Still puzzling over her newfound language skills, Erin followed Kimoja toward the fireplace. When they got closer, she was happy to see Kirchel, looking tired but otherwise back to normal, seated in one of the chairs.

Kirchel turned her head as they approached and gave a relieved smile when she saw Erin. Then she put a finger over her lips and pointed to a chair at one end of the table.

Looking in that direction, Erin saw Arturyn, who was leaning back in the chair with his head drooping slightly to one side and his eyes closed. She'd never seen him asleep with his face uninjured before. It was remarkable how much younger it made him look.

Kirchel quietly got to her feet and came around the table to give Erin a warm hug.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, her expression full of concern.

"Not too bad. Just kind of shaky."

"Come sit down. There's some food here on the table. You're probably starving." Kirchel looked at Kimoja. "Can she eat normally?"

"Probably." Kimoja also spoke quietly. "Just try to take it easy, all right? Your body's weak right now, so it might have trouble digesting properly if you eat too much too fast. Okay?"

Erin nodded.

Kimoja smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Good. I need to go back and keep an eye on Jechrin, but I'll just be in the next room if you need anything."

She turned and went back to Jechrin's bedroom, while Erin went over to the table and sat down in the chair next to Kirchel's.

There was another man sitting across the table from them, next to Arturyn. He had several piles of papers in front of him and seemed to be busy going through them and taking notes. He looked up and gave Erin a nod, then went back to his papers.

"He's the Imperial Guard vice-captain," Kirchel said quietly. "He doesn't speak English, so forgive him for not talking to you."

"Um...right..." Erin said, feeling awkward.

She would probably be able to understand him if he spoke in Silmarith, but she wasn't sure how to tell Kirchel that. She didn't know exactly how she'd been able to understand Kimoja and the guard before or how long it would keep working. What if she told everyone she could speak Silmarith and then she suddenly couldn't anymore when they tried to talk to her?

She glanced in Arturyn's direction. He knew a lot about language-related magic, didn't he? She wished he were awake so she could ask him about it. Asking Jechrin would be even better, of course, but she had no idea when he'd be able to wake up again.

She'd ask Arturyn when he woke up, she decided. Everyone in the room was trying to be quiet while he was still sleeping, so whatever was going on with her language abilities, it probably wouldn't cause any problems if she didn't say anything about it until then. Probably.

Kirchel set a clean cup and plate on the table in front of Erin. "Here. Go ahead and take whatever you want from the food here. They're using this room as a sort of rest area for the people in charge of the ongoing investigation, so the food and other things are here for anyone who needs them."

While Kirchel filled Erin's cup with some kind of juice, Erin scanned the platters of food spread out on the table. She didn't actually have much of an appetite right now, but she suspected that Kimoja was right about her feeling better once she had something to eat.

She eventually selected something that looked similar to the fruit bread that Arturyn had given them when they'd stayed overnight in the cave by the lake and took a small bite of it, chewing slowly.

"Arturyn wants to ask you some questions about last night," Kirchel said. "About what happened when Teral attacked you. But he knows you're still recovering, so it can wait a little longer if you don't feel up to it yet."

Erin swallowed her bread. "He wants to ask about the magic Jechrin used on me?"

"Well...yes. I think that's the main thing. He's obviously planning to ask Jechrin about it as well, but they're trying to gather as many statements as possible to put together a complete picture of what happened."

Erin took another bite of bread without saying anything.

She didn't have any idea how Teral's or Jechrin's magic had actually worked. All she knew was what she had experienced while they were using it on her. Would telling Arturyn about all that actually help his investigation any? She didn't feel like it would. If anything, it would probably just get Jechrin in more trouble.

So what was she supposed to tell them...?

Kirchel was watching her quietly. "Does your forehead still hurt?" she asked after a long pause.

"A little. It's not bad when I'm just holding still, but I have to be careful not to move my face too much."

"I see...." Kirchel stared down at the mostly empty cup of juice she'd been drinking. "Kimoja said you'd probably have a permanent scar from it."

"Yeah, she told me." Erin paused, thinking about all the marks she'd seen on different Relians in Jechrin's memories. "It will probably be less noticeable after it finishes healing up, though. More like the one Jechrin has. And Legan said he'd make me an illusion charm to cover it up. So it shouldn't be that bad."

"For a teenage girl to get a scar like that.... I mean, I'm glad you're taking it so well, but...." Kirchel broke off, biting her lip. "Erin, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry...."

"Huh?" Erin looked at her, surprised. "It's not your fault. You didn't ask to be the king of Raylmiyr's niece or to get kidnapped and magically mind-controlled because of your connection to him. And it's not like you told Teral to attack me or Jechrin to use this particular kind of magic to save me."

"I know that. I know...but...." Kirchel still had an anguished expression on her face.

"I told her the same thing," said a tired-sounding voice. "But she wouldn't listen to me, either."

Erin and Kirchel both turned to look at Arturyn, who was sitting up and stretching his arms out in front of him with a yawn.

"Sorry...were we talking too loudly?" Kirchel asked, looking at him with concern.

He shook his head and smiled at her. "I was only planning to take a short nap. I would have woken up about now anyway."

"Shouldn't you sleep a little more? You were up all night, after all...."

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Arturyn gave a wry chuckle. "It's not like it's the first time I've pulled an all-nighter, you know. I'm fine. I'll rest as soon as things calm down a little."

Kirchel gave him a skeptical look. "And when exactly will that be...?"

"Well...." Arturyn made an awkward expression. "Probably soon? The temporary government is mostly in place now, and the investigation teams have their assignments. And it looks like Erin woke up, so that's a step in the right direction. How are you feeling, by the way?"

He was obviously trying to change the subject....

"Better," Erin said, deciding to help him out. "Kind of weak and sore. But this doesn't feel nearly as bad as my knee injury did." She reached up to touch the bandage on her forehead.

"Good." Arturyn gave her a sympathetic smile. "Poor thing. You really have been through a lot lately, haven't you...?" He sighed. "You're probably not too eager to relive the events of last night, but I'm afraid I still need to ask you some questions about what happened. It can wait until you're done eating, though. I need to review the current investigation reports for a few minutes anyway."

Erin looked down at her plate. "Okay."

Kirchel reached over and gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, while Arturyn turned to the vice-captain.

"Sorry to make you wait, Elerick. Can you give me a summary of the latest reports?" he said, speaking in Silmarith.

"It's no trouble, sir," the vice-captain replied. He passed the papers he'd been writing on to Arturyn. "Here, I've been taking notes on the reports as they come in."

"Good. Thank you." Arturyn took the notes and started reading through them.

Erin made a face at her cup of juice. She seemed to still understand Silmarith just fine. They weren't going to start talking about things she wasn't supposed to hear, were they? Kirchel was there, too, so surely they wouldn't get into anything too confidential.... Probably.

She sat there uncomfortably, slowly eating her bread and listening to the discussion. Fortunately, it seemed to mostly be focused on investigations into Aner's recent economic situation, looking for anything suspicious in how Teral had been managing the kingdom's finances. There was a lot that Erin didn't understand, but none of it sounded like top secret information.

Arturyn managed to wrap up the conversation about the same time she finished the last of her bread.

"All right. Keep going through the reports, then. We'll talk more after I've spoken to Erin."

"Yes, sir." Elerick gave a small salute and went back to reading through his stacks of papers and writing down more notes.

There was a brief silence. Erin was focused on drinking the last of her juice and not making it obvious that she'd understood everything they'd just been saying.

"Hey, Erin."

Erin looked at Arturyn. He was watching her with a sort of complicated smile on his face.

"You understood our entire conversation just now, didn't you?"

Erin's eyes widened in surprise. Not just at what Arturyn had said, but how he'd said it. He was speaking in Myrik. And apparently she could still understand that, too.

Kirchel frowned and gave Arturyn a questioning look but didn't say anything. Elerick also briefly glanced up from his papers when he heard Arturyn use a different language than they'd been speaking before.

"Didn't I tell you that I've only actually learned English and Silmarith?" Arturyn went on, still in Myrik. "But I can speak Myrik right now, which means there's someone who knows it nearby. Not Jechrin—the magic doesn't work with someone who's unconscious. And of the other people who are within range right now, the only other one who could possibly speak Myrik...should be you."

Erin bit her lip and didn't reply.

Arturyn gave her an understanding smile. "It's all right," he said gently. "It's not like I'm accusing you of anything. I understand a little about how Relian marks work, so I know they're capable of granting the person who receives them some of the original mark holder's abilities. Including the ability to speak different languages."

That triggered something in Erin's memories. "Didn't...didn't you say that your language extraction ability was a gift given to a previous emperor by the king of another country?" she asked, hesitantly speaking in Myrik as well. "That country...was it...?"

"Right." Arturyn's smile turned a bit sardonic. "It was a gift from the king of Myrikar. Ironic, isn't it? Considering the horrible relationship we have with them now...."

Erin's mouth fell open. "Are you serious? You have a Silver mark, too?"

"So you do understand what it is...." Arturyn sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Good. That makes this easier. Yes, I have one, too. Just like all the Silmarith emperors before me.... Although it looks like mine is a bit different than yours. The marks can be customized for different purposes. My mark gives me the ability of language extraction and a resistance to mental manipulation magic, plus an increased sensitivity to other people's emotions, which makes it easier to tell when someone is being deceptive. Plus, this mark was specially designed to let it be passed on to the next emperor through a magic ceremony."

Erin stared at him, still not quite believing what she was hearing. "But...the emperor having a Relian mark.... Isn't that kind of a big deal? Most Silmariths hate Relians, right? So won't people raise a huge fuss if it gets out? Why are you telling me?"

"Yes, it's a very big deal. That's why we're discussing this in Myrik, so that no one else in the room can understand what we're saying. Even Kirchel doesn't know about this. As far as I'm aware, there are only three people alive who know: me, Jechrin, and now you. Though I thought I was the only one until last night...."

"Oh. So when Jechrin asked if you recognized the mark...."

"Right. That was his way of letting me know that he knew about mine. As for why I'm telling you...." Arturyn shrugged. "Well, if Jechrin knows, and if you both have Silver marks as well, then there's a good chance you'd find out eventually, whether I told you or not. Besides, I'm hoping that if I show that I trust you enough to hand over my most dangerous secret, you'll be willing to trust me a little as well."

Erin frowned. Her forehead ached a bit in protest, but she ignored it. "What do you mean? Trust you with what?"

She already had an idea, but she wanted to hear him say it directly.

Arturyn looked at her solemnly. "I want to know where the true king of Myrikar is and what kind of connection Jechrin has to him. You know, don't you?"

"You can't just wait and ask Jechrin directly?"

"Jechrin's in a coma, and I don't know how long he'll stay that way. I'm partly asking you this because of Jechrin. I need to understand his situation in order to know what to do to protect him." Arturyn paused, and his expression turned grim. "Do you have any idea how many people in this country want that boy dead right now? Or imprisoned, at the very least?"

"What?" Erin stared at him in horror. "Why? He didn't do anything wrong!"

"I don't think he did, either. But it will be hard to convince people of that. A Relian's testimony doesn't count for much here in Silmar, I'm afraid. Prejudices aside, it's a simple fact that it's much easier for him to deceive us than it is for you. So your words will carry more weight than his will."

"That's...." Erin hesitated, looking down at her empty plate. "I mean, I want to tell you everything I know, but—"

She broke off. The place on her forehead where her mark was located suddenly felt warm.

It's all right, she heard a familiar voice say in her mind. I've decided to trust him. You can tell him what I showed you.

The warm sensation faded again. Erin blinked at her plate. Oh. Right. This was Wraith they were dealing with. He could do creepy things like that. She'd almost forgotten....

She looked back up at Arturyn. "He says it's okay."

"He says...." Arturyn's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean the king himself said so? You can contact him directly?"

"Well...sort of." Erin made a face. "Um...this is going to be kind of a crazy story...."

"Isn't it always a crazy story with you...?" Arturyn put a hand over his face and let out a long sigh. "All right. Tell me. I promise I'll believe you, no matter how crazy it is."