With their current company, Zen could finally relax his guard. It wasn't that he wasn't wary of them, he definitely knew that they were walking directly into the snake's den, but with such a large group escorting them, the assassins were much less likely to be reckless. The noble third prince couldn't very well have his guests murdered right before his eyes. That would be a blow to his honor, as well as the emperor's. Thankfully, it would be a safe escort.

Glancing down at his hand, Zen slowly clenched and unclenched his fingers, feeling the poison remain stagnant with the movement.

It's not spreading.

He'd never seen, nor heard of a poison that just sat in a certain area. His skin had darkened to a purplish-black, and a faint burning sensation had taken over the numbness, but besides that, he felt no ill effects.

His msater's hand gently grasped his damaged one and raised it slightly, observing the injury. Zen lifted his own gaze to focus on Qi's face, reading what his expression said. The man kept his talents well hidden, but being his personal guard for so many years had greatly enlightened Zen to his true abilities. The man was a master healer, with skills that reached from tending simple wounds to terrible poisonings, yet... he did not seem pleased.

His master released his hand after a moment, not wanting to draw unwanted attention. It was a good idea, too, because the third prince soon found his way to them through the group, stopping beside Qi with a cold smile.

Zen would have immediately put himself between the two men, but he caught the gesture from his master's hand and immediately stopped himself. Instead, he began to reach out with his skill so that he could at least respond to any possible confrontation between them, only for his breath to suddenly be sucked from his lungs as he staggered forward. Frigid pain pulsed from his damaged hand, making him hold it against his chest as he fought with the dizziness trying to drop him to his knees.

He could faintly hear his master's call as an echo in the back of his mind, but he felt that he would surely pass out if he even tried to straighten his stance the slightest amount, let alone manage some sort of response.

Instead of thinking about what he couldn't do, Zen refocused his attention on his breathing and pulling his spiritual energy as far into himself as he could. It seemed to help, because he was soon able to quiet the ringing in his ears and return feeling to the tips of his fingers and toes.

"Zen?"

His master's warm voice finally drew his eyes open, the man's face blurrily taking up a large portion of what he could see beyond the darkness slowly drifting from the edges of his vision.

"Zen, how are you feeling?" Qi asked, clearly holding back many more words because of their current company.

He would never simply ask how are you feeling when the answer was clearly in front of him.

Another person appeared at the edge of his vision, making the arm holding him up tighten slightly around his midsection. The man's dark hair and cold aura made it easy to distinguish him from the others.

He could tell that Qi didn't want prince Yuen near him, either, but there was nothing he could do if he wasn't physically harming him. It would be rude to deny the prince of a kingdom a simple look to see if he could help... whether he was pretending in the end or not.

"May I?" prince Yuen asked as he gently touched Zen's injured hand.

Qi was clearly hesitant, but he bowed his head slightly and relinquished what was asked for. Zen watched silently as the man examined his hand, almost appearing as if he were considering his own handiwork as opposed to trying to decipher what the specific poison was and how to help.

The man's touch was like that of ice, especially when his fingers came into contact with the poison that normally heated his skin.

"It's Blue Tail-Fang poison. Not something one would normally see," prince Yuen said as he turned Zen's hand over and calmly ran his pointer finger along the black tendrils within his palm.

"It's from a tail-fang scorpion native to the mountains far to the north. It gets its name because its tail's barb is shaped just like a venomous snake's fang, and can pack quite the punch if injected directly into the skin. It is also said that their blood is quite toxic and runs so cold that after being in contact with it for mere moments, the affected area begins to frostbite and feel hot to the touch... then black veins begin to spread through that region of the body."

Zen knew from the look on his master's face that the poison, or at least how to cure it, was foreign to him. Prince Yuen certainly knew quite a bit about the toxin, though.

"The poison made from its blood is not nearly as bad as a direct sting with its venom... as long as you don't use your spiritual energy for about two weeks time," he said, making Zen's insides constrict.

Two weeks without his abilities within a den of snakes? It would be hard enough to defend his master with access to his spiritual powers. To lose them and still be able to remain alive? It was not possible. Sure, he was a master with his sword, and that required minimal energy to use efficiently, but he doubted that blade to blade combat was the only thing they would encounter once they reached the palace. Especially considering that two of the four people who had already attacked them had used poisons.

"There is no cure? There is nothing else you can tell me about it?" Qi asked as he carefully helped Zen straighten back up from having been leaning against his chest.

He tried to maintain his balance on his own, but he felt terribly weak without his spiritual energy.

"No, but as long as he remains calm and does not use his spiritual force, it will dissipate with time," prince Yuen said as he turned to walk away, clearly done with their conversation.

Zen did as told and made his racing heart calm as he took in, then released, several deep breaths. When he felt a familiar hand press against his chest his eyes shot open, startled and confused at the seal his master had just put on him!

"Behave," Qi whispered as he gently lifted a hand to the back of Zen's head and guided his forehead to rest against his shoulder. "I will not have you harming yourself further just to watch over me. I am not weak, Zen. I can protect the both of us while you recover. Until that time, your spiritual energy will be sealed."

He would never argue such a thing. Qi was incredibly strong... in his healing and spiritual abilities. His swordsmanship wasn't lacking, either, but still.

"Let us continue on our way. We do not want to keep the emperor waiting any longer than we already have," Qi said as he took Zen's uninjured hand and began to lead him back toward the slowly-departing group.

They walked silently, with Zen mainly focusing on Qi's hand, which was inconspicuously entwining a length of his own spiritual energy around his wrist like a tether. It wouldn't cure the poison, and was not being offered to try and do so, but it would allow Zen to at least use his sensing ability... through his master's own body and energy.

It was what Zen needed. He might not be able to use his other spiritual skills, but just being able to see possible dangers coming was enough to calm him.

They walked for about thirty minutes, getting close to the entrance of the wealthier district, when they stopped suddenly. One of the men who had accompanied the prince commented about something involving one of the princesses, then pointed to a store off the left side.

The prince hesitated for a moments, then sighed and looked back at them.

"We will only be a moment."

He disappeared into the store without another word as two of his guards followed.

"Zen," his master said, drawing his attention to what Qi was looking at.

A poison shop?

"We will return momentarily as well," Qi told their remaining group.

The men seemed hesitant to let them just walk off, but the store was right next to the one prince Yuen had gone into, and there was nothing but what appeared to be a log yard behind it for firewood. It was not an ideal place to pick if they were looking to escape.

Stepping inside the dusty old shop, Zen immediately took note of everything inside. Thankfully, there were no other patrons, which just meant that he had to worry about the shopkeeper, and the entryway.

His master, while keeping ahold of his hand, drew him toward the counter where an old woman sat.

"How can I help you two young men?" she asked, her eyes already narrowed on Zen's injured hand.

Qi gestured for him to present it to her, so Zen did so immediately. He rested it palm up on the counter, making it easy for the woman to reach over and examine it.

"Ah, you have angered the wrong person, dearies," she said with a hint of awe to her voice as she moved his hand this way and that.

Zen licked his lips as Qi leaned slightly forward.

"Who, may I ask, have we angered? We have just arrived in town today and know very few people as of yet," he said, drawing the woman's eyes up to him for only a moment before they returned to Zen's much more interesting discolored hand.

"You do not need to know him to have angered him, young one. He is the emperor's right hand. A murderer from the shadows who kills without being known. If one is strong enough, or holds his interest in other ways, he sometimes puts such a poison within them," she said as he gently lifted Zen's hand as an example.

"By chance, did you see who did this to you? Was it someone that was masked and clearly skilled, or perhaps just an item you wouldn't think would have such a poison on it?" the woman asked, clearly interested in maybe gaining some new information on the poison assassin herself.

Knowledge is always power...

"It was just an arrow shot from someone a good distance off. He was killed by prince Yuen before we could even consider apprehending him to garner information," Qi said, drawing a grin to the old woman's face.

"There's one I would watch out for. It's rare that prince Yuen is sent to greet guests. He is a killer in his own right, though he has a soft spot for the youngest princess. I've not heard of him using poisons to kill, though I wouldn't put it past him. Be cautious young ones."

Qi and Zen both nodded their thanks, with Qi adding a verbal "thank you, madam," as well, before they turned to leave.

"One more thing, dears," she said, drawing their attention back to her as they each turned halfway to face her.

"That is a simple poison that fades over time, but if anyone happens to be getting too close to your friend here," she gestured to Zen, "I would be extremely cautious. Blue Tail-Fang poison is not too dangerous in and of itself and I would have chosen at least twenty others before wasting my time with such a toxin, even the creature's venom itself, but if this poisoning might have been set up by a curse master..." she shook her head, her expression turning grim.

"They will not let you rest so easily. This poison, in the rare hands of someone who can control it, can destroy ones body and soul if the master is allowed close enough to whisper his spells for his target to hear or swallow on a breath. They must be mentally aware in order for the spell to be heard, but that it not so for swallowing the cursed words. I'm sure you do not need me to say this, but do not let your guard down around anyone you do not know personally, and I pray that you just found yourself in contact with a bandit who knows not what this poison can do and simply used it on a whim."

Zen wished for the same... but considering how fast prince Yuen had dispatched the man, then dismissed him without even bothering to investigate the corpse for clues? Turning his attention to Qi, his master met his eyes, the words they were both thinking unnecessary to say out loud.

Silently, they rejoined the group, their minds mulling over what they had learned as they continued on toward the palace with the prince. Zen tried not to let it bother him, but even as Qi squeezed his hand and offered him a reassuring smile, he just couldn't get the uneasy feeling out of the pit of his stomach.