7. Exchange

Zangurak knew right after waking up that he was not in good shape.

At all.

His left arm still stung from the wound he took from the arrow that Count Arganan of all people shot at him, despite it being healed by magic while he was unconscious. Currently he was literally strapped down to the bed he laid in by chains (out of fear that he'd just leap out of bed and run, he supposed—as if it was that easy to do when lacking an arm and the remaining arm being injured), restricting most, and thankfully not all his movements.

Turning his head left and right to get a good look at his room, he heard the door creak open. Looking to his left, he noticed a young woman (was she familiar? Black hair with that feather...wait no, she wasn't familiar) enter the room, closing the door behind her and sitting in a chair beside his bed.

"Lord Zangurak?" She spoke up, her voice quiet. "I see that you're awake now."

Zangurak focused his attention to the woman. He could sense a calm atmosphere to her, with only hints of nervousness wracking her senses. "And who are you?" He spoke, his mind working quickly to process earlier events before he ripped off his own arm, but came up with nothing. He would have to weasel information out of her somehow.

"My name," His visitor stated, "is Mirania. I'm a nature mage...and also one of Zael's friends."

One of Zael's friends. That must mean that she was part of Dagran's mercenary group. He struggled briefly with his chained bonds, and he heard Mirania sigh.

"Lord Zangurak, I'd really just rest if I were you. You got hit quite badly in the head."

Did his head hurt that much? Did Asthar really hit it that hard? Apparently yes—he could feel his head throbbing now. At first he was more numb, but now his senses were somewhat awake. The former King of the Gurak winced slightly, feeling his head throb again, until he felt a warmth at the side of his head. He opened his eyes to see Mirania's hand held above his head. She was using healing magic to soothe his head.

So she must be a mage with healing magic at her disposal then. That made sense.

Mirania pulled her hand away after a moment, continuing. "However, Zesha and Zepha have wished to talk to you. Do you have enough strength to stay awake a while?"

Zangurak nodded, noticing her hands travelling to undo some of the chains. If he said yes...

"I do have enough strength." He managed. Mirania nodded, before undoing enough chains so that he could sit up in bed. The nature mage smiled gently at him, as if to comfort him, before she stood and turned to leave the room.

"I'll get Zesha and Zepha here momentarily." She spoke, before going into the hallway and closing the door behind her.

Zangurak took a deep breath. He had to keep his mind sharp, or at least as sharp as he could at the moment as his head still hurt a little bit. It would wear off in time, he reasoned.

Zesha and Zepha entered the room, and Zangurak had a double take at the sight of Zesha, dressed in robes fit for a king. The circlet with the gems and chains trailing at the back seemed to fit him better than any other normal crown he'd seen in books of monarchs, of history long ago.

"Lord Zangurak..." The two twins both sat quickly by his bedside, their expressions full of awe at their resurrected first king.

Zangurak looked to them quietly. "Tell me," He spoke quietly. "Tell me everything that's happened in my absence."

"They're with him now?" Arganan asked.

Mirania nodded. "Yes, Count Arganan."

Arganan nodded. "Thank you for telling me." He spoke, dismissing the nature mage. He sat in his own room, waiting until MIrania left the room to unbutton his shirt slightly and look to his mark.

It was still hard for him to believe that his military skills were sharpened since he came back into being, into this world. How else could he have went and shot Zangurak in the arm with a crossbow?

He put a hand to his mark, tracing the 'M' quietly.

Mitra...do you know anything about what it means to be your bride?

He saw his mark light up, his chest get warm, and something in his thoughts told him to get up. Obeying those thoughts, he quietly stood, walking out of the room.

He would find himself walking down the hallway, down the stairs and heading in the direction of the military wing once he entered the courtyard.

"Where do you think you're going, Count Arganan?"

Arganan turned his head to glance sideways towards Zesha, who stood only a few feet away from him. The older man dared to raise an eyebrow at the new Gurak King.

"And why are you following me, Lord Zesha?"

Zesha shrugged slightly. "I'm just curious about where you're going. Although most of Lazulis doesn't know that you're still alive and also my fellow Gurak know nothing of my brother and Lord Zangurak's return yet, I would still think you'd be cautious."

Arganan frowned, turning completely to face him properly. "I'd like to think that I'm at least somewhat cautious."

Zesha grinned slightly. "Not cautious enough to sense me until I spoke, though."

Arganan had to admit that the Gurak was good with words. "True," He admitted, letting himself grin slightly.

Zesha's face morphed into some curiosity, like a cat. "Although...why are you headed to the military wing?"

Arganan had to think. How does one explain that the Sentinel Beast Mitra was compelling him to go to the military wing to talk to it/her/him?

No way out of it, he supposed. He would have to tell Zesha upfront.

"I was going to talk to Mitra. Sentinel Beast Mitra, that is. So if you want to be face to face with a Beast that could easily suck the entire life out of your veins, go ahead and join me." He responded. He might as well give the warning. Although he doubted Mitra would kill Arganan since he was its 'bride' of sorts, he was still occasionally plagued with nightmares of the Beast going and draining his entire life out of his body, just like their first encounter with each other.

Zesha simply smiled. "I'm interested."

Arganan stared. "What?"

"I'm interested," Zesha repeated, chuckling gently. "You humans are fascinating, even if they are repulsive at times...you're on the more fascinating side to me."

Arganan nodded awkwardly, turning to go to the military wing. "Erm, thank you."

"You are welcome."

The two made their way to the military wing, and Arganan felt his chest suddenly tighten. A weak gasp escaped his lips as he doubled over.

He could hear Zesha swear loudly, before he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, dark eyes baring into his. "A-are you—"

"Get away." The older man whispered, using his prosthetic arm to slap him away. This was not a heart attack, for that he was certain. It had to be Mitra. "I-I think Mitra is literally going to appear soon. In front of us—" Pain shook his system, but Zesha let him go. The older man felt his vision become blurry, and he couldn't understand anything else that Zesha spoke, and then—

Lights out.

He came to with Zesha shaking him hard, and he felt little bursts of warm magic coursing through his body.

"Damn it, wake up! Wake up, I'm telling you!"

Arganan opened his good eye, blinking a bit. "S-stop shaking me," He groaned, sitting up and looking to the King of the Gurak. "That hurts, dammit."

Zesha winced, letting go of him. "Apologies. You fainted only moments ago and I feared you died on the spot as you weren't breathing, which I assume your niece wouldn't be happy about."

Arganan felt his blood go cold at that. "No." He managed. "She wouldn't be." He looked to Zesha again, feeling his body cool down from whatever sparks he felt only a moment ago within him. "Did you use magic on me? I thought you were unable to do that so your brother did it instead."

Zesha nodded. "Yes. After my brother died, I studied a little magic. To remember him properly. But the best I can do is very weak healing magic, unfortunately."

The older man frowned. Don't the Bolt Arrows flying through the air from your attacks count?

Before he could ask, a soft, rumbling purr came from his left, and both turned to see none other than the majestic, monstrous Sentinel Beast Mitra across from them, sitting on its hind legs, its beady dark eyes gazing right at them.

Zesha looked to the Sentinel Beast.

"Amazing." He whispered softly, barely coherent enough for Arganan to hear.

Arganan looked to Mitra, then, to Zesha, then to Mitra again, before he got up and started walking towards him a bit.

"Mitra?" Arganan spoke up, swallowing a bit before speaking more. "Is there something you want to say?"

Mitra went on all fours, padding slowly towards him, its neck and head extending forwards. It purred softly, and Arganan reached out to stroke the creature between the eyes. Arganan could feel that he was processing something in his mind as he continued to pet Mitra there...

And what he felt that he was picking up was interesting.

"So I'm technically just as, if not more, powerful than Zael?"

Mitra purred softly again, bowing its head slightly as if trying to nod. Arganan nodded in acknowledgment of its answer. "I see." He looked to Zesha. "I can sense Mitra talking to me. In my head. Through my senses. It said that Mitra's bride is, technically, just as powerful as the wielders of the Outsider's power."

Zesha's eyes widened slightly at that as he approached them slowly. "Fascinating." The Gurak King spoke, unsure of what else to say, his eyes full of wonder. "Just as powerful, you say?"

Arganan nodded. "Yes."

Mitra growled slightly as Zesha drew near, but Arganan quickly stroked it between the eyes a bit faster with his hand, his other hand gently stroking its cheek. "It's okay, Mitra." Arganan whispered. "Zesha won't hurt you." He looked to Zesha. "Don't aggravate Mitra."

Zesha nodded slowly, now standing right beside them, watching Mitra quietly and saying nothing. Perhaps he was so much in awe that he didn't quite know what to do.

The older man gently touched Zesha's hand. He felt Zesha flinch, but then relax, and he lifted Zesha's hand to stroke Mitra between the eyes. Zesha looked to Arganan, then to where his hand was, and then copied Arganan's motions from earlier, stroking the Sentinel Beast between the eyes. Mitra blankly gazed at Zesha's hand on its head, before purring softly, closing its eyes.

Arganan couldn't help but grin slightly at this. "I think Mitra likes you a little bit."

Zesha looked to him. "You can tell?"

He nodded. "Yes."

There was silence between them, before Zesha broke it.

"Lord Zangurak has much information about the role of Mitra's Bride."

Arganan looked up at him. "Wait, wait...what?" He spoke.

Did he hear that right? Did Zangurak of all people actually have information about Mitra's Bride?

Zesha nodded. "You heard me. He has information that he could relay to you. After my brother and I told him about you receiving the mark of Mitra's Bride—" He pointed to the 'M'-shaped mark on Arganan's chest, "He wanted to talk to you, and hence why I followed you. However, he wants something in exchange for the information."

Arganan frowned, turning completely to Zesha and crossing his arms. "Like what?" He spoke, thinking of the worst case scenario in an instant. "Rule over Lazulis? No."

Zesha shook his head. "Not that, he wants...erm..." He touched Arganan's metal arm. "He wants one of those. To replace his right arm."

Author note: Thank you SO MUCH for reading and reviewing and favouriting this fic so far! I just thought I'd let all of you readers know that I have a poll on my profile, so go and vote if you'd like to, please! Thanks! :)