Chapter Text
Wylan tried desperately not to leave food scraps and dust on the carpets, it probably cost a million kruge per square foot and they’d take that money out of his hide if he ruined it.
He was trudging through the long hall in the palace. He’d just gotten back from a ten-hour shift in the kitchens, preparing for the huge dinner. Something about a Zemini prince visiting the small Shu Han palace. Wylan didn’t like to participate in servant gossip much and he couldn’t read all the announcement posters plastered around the palace, so that’s all he knew. So long as he had work and a roof over his head that’s all he cared about.
He had barely made it halfway down the hall, desperate to report to the head chef who was setting the table and then to return to his bed when a door opened beside him and he was pulled suddenly into a side room. It took a moment for Wylan’s focus to sharpen and to adjust to the seriously dim room, with curtains drawn across the window. There was a large loveseat, a small desk and a floor length mirror against one wall. He turned to see two people in the room, the people who had accosted him. It was a curvy woman with brunette hair and a round face and a tall boy, who was all sharp lines and shadows.
‘Wylan Hendriks.’ The man spoke.
‘W-what’s going on?’ Wylan managed to sound indignant, though his heart was thudding heavy in his chest.
‘’What’s going on, sweetheart’ the woman spoke, her voice was firm but kind, ‘is you’re saving Shu Han.’
‘What?’
‘He is tall enough. Close enough build. Good pick, Kaz.’
‘Good for what? I don’t know what’s going on.’
‘He has a point, Kaz.’ The woman conceded. ‘He can’t do it if he doesn’t know what he’s doing.’
‘What?’ Wylan asked again, but he was ignored.
‘Fine’ Kaz said, ‘listen kid,’
‘I’m not a kid, I’m the same age as you.’
Something loud thudded on the floor, Wylan realised with a start that the man was holding a cane and he’d just slammed it on the ground. ‘I said listen up. I don’t know if you’ve heard all the fanfare, but a Zemini prince is here. And he’s here with intentions to marry the Prince, Kuwei Yul-Bo. It was supposed to be a great marriage, to restore the coffers of the Novyi Zem kingdom and to protect Shu Han with military backing. It was all going great until Kuwei disappeared.’
‘Disappeared?’ Wylan’s head was swimming, he’d known the Zemini were coming, but for a wedding? That’s why he’d just peeled five hundred potatoes? ‘I don’t know anything about Kuwei’s disappearance. I’ve never even spoken to the prince, I’m-‘
‘Yes,’ Kaz snapped, ‘we’re not accusing you of kidnapping. We’re just going to use you to help us.’
‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Mr. Brekker, I’m Jesper’s advisor. I came to make sure he didn’t mess up this wedding thing. And this is the royal Shu Han tailor, Nina Zenik.’
‘Like clothes?’
‘Among other things,’ she smiled.
‘So what am I supposed to do? I’m not even Shu.’
‘That’s where Nina comes in.’
‘You’re going to change my face?’ Wylan was dizzy with all the information that had been dumped on him. The prince had run away? And they wanted him to.. what? Pretend to be the Prince? There’s no way he could pretend.
‘Only for a little while, until Matthias can hunt down Kuwei and bring him back here.’
‘And then what?’
‘And then we’ll pay you for your silence. Or kill you.’
‘I can be quiet.’
‘Great.’ Kaz nodded at Nina and she stepped forward,
‘Wait,’ Wylan said, holding his hands up to stop her advancing. ‘We’re doing this right now?’
‘Prince Kuwei is supposed to be presented to the Zemini delegation in an hour. It’ll take that long to tailor you. Why, will there be someone who misses you?’
‘No,’ Wylan said, and the truth sounded bitter on his tongue. ‘I just don’t know the first thing about being a prince. Besides, I have shifts in the kitchens.’
‘I’ll take care of the kitchens. Nina can teach you everything you need to know about being a Prince. I have to go make sure Jesper hasn’t found his way to a card game. Saints knows he can smell them out. Nina, I’m trusting you to get this done.’ Nina scoffed and waved him out. When Kaz slipped out of the room, Nina dragged him to a large closet and sat him in front of a floor length mirror.
‘Let’s get to work.’
_
About an hour later, Wylan was sitting on a chair, staring at himself in the mirror, but not quite himself. Nina was still talking.
‘There’s not a lot else we can do. Do you speak Shu?’
‘Uhm, a little bit, I’ve been learning, but not a lot?’
Nina sighed, ‘right. Well, you’ll just have to keep as quiet as you can. Kuwei never spoke much anyway. Just be as silently charming as you can be. Hopefully Matthias can bring Kuwei back before it becomes an issue.’
‘Who is Matthias? Where is he looking for the prince?’
‘Matthias is a royal guard, one of the only ones I trust,’ her cheeks flushed and Wylan briefly wondered if Matthias was more than just a guard, ‘he’s gone out to look for Kuwei. As for where, I don’t know. We’re hoping he just ran off as an act of rebellion before getting married. His father passed recently as I’m sure you know, it’s a lot to adjust. A few weeks ago he was a nineteen year old princeling and now he’s going to be King. And married. It’s a lot for anyone.’
‘Yea, right,’ Wylan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He looked back at the face in the mirror. Even though Wylan had never seen or spoken to the Prince, his face was plastered on every portrait and flyer in the entire kingdom. Looking back in the mirror was a near perfect image of the Shu prince. His eyes, which before were round and wide, had a softer shape, tapered at the corner and golden-yellow instead of his usual blue. His pale, pink skin was now light brown and his ruddy-coloured curls were instead a blackish brown and pushed back away from his face.
‘How long will I look like this?’
‘Well, some of it’s only temporary, like your hair and eye colour. It shouldn’t last more than a week, and hopefully Kuwei will be back by then, otherwise you’ll have to come in for touch ups. The rest, I can take away when we’re done.’
‘What if something happens and I need it taken away quickly? If we get found out, they’ll throw us all in jail.’
‘I can do that, too. But Wylan, it’ll be okay. I’ll be here, and Kaz, too. And we’ll protect you.’
‘Why are you doing this?’
Nina shrugged, ‘I’m invested in the longevity of this kingdom, and the Zemini alliance is too good to pass up. As for Kaz, he has his own reasons.’
‘Isn’t it unfair to lie like this?’
‘Yes,’ Nina considered. ‘But it’s lie or sit and watch the world crumble. This alliance is backing Shu Han in a really big way, maybe big enough to get Fjerda off our backs.’ Wylan looked again at the figure in the mirror, still surprised to see it move with him as he raised his hand and pushed his hair back.
‘Okay. A week?’
‘A week,’ Nina agreed.
Somehow, Wylan doubted it, but he took a deep breath. He hadn’t escaped his father, crossed the border and spent hours on his feet every day just to get stuck in a war, or worse, to be forced back to his father. There was a knock on the door and Wylan jumped, but Nina gave him a calming pat on the shoulder and opened the door. It was Kaz. He slid a critical eye over Wylan’s new appearance and then shrugged.
‘Get him in some princeling clothes and get him to the main hall. Jesper’s ready.’
‘Jesper?’ Wylan asked after Kaz had left, Nina unceremoniously shoving a new shirt over his head. His body, though now the same colour as his face was still thin and bony. She changed his face, why couldn't she change the rest of him, too? Give him muscles or something.
‘That’s the Zemini prince, Prince Jesper. He’s… a handful, if Kaz is to be believed. So, remember, silently charming. You don’t want to give away our scheme, but you have to make him want to marry you. Or Shu Han and Novyi Zem are both fucked.’
‘No pressure, then,’ Wylan muttered as his feet were shoved into soft leather boots. He was allowed one more look in the mirror before he was hustled out of the room and down the hall.