trouble, Kuen,” the other man replied.

“I wish you no trouble, Kuen,” the Boar-man repeated in a sing-song voice. He shoved his feet further, causing the young man to push against another crate of milkfish. An irritating cacophonous laugh emerged from the depths of his abdomen. “You think your flowery speech is goin’ to scare me? I don’t put up with pretentious skunks like you, with your thievin’ fists and greedy pockets –“

Poof!

Kuen was stopped in mid-sentence by a foul-smelling black cloud that suddenly exploded in front of him. Immediately, tears began to well up in his eyes. His hand shot up to his nose, and, battling the nausea that came upon him, stumbled away.

Now whenever Zhu Li would look back on this incident, she would always tell herself that it was instinct that made her throw that bag of Manglebark Dust that drove the Boar-man away.

She stood for a moment, watching the bully disappear behind the gradually growing black cloud. Suddenly, her eyes moved towards the young man, who was skillfully maneuvering himself away from the alchemical mess. Crawling on the ground, with a handkerchief covering his nose and mouth, the victimized young man drew closer and closer to the terrified Zhu Li, his hands reaching out.

“Wait!” the young man called out once removing the handkerchief from his face. But he was too late. Zhu Li had already run away.

~~~

“So that’s why I didn’t get to buy fish,” Zhu Li explained apologetically, her eyes never leaving the ground. “I – I wanted to get away from that place before people would notice.”

It was late evening and Yumako and the three younger girls had gathered in the basement of the teashop. The only way to the basement was through the kitchen trapdoor, clandestinely covered by a red and gold oriental rug. There were three rooms underneath the teahouse: an alchemy laboratory, an artillery room and a large multipurpose hall. The hall had a high ceiling, waxed wooden floors and intricate silk tapestries featuring red snakes with wings.

“Smart move,” Kari said, as she wiped the tiller of her iron crossbow for the seventieth time. “The use of Manglebark Dust has recently been banned in the kingdom. They could imprison you for it.”

Yumako sighed. Zhu Li was always getting lost in the marketplace. The girl simply did not have a sense of direction. “Anyway,” the fifty-year old continued. “We have to move on to more pressing things. You have a new assignment.”

At the mention of this, Kari smiled for the first time that day, Naeyoung jumped up and threw a clenched fist into the air while Zhu Li sat down, relieved that the topic had been changed.

“What is it?” Naeyoung demanded. “Do we have to steal crowns set with precious stones from a tightly guarded palace?”

“Or hypnotize a dying woman into including a distant relative into her last will and testament?” said Zhu Li, whose hands were itching to concoct another spellbinding potion.

“Or kill off another snotty noble, perhaps?” Kari grinned as her fingers ran through the sleek metallic curves of her fatal crossbow.  

 “If we continue this guessing game, I’ll never be able to get some beauty sleep,” Yumako chuckled. Then, she sat back on the mahogany chair and took a deep breath before finally revealing the long awaited details of the assignment to the three girls.