The ride across the plains was over long before Erin stopped enjoying it.

Jechrin seemed to sense her disappointment as he slowed his pace. "I'm sorry. It doesn't take a lot of magic to create dreams, but it does take some. And I don't have much to spare right now. We can go for a longer run another time. I still have other things I need to show you in this dream."

"Oh. Right." She'd been so distracted by the thrill of speeding across the open grasslands that she'd briefly forgotten the real reason they were doing this. "Your magic is still recovering, though, isn't it? Kimoja said you were doing a lot better."

It had been over a week since they'd last seen each other in person. Or...person and puppet, anyway. But Kimoja had come to the human world a couple of days ago to give Erin a checkup and some updates on what had been happening since they'd left.

She and Legan had been officially appointed Jechrin's guardians, and after all the legal procedures for the formal abdication of his rights to the throne of Aner had been taken care of, the three of them had gone back to Katan Jyrat together. Kimoja said that Jechrin was still a bit weak, but he'd recovered enough to be able to get around by himself again. And he'd already started giving Legan some lessons on Myrik and basic Relian magic.

"Recovering, yes. But like I said before, most of my magic has to go to simply staying alive. So even at full strength, my ability to use magic is only a small fraction of what it used to be."

"It's still pretty impressive, though, isn't it? You must have been really amazing back then."

"I was one of the most powerful magic users in the world. I'm not saying that to boast—it's a simple statement of fact."

Erin wasn't sure how to respond to that. It was quite an incredible thing to say, but his melancholy tone of voice convinced her that it was true. And that he missed his former magic abilities the same way he missed his homeland and the freedom of running on the open plains....

They'd reached the edge of the grasslands now and were entering a huge, dense forest.

"Didn't you say the plains were hundreds of miles across? Have we really come that far?"

Jechrin chuckled a little. "That's in the real world. The journey from the capital of Myrikar to the capital of Raylmiyr would normally take days on foot, even for a Relian. But this is a dream, remember? You're getting a very abbreviated version of the trip."

"The capital of Raylmiyr? That's where we're going?"

"Yes. Or rather, to a place just outside the capital. It's a place that a human would never be allowed to go, normally. But I've been there, so I'm going to show you one of my memories of that place."

Jechrin was walking along a dirt trail that cut through the dense foliage of the forest. The air was warm and humid, and the trees were full of birdsong and distant animal cries. Colorful birds flitted here and there through the branches overhead. The trail passed through a small clearing where a group of dark brown deer were grazing peacefully. And at one point, what looked like a large, grey and white striped wolf appeared in the path ahead of them, pausing to look at them curiously before it continued on across the trail and disappeared into the bushes on the other side.

After what felt like ten or fifteen minutes of this scenic nature tour, they reached a part of the forest that looked different from the rest. The path led up to a row of ficus-like trees with trunks that grew in long, thin strands and were woven together to form a high wall that didn't quite look natural. This was reinforced by the fact that there were two solemn-looking Nirayls standing outside a gap in the trees, clearly guarding the entrance.

Unlike the animals from before, the Nirayls completely ignored them as they went past and into the gap in the tree wall, just like all the Relians in Jechrin's other memories had ignored Erin.

On the other side of the wall was...something like an orchard? It was a large, grassy area filled with rows of dirt mounds, each with a small tree or large bush growing on top of it. They seemed to be a mix of different species, though most of them were flowering, ornamental kinds of plants.

Strange. Erin knew that Nirayls preferred more natural-looking gardens. This looked oddly formal. And those mounds...based on the size and shape, they looked a little like....

"Is this...a graveyard?" Erin asked in a slightly hushed voice.

"Yes. A graveyard for nobles, specifically. The average Nirayl is buried in an unobtrusive grave out in the forest so that the body can decompose and nourish the soil. But even among the forest-loving Nirayls, many of the nobility can't stand the thought of simply fading into obscurity like that. Graveyards like this one are...a sort of compromise, you could say."

As they walked across the graveyard, a soft sound drifted through the air from somewhere ahead of them. Not the sound of a bird or an animal. It wasn't a natural sound at all. As they got closer, Erin recognized the soft, tinkling melody of a music box.

When they reached the source of the music, Jechrin stopped and stood there, allowing Erin to see the scene in front of them clearly. There was an older-looking Nirayl man with moss green wings seated on the grass not far away, with a large, ornately carved wooden music box sitting open on the ground next to him. He had a pen in his hand and was writing something on a piece of paper that was floating in the air in front of him, like it was resting on an invisible desk.

Just ahead of him was a fresh dirt mound, with what looked like a small rose bush planted in the center of it.

The man seemed to finish what he was writing and lowered his pen. He spent a moment reading over the words on the paper before closing his eyes and letting out a sort of resigned sigh. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and raised the pen again.

He wrote what looked like a signature on the bottom of the paper. Then he pulled the end off the pen, revealing a small metal blade, which he ran across one of his fingertips, drawing blood. He pressed his bleeding finger against the paper next to the signature. There was a glow of magic, and when it faded, he removed his finger to reveal a formal-looking crest, drawn in his blood.

He picked up the paper and held it in his hands for a long moment, staring down at it with a complicated expression on his face. Then he looked up at the dirt mound in front of him.

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"All right, Kirchel," he said quietly. "I did it. You win." A faint smile appeared on his face. "Well, of course you did. All these years...you've always won, haven't you...?"

He sat there silently for a few minutes, staring at the dirt mound and listening to the music box. Then he let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry. You won...but Kiari's never going to know. No one can know. Don't pout at me. It's not my fault. If Myrikar finds out that we've started letting Elariths into the family...well." He was quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Maybe Seiyan will have what it takes to finally break free of those monsters once he's king. He's a lot bolder than I am. He's like you that way.... But it's just not a risk that I'm willing to take. I'm sorry...."

He folded up the paper and set it in the open music box. Then, heedless of his fine clothing or the jeweled rings on his fingers, Nievar Aieryl-Cryn, the king of Raylmiyr, knelt next to his wife's grave and dug down into the dirt with his bare hands.

He dug until he'd made a large, rectangular hole next to the little rose bush. Then he turned and picked up the still-playing music box. He held it against his chest and closed his eyes, listening to the gentle melody and swaying slightly, as though he were remembering a dance from long ago.

Then he slowly closed the lid, ending the music.

He looked down at the box for a moment, running his earth-stained fingers lightly over the roses carved into the purplish wood. Then he gently placed it down into the hole he'd dug and covered it over with dirt.

When the mound was smooth again, he looked at the rosebush. "This music box was her favorite, and it has my last gift to her inside it. So keep it safe, all right?"

He placed his hands against the ground on either side of the rosebush. A soft, warm light grew underneath them and spread through the dirt and into the plant. The bush swelled and grew, its branches thickening, elongating, and splitting into more branches. New leaves and buds formed.

And even though she couldn't see them, somehow Erin knew that the roots were growing out and wrapping protectively around the music box.

A few minutes later, Nievar let out a tired sigh and sat back, looking over the large, full bush covered in purple roses. He gave a satisfied nod and stood up, using magic to clean the dirt off his clothing.

"That's all I can do for now. But I'll come back to check on you soon." He reached out and gently stroked one of the lavender roses. "Watch over her for me."

Then he turned and walked away, heading for the entrance to the graveyard.

There was a long silence.

"Hey..." Erin said finally. "That paper he was writing.... Was that what I think it was?"

"It was an official statement legally readopting Kiari into the royal family. Yes."

"Didn't you say this was your memory? So you watched this happen?"

"More specifically, I watched Nievar's memory of it happening. I wasn't here for the actual event."

"But...if you got the memory from him...does that mean you found out about it before he died?"

"Yes. I started looking into Kirchel's family background when I found out that Teral was interested in her. I wanted to know what he was up to. Incidentally, he never found out that she actually was a legal member of the royal family. He was planning to rely on Seiyan's affection for her as his niece, like I told Arturyn."

Erin's cheek had started twitching. "So you knew about this before we even went to Raylmiyr?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you say anything?!"

Erin's voice echoed loudly through the quiet graveyard. She felt guilty for a moment until she remembered that this whole scene was just a dream, so it wasn't actually disrespectful of the dead to shout here. Probably.

"Because it wouldn't have done any good," Jechrin said calmly. "Raylmiyr and Myrikar have been allies for centuries, and like Nievar was saying, the pedigree-obsessed people of Myrikar would have fits if their ally allowed Elariths to marry into the royal family.

"Nievar wanted to do what his wife asked and readopt Kiari, so he wrote out and signed that statement. But he never intended to actually honor it. Not if it would risk harming relations with Myrikar. So if I'd brought it up while he was still alive, he would have denied it in the best case. And in the worst case, he would have taken it back by actually disowning her again."

Erin scowled. "Okay, fine. But Seiyan wanted Kiari to be readopted, right? So why couldn't you have said something after Nievar died?"

Jechrin sighed. "Seiyan said he wanted Kiari to be readopted. It was easy to say that because he was fairly certain it would never really happen. But in actuality, he's been undecided about whether to stick with Myrikar or cut ties and try to establish an alliance with Silmar instead. He fully understands the potential political consequences of letting Kirchel marry Arturyn as a member of Raylmiyr royalty. If he had found out about the readoption statement, he probably would have just hidden it until he made up his mind. And if he ended up siding with Myrikar, he would have destroyed the document or disowned Kiari himself."

"So if you're finally telling me about this, does that mean he's made a decision?"

"Yes. After his recent interactions with Kirchel and Arturyn, he was already leaning toward Silmar. And fortunately, the message I sent with Arturyn the other day seems to have been enough to convince him."

"Message...?" Erin blinked. "Wait, do you mean when you and Arturyn were talking about someone he's in contact with who also has a Silver mark? That was Seiyan?"

"That's right," Jechrin said patiently. "So since he's decided to ally with Silmar, now would be an excellent time for him to have his niece marry the emperor. I didn't say anything before because there was a high risk of the readoption getting ignored or undone. Or even of Seiyan backing Teral in trying to make Kirchel marry him in order to strengthen ties with Myrikar. But I'm telling you now because the situation has changed, so there's a high chance of it being accepted and Kirchel being able to marry Arturyn. Understand?"

"No, I don't," Erin said stubbornly. "Do you have any idea how upset Kirchel and Arturyn were? Do you know how many times Kirchel has cried in the past few weeks?"

"I'm an empath, in case you forgot. Of course I know. And more importantly, I know how important it was to you, which is why I've been doing the best I could to do what you asked and make sure everything works out."

Erin didn't say anything. In truth, she did understand why Jechrin had handled it the way he did. But she hated the idea of these stupid political games hurting people she cared about, so she didn't want to admit that he was right.

And it made her even more irritated to know that Jechrin probably knew what she was thinking anyway, so refusing to admit it wouldn't even do anything....

Jechrin stepped forward and bent his head down, using the tip of his horn to cut one of the purple roses off the bush. He made it rise up in the air and float over to hover just in front of Erin.

"I understand why it upsets you, and I'm sorry for that," he said gently, turning his head back to look at her. "But I still need your help. This rosebush is still guarding that last gift, even now. Don't you want to make sure it finally gets delivered?"

Erin sighed and reached out to take the rose. "All right. What do you want me to do?"