"Why ...?" Xander gasped for air as he tried to sit up by pushing his two arms to the floor, but he failed and fell face first to the floor again. He struggled to catch his breath. Pain ravaged every inch of his body and that was the only question that mattered to him now. Why.

He could hear a faint snicker. And a face, a face so familiar to him, so beloved, so known, appeared close to his face now. "Why ...?" he asked one more time.

"You, Xander ... you are the real king of Halgard. You who have been dipped in the elegarii on the day you were born. And you who have forfeited the throne. Your mind has been so dark, as dark as the secret that eats you from inside..."

Xander gasped. His breathing became more difficult.

"Xander. Dear weak, stupid, Xander. You have killed your parents. Their blood will eternally stain your hands. And the secret ... the secret that could shake the very pillar of Olympus itself, is yours to keep. You have to die because Ares wants you dead. Elegarii will be his. Forever."

Xander gasped for air as blood trickled from his mouth.

"The bite of the winged snake will turn you into stone. All your ... gifts ... will disappear. That girl, your muse, your source of strength and courage, will join you."

"No! Please ... please do not harm Airin!" Xander panicked, blood sputtered out from his mouth as he aggressively tried to stand up again and grab the person in front of him. His arms flailed, struggling to grab something, then he slumped again.

His sight became more and more blurry, Xander tried to push himself to stand up again, to prevent Airin from being harmed. But his strength was too diminished to be able to do that. His world turned quiet. He could feel however that his toes stiffened. He could not wriggle them easily.

I am turning into stone. Airin, please forgive me. I failed to protect you. I am sorry. That thought was the last that ran in his mind before everything went dark.

<<<>>>

Airin did not sleep well that night, though she had not been able to sleep peacefully anyway since she got to Halgard. She tossed and turned, sat up on her bed, while the rain pounded the window.

She was worried about Xander. Are you alright? I hope you are, Xander. The question repeated in her mind as she tossed and turned. Her premonition was bad. Something bad had happened, or about to happen. She could feel the certainty of the looming disaster with every strand of her being. Strangely, the fact that Xander was a man with such violent duties and title did not scare her so much anymore. She even felt a tinge of regret that her interaction with Xander earlier was so confrontational, mostly from her side.

As dawn crept in, she was able to catch a light sleep, not the kind that left her feeling rested after she woke up. In fact she woke up with a pounding headache, and Prissa knocked on her door early that morning.

Prissa helped her get ready, most of it was just her telling Airin what needed to be done. When it was time for her to change her clothes, she respectfully asked Prissa to leave the room, to which the chambermaid complied.

Half-heartedly she wore layer after layer of her clothes: Her undergarments, then her thin dress, then thicker dress, then jacket. Prissa came to help with her hair, brushed and put in braid.

Her tired mind processed what Prissa had told her: King Rovan invited her for breakfast. To which she did not respond. She did not want to go breakfast with some king. She wanted to be left alone. She wanted to go home to her own bed, in her own apartment, in her own universe.

But two guards came to pick her up, and Prissa half yanked her wrist to get out of the room. Airin realized there was no point to fight it.

<<<>>>

The guards walked in front of her, while Prissa walked a couple steps behind her. They walked the long stone veranda that connected the building where her room was to the main palace building.

Next to the veranda was a big garden with different shrub evergreen plants and tall trees that had lost their leaves. Dirty, muddy snow covered the ground, the leftover from the rain last night.

The sun shone gently that morning. In some patches of the ground, snow had melted. Breezy, cold wind caressed Airin's face, and her face felt tight and dry as the wind took off all the moisture.

Her heart pounded harder as they entered now the proper palace ground.

The long winding veranda brought them to the inner palace ground. Airin's mind wandered far and away, across the elegarii tunnel, flying far to her students in her own universe. What time is it there? Does time pass by the same way as here in Halgard? The questions kept her mind busy until they reached a large oak door that looked like it had been there since the beginning of the building of the palace.

The guard pushed open the heavy door, and they were in a round room, with long table and high ceiling.

Airin quickly scanned the room. Xander was not there, and that alone took away a chunk of her heart. Sadness engulfed her like tsunami waves. And fear. Fear that was difficult for her to explain. The kind that made the tip of her fingers cold, and the coldness spread fast to her whole body. She trembled.

King Rovan sat on one end of the long table, and Nydda on the opposite end. A cutlery setup and plate were placed on the table, about halfway from the King and Nydda. Airin's place on the table.

"Have a seat, Airin!" commanded the king, cocking his chin to show his authority.

Nydda did not say anything, but her eyes pierced Airin like many needles poking her in her vital areas.

Airin twisted her fingers together, trying to find some comfort to help her face the king and the sorceress without looking like a scared little kid. She managed to maintain some façade of strength as she walked to her assigned seat and sat without looking at the her left or right direction.

Some bread, cheese, and some sort of thick, warm, brownish drink were set in front of her. All smelled delicious.

But she had no appetite at all. She did not wish to eat.

"Eat," the king commanded.

"Where is Xander?" she blurted out her question, turning her head to look at Rovan.

King Rovan threw a piece of bread he was grasping in his hand to the plate again, stared at Airin unblinked. "Why? Why do you want to know?" he asked while rubbing his palms against each other to throw away some crumbs of the bread.

"I want to know. Please tell me. Where is Xander? Is he not your family too? Has he not earned a place at your dining table here after what he has done for this kingdom?"

Rovan sighed, massaged his forehead, and answered with an obvious impatient huff."Xander is sick."

That shocked Airin. Xander did not look sick last night when he stopped by her room. In a quick thinking, Airin decided not tell Rovan and Nydda about Xander's visit last night. Something bothered Xander about Rovan, and that was clear enough for her.

"Just eat your breakfast, Airin darling. Do not be rude to those faithful servants who have prepared it," Nydda's voice was sweet and inviting.

Airin turned to her. Nydda is not to be trusted, her gut feeling screamed. Airin did not care that the old woman was the trusted, wise, royal sorceress, longtime confidante of the royal family, like what Xander had told her.

"I am not hungry," she tried to sound convincing, but a slight shiver in her voice betrayed her.

King Rovan huffed, and just nodded. "Fine. Fine then. Well, here is what I want to tell you ..." he announced. He twirled a small piece of cheese in between his fingers, threw it in his mouth, and spoke again,"You have done something bad, Airin. I have heard rumours going around about babies getting sick after you start your ... your ... paper folding class!"

Airin felt like a bucket of ice water was thrown at her. She shivered, both from fear and anger. "It is an origami class! And paper folding does not cause babies to get sick!" she tried to sound assertive, but she just sounded scared.

"Are you actually a sorceress who hides her ability?" Nydda now spoke.

"No!" Airin shouted after taking a sharp turn of her head to face Nydda. "That's crazy!" she stood up, so quick that the bread plate in front of her rattled.

"Those ... animals you taught those children to fold, and these children brought these into their home, they have brought a curse to their family. I have heard from two, three families that their babies got sick soon after these paper animals were brought home by their older siblings! One of those babies died this morning! All because of you!"

Airin shook her heard hard. Her nightmare, which began when she got kidnapped and brought to Halgard, had just been magnified by a thousand times. In a foreign universe, being accused of something so evil! Babies got sick and died because of her paper folding origami. That was not only a baseless, but also a ruthless, accusation to her.

Nydda stood up and walked in a meticulous gait, slow, step by step, to Airin with that frozen smile of hers.

Airin followed her instinct to move closer to the door of the room. She had to be prepared to run away.

"You have to be executed for practicing dark witchraft, sowing fear and sickness among our innocent little ones, Airin," Rovan also stood and walked toward her from the opposite direction of Nydda. Airin kept shaking her head in shock and fear, and realized she was stuck in the middle between Nydda and Rovan.

"Death penalty, Airin. Death for you," Rovan repeated mercilessly.

Airin froze as her brain processed the sentence. Her life would end here in Halgard.