Teral turned back to Galeth. “Start breaking through the lock. It might take some time, and Lowin is probably already wondering where we are.”

Galeth nodded and moved closer to the rélim shield. There was a look of concentration on his face as he reached out and began running his hands lightly over its surface, as though looking for weak spots.

“You might as well give up,” Erin said, trying to sound brave even though her hands were shaking at her sides. “The emperor already knows that the two of you are Relians, and he knows what kinds of terrible things you’ve been doing. He’s on his way here with the Imperial Guard. And if you hurt any of us, you’ll just be in even worse trouble than you are now.”

“Is that so?” Teral’s face and voice were still pleasantly calm, but his eyes flashed dangerously as they moved to Jechrin, who had gotten to his feet and was standing next to Erin. “Now who could have told the emperor all of that, I wonder...?”

Jechrin met his father's gaze without saying anything. His expression was serious, but he didn't seem intimidated.

“Well, I appreciate you giving me fair warning,” Teral went on, turning back to Erin with a faint, mocking smile. “Rest assured, I have no intention of letting the emperor throw me into prison. I'm still the king of Aner, after all. I know what kind of procedures he has to go through in order to legally arrest me, and it will be all the more difficult in the middle of the night. It will take him hours to get here. We'll have everything taken care of and be on our way out of the country by that time, in spite of the delay your interference is causing.”

He took a step closer to Erin, and his calm demeanor began to grow darker and more menacing.

“You’ve been quite a nuisance to me, little human. First you made my son act like an idiot while we were in Katan Jyrat and attract unwanted attention. Then you had to go and drag out the truth about Kirchel's parents and get her to run off to Raylmiyr with that pathetic excuse for an emperor. If it weren't for that, she would already be my wife by now. And then you had to come here tonight with your gatekeeper friend to try to stop our wedding. Really...you've been most troublesome. But still….”

He moved closer, and his voice became something between a purr and a serpent’s hiss.

“Even after all that...I might have forgiven you and merely let you go back home with your memory wiped clean. But you suddenly pulling out a rélim…?” Teral was shaking his head, his eyes cold and hard. “I’m afraid that was just too much, little human….”

Erin stared at him, terrified but transfixed, like a mouse caught in a snake’s hypnotic spell. Then she felt a hand on her arm. Jechrin was pulling her behind him, moving to stand protectively between her and his father.

“Leave her alone.” Jechrin's face was still rather pale, but his voice was steady. “I’m the one you have a score to settle with. I’m the one who brought them here and betrayed you to the emperor.”

“Yes...that’s true,” Teral said slowly. “I must admit, I’m very disappointed with you.”

There was a curious expression on his face, as though he were actually hurt by Jechrin’s betrayal, rather than merely angry. But it vanished after a brief moment, and his eyes narrowed maliciously.

“I’d have thought you would know better than to turn on me.” Teral gave a humorless laugh. “And for what? The affections of a little human brat? Surely you know by now what her kind are like. You think she’ll be so friendly now that she knows what you are?”

“Not all Elariths are like that,” Jechrin said quietly. “And even if she were, it wouldn’t matter.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Teral agreed ominously. “Because you’re quite right, Jechrin. I do have a score to settle with you. It was you showing off your magic for that stupid human girl that made the emperor start investigating us in the first place. I thought you'd just made a foolish mistake, but who knew you were actually planning to betray us outright? Idiot boy.” A faint, twisted smile appeared on his face. “Well...if that's how you're going to act...you can't blame me for responding in kind. And I know exactly what kind of punishment would be most suitable for you....”

He looked from Jechrin back to Erin. When their eyes met, she felt a sharp, cold sensation, like she'd just been hit by a wave of icy water. She let out a gasp and sagged against Jechrin's back as all the strength left her body. Her vision blurred and clouded over, as though black mist was sweeping around her.

"Erin!" She heard Jechrin's voice, sounding angry. "Stop it! Let her go!"

There were more voices, too, shouting, “Erin! No! What are you doing to her? Stop! Leave her alone! Erin!” But those other voices were oddly faded and distorted, and Erin could barely even understand the words, let alone recognize who was speaking.

Then all the voices faded away, and she was falling, sinking into the dark depths of a cold, silent ocean.

She struggled, trying to fight her way back up. Clawing at the frigid water engulfing her.

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This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. It didn't make sense. It had to be some kind of illusion that Teral was creating with his magic. She had to fight. She had to break free....

But it was dark and cold. The water pressed down heavily on her, dragging her lower and lower. Her body felt tired and weak. She just wanted to stop and rest...to let go and sink....

No. She couldn't. She had to fight. Had to...get free.... Had to.... Had to....

...why did she have to? She was so tired. The cold was making it hard to think. Why couldn't she just relax and let the water pull her down...?

Why was she fighting?

Why...?

She couldn't remember anymore....

Erin didn't know how long it took for her body to hit the frozen stone of the ocean floor. Maybe it was a few seconds. Maybe it was several days. She felt too weak and numb to even care about the time passing.

As she lay there, staring blankly ahead of her into the darkness, she became dimly aware of a large creature standing in front of her. It was a Relian, like Jechrin after he'd changed his form. This one was a dark blue color, rather than grey, but it had the same dappled coat and dark mane and tail that Jechrin did.

You are mine now. You are in my power. Teral’s voice sounded clearly in Erin’s mind, cutting through the numbness. You will obey my every word.

A feeling of consent passed through her, although she was too weak to nod or speak in reply.

Show me your memories, the voice ordered.

Erin didn't resist as, one by one, familiar images appeared in the darkness surrounding them. Rushing back to the floral shop and discovering that Kirchel was gone. Sarah transforming and leading them through the portal caves. Walking through the streets of Eloril with Jechrin. Using the ivareh to speak to Arturyn.

The parade of memories suddenly halted when they reached the moment that Jechrin showed them his Relian form.

That ungrateful little rat... Teral's voice growled.

"And what exactly am I supposed to be grateful for?"

The image shattered into pieces and faded away as the real Jechrin, in Relian form, stepped out from behind it. He moved forward to stand protectively over Erin, his silver horn glowing brightly. As its light touched her, it seemed to dissipate the cold and bring back some of her strength.

"I let you live, didn't I?" Teral spoke out loud this time. Like Jechrin, he seemed to be speaking in Myrik, and he finally sounded properly angry. "Haven't I been enduring the dishonor of having a son who's a half-blood all these years? Haven't I taught you about your Relian heritage and how to use your magic, even though you didn't deserve it? You should be grateful for that."

Jechrin snorted. "You've only been keeping me around because I was useful to your plans. Having a son with the rightful queen allowed you to gain the position of regent and maintain control of Aner after you killed her. But you won't hesitate to throw me away once you don't need me anymore. Do you think I don't know what was going to happen to me when we left Silmar, as a half-blood?"

"I was going to ask the king to let you live."

"What, so you could keep me as a pet? Or a slave? You know I'd never be allowed to live freely in Myrikar. And what if he refused? I doubt you were planning to protect me...."

"The will of the king is absolute. It's not my place to question his decisions."

"'The will of the king,' you say..." Jechrin scoffed. "You honestly expect me to be grateful? When you were planning to let my life depend on the whims of that phony king?"

If he was trying to provoke his father with that, it worked. Teral's ears flattened, and his nostrils flared. He pawed at the ground with one of his front hooves as he lowered his head to point his horn threateningly at his son.

"You dare..." he snarled. "A filthy little half-blood like you dares to speak of the king that way!"

"So you're finally admitting how you really feel about me?" Jechrin spoke in a light, taunting manner, but he was watching Teral closely. "Well, that's fine. I've always known you didn't care about me. All you care about is that fake king of yours, isn't it? Enough to murder your own family for him...."

"Stop calling him a fake, you ignorant brat!"

"Oh? You're so sure he's the real thing?" Jechrin paused and then added with a smirk in his voice, "Even though he doesn't have the king's sigil?"

"What?" Teral's head jerked up. He took a step back, staring at Jechrin with a shocked expression. "You.... How could you possibly know that...?"

Jechrin had clearly been aiming for that moment. He swung his head forward, and the light from his horn flared, sending a wave of silver fire at Teral and knocking him backward. Erin felt her head suddenly clear, and she realized that Jechrin must have interrupted Teral's magic control over her.

He also moved out of his protective position over her right then. Erin was starting to get up, assuming they needed to run before Teral recovered, when she looked up and immediately froze.

There were two very concerning things about Jechrin's appearance.

The first one was that his grey coat had darkened for some reason and was now completely black, as were his horn and hooves. Only his blue-grey eyes remained unchanged.

The second thing was that he hadn't been moving away from her at all. He'd just been turning to face her. And he was now lowering his head so that his long, ebony horn was pointing directly at her, its tip still burning with silver fire.

Erin...I'm sorry.... She heard his voice in her mind, like she'd heard Teral's before.

Then he took a step forward and pressed the flaming tip of his horn against her forehead.