The man who entered the room behind Kimoja was tall and slender, with dark hair and a rather aristocratic look to him. Well, since he had married into the royal family, it wouldn't be surprising if he were some kind of noble.

"This is Prince Meilas Sil-Licerel," Kimoja said. "Jechrin's uncle. Prince Licerel, this is Kirchel Lir-Anaurian, and her cousin, Erin Lir-Anaurian. They were both involved in this incident and are here recovering."

"Anaurian, is it?" Meilas' raised his eyebrows a little, and Erin saw him glance between her and Jechrin. "I see.... I'm sorry to disturb you. I won't stay long. I just want to confirm my nephew's condition." He gave them a gentle smile. "And please, just call me 'Meilas.' I've never cared much for formal titles."

He followed Kimoja around to the other side of the bed, where Jechrin was lying, still completely unresponsive. Meilas stood next to the bed for a few minutes, looking over his body. He seemed to be doing the same kind of magic scan that Kimoja used.

"I see what you mean," he said finally. "It's not exactly a normal coma, but it's very similar."

He reached down and lightly brushed the hair away from Jechrin's forehead. He looked at the white crest on his skin for a moment and then looked over at Erin.

"This mark...is it connected to the injury on that girl's forehead?"

Kimoja nodded. "Yes, but I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly how. All we really know is that Jechrin's father attacked Erin, and Jechrin formed some kind of magic contract with her in order to save her. We're not sure how it works. It seems to be something unique to Relian magic. My husband is the head magister of Zeiryn, but even he had never seen this particular type of magic contract before. We're hoping that Jechrin will be able to explain it to us when he wakes up."

"Strange." Meilas looked at Kirchel. "Were you there when this happened?"

"Yes, although I can't tell you much more than Kimoja can. Teral used some kind of magic on Erin, and she went limp and slumped down onto the floor. Jechrin picked her up and put his forehead against hers, and then there was a bright flash of light. After the light faded away, Erin had that same crest burned onto her forehead. Teral seemed to recognize what it was and stopped trying to attack her because of it. That's all I really know."

"Did Jechrin fall unconscious immediately after that?"

Kirchel shook her head. "No, he was still awake for a while, but he seemed to be very tired, so he couldn't talk much. He just said it was magic exhaustion and that he would be fine if he rested for a while. We brought the two of them here, and he fell asleep and went into whatever state he's in now."

"How long ago was that?"

"It's been a little over sixteen hours now," Kimoja said. "We've had someone here watching him almost the entire time, and he hasn't stirred at all. He seemed quite certain that he would be all right before he fell asleep, though, so I was planning to give it another day before we try to move him to an eyathar. There's the problem of security, of course.... We'll probably have to transport him to Katan Jyrat if we decide he needs more specialized facilities."

Meilas sighed. "Yes.... As much as I'd like to have confidence in the eyathar I work at, I'm afraid I can't recommend taking him there. The mood in the city really isn't good right now.... And Lerand is already being treated at our eyathar. Having the two of them in the same place would be asking for trouble."

"Lerand?" Erin repeated. "Isn't that your brother-in-law? The one that was staying at your house?"

"That's right." Meilas raised an eyebrow at her. Then he looked at Kimoja. "Does she not know what happened?"

"Not yet," Kimoja said, looking apologetic. "She's been asleep most of the day, too. And I was trying not to overwhelm her by telling her too many upsetting things all at once...."

"I see." Meilas turned back to Erin. "Lerand is the one who brought the areots here to the palace. We think he must have overheard the conversation that Jechrin had with the emperor when you stopped by our house to use the ivareh last night. Though we haven't been able to talk to him to find out for sure yet. He got caught up in the fighting and was barely alive when the guards found him. He's been unconscious all of today as well."

Erin's eyes widened in shock. Did that mean that the distraction that Jechrin said he had arranged...?

"That's why our family is in such an uproar right now," Meilas went on with a tired sigh. "We had just found out that Teral murdered Celania...and then we discovered that Lerand was directly responsible for Teral's death and probably intended for Jechrin to be killed as well...and Lerand himself almost died on top of that. Even if he lives, there's a good chance he's going to be permanently disabled...." He sighed again. "It's a real mess. Most of my in-laws are siding with Lerand, even though he technically committed two murders and attempted another one. My poor wife doesn't know what to think. She wants to protect Jechrin...but she also wants to defend her brother...and above all she blames herself for not doing anything to stop it all...."

Erin bit her lip and looked over at Jechrin. Had he really had something to do with all of that happening? But he seemed to really care about Celora...and surely he'd know how much she'd be hurt by her brother getting involved....

Was that the real reason he'd seemed to be feeling guilty when they left Celora's house without telling her anything last night?

Meilas looked down at Jechrin again. "My wife's older brother, Thaylen, will most likely be the next king. Officially, he's second in line after Jechrin, and normally he would become Jechrin's guardian and the next regent at this point. But I honestly don't think the people of Aner will ever accept a king who's half Relian as well as being the son of a criminal and Myrikarith agent. The emperor seems to agree—I think he's planning to pressure Jechrin into formally giving up his claim to the throne.

"The thing that Thaylen and the emperor don't agree on is what should happen to Jechrin from this point on. The emperor currently has legal custody of him due to the exceptional circumstances of his father's death. Thaylen wants that custody to be transferred to him and for Jechrin to stay here in Aner...to keep family business in the family, so to speak.

"It's difficult for me to openly oppose his wishes, but...I really don't think that's the best option for Jechrin himself. He'll probably be confined to the palace for the foreseeable future. And...well...let's just say that I'm not sure everyone in the family will be able to resist the temptation to take out their resentments on him. One of his uncles has already tried to get him killed, after all...."

A short, grim silence followed these words.

"I appreciate you speaking honestly with us," Kimoja said with a gentle smile. "I'll pass your thoughts on to the emperor."

Meilas inclined his head. "Please. And thank you."

 

---

 

Meilas stayed a little longer, talking with Kimoja about Jechrin's condition, what she'd been doing to take care of him so far, and options for future treatment if he didn't wake up soon.

Erin mostly tuned that part of the conversation out. Having grown up with a father who was a doctor, as well as recently going through a number of medical treatments herself, she had a pretty good grasp of basic medicine and anatomy. So she probably could have understood what they were saying reasonably well under normal circumstances.

But they were talking about things in terms of healing magic, not the usual medical treatments she was acquainted with, and she still felt too tired and headachy to want to make the effort to mentally translate everything into more familiar concepts.

Fortunately, Meilas was true to his word and didn't stay a long time. They finished up their discussion within about ten minutes, and then he wished Erin and Kirchel a speedy recovery and left the room. Kimoja walked him out.

Erin sighed and leaned back against her pillows. Kirchel gave her an understanding smile and patted her hand.

"That must have been tiring for you, especially learning that upsetting news about Jechrin's uncle.... I guess we're not the only ones that are going to need some time to recover from everything." Kirchel stared off into space for a moment, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Then she looked back at Erin with a smile. "You still haven't eaten much today. Would you like to have a little dinner before you go back to sleep?"

Erin nodded. Her stomach was feeling a bit empty.

"Do you want to go out and eat at the table? Or should I bring a plate in here for you?"

"In here, please." Erin wasn't sure who was in the next room right now, and she didn't feel up to interacting with any more strangers. Especially ones who kept giving her forehead suspicious looks....

"All right. I'll be right back, then." Kirchel patted Erin's hand again and then left the room. Erin could hear her saying something about getting some food to the guard on the other side of the door.

When she was out of earshot, Erin turned her head and reached over to poke Jechrin's shoulder. "Hey," she said quietly. "Were you listening?"

The Jechrin she could see still didn't move, but after a few seconds, she felt her forehead grow warm.

Yes.

"Your uncle...um...I mean...your sort-of uncle. Lerand. Did you know he was listening to us, at Celora's house?"

Yes, I did.

"I thought about it a little while they were talking.... Lerand must have been reading in the library when we got there and then hid somewhere in the room when he realized we were coming in there to use the ivareh. Probably behind that curtain that Anthony kept looking at.... It was moving because of Lerand, not because of the wind...right?"

That's right.

Erin frowned. "So did you expect him to bring the areots after he found out that Teral was a Relian?"

I expected him to do something. Areots were one possibility. I know that he has friends in Anoviel, which is one of the few places that still promotes areot breeding. They're dangerous enough that owning them is heavily restricted in most countries. Including Aner, of course. So I knew he might have access to areots. But I wasn't sure that he would be willing to disregard the law or that he'd be able to find a way to get them into the country.

"Wasn't that really dangerous, though? What if Teral hadn't decided to protect you?"

I had other ways to avoid them. Teral's sacrifice...wasn't meaningless, I suppose. But it didn't really change anything for either of us. He wouldn't have had much of a chance against them even if he hadn't decided to help me.

"Seems like a pretty cruel way to distract someone...even if he kind of deserved it...."

I'm not strong enough to be picky about my methods right now.

"So it didn't bother you to use Lerand like that, either? You didn't care that he might get hurt or killed? Or worry about how the rest of the family might feel?"

He didn't seem to care about me getting hurt or killed, now did he? And I did intervene to stop him from dying. In spite of the fact that it would be better for me if he were gone for good....

"You did?" Erin blinked in surprise. "Oh.... Because of Celora?"

Jechrin paused briefly. ...yes. Because she and Meilas deserve that much consideration, even if Lerand himself doesn't....

"Oh," Erin repeated, not sure what else to say.

She was still considering how to reply to that when she heard someone coming into the room. She turned her head and saw Kirchel carrying a tray of food. As Erin watched her bring the tray over to the bed, she felt the warmth fade away from her forehead.

Apparently the other questions she wanted to ask Jechrin were going to have to wait a little longer.