When Yuelan finally woke up Long He was sitting beside her bed with Willow bending over her and replacing a cloth on Yuelan’s forehead with a cool, damp one. Yuelan frowned and shifted to sit herself up. “What happened? I thought you were going to be gone for a few days…”

“I felt you collapse,” Long He answered. “So I came right away. You don’t need to worry about the princes visiting you at inconvenient times anymore. The first and second prince aren’t allowed near this residence or the library for a month and they are now all required to announce when they are going to come before they do. Take your time and get some rest. When your fever is gone I’ll take you back to the library.”

Yuelan nodded and relaxed against the wooden headboard. “Did you speak with the emperor again or something, then?”

The corner of the dragon’s mouth twitched in a half smile. “‘Or something,’” he answered. “You should remember that your rank is not as far off from theirs as you think. Back in your home you are the daughter of a prime minister. Because your father has a near-equal rank with the emperor, you’re the equivalent to an imperial daughter here. The emperor here doesn’t need to give you a rank that will let you tell the princes ‘no’. If you don’t feel well or want to be left alone just send them away next time.”

Yuelan hesitated. “But...they’re the imperial family. And the laws are different here than they are back home…”

“And the emperor will do what I tell him,” Long He replied. “And now so will the princes. None of them will argue.”

“What did you do?” Yuelan asked, frowning.

Long He chuckled. “You missed the storm I caused. And the lightning. I let them know I’m not human and don’t have to obey their laws.”

“You didn’t threaten to eat them, did you?” Yuelan asked, frowning.

“Of course not. I don’t eat humans. They’re not very tasty.” The dragon reached out and put a hand on Yuelan’s head before removing it and looking over at Willow. “Where is the bracelet the third prince gave to Miss Yuelan?”

Willow looked a bit pale and uncertain having Long He speak to her, but she walked over to the dresser and lifted the small box with the bracelet up. “It’s here,” she answered.

“Place it on Miss Yuelan’s wrist. The stones do have healing properties and they will help her recover quickly. Though the type of healing they do is different from what she needs, they will still help a little,” Long He instructed.

The maid nodded and pulled the black jade bracelet out of the box. She carried it to Yuelan and helped slide it on Yuelan’s wrist.

“What sort of healing do they do?” Yuelan asked curiously.

Long He smiled. “I will teach you eventually,” he promised. “But first you need to be more comfortable in this world and allow yourself to absorb the magic here. I will get you some small accessories with the proper stones for that soon. I have to find the ones you need first and a jeweler who can properly make what needs to be made.”

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Yuelan looked a bit confused, but nodded. “What do you mean by ‘absorb the magic here’?” she asked.

Long He stood up and smiled. “It has to do with why you’ve always had a weak body, but it’s a long story. I’ll explain another time. For now, you should rest. I will come back tomorrow. By then you should be up to the journey back to the library.” The dragon turned and left the room without waiting for Yuelan to give an answer.

“Camphor and Laurel have already packed the necessary things for the trip to the library,” Willow assured Yuelan. “Even the guzheng has been packed.”

“Who will handle the businesses while we’re at the library though?” Yuelan asked.

“Miss need not worry. Camphor has said she can stay behind if she needs to, but it is only two hours by carriage to the library. The distance is short enough that things can be managed from there,” Willow assured her.

Yuelan covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. “Alright. Wake me for dinner, then,” she instructed as she slid back down under the silk blankets and rested against the pillows to take a nap.

***

The next day Yuelan got into her new carriage for the second time with her maids and Long He. She was feeling much better than she had been the day before, as her fever had broken, but she still felt weak and wasn’t looking forward to the two hour trip to the library. As the carriage rolled along behind the horses, Yuelan watched out the window. Just as they passed through the gates she drifted off to sleep and napped until the carriage stopped at the base of the mountain.

The trek up the mountain path to the library had Yuelan, Camphor, and Laurel all sweating a bit, though Willow seemed unaffected. Yuelan led the three maids into her rooms and they all used some fresh water Willow brought in from the well outside to wipe the sweat from their bodies as they changed to fresh clothes.

Throughout the process of freshening up, Yuelan became quieter and quieter. At first she had been cheerful and chatted with the other three girls just like she had been since they had first started to serve her, but eventually she stopped speaking and the smiles disappeared.

Once they’d finished, Yuelan looked around her room and sat on the bed with a sigh. She’d been too busy to have much time to miss home before, but now that they were back at the more familiar library she found herself missing her father.

“Is something the matter?” Camphor asked Yuelan, taking the initiative to sit on the bed beside her mistress.

Yuelan shook her head. “Not really. I just...miss my father suddenly.”

Camphor lifted a hand to rub Yuelan’s back. “You haven’t had the time since you arrived to miss him, really,” she sympathized. “Now it’s quieter and you’ve had time to relax a bit, so it’s understandable that you would miss him now.”

“I know.” Yuelan let out a quiet sigh and pulled her legs up to hug her knees. “I think I’d like to be alone for a bit. You three can go familiarize yourself with the library.”

Camphor stood and all three maids gave her a brief salute before quietly leaving her alone in the bedroom.

***

Long He watched the maids leave Yuelan’s room with concerned expressions and walked over to them. “Is something wrong?”

“Miss is feeling homesick,” Camphor answered. “She asked to be left alone…”

“She’ll be alright. It’ll just take some time,” Long He assured them. “Feel free to look around as you wish. I have some things I need to do.”

The three maids saluted Long He and the dragon turned and walked deeper into the library.