"So, you went to the Archali Temple?" Shalamorn asked during breakfast.

Jason took a bite from the delicious bread. "It's a really beautiful place," he replied after swallowing. "It reminded me of the trip to India when my parents were still together. The pretty gardens, the pools and fountains, and of course the monks and nuns all around."

"They do not exactly live by the same rules as they do on Earth," Mera said and her sharp look made his cheeks burn hot when the memory of the day before flashed through his mind.

"I hoped to find out about The Gift," Jason ran on quickly to cover up his embarrassment. "But I've must have been still suffering from the consequences of the cold sleep."

"You felt light-headed?" Shalamorn assumed. "Dizzy?" Her smirk wasn't to his liking.

Jason nodded. "Yeah, the flight must have affected me worse than I thought."

"It wasn't the cold sleep," Mera replied frowning. "Did they tell you about the blue water?"

"Yes, but I didn't drink it," he assured them but Mera just snorted and shook her head.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "It's a pollen. So it's also in the air on the whole island."

Jason swallowed his water wrong way. "What?" he coughed. "Does that mean I was unintentionally drugged?"

The peaceful bliss, the sudden relaxation, the drowsiness which had made him too sleepy to run after his shoes … He knew there were more important things than a vacation but somehow he had forgotten about that. Now that Mera accused him of actually being high, it started to make sense.

He had returned after darkness while Shersheba had decided to stay in the temple.

Neri had already been laying in her bed when he had entered the bedroom. He still had been feeling cheerful and somehow light. Neri had turned around but before she could have said anything, he had covered her mouth with his in a gentle kiss. His lips had moved softly against hers while he had wrapped his arms around her.

For once, he hadn't thought about the consequences of feeling her so close to him.

His lips had kept brushing against hers. Caressing her back, he had let his hands wander up to her neck. He had shoved her hair out of her face and smiled at her. Then he had kissed her one last time before the weariness took finally over him.

His head felt hot when he thought about his behaviour last night.

If he hadn't been so tired maybe he would have lost any left self-control, maybe even pressuring Neri into something, she wasn't ready for.

The embarrassment became irritation and he felt the urge to slap himself.

"I'm definitely gonna stay away from this place as far as possible from now on," he murmured, then shoved his trip momentarily out of his mind. "Anyway," he ran on, "how was your meeting?"

"Surprisingly productive," Shalamorn replied. "Chianba and Mal still have a lot to say, mostly opposing to every suggestion. But fortunately, there are also sensible voices in the council, which are lead by kindness, not by fear."

"But I feel, there is something they not tell us," Neri said. "Too many secrets. A darkness, as if Malakat is still here."

"No," Shalamorn responded and shook her head. "Malakat has been exiled and put to sleep in a stasis chamber. He is too dangerous to be kept awake."

Jason examined Neri's sceptic face. "Is there a possibility, he would have escaped his prison?" he asked.

"He is heavily guarded," Shalamorn answered, "I would have been told about any developments."

"By the council?" Jason presumed and Shalamorn nodded.

"It is not him in flesh," Neri tossed in, "it's what he left. I still feel his spirit in the minds of the people. We have to go see them."

"All of them?" Shalamorn asked frowning.

"Yes."

"This will take weeks or even months," Mera argued. "We don't have the time."

"Then we will make time," Neri insisted. "I don't trust the council."

"Neri's right," Jason agreed and turned to Shalamorn. "You did most of your reigning inside the pyramids, surrounded by your council. Malakat sought the dialogue. Maybe, this is part of why he turned out to be so successful."

"I tried to talk to them," Mera reminded him, "They didn't listen."

"Can you blame them?"

They turned around simultaneously and Shersheba entered the room. She wore a pretty dark dress which emphasised her feminine shape. Her hair shone bluish.

"You Majesty, I'm sorry to interrupt," Shersheba said. "This is Merein, third priestess of the Archali Temple."

Merein seemed to rise like a shadow behind Shersheba.

Shalamorn got to her feet. Jason and the girls followed her example.

"Welcome, Merein, third priestess of the Archali Temple," Shalamorn answered and took a respectful bow.

Shersheba and Merein took a few steps towards them and bowed as well. Merein winked at Jason and he grinned back, slightly blushing.

Mera had frowned and Jason felt Neri's hand slipping into his.

Shalamorn just nodded, her expression kind and patient, when she turned her attention back to Shersheba. "You were saying?" she asked her.

"All you did back then, princess" Shersheba ran on, "was to tell people that Malakat's way was the wrong way. But you didn't offer any solutions but the same phrases we had been told before again and again by the same old councillors, which hid safe and sound in the pyramid. You were so young and you spent most of your life on Earth. So why should people trust you, for you were obviously compromised? Malakat had been a trusted advisor for the Queen for many years and Jason is right: he sought the direct contact. He didn't just talk to them, but also listened to what they had to say."

"He was a brilliant politician," Shersheba agreed with a sigh, "even though he was corrupted by his own greed for power."

"Wrong," Merein said quietly and they turned to her with surprise. "It is the power that corrupts," Merein explained. "I think, Malakat has been trapped in his own doom loop. Sooner or later, he would have destroyed himself anyway."

"Well," Jason murmured, "fortunately, we don't have to wait to that anymore."

"Would you like to join us for breakfast?" Shalamorn asked them but Shersheba shook her head.

"No, thank you, Your Majesty," Shersheba replied. "I just came here to ask for your permission to spent some more time in the Archali Temple."

"As you know," Merein stepped in, "Shersheba grew up near the temple. We would be grateful and happy to have her around for a while."

Shalamorn shrugged. "Of course," she said, "if that's what you wish for, Your Highness?"

Shersheba smiled and bowed again. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will get my things right away."

"It was nice to see you, Jason," Merein grinned, as they both turned to go.

"You too, Merein," Jason responded, his cheeks flushed.

The grip on his hand tightened.

"Jason?" Mera took his arm on their way out half an hour later, gesturing her sister and mother to go on.

"Yeah?"

"Did they tell you, that the pollen on the island is also to be said to enhance virility?"

Uncomfortable, he flinched away from her touch. "What?" he murmured.

Mera watched him intensely, her jaw chewing. "Did they offer you a bath?"

His face was now burning hot when the pictures of the memory he had tried to shove away, flooded his mind. "Yes," he confessed, "but I didn't know what they meant was .."

"An actual bath with naked priestesses trying to seduce you?" Mera finished his sentence and he tried to avoid her gaze, but she made it impossible.

"I had no idea," he defended himself, "and I declined it."

"Of course, you did," Mera replied. "But don't you think it's a little odd that of all sacred sites, Shersheba brought you to Archali?"

"No," he responded and shrugged, "as Merein said, Shersheba knows this place from her childhood."

Mera opened her mouth but he cut her up by an annoyed gesture. "Mera, what are you saying?"

"I'm sorry, Jason," she said and sighed, "you're right. I guess, the stress is getting to me and I started imagining things."

"Things?"

Mera shrugged and smiled crookedly. "You know, just confound sometimes people to trust and those to be careful around."

Jason shook his head in disbelief. "It's me, Mera," he made clear and emphasised his words with a gesture of his hands. "Of course, you can trust me."

Mera nodded and he turned to go.

"Jason, do you love my sister?"

Irritated, he froze dead, an angry response on his tongue.

"Are you in love with my sister?" she asked him and gave him such a serious gaze that the annoyed reply got stuck in his throat.

He hesitated. "Yes," he said then firmly, "I do. I am."

"Good," she answered quietly, then passed him by, heading for the door.

Confused, he followed her.