I didn't feel any different hours later as I sat in my usual spot. The windowsill was comfortable, even when someone was being paranoid.

"I don't think I'm going to suddenly stop being fine. If I needed medical attention, I would be getting worse," I said without looking up from the book of maps. My legs were propping it up to keep it at the most comfortable height as I flipped through the pages.

Fethris was hovering while trying to not seem like it. He'd go into the workroom for a few minutes, then come out here and grab a different book off the shelves. No one else was back yet and it was just us.

Well, us and M.

Not that M had said anything to me. From my perspective he was acting the same as ever. Always watching and listening though.

I would be touched by Fethris worrying like this if it didn't start getting on my nerves an hour ago.

Fethris sighed, "Are you sure it's not bothering you anymore?"

"Nothing hurts. I don't even feel tired. If you're going to hover at least sit down and help me with this," I told him. Patting the space in front of my and tucking my legs up to give him more room.

"With what?"

"Covanic Age Tyor and Ptolemaic Age Tyor," I commented. "What's the difference? It looks the same on the maps."

"Tyor was once the city ruled by monarchs who used this place as a castle, before the big renovation M and his friends did. Ptolemaic Age was when those kings first moved in and built it, Covanic Age is when we stopped having monarchs and started using the system we have now," Fethris explained.

"Same city, different people in charge."

"Basically."

It was strange, to think the place barely more than a bus stop for me was part of a still living two-thousand-year-old city. How many of those could there still be in the world? How many would I be able to see in my lifetime?

I trailed through the map more carefully, looking for any town that sounded familiar. I couldn't remember if Mom had ever mentioned her hometown by name, but it made me think.

I would probably have to ask.

I looked up from the maps to see the worry on Fethris' face. I sighed and closed the book. Tucking it and my legs closer to my chest. My hands interlinked making my arms rest in a loose circle around my legs.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Talk to me," I told him. It wasn't an order, I didn't have the authority. And I wasn't desperate enough to plead with him. It was a simple casual request. Like what Dad does.

"About what?"

"You're worried, it's written all over you. Maybe actually talking to me instead of failing to stealthily lurk will help both of us."

"That place…that's a lot more magic in a far denser concentration than anywhere I'd ever seen. And it did something to you or your curse. And there isn't precedent for whatever the curse is doing to you."

Precedent?

"There's…not a lot of curses like mine," I pondered out loud. I hadn't given it much thought. How messed up the situation really was. But for it to be so grotesque that it was rare. The way Mom talked, it was like she wasn't sure what it would do to me either.

"There's records of all kinds of curses, what they do, how that affects the body. But yours…there's nothing. Not even a hint."

Not an off the shelf affliction then, maybe even the only one of its kind in the world. Custom for my mother's children. It was damning, I think. That he would even consider doing something like this.

I lifted my left arm up to expose my wrist. The mark was still covered by the uniform's glove. I took deep breath and pulled the left glove off. Removing the cloth the middle of my arm first and reveal the scars and mark slowly.

There were some small traces of green. Very light stains made to look worse by the dark color of the foreign magic. Just green. No sign of blue that I could see. I held it up for Fethris to inspect as he wished.

I hadn't told anyone that my curse bled like this sometimes. Mom probably knew after seeing it. Seelie suspecting seemed likely too. But telling the other Dragons would just make them worry.

Blood stained green from exposure to high concentrations of magic.

Magic could change the color of things permanently. Maybe even change other things too, for all that I knew of this stuff.

"See? If it had done something to me, something would have turned blue." I had no idea if that was even close to the truth, but maybe it would make Fethris feel better.

"Are we sure it didn't?"

"Does anything look out of the ordinary to you?" I asked him.

His eyes stared into mine. Brown like zircon. A moment passed before it broke and he looked out the window instead. "You know, I can never really tell what color your eyes are supposed to be."

"Mom's eyes are yellow, Dad's are green. I land somewhere in the middle."

Fethris kept looking out the window. "Promise me you'll let us know if something changes?"

"Of course. If I feel sick or something I'll go the healers and let you all know."

"You're one of us."

"I know."

"Things that happen don't just affect you."

"Fethris. Trust me, I know." I was pleading with him now. Which was probably ridiculous but I needed him to understand. My actions and mistakes had consequences.

"You're Representative, but you're our equal. Don't fake being strong because you think you have something to prove."

"If I think I can't handle something, I'll tell you. Haven't I done that plenty so far?"

Fethris looked back at me. "You have. It may not be perfect, but you have been trying."

"I appreciate that you see it."

"And in a few more days it should be easier for all of us to keep in contact. Jarec and I are almost done."

"I look forward to it." I still didn't know what final shape they settled on. I had a rough idea of the color scheme, but we would see what they had been cooking up.

I was excited to see what they had in store for me.

Fethris looked satisfied for now. He took a moment to examine me then stood up from the windowsill.

I turned to look out the window. The sun was starting to set now, a handful of students loitering around in spots and clusters. I touched my left hand to the cool glass. Remembering a time when it was Fethris and I down there, looking up at this window. We'd had so many questions then.

How much and yet how little things have changed since then.

When I removed my hand from the glass there was a flash of blue light from the glass. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw a pair of figures in Kelpie Green and Pixie Pink down there looking at me.

I turned back to the room and found Fethris was gone. No one to ask if I was the only one who saw that. It was probably just another Echo.

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