While he waited for Dagaslan and Abbot Faizan to arrive, Shaugn reviewed the protocol for a royal to meet with a priest. Baptist priests were easy. Just give a little extra to tithes. He didn't want to offend the abbot. He had Akechi send for some fruit and pastries and Kazim brought a fruit drink. He also prepared a few offerings and a monetary donation. Just in case.

It took more than an hour for Daga to return with the abbot. Shaugn paced the reception area with his hands behind his back deep in thought. Would he leave and travel to another time and version of himself when everything had been set right? Or would he pass through the light like OG?

What about his child? Xoan? Was the priest even capable of sending him back? How did he even manage to get here in the first place?

An ache started just behind his eyes. Too much thinking and not enough answers. Shaugn closed his eyes and massaged his temples.

"Your majesty, you really shouldn't be moving too much," Akechi chided him. He noticed she was always mothering him and Xoan.

He sighed. "If it were up to you and Xoan, I'd be in the bed until I gave birth." He unconsciously rubbed his growing bump. There was too much to do before he gave birth. The dangers would increase once the child was born. It would become a target as well.

Why was being the empress more dangerous than living in the hood?

The guard outside in the hall shouted, "His holiness Abbot Faizan is here to see the empress!"

Akechi, Kazim, and Shaugn stood straight and faced the door to the reception room. Radagar stood tall and opened the door. The steward walked in followed by a tall, thin man dressed in a pale blue tunic and pants. He was younger looking than Shaugn expected. His dark brown eyes were full of smiles as he approached.

Akechi and Kazim knelt and pressed their palms together in front of their chest with their head down. Shaugn didn't kneel due to his pregnancy but put his palms together and bowed at the waist.

"You are so formal. Just like the other Shaugn."

Shaugn's eyebrows went up to his hairline. Akechi, Radagar, and Kazim looked at Abbot Faizan with furrowed brows.

"Your holiness, what do you mean?" Kazim asked.

"Are we really so much alike?" Shaugn asked at the same time.

"You are indeed." Faizan grabbed his hand and pressed their palms together. There was a burst of white light and Shaugn gasped as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His body convulsed as if he was having a standing seizure.

Radagar drew his sword at the same time a black blur appeared and tried to pull Shaugn away. Faizan was faster and pulled Shaugn behind him as Akechi, Kazim, and the steward cried out in alarm.

The black blur traded several blows with Faizan as Radagar stood in front of the three servants with his sword aimed at the two fighting men.

Akechi clamped onto his arm. "Do something."

"I can't." Radagar's body moved with the others looking for an opening. "I might hit the empress."

"Your majesty!" They screamed out at the same time as the guard nearly struck Shaugn. Faizan bent Shaugn over and turned him around as he blocked the guard's punches.

Faizan's smile never left his face as he blocked all of the shadow guard's strikes. "You're good. The empress is in good hands."

The shadow guard glared at him. "Let the empress go."

"If I wanted to harm the empress I would have."

Another voice responded. "You'll have to go through all of us first."

Akechi clutched Kazim's arm as twelve men in black materialized out of nowhere and surrounded them.

*****

Shaugn was oblivious to everything happening around him. The white light was like ice traveling through his veins. Memories of OG and Faizan's relationship from their early childhood years until the present flashed through his mind.

They had been neighbors. Faizan's father, Laen, was a farmer and supplied Po with many of the herbs that he used in addition to the ones he foraged in the forests. Faizan's mother passed when he was two due to illness. Bella Jomo, Shaugn's mother, treated Faizan like her own son. The two grew up side by side, learning, laughing, getting into mischief.

When they were fourteen, Faizan became gravely ill out of the blue. For two weeks his body burned from fever. He would scream and thrash in his sleep without waking. Nothing Po Nenih did worked. Several other physicians came to look at Faizan and had no success. Shaugn wasn't allowed to see Faizan just in case what he had was contagious.

On the fifteenth day, Laen was preparing to consult a priest about his son's final rites. Faizan opened his eyes and called out to him. Laen fell to his knees and held his son. Through his tears, he thanked the heavens and creator for sparing his beloved son. When he calmed down, Faizan told his father to cut off his waist-length hair and send him to the temple. He claimed the holy creator had spoken to him and told him to become a priest.

Laen did so without hesitation.

Faizan completed his training and came to find Shaugn right after his encounter with the emperor. He encouraged OG to follow his heart and gave him a blessing. Afterwards, they continued to be friends. Sometimes OG would go to the temple to visit or teach the other priests about healing herbs. Sometimes Faizan came to visit him.

In short, they were like brothers and Faizan would never do anything to hurt him.

Shaugn's eyes flew open. He tottered slightly as the sudden brightness disoriented him. Several hands reached out to grab him but Faizan had a firm grasp on him.

"Your majesty."

"Majesty."

Shaugn touched his forehead and held his hand up. "Everyone relax. I'm fine. Faizan won't hurt me."

"Are you sure, empress?" The second guard who joined the fight asked. Shaugn's memory told him the second guard was called Yon and that he was the head of the shadow guards. The shadow guard that came to protect him against Faizan was called Rou and he was with Shaugn the most aside from Radagar.

"Yes." Shaugn tucked his hands into his sleeves and smiled. "Thank you all for your concern."

All of the men in black saluted him and disappeared except for one. Rou stood glaring at Faizon like he wanted to eat him alive.

"Who are you, priest? No priest moves like you do," he seethed.

"I'm just a humble priest here to serve his majesty." Faizan pressed his palms together and bowed to the shadow guard.

Rou shook his fist. "The hell you say. I'll find out who you are and where you learned to fight like that."

Faizan giggled. "As you wish."

Radagar sheathed his sword and returned to his post as Rou disappeared like smoke. The steward wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Do you require anything else, your majesty?"

"No, Tavis. Akechi and Kazim will take care of it."

Tavis bowed. "Very well. Enjoy your visit, majesty."

Shaugn crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his troublemaking guest. "Was that necessary?"

Faizan shrugged helplessly. "It saved time. There is no way I could explain all that and tell you what you want to know in the short time we have."

"A little warning perhaps. Or not presenting as a threat to the guards. The emperor won't be too thrilled with this."

"He seldom is." Faizan flopped into a chair and poured himself a cup of juice. "Sit. We have things to discuss."

Shaugn looked at his two servants. Should they stay? Even Xoan didn't know he wasn't OG.

"They can stay," Faizan said biting a mochi. He narrowed his eyes. "But they can't repeat anything that is said."

"Very well." Shaugn sat in his seat and waited for Faizan to finish eating.

"Eat." He pushed a plate of custard buns in front of him. "You need to fatten up so your baby will be healthy."

"How do you know so much about my current situation?"

"Would you believe that I've often dreamt of Shaugn and his future?"

Shaugn raised a brow. "You telling me you're a seer?"

"Psychic, oracle, dreamwalker, all that."

For real? That couldn't be right. "You saw Shaugn fall and get injured and me swapping souls with him?"

Faizan nodded.

"How was that possible?"

Faizan stopped mid chew and smiled. "Which part?"

Shaugn waved his hand in the air. "You seeing it all? And how did we swap souls?"

"During my illness, I actually died for a bit." Faizan's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I saw the creator of all things. He told me it wasn't my time and that I had work to do. I was tasked with watching over Shaugn, um, OG."

Shaugn snorted. "You did a crap job. The last two years were hell for him."

A dark look passed over Faizan's face. He threw the pastry in his hand down on the table in anger. "I was interrupted by someone in the palace. Shaugn had a talisman on him that I gave him before his wedding. It went missing."

"What does this talisman look like?"

"It's a small earring he wore on the tip of his ear." He touched the tip of his ear to show Shaugn where it had been worn.

Shaugn touched his ear. His eyes widened. He'd never noticed the small hole. "Did he lose it?"

"That or someone tore it off and he didn't notice."

Akechi and Kazim looked at each other. Radagar's eyes narrowed.

Faizan waved his hand and adjusted his mood. "We'll worry about that later. For now, you have questions upon questions." His smile returned as he picked up his flattened treat.

Shaugn nodded. That was an understatement. "You got that right."

"Let's go over them one by one."

Shawn dusted the powdered sugar off his hands and leaned forward.

"First and foremost, how did I get here?"