Jechrin stayed silent until the following afternoon.

Erin had felt well enough to get up and move around a little, so she was over in front of the window, doing some simple ballet exercises under Kimoja's supervision. Her left knee was mostly back to normal by now, although that leg was still a little stiff and weak from being incapacitated for so long.

Kirchel was back in the human world, checking up on Anthony and trying to get the floral shop under control. She'd also said she was going to ask the gatekeeper who'd temporarily taken over Sarah's duties where the nearest portal to Erin's house was and start making arrangements to go speak to her parents directly.

A telephone conversation really wasn't adequate for delivering the news that your teenage daughter had just entered into a magical contract with a prince from another world and now had a Relian crest permanently branded on her forehead....

Erin was in the middle of doing a few leg extensions, using the back of a chair as a makeshift barre, when she paused and looked over at the bed. There was no visible movement from Jechrin, but she suddenly had the feeling that she needed to pay attention to him.

She lowered her leg and went over to the bed.

"Erin?" Kimoja looked at her questioningly. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. I just...had a weird feeling. Like I need to come check on him."

Erin knelt down on the bed, watching Jechrin closely. At first, nothing happened. But after a few seconds, she saw his hand twitch. She reached out and took hold of it. His fingers contracted slightly around hers, as though he were trying to give her hand a squeeze.

"Is he starting to wake up?" Kimoja came over and stood next to the bed, looking over Jechrin with her magical x-ray technique. After a minute, she nodded. "Yes...he seems to be moving from that coma-like state into a normal sleep."

As they watched, Jechrin started stirring restlessly, as though he were having a nightmare. Was that him trying to regain control of his puppet body? Erin wished she could ask Kimoja what she thought, but Arturyn was still the only other person who knew about Jechrin's real identity.

After a few minutes, Jechrin relaxed again. Then, very slowly, he opened his eyes. He stared blearily up at the ceiling for a moment before shifting his gaze, first to Erin, then to Kimoja.

"Welcome back," Kimoja told him with a smile. "You were out for quite a long time.... How do you feel?"

Jechrin's lips moved, but no sound came out. He frowned a little and then tried again. "Terrible...."

"Well, no wonder. You were unconscious for almost two days. We were planning to transport you to the Zeiryn eyathar if you hadn't woken up by tonight. Do you think you can drink a little lonom?"

Jechrin nodded weakly.

"All right. Let's prop you up a bit first. Erin, I'll lift him up, and you fix the pillows for him, all right?"

Maybe she had some kind of magic that she used for moving patients, because Kimoja seemed to be able to hold up Jechrin's upper body with relative ease while Erin rearranged the pillows to let him sit up a little. Then she poured a small amount of lonom into a cup while Kimoja settled him back down.

"You're good at that," Erin said, watching as Kimoja steadily held the cup to Jechrin's mouth to allow him to sip from it. "I think I'd spill it all over."

Kimoja gave a small laugh. "I've had lots of practice. And believe me, I spilled things all over my patients more than a few times before I got this good...."

Jechrin seemed to be more in control of his body by the time he finished drinking the lonom. When Kimoja removed the empty cup, he raised his arm and opened and closed his hand experimentally a few times. Then he stared for a moment at the green line running down his forearm where the cut Teral made had been before lowering the arm again with a small sigh.

Kimoja gave him a sympathetic smile and patted his hand. "I'm going to go let Arturyn and Legan know that you've woken up. Do you want me to ask Legan to come help you get cleaned up and change clothes?"

Jechrin nodded. "I suppose the emperor will want to talk to me soon."

"Well, he will. But it can wait if you're not feeling up to it yet."

"It's better to get it over with," Jechrin said, shaking his head a little. "And I'm all right. I'm just tired."

"That's the same thing you said before you went into a coma for two days," Kimoja said pointedly. Then she sighed. "But fine. I'll tell Arturyn that he can meet with you after you've gotten cleaned up and had something to eat."

She left the room, closing the door behind her. Erin wondered a little if she didn't want them to hear how the guard outside reacted when he heard that 'the Relian' was finally awake. The Imperial Guard members that Arturyn had brought with him were all obediently leaving Jechrin alone so far, but none of them seemed to be very fond of him.

That was probably why Legan was getting recruited to help Jechrin change clothes, even though he was presumably busy with the investigation. There weren't very many people that Arturyn trusted enough to let them get close to Jechrin in his current weakened state.

Erin bit her lip and looked back at Jechrin. "Hey. Are you really okay?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'okay,'" he said with a sigh. "I haven't been really okay in a long time.... But there's nothing wrong with this body. It's just that I used up too much magic giving you that mark. Plus everything that came before that and monitoring the fight with the areots.... It takes most of my strength to resist the Dark Plane, so I don't have that much left to use here. I had to rest until my power reserves were restored enough to be able to connect to this puppet again. I still don't have enough to control it perfectly, but there are a lot of things that need to be dealt with here. I don't want to put them off any longer."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Erin didn't say anything. She looked down at his hand, which she was still holding in hers.

"You seem to be feeling quite a bit better today," Jechrin went on. "Would you be willing to speak to the emperor with me? I can connect to the puppet more easily when you're close by."

"If you want."

There was a long pause.

"Are you mad at me?" Jechrin asked quietly.

Erin considered that for a moment. "Yeah...I think I am."

"Well...I don't blame you. I've caused you a lot of suffering, even if I didn't mean to. What I told you before was the truth, you know? I didn't intend for things to turn out this way. I was never trying to hurt you. The fact that we connected to begin with...that you started seeing the me that's on the Dark Plane...that really was just an accident. I didn't even realize it had happened at first. And after I knew, I still didn't have much control over it. That's one advantage of you having that mark—it allows me to have more control over our connection, so we won't be pulled together randomly like we were before."

"This mark...." Erin gingerly touched her forehead, which still had a cotton pad over it. "Is it really permanent? Is it not possible to undo the contract?"

"It's...possible," Jechrin said hesitantly. "But not yet. It's dangerous to dissolve a contract too soon after it's formed. And you should wait to make a decision about it until I've explained everything to you. There are obviously some downsides to you having a Relian mark. But there are quite a lot of advantages, too."

Erin frowned a little. "Just who is it more of an advantage for? Me or you?"

He regarded her silently for a moment. "It depends on how you want to look at it," he said finally. "In terms of actual number, there should be more advantages for you. In terms of how desperately we need said advantages...more for me."

She bit her lip again and didn't say anything. She wanted to believe him when he said that the whole situation had come about accidentally and that he'd never had any ill intentions. But after everything she'd gone through because of him...and after hearing repeatedly how deceptive and manipulative Relians could be...she couldn't help but wonder a little....

Jechrin sighed. "I'm sure the emperor will want to hear all the details as well, so I'll explain more when we talk to him. All right?"

Erin nodded, not looking at him. But she didn't let go of his hand yet, either.

They lapsed into a rather awkward silence, which was fortunately ended just a few minutes later by Kimoja coming back into the room with Legan following behind her, carrying a tray with food on it.

----------------------------------------

About an hour later, Jechrin walked slowly into the next room, supported by Legan, who helped him over to the table and into a chair.

Arturyn wasn't there yet, but the number of guards in the room had conspicuously increased. There were now two stationed by the door to the bedroom and two more by the door leading out into the hallway. Jechrin glanced at them with one eyebrow raised but didn't comment.

Erin sat down in the chair next to his. Then she looked over and was surprised to see Legan sit down in the chair on Jechrin's other side.

"You're staying?" Jechrin asked him.

"That's right. You're still not feeling too well, are you? I'll stick around in case you need help with anything."

"You can spare me the excuses...." Jechrin gave him an appraising look. "Did the emperor ask you to be here? Or was it the Imperial Guard vice-captain?"

"Both," Legan admitted easily, giving Jechrin a slightly apologetic smile. "Though they each had different reasons. Arturyn wanted me here because he's considering appointing Kimoja and me to be your guardians, since it's going to be a bit awkward for you to live at the imperial palace. And the vice-captain...well, I'm sure you can guess."

"I can." Jechrin sighed. "Silmariths really are a suspicious lot...."

"Can you blame us?" Legan asked, still smiling.

"No."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, waiting for Arturyn to arrive. Jechrin was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He seemed able to manage his body fairly well by now, but he was clearly still trying to conserve his energy.

Finally the door opened, and Elerick walked into the room.

"The emperor is on his way. Something came up with the investigation that he needed to address personally," he said walking over to the table. He was quite obviously talking to Legan, not Jechrin. "But he'll be here shortly." He paused and looked at Erin with a frown. "What's that girl doing here?"

"She's here because I asked her to be here," Jechrin said quietly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

They all stared at him in surprise. The atmosphere around him had changed. He'd opened his eyes and straightened up in his chair a little, and he was now regarding Elerick with a regal, commanding gaze.

The weak, shunned boy had suddenly turned back into the king he truly was....

"Uh...no...there's no problem," Elerick said, looking rather cowed. "I was just...surprised. That's all."

He came quietly over to the table and sat down across from Legan, then busied himself with the stack of papers he was carrying, not looking at any of them.

Soon after, the door opened again and Arturyn came in.

"I'm sorry to make you wait," he said, walking over to the table. "I was in the middle of something when I got the message that you were ready for me, and it took me a few minutes to.... Did something happen?" He seemed to have noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.

"Nothing much. Just that your guard was a little impolite," Jechrin said, speaking in Myrik. He looked at Arturyn solemnly for a moment. "I greet the guardian of the empire."

Arturyn's eyes widened a little in surprise. But he adapted quickly, inclining his head and responding in kind, "I greet the bearer of the Silver sigil. I apologize for my guard's behavior. I'll speak to him later."

Jechrin nodded. "I'd appreciate that. I don't particularly care about how I'm treated, but...." He glanced meaningfully at Erin. "An Anaurian should be given the respect she deserves."

"I agree. I'll do my best to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'm sorry, Erin."

"Uh...it's fine," Erin said, feeling awkward. "I mean, he was right that it's weird for me to be here...."

"No, he wasn't," Jechrin said quietly. "Erin, you were born a member of a highly-respected human clan. And you've just been marked as a member of the royal Silver house of Myrikar. Hold your head high. You deserve to be at this table as much as anyone."

Arturyn nodded. "That's right. Even if Elerick doesn't understand the significance of your Silver mark, he does know you're an Anaurian. And I've already told him to treat you politely. For him not to follow those instructions is disrespectful to me as well as to you. I'll discipline him for it after we're done here. But for now...."

He moved over to the chair across from Jechrin and sat down. The two of them faced each other, one monarch to another.

"...let's talk for a bit, True King of Myrikar...."