Peerless

8: Remember Yourself

"...and the harp began to sing out the names of all that had played it. It sang out the names of all that had done wrong, and it sang out the name of its musician's killer and the crimes he had boasted. Immediately, the king stood up and ordered the crook be taken away to be executed and so he was. As for the harp. It remained in the court, and it sings good things. And the harp is happy. The end."

Hoopoe applauded from the doorway as her father shut the magazine. The little children around jumped up and begged for more, but he sent them on their way.

"Mind your parents." He got up from his chair as his daughter came to him. "Is that my golden one?"

"Yes, Papa." Hoopoe hugged him.

"What are you doing in Windmill Terrace?"

"I missed my father."

"On your own?"

"I can manage the journey fine, Papa."

"Very well, very well." He rang for tea and had her sit. "I'm glad to see you well. I assume Adolph is too. How is Peregrine managing all of this? People from all over the Four Cites have come to the dukedom wanting my opinion. It is like court all over again."

"I'm glad you are not there at a time like this."

Tea came and Delta helped himself. "Couldn't agree more. By the way, Hoopoe, I am proud of you. You have always set your mind on a thing and gone after it. You are such a strong, brave girl. I will always support you."

"I do not always feel brave. I certainly do not always feel smart. Perhaps I should have put my efforts into being a mother over being an investigator and Kanga would not have gotten away. Perhaps my child would have come back to me, and not bones."

"Hoopoe..."

Tears ran down her face.

Delta hugged her. "You did your best. You still do your best. Your mother would be proud of you in every way."

"Would she? She was a strict woman. I've been married over ten years, she would have wanted heirs."

"Remember her better than that."

"I do."

"You want to become a royal investigator," Delta said. "You take after her in that way."

Hoopoe looked at the purple flowers on the tea set. "Papa, I've always wanted to ask...after she died you returned immediately to court as though it were any other day. Was that not difficult?"

Delta blew a swirl of steam away. It was like smoke. "For a minister it was any other day. There are those to bury the dead and those who must make the country go around."

"King Bak Yong-Hwa did not have to summon you. He should have understood."

"King Bak Yong-Hwa understood that death and taxes are the only things certain in life. Hoopoe, I had known your mother since I was six years old. I always knew I would marry her. My heart was broken-it is still broken, but I could not forsake the court."

"I could not have done what you did."

"I could not abandon a fragile court and leave our government in shambles. You know what happened afterwards. These games, Hoopoe they go beyond our family and emotions. There is a fine reason your husband does not want to serve at court and a fine reason many wish he would."

"I will never ask him."

"Being a good wife and a good husband is often enough."

"And you and mother?"