“Everyone is waiting for me? How long have I been asleep?”

  “Well, as I said, it’s a challenge to measure time here. But a week, at least. Perhaps two.”

  Two weeks? How was that possible? I had only been out for a few hours the first time. And it wasn’t as if I felt ill, or there was something wrong with my body… what could have caused this?

  “And you didn’t see fit to wake me up in all that time?”

  “You weren’t here until a little bit ago. I admit, I was afraid to wake you… I didn’t want to make things worse.”

  Where had I been until then? Had I been anywhere, or was I just drifting in nothingness? Would I disappear forever if I left here? Would I go back to where I came from? That might be even worse. Are there other worlds out there I could end up in, cooked up by someone else for me to suffer through?

  “Helian.” Coroban pulled me back from my thoughts. “With any luck, you’ll soon wake up again, like before. As such, I think we should discuss important matters right away. After all, once you’re gone, we won’t be able to talk.”

  I nodded. “I suppose you have a point. What are these important matters?”

  “I believe this has been done to you on purpose, though I’m not certain by whom or for what reason. The physicians found nothing wrong with you, correct?”

  “Yes, they said I was perfectly healthy. I felt perfectly healthy. But if this was done with magic, wouldn’t someone have noticed?”

  “If you wish to make someone sleep, there are means other than magic or poisons one can use. You can attack the soul instead of the body. It’s no surprise that the physicians who examined you wouldn’t have thought of it, however.”

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  I was starting to see a connection. “And you know of this, naturally.”

  “Yes, it’s related to what was planned for our wedding… I suppose I should apologize for that, actually… I’m sure it was unpleasant for you. So, I am truly sorry.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, it was a wedding to remember.”

  “I had started to lose track of what I wanted and what my companion wanted. It was a bit of a problem. But I’m getting side-tracked here. Manipulating the soul as one desires is quite difficult, but disrupting it is possible given sufficient knowledge and resources.”

  “So, someone is disrupting my soul? For what purpose?”

  “Perhaps they merely wish to have you out of the way, because they’re afraid you’ll interfere with their plans? Or they think that doing this will be enough for the outcome they’re after to occur naturally. From my perspective here, it’s difficult to be certain. Do you have any ideas?”

  While people in the kingdom were constantly cooking up evil schemes, it was fair to say that I rarely had any involvement. And even if I had wanted to roam around like a storybook adventurer, most of those schemes were of a mundane variety – real estate fraud, wage theft, or elder abuse – and as such it wouldn’t make sense for the people responsible to see me as a threat.

  Coroban’s second option had merit, however. Judging by how everyone reacted to my brief nap previously, putting me to sleep for an extended period would have very significant consequences. It made sense that someone might have done it for that purpose, and perhaps at this very moment they were attempting to exploit the outcome.

  “The second seems more likely. But I’m not sure who precisely would benefit from doing this to me. Do you have any knowledge of what’s gone on outside while I’ve been asleep? Any clues?”

  She walked over to the table and flipped through a stack of notes. “I’ve the vaguest sense of events on the outside. Not much of importance has happened… however, you were taken from the estate to a temple of Metis. Presumably for treatment.”

  “By myself?”

  She shook her head. “No, Rosa is with you. Well, not at the moment, but she accompanied you here from the estate. She’s been doing a good job of watching over you, considering she has no assistance.”

  It was a relief to know that Rosa had been keeping an eye on me all this time. It made me feel guilty to be a burden on her to such an extent, though.