"Ant, you're our hero. Thank you," Kirchel said fervently as she opened the front door and let Anthony come into the house. He was carrying a grocery bag in one hand and a cat carrier in the other.

The occupant of the carrier was letting out a variety of unhappy-sounding noises.

"No problem," Anthony said, setting the carrier down in the entryway and handing the bag to Kirchel. "I had to go out for a flower delivery anyway, and the store was on the way back. But do you mind if I ask why you were suddenly in desperate need of peanut butter?"

"Well...." Kirchel glanced over her shoulder at Erin, who'd followed her to the door to say hello to Anthony. "Erin has had a little too much magic and adventure the past few days, and she was craving some normalcy. So I promised her a peanut butter sandwich and a fluffy cat to cuddle when we got back. But then, much to my chagrin, I discovered we were out of peanut butter." She shook her head. "I normally keep an extra jar in the pantry, but things have been so hectic lately...."

"Kirchel, you were just kidnapped by a homicidal, mind-controlling unicorn a couple of days ago. I think we can give you a pass on not being quite on top of your food storage." Anthony looked down at the cat carrier, which was still emitting a series of grumpy yowls. "Can I let him out so he'll shut up?"

"Just let me close the door first. He tends to bolt out as soon as you open the carrier, and I don't want him to run outside."

When Kirchel had pushed the door closed, Anthony gingerly opened the front of the cat carrier. As Kirchel had predicted, an angry ball of silver fluff streaked out, taking a hard left at the other end of the entryway and shooting down the hallway. Turning her head, Erin saw Snapdragon's puffy tail disappearing up the stairs.

"He's probably heading up to my room to hide under the bed and sulk," Kirchel said with a sigh. "Don't worry—we'll lure him out with some tuna in a little while. We have plenty of that in the pantry, fortunately."

"You'll probably need it. He's been in a pretty bad mood lately because of you being gone so much. But mayhap tuna and cuddles shall suffice to soothe the foul beast's wrath.... Or if that doesn't work, I'm sure you have enough catnip in this house to drug him into happy oblivion." Anthony turned to look at Erin. "So how are you doing? Your forehead still looks a little pathetic, but at least you're conscious and upright, which is better than the last time I saw you."

"Well...yeah." Erin reached up to touch the bandage on her forehead. "This is still a little sore, but overall I'm a lot better."

"Just tired of magic and ready to come home to cats and peanut butter, right?" He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, I can understand that. I was more than ready to come home, too, and I was only there for a few hours.... Though I guess I had an extra bad first visit. Or is it normal to stumble onto a villainous plot and almost get killed when you go to that place?"

Erin shrugged. "When I first went there, I almost got eaten by a big monster, met the emperor, who'd just almost been assassinated, and then got captured by a tribe of bloodthirsty savages who would have killed Arturyn and carted me off to their territory as a slave if Kirchel hadn't rescued us, so...yeah, I guess it's normal?"

"It's not normal!" Kirchel said, looking a bit exasperated. "A normal first visit would involve somebody like me noticing that you had been born with magic abilities, becoming friends with you, and then eventually telling you about magic and the other world and inviting you to go there and learn more about it. Your first visit should have been to someplace safe and friendly to newcomers, like the imperial capital."

Anthony smiled wryly. "And I guess someone like me should never have gone there at all, normally. Right?"

"Well...it's not that non-magic people never go there," Kirchel said, looking a bit awkward. "But it's usually because they have a close friend or relative who can use magic. I mean, that's basically how you ended up there, right?"

"Right. Because I had the rare fortune of falling for a girl who turned out to be a shapeshifting wolf...bat...thing who's more than a hundred years older than I am..." Anthony said, his tone becoming uncharacteristically bitter. "Have you heard from her, by the way?"

Kirchel shook her head. "Nothing new since yesterday. I don't think we'll hear any more until their investigation has ended. But I'm sure she's fine. She's just under house arrest for a few days. She broke some protocols, but she didn't really do anything wrong, so I don't think she'll get any kind of serious punishment. Maybe a few months of probation, at most. She should be back soon."

"Right...." Anthony was quiet for a moment. Then he glanced at Kirchel. "Hey, what's up with you and that emperor guy? Am I allowed to ask?"

"That's...." Kirchel's expression stiffened.

She'd had to say goodbye to Arturyn again just a few hours before, and Erin knew it must still sting.

"They're just good friends," she said quietly, answering on Kirchel's behalf.

"Ah." Anthony glanced between the two of them for a moment. "Gotcha...." He looked at Erin. "Well, since I already stuck my foot in my mouth, I might as well go all the way.... Are you and that prince guy just good friends, too?"

Erin stared down at the empty cat carrier. "I'm not sure.... I guess he's my friend? I think our situation is a little bit like yours, actually. We were friends...but then I found out that he wasn't really what I thought he was at all...and now I don't know what we are...."

"That does sound pretty familiar...." Anthony sighed. "Well. My condolences." He looked at Kirchel. "You too, for...whatever happened...or didn't happen...or...I don't know...."

Kirchel smiled. "Thanks." She held up the grocery bag. "You can stay and commiserate with us some more over a peanut butter sandwich, if you want."

He chuckled. "Nah, I'm fine. I'd better get back to the shop. We wouldn't want Nathan to get too lonely over there."

"I'll try to come over for a while later, after I finish getting Erin settled."

"Good. We men like being tough and independent and all, but...well. It's a flower shop. So it's not quite the same without the resident flower fairy."

Kirchel laughed. "Thanks." She hesitated briefly and then added, "Oh, and Ant...."

"Hmm?" He stopped partway through the doorway and looked back.

"I guess I should tell you that gatekeepers aren't a naturally occurring species. They're people from other species who take on the gatekeeper form and abilities as the result of making a magic contract with the Dhaikar. Sarah was originally a Silmarith. And there are gatekeepers who were originally human, too. I'm not sure if the contract works with non-magic humans, and I know you and Sarah hadn't gotten all that serious yet, but...well...maybe it helps a little to know that she was coming to the relationship from that perspective."

Anthony opened his mouth to say something. Then he closed it and swallowed before opening it again. "Yeah...I think that does help.... Thanks, Kirchel."

He gave her a small smile and then he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

 

---

 

Erin was dreaming about her last ballet recital.

In the dream, she was up on the stage in a darkened theater, doing the same solo dance she'd performed that night. The teacher had picked four girls to do a set of solos based on Vivaldi's Four Seasons. As the youngest of the four, Erin did Spring, dancing in a beautiful green and white outfit with colorful flower appliques scattered over the fluffy skirt.

A part of her realized that she was dreaming and remembered that it had been months since she'd last practiced this dance, but somehow the movements came just as easily to her as they had back then. And even in the dream, she felt the joy of moving to the rhythm of the music and the satisfaction of performing each intricate maneuver with graceful precision.

At the end of the dance, the audience started applauding, and Erin stood at the front of the stage and did an elegant ballet curtsy with a smile on her face. As she raised her head, she noticed a man on the front row clapping with a broad smile on his own face.

A tall man, with grey skin, pointed ears, and long, black hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Jechrin?! What are you doing here?" Erin stared at him, blinking in surprise. "And...why do you look...normal?"

It wasn't his emaciated Wraith appearance, but his younger, healthier King of Myrikar appearance. Even his clothing was similar to the more casual outfits she'd seen him wear in those old memories.

Jechrin stopped clapping and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a dream, isn't it? I can look however I want." The noise from the audience had suddenly died away, so she could hear his voice clearly.

Erin frowned. "And why exactly are you in my dream?"

"I came to finally fulfill your request from awhile back. As for why this particular dream...well, I've heard you talk quite a bit about ballet, but I'd never actually seen it. I was curious. So I used a little magic to encourage you to dream about one of your ballet performances."

"I'm not sure how I feel about you manipulating my dreams...."

"I did say 'encourage,' not 'force.' It wouldn't have worked if you hadn't wanted to dream about ballet. And you seemed to be enjoying yourself just now."

Well...that was true....

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "What did you mean about fulfilling my request? What request?"

Jechrin pointed upwards. A voice suddenly filled the theater, as though it were playing from the loudspeakers. A voice that Erin recognized as her own.

Hey, Wraith...I think we need you to use some more of your creepy magic to make everything work out again....

When the words ended, Jechrin looked back at her with a small smirk. "As requested, I'm here to work things out with my creepy magic."

"You...." Erin's initial reaction was embarrassment at having her former naive words thrown back at her, but as she realized what he meant, her eyes went wide with surprise...and hope. "You mean it? You really found a way to help Kirchel and Arturyn?"

Seeing her reaction, Jechrin's expression softened from a teasing smile into a genuine one. "Yes. I did. Do you want to see what it is?"

"Of course!"

Erin ran forward, leaping lightly off the front of the stage and landing next to him.

"Oh? You're getting the hang of this dream stuff, aren't you?" Jechrin's smile turned playful again. "Hey, didn't you say your family goes horseback riding quite a lot?"

"Yes? My aunt has horses, and my little sister is obsessed with them, so we go visit and ride them pretty often. Why?"

"Well, since we're in a dream, we might as well take advantage of it."

Jechrin's form suddenly melted and changed, growing larger and darker. A moment later, a huge, beautiful black Relian was standing there, with a grey blanket and black saddle on his back. It was a Western saddle, very similar to the one Erin usually used at her aunt's house.

Was that why he'd asked her about horseback riding? To bring up her memories of it so he could incorporate them into the dream? Was that how 'encouraging' someone to dream about a specific thing worked?

While she was puzzling over that, Jechrin bent his legs and knelt down in front of her. She stared at him, not quite sure what to do.

"Well, get on," he said with a small chuckle. "A Relian kneeling down for you to get on his back is quite an honor, you know? We don't let just anyone ride on us."

"Oh. Um...okay...."

Feeling a little awkward, she put her foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself up into the saddle. Even with him kneeling down, it still seemed quite high, and when he stood up, it was enough to make her feel a little dizzy.

Jechrin turned his head to look back at her. "It's all right. I promise I won't let you fall. And this is a dream, so it wouldn't hurt anyway, right?"

"I guess? I'd still rather not fall off, though...." Erin looked around. "Um...how were you planning to get out of here?"

They were between the stage and the theater seats. There was barely enough room for Jechrin to even stand there, and all the paths out of the theater from where they were looked too narrow for him to fit through.

"Like this."

He started walking forward, and the theater seemed to melt around them and fade away into another scene. Now they were on a huge, open grassland that stretched ahead of them as far as Erin could see. A brilliant blue sky with scattered, white clouds spread out overhead.

"These are the central plains of Myrikar, not too far from the capital. These plains are hundreds of miles across. And Relians love them. Can you guess why?"

He was walking faster now, his hooves already covering the ground at quite an impressive speed.

"That...hey...uh...Jechrin...? Wait a minute...."

He moved into a smooth trot which was easily as fast as the average horse's gallop.

"Hey...isn't that fast enough?"

He broke into a canter. The ground was just a blur underneath them now.

Erin leaned forward, clinging tightly to his neck. "Jechrin!"

Even while he ran, he threw back his head, and she could hear him laughing. "I told you, it's perfectly safe!" he called back to her. "Just relax and enjoy it, silly! Lift your head up!"

Erin's eyes widened a little in surprise, and she was briefly distracted from her fear. She'd never seen Jechrin like this before...laughing...excited...joyful.... Even when she'd seen him playing around with Lanien, it had never been like this.

Why do Relians love the endless plains?

Because...more than anything...they love to run....

Gritting her teeth, Erin released her tight grip on Jechrin's neck and pushed herself up. She lifted her head enough to see past his streaming black mane, past his ears and horn. High enough to see what he was seeing.

At the same time, Jechrin reached a full gallop.

And Erin was flying....

Maybe it was because it was a dream, or maybe he was doing something with his magic, but the wind wasn't hitting her nearly as hard as it should have been. It was just enough to give her a thrilling sense of movement and freedom. The thundering hooves hit the ground in an easy, smooth gait, not at all jarring or uncomfortable.

An odd thought occurred to Erin as she watched the grasslands speeding past and felt the warm sun on her face and the cool wind tugging at her hair.

Arturyn and Legan had wanted her to make a long list of all the pros and cons of keeping the Silver mark and carefully think through each one before she made a decision.

But maybe....

...if keeping her mark meant that Jechrin would keep taking her running with him like this...

...then regardless of any other benefits...

...regardless of the dangers...

...maybe just this much was enough to make it worth it.