Consciousness returned to me slowly, creeping, throbbing, my whole side was throbbing. It wasn't agony of broken bones, or confusion, just a beating pain.

I opened my eyes, and found myself staring around a room I'd been in before, but not one I expected to find myself in. Along the walls were all the plants and stones I'd come to learn, the ingredients for so many potions and inks.

“Hmm, you're awake,” Jina said, looking over me. “Imagine you're still hurting though.”

“Ugh,” I responded, not really wanting to go into it. “I see I survived.”

It was good to see Jina, as Atal's granddaughter and one of the more skilled magic users in the city I had confidence that if anything had been wrong it was well in hand.

“How's Ian?” I asked.

“The other boy? Oh he's fine, few scratches and bruises but nothing of note, and certainly nothing you should concern yourself with until you're doing better,” she chided, poking me in the side and sending a wave of pain across it.

“Could you not do that?” I asked.

“I could, but I want to remind you to stay still. Your bones are mostly where they should be now, but it'll take time for them to be all healed up.”

“Honestly I'm surprised you couldn't just wave a hand and set it right,” I laughed.

She looked at me for a time then sighed. “Justin, there are limits, limits as to what can be repaired at once. The body can only take so much power in, only do so many things before more becomes dangerous. If you had just a normal broken rib I could mend that with ease.” She frowned before continuing. “On the other hand, if you come in with half of them in shambles, a lung punctured and full of blood, and plenty of that lost things will take time.”

“Ah, I see. Anything I can do to help?” I asked. “Other than staying still of course.”

“Yes, you can eat. I'll have some food brought in to you. I'm sure that girl will be happy to hear you've woken up. Also don't do anything strenuous or stressing.” The way she said the last part with a frown told me exactly what she was speaking of.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She left me there and soon enough Isha came to join me, bringing with her a heaped platter of food. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until the scent of the roasted meats and tubers reached me, tickling my nose and reminding me of the food I so often ate at home. It was interestingly not all that different from what seemed to be served in Atal's palace, probably because there were only so many rare ingredients around.

“Hey there,” I said with a smile.

“I told you I didn't like you going out there,” she fussed, taking a spot beside me.

“But it really...” I didn't manage to finish as a hunk of meat was shoved into my open mouth.

“Was a bad idea, yes, I know. You need to learn to listen Justin, you're not unkillable, and being called here to find you pale and broken as the healers were trying to put you back together was awful. I thought you were dead, and when I saw you I thought you were going to die in front of me.” She continued to frown, and I wondered just how mad she was. “Also, Jina has a very poor opinion of you.”

“Well, I...” before I could come up with an excuse more food was shoved into my face, gumming the whole process up.

“So what I want to hear is that in the future you're going to listen to me and not go out when I tell you not to,” she huffed.

“Isha, I...” at this point I had to grab her wrist. She seemed to know that I wasn't going to just consent to her demands and didn't want to hear it. “I'm sorry for what happened.” Her shoulders fell a bit. “But there will be times when I need to do things that you don't like, when I have to go places that will be dangerous. I want you to know that, that I don't want to hurt you, or scare you, and that I still care about you, but I can't just do nothing.”

Her face went through a whole series of emotions, pain, fear, caring, until she spoke again. “I am very cross with you Elian,” she finally declared.

“I love you too,” I answered.

“For someone so smart, why are you so stupid?” she asked, this time offering me a bite rather than forcing it.

“Don't know, maybe you need to be a bit dumb to get things done sometimes,” I shrugged.

We had time, she ate a bit, I ate quite a bit more, and soon enough I finally relaxed again. She told me about what had been going on while I was gone. It wasn't anything particularly important, just little anecdotes from her life, things people had said or done around her while I was away, and stories about daily life. I listened, drinking it all in, never tiring of hearing about these things, the parts that made up the world that we never really paid attention to.

Eventually she laid her head upon my shoulder and we just sat there. It was peaceful, joyful, relaxing in a way that I seldom got to feel. Even with the pain still radiating out from my ribs having her there brought me to a place of calm, almost a meditative state.

All good things come to an end though, and soon enough Jina returned. She gave us a complicated look, but not one that was too disapproving. I often forgot that other people had lives and feelings, stories I didn't know, and I suspected she was no different.

“Grandfather would like to speak to you, if you're feeling up to it,” she informed me.

“Of course, there's things going on that I'm sure he's got questions about, and I do too,” I answered before turning to my companion. “Isha love, could you go put those away while we meet,” I said, gesturing to the dishes. “This shouldn't take too long.”

Atal was an ally, but that didn't mean I wanted him anywhere near people I cared about. He liked me, wanted me on his side, but he was still dangerous, still capable of cruelty. If Isha had said something he didn't like, or did something to anger him he might well hurt her, and if he did there could be no peace between us. So I sent her away from his approaching presence, not too far, but hopefully enough to not expose her to something I feared may cause her harm.

I also didn't want her to worry too much about the traitors we'd learned were in our midst, it wouldn't help and would only make her fears seem so much more. I'd be needing to add more security to our home anyway, and work on keeping things safe, but there was a difference between that and the knowledge that there were potentially several elders who were outright trying to capture me.