Sillon couldn’t decide if he was pleased or terrified to know that the Mercenaries’ Guild had decided that Lyka needed regime change. The Mercenaries’ Guild was supposed to be neutral, taking contracts that it was offered; it wasn’t supposed to meddle in politics.

Was it?

To some extent, the reasoning made sense. Lyka was dangerous to low-Tier people and not worth it to high-Tier people; only Tiers three through five really could find worthwhile work. Breaking the Church would increase the factionalization, adding more avenues for work, while also decreasing whatever danger came from the Church that seemed to mostly affect lower-Tier people.

Sillon didn’t like the idea, but at the same time he had to admit that it would serve as a nice cover for whatever action they took about Serenity’s kidnapped people. The mercenaries might well be able to help find them, as well.

That was the tentative deal Sillon had worked out with Juka, at least.

Sillon’s expression lightened as he made his way up to the entrance. He should have expected that the guards would be pulled off the Visitors’ Palace. That would make things much easier; he’d needed to leave with Blaze this morning to get by the guards.

The door was unlocked, which was probably to be expected but certainly not preferred. Sillon noted to himself that they’d need to locate keys; there weren’t enough people in the group to station someone to watch the doors when anyone was outside.

Sillon locked the door after himself, then headed down the maze of hallways to the general common room. He’d been out all day, far longer than he’d expected, so he wasn’t certain if the others were back yet or not.

When he reached the common room, Sillon found Ita playing with Curio and a bit of string. It was a common sight; Ita seemed to respect Curio almost as much as she respected Serenity, so she was willing to interrupt almost anything to play with Curio when he pounced.

Sillon shook his head. He didn’t quite understand the dynamic. Curio was a cat; his duty was to deal with small pests, but they rarely seemed to go anywhere where they were responsible for any pests. Even Serenity’s home had other pest control methods, if you could call living in an actual dungeon a pest control method. It certainly did seem to mean they didn’t have any pests in the houses.

Even so, there was something about watching Ita play with Curio that was interesting. It was almost like watching children play. They were learning about each other and somehow communicating even though they weren’t talking.

Sillon tried to suppress the silly grin before he spoke. “Ita? Are Blaze and Ekari back yet?”

Ita seemed startled when she looked up. “Sillon? Oh, yes, they are. They’re both in their rooms.” Ita looked down and her voice softened. “They collapsed soon after they came in. Rissa says they’re not hurt, but there’s a strange new connection between them. Maybe because they both collapsed? I’m worried about them.”

That put Ita’s play with Curio in an entirely different light for Sillon. Ita was clearly trying to distract herself. It was too bad that Sillon couldn’t ask Blaze what was going on; the man was a better healer than most he’d ever seen. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Blaze wouldn’t let anything happen to himself or to Ekari. Did you know he wants to be with her?” Sillon grinned a bit at the thought. “I keep telling him he should just ask but he’s not willing to.”

Ita nodded. “It is very obvious. They are connected by interest and fear. I have not looked closer.”

Sillon chuckled. That was such a good description. Youngsters could be so determined to not make fools of themselves that they missed out on the good times. “Where’s Serenity? I need to talk to him about-”

A scream from Ekari’s room interrupted Sillon’s words.

The normal next step, at least if he wanted to keep Ekari’s body for a while, was to crush her personality or at least enclose it in a box. If he chose to put it in the box, it would sleep and not know time was passing. It was the safe choice; any other choice had the danger that Ekari might fight back.

Blaze didn’t want that. He couldn’t say what he’d have done with Priest-Healer Tirina, but there was no way he was controlling or suppressing Ekari. Instead, he used the same skills that he’d learned as a child to do the opposite.

:Ekari? Can you hear me?: Blaze wanted to hand control over and return to his own body, but he couldn’t. Not until harad was over. He needed to reach an agreement with Ekari until then, since he refused to just suppress her.

“Blaze?: Ekari’s mind-voice sounded weak and strained. :What’s going on? Why can’t I see?:

:You’re not entirely awake.: Blaze wished he had a better way to explain it, but he’d never come up with one. Whatever explanations he’d thought of over the years to use seemed frail and pointless. He’d known the risk and thought it was worth it. It had been, until now. :It’s my fault. I should have told you or at least not let you touch me.:

:Hah.: Ekari sounded strangely amused by Blaze’s contrition. :So you’re telling me you accidentally blinded me? I bet you have a plan to fix it already.:

Hadn’t he just told her she wasn’t blind? :You’re not blind, just partly asleep. And your eyes are closed.: It was easier to talk to her that way. :It’s just - I never told you I’m diehar.:

There was a long pause before Ekari spoke again. :Blaze?:

:Yes?: She was going to hate him now, wasn’t she? No one liked diehar. There were good reasons he hid his heritage. He’d just never expected it to be such a problem. He deserved her anger.

:Tell me about it later. Right now, all I need to know is that you are going to fix it.:

:Of course. I just wanted to explain first.: Blaze wasn’t sure how he felt. Relieved that Ekari wasn’t angry, definitely, but also somehow disappointed. He’d prepared himself for a big confrontation and it had simply fizzled.

Blaze wasn’t sure how a mind could laugh, but then he wasn’t sure how a mind could talk in words either. However it worked, Ekari laughed then gave him his marching orders. :You are talking about fixing what he did, aren’t you? You don’t need to explain. Fix it first, tell me about it afterwards. I trust you, Blaze. Tell me what I need to do.:

That was the closest he was going to get to informed consent without dragging her through a whole explanation that she clearly didn’t want to take the time for, wasn’t it?

It wasn’t like explaining it was going to change things.

Blaze tried one last time. :Are you sure you don’t want to know until afterwards?:

:I want to be free. Just get started.:

Ekari clearly understood what Blaze was trying to fix. That was good, even if she clearly didn’t want to talk about it,

Blaze pulled himself back from control of Ekari’s senses and body. It wasn’t easy to do, but he was capable of this. He had to be.

:I can see!: Ekari rejoiced.

Blaze couldn’t, but that was fine. He didn’t need to be able to see; he simply needed to heal. He had been healing the whole time, using Ekari’s mana. Blaze focused on the task, accelerating the corrections that would mostly undo the damage she’d taken physically.

Ekari screamed and Blaze scrambled to separate her from the pain. When he did, he was in control of her body again. He felt her pain, but it was at a distance. Harad protected him from many things and pain was one of them. He’d assumed it would also protect Ekari, but it clearly didn’t. :I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would hurt so much. I don’t think I can get rid of the pain, heal you, and let you have control. I think I can numb it a bit, but it will make the healing take longer.:

Ekari seemed to think about it for a moment. At least, that was what blaze assumed from her pause. Her eventual words were determined. :I prefer the pain to this nothing. I can live with pain. This is … it is more at once, but it hurts less.:

Blaze was sure he would prefer pain to nothingness too, but he didn’t experience nothingness when he handed over control. Instead, he could concentrate on finding the problems created by whoever tried to control Ekari. All he had to do was identify them; harad could take care of fixing them. That was what harad did, after all.

Serenity rushed into Ekari’s room only to find that he was the last person to arrive other than Blaze. Even the two acolytes were already there. When he arrived, Ekari was in the middle of reassuring Sillon that she was fine.

That wasn’t what grabbed Serenity’s attention. Instead, the first thing he noticed was that Ita was at the foot of Ekari’s bed; she looked insufferably pleased with herself, like the cat that ate a canary. Standing next to her, also unspeaking as she watched, was Rissa. She seemed more worried than pleased.

Serenity listened for a moment. Ekari was babbling, something she didn’t often do; she seemed to be more intent on apologizing for the scream than anything else. Serenity knew that he’d hate it if a nightmare brought everyone running to his room.

“Okay, everybody, let’s give Ekari some space.” Serenity gestured towards the open door then headed that way himself. Sillon was the last to leave.

Ita caught up with Serenity just outside the door; she could hop quickly when she chose to. “You were right. Everything will be fine.”

“Oh?” Serenity wondered what had changed Ita’s mind. She’d been very worried only a few hours earlier when she found Ekari and Blaze collapsed just inside the common room.

Ita nodded several times. “Blaze is with Ekari. He is a master healer; he will fix whatever is wrong.”

“Is that who-” Rissa interrupted herself with a tremendous sigh of relief. She took a deep breath. “I was afraid something terrible happened when I saw there were two minds in Ekari.”

Serenity glanced back and forth between the two of them. “You’re telling me the reason Blaze is unconscious is that he’s … in Ekari’s body? That that’s what knocked them out? How can you tell?”

If Ita was wrong, he’d have to do something. But what? He wasn’t a natural at Mind magic the way Rissa was, and while he knew some of the spells, he’d never cast them alone. Certainly not for something like this.

“They are connected.” Ita shook her head. “I can see it, it is the same connection Ekari has with Blaze, and there is a connection from the second one back to Blaze’s body. That connection is strange but strong.”

Serenity saw Ekari appear in her doorway; the door was still open. “She’s right.” Ekari’s gaze flitted between the four of them. “With that said, if you want to keep something quiet, maybe you shouldn’t talk about it right outside an open door?”

Ita hopped in place, turning herself to face Ekari. “I was not trying to keep a secret.”

Ekari laughed at Ita’s indignation. “That’s fair. I should explain, but …” Ekari shook her head. “Can I have some time first? I think I’ll be able to say more once Blaze removes more restrictions. I’m … I’ve never been able to say this much before.”

“All you’ve said is that Blaze is removing restrictions,” Serenity noted. “Take the time you need. It’s getting late, so how about in the morning? Will you and Blaze be fine until then?”

Ekari nodded. “I don’t think Blaze will be done, but time will help.”