The golden light of the sigil flooded the forest with color. It threw everything into sharp relief and tinted the leaves and needles of the trees a deep, orange color. Only once it receded did everything return to what it used to be, but different, as if someone had tossed the scene into a mortar and shaken and stirred it. The stark play of light and shadow made it look deeper and more forbidding, and the figure of King Stephen rose out of the forest floor and the dead monsters around him like a tower climbing toward the heavens. Other people seemed almost washed out in his presence, although it could simply be their expressions and the awe and wonder — sometimes tinted with a bit of fear — that they projected as they looked at him.

In her current state, June at first thought she was receiving some sort of vision, or still hallucinating. Unfortunately, staring for several seconds didn't cause her vision to change. Then she blinked and reluctantly turned her attention to the people hovering over her.

She was still in pain. Quite a lot of pain. Her arm felt like someone had shoved a red-hot poker inside it. But at least she was a little more capable of thinking clearly. Everything that had happened before she blacked out felt strange to her and had a dream-like quality. It was why she had to look around to reassure herself she hadn't imagined the … thing. Which she would worry about later because, because by the gods (god?), she was not dealing with that right now.

"Princess June?" one of the strangers asked. "Can you hear me? Do you understand me?"

June slowly raised her head, then decided to abort that operation. She nodded slowly instead, trying to make her field of view stop swimming.

Are you alright? Edmund asked, leaning closer. She felt his concern.

I'm fine, she responded, grateful not to have to talk out loud. What happened? Who are they and where are we?

Still where you fell fighting the snake, he answered unhappily. It hasn't been long, this … divine mark only showed up for a few minutes, apparently. These people have some healing Abilities and one of them cast a Spell that should heal you, and also awakened you.

She had only been unconscious for a few minutes, then. That was good, June supposed. She still felt tired, but she knew she couldn't go back to sleep.

"Back off," Zoe warned the strangers, taking a step closer to her, her blade-arm trailing on the ground but held at an angle that signaled subtle danger. "We thank you for your help, but clearly it was not enough, Her Highness is still injured and ill. We must take her back to the city and proper medical care."

"Right you are, Lady Zoe," the king responded, suddenly appearing beside them. She could tell he hadn't actually teleported, but he had moved fast. Did he move that quickly before? I don't think so?

June cleared her throat and licked her lips. Zoe produced a leather cup someone had filled with water and held it so she could take a few sips. She nodded gratefully at her, then looked at the king. At least he wasn't growing brightly anymore. "Thank you," she croaked.

It was the only thing she could say. Well, the only thing she wanted to express out loud, anyway.

"Do not worry, Princess June, I will ensure you reach the city and the hands of my healers safe and sound," he promised. She almost winced at his volume.

"My king," someone else spoke up. "You have been chosen as a Champion of the gods. This must be celebrated! You will lead Prekan to greatness — this is certain, now, and your subjects deserve to know, just as the world must be told to take notice."

A part of June hoped for him to deny this assertion. Unfortunately, King Stephen only laughed. It sounded good-natured, the sort of laugh that invited one to relax and enjoy amiable company. She was fairly sure he had not been this charismatic before, but maybe it was only the psychological effect of being … well, she had to face it: of being marked as a Champion of a god.

For all the worst-case scenarios June had thought of regarding this mission, this was not one of them. She almost hoped she was hallucinating the whole thing, but unfortunately that seemed unlikely; the pain in her arm, still sharp and stabbing, made a good argument that this was all real. She had to exert quite a bit of self-control to stay calm, keep a smile in place, not let on how much pain she was in, and not start shouting and raving about this. All of the work I did here — most of it's going to be useless now. What did the gods think they were playing at, just outright taking a monarch of a neighboring nation like this? It was probably disrespectful or blasphemous to think like that, but she didn't care at the moment.

"Let us not get ahead of ourselves," the king was saying. "We can speak about celebrations when we are back. For now, we must find the rest of our party and return."

She looked at him more closely. He was fairly good-looking as things went, tall, dark-haired and muscular, but nothing special. That hadn't changed. His System notification, too, seemed to be the same, no indication of his new status in it.

Stephen of Prekan — Level 43 Noble Knight

June stayed quiet, at least apart from the occasional sounds of pain she couldn't suppress, as they loaded her onto a remaining horse and set off. Edmund and Zoe both walked without complaint, sticking close to her. Unfortunately, she was too distracted to pay sufficient attention to what was going on and the situation of the royal hunt in general. It took most of her focus just to keep herself in the saddle and lucid as they started moving and she was jostled by the movement of the horse.

She tried to use some healing magic to treat herself or at least numb the pain, but had to stop quickly. She barely even knew where to start with trying to heal this, and she just couldn't concentrate properly on trying to figure it out. Certainly not while trying to ride.

June still had the presence of mind to reach out with her mind, though. This needed to be reported.

Janis had returned to the capital in the meantime, but Madris was still closer, and Tia was with her, too, right now. June reached out to them, and she could tell that she got Madris' attention immediately. The older psychic stabilized the connection and pulled in Tia to their link as well.

What happened? Why are you in pain and barely lucid? she demanded.

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I was on a hunt that went wrong, but we have bigger problems, June responded. The local king has been chosen as a Champion of the gods. Gediarno, specifically, it looks like.

There was a moment of shocked silence. Madris tried to get deeper access to her mind, and being too tired to argue about it, June let her, focusing on her recent memories and a bit of context.

Are you safe? Tia asked, concerned.

June hesitated for a moment. I hope so.

She knew they were both thinking the same thing. No one really knew how gods choosing Champions worked, and she didn't know if Stephen had actually talked to Gediarno in some way. If he had and if the god had given him instructions for the benefit of their followers in the Western Confederation and Esemen … well, Prekan wouldn't be much of a military threat, but she and her companions were completely in their hands right now. It could turn ugly. Especially if you considered that June had rejected the king's marriage proposal just before this happened …

Hold tight and don't do anything stupid, Tia told her.

I agree, Madris said sternly. Do not risk yourself. I will let everyone know and we will make a plan. Do not worry, we will handle it.

Sure, June said. It's not like I could do much right now, anyway.

For the rest of the day, despite the temptation, she didn't reach out with her mind again. It sapped her focus and strength too much, and she needed all of those that she could get. Her injury didn't seem to get worse, but it also didn't really seem to get better. The healer from before, clearly just a mage with a few minor healing Spells, tried again, but it couldn't seem to flush out whatever poison the snake monster must have had, simply kept it at bay.

June almost fell asleep on her horse despite the pain in the end, and she had barely been lowered to the blanket someone had prepared before she fully nodded off. She still slept fitfully in the tent they had erected around her, and had to be helped onto her horse the next morning. A few more people who had been part of the greater hunting party had trickled in, but the king clearly preferred to return to the city rather than wait further.

Regardless, she felt several people watching over her almost continuously that day, primarily Madris and Regina. The feeling of them keeping an eye on her was comforting, even if they mostly didn't speak. Edmund clearly had more thorough conversations with them, and she clung to his mind a little more tightly than she otherwise would, too.

Zoe also kept close to her, and June could sense her agitation. She was curt and cold to the rest of the people while looking after June and guarding her closely. Several other sapient drones, those who had come with her, gathered at the palace back in the city and she suspected that they were preparing some kind of contingency plans. June doubted how useful that would be; after all, there were only a few drones against potentially all of the king's men. For now, she just tried to remain optimistic and hope it wouldn't come to that.

When they finally made it back to the city, late in the evening, June was in pain, tired and feeling rather dizzy again, but she tried to power through and ignore all that to focus on the present. Her gaze followed the king as he rode into his castle to a hero's welcome.

King Stephen only greeted them briefly before he turned his attention back to June and her companions, since Edmund and Zoe were crowding close to her again and the others had also shown up and closed ranks. "Princess June needs medical attention," he said. "I have arranged new accommodations for her and her entourage. Please cooperate with the healers, for her sake."

"I thank you for the consideration, Your Majesty," June rasped. "We will try not to trouble you much further."

"Nonsense," he said, with a bit of emphasis. "You are my guests, Your Highness. I insist that you stay in your rooms, rest and get well. Do not worry about anything else, I assure you I will let no harm come to you."

June frowned, a growing tightness in her throat. "I must return to the Empire soon, my lord king. They are already missing me."

"Nonsense," he repeated. "You are my guest. You will rest as long as necessary. The healers will be here shortly."

"But —" She tried to object, to ask if he was going to hold her hostage, but he had already turned and stridden away. Instead, some of the nobles and knights who'd accompanied him on the hunt, as well as several men-at-arms of the castle, drew closer around them.

June looked around, then reluctantly allowed herself to be herded into the building. She didn't think trying to fight would be a good idea right now. Edmund and Zoe accompanied her. She could sense their tension, and she was pretty sure that they were only going quietly like this because they were concerned about her.

At least I'm pretty sure Madris can get us out if worse comes to worst, she told the others, trying to find an optimistic outlook.

The three of us, maybe, Zoe said, tension clear in the feeling of her mind. But what about the rest? My siblings, all four of them that have come? All of the guards and servants that were sent with us and came to attend to you?

June was silent. She didn't know. She and Edmund were not bad psychics, June was sure, but smuggling a group of people out of a guarded castle — even if it wasn't much of a castle, more of a residential palace by now, it still had high walls and proper gates — that would be a different matter. Hopefully, they would be able to just pressure the king into letting them go in other ways and wouldn't have to risk it. She didn't want to face the choice of having to leave her attendants behind to escape.

Finally, they reached the new rooms assigned to them. They were on the highest level, she noted, close to the central staircase, and thus only two of the rooms had windows. They had clearly been hastily made ready and were frankly not up to the same standards for housing royal visitors as where she'd stayed before, although June was sure she would be told they were quieter and better to recuperate. The old rooms had also been on the ground level and had a door onto a veranda and large windows, and it was impossible not to think of that right now.

Zoe could probably just climb out of the window easily, but June wouldn't dare try that even if she wasn't inured. Besides, you do need medical attention, an inner voice pointed out.

At least King Stephen kept his word in that matter and did send healers to attend to her. There were several of them, all in the third Tier, and clearly professionals judging by their Classes. From what she could tell, they did their best, but it was hard to be sure they didn't drag things out on purpose.

She really wished she'd had more experience with poison, and injuries in general, instead of just sickness. Maybe then she could have healed herself.

June tolerated their treatment, but flatly refused to undress more than she had to. Instead, she had the healers step out while Zoe helped her with getting out of her undershirt and putting on Zoe's, which bared her arms and shoulders but covered her torso. Her own barely fitted Zoe, but she didn't have another and they hadn't had their belongings brought here yet, and she refused to just let Zoe go without even if she was a Hive drone, so they had to switch. It was humiliating and June tried not to stew on it.

"Do mind your fingers," she said as one of the doctors started to poke around her injury. It still hurt, even if she'd started to get used to it.

He gave her an apologetic glance and nodded. "We are familiar with this venom, my Princess. It should not resist our magic with proper application. We will need to purge it entirely before we can attempt to close the wound, however."

June frowned. "And there will be no other issues or side effects?"

"Of course not, Your Highness," another healer, this one female, spoke up. "However, we will need to conduct several sessions."

Zoe shifted and she sensed Edmund's concern. "Is that entirely necessary?" June asked coldly.

The woman met her gaze squarely. "If you want to be properly healed, yes. Begging your pardon, Your Highness."

June held her gaze for a long moment, before she glanced down at her arm again. At this point, a large part of her just wanted to get it over with. She didn't have any better alternatives than their treatment. "Fine," she gritted out. "Get started."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

As expected, the first treatment session hurt, even if they just used a Spell to send magic into her body. After it was done, June barely registered the healers leaving, too drained from everything. She sank down onto the bed, too tired to even change her clothes. At least Edmund's presence, staying close to her, was comforting.

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