“As ruler of our nation, you will sit in judgment over many criminal and civil cases brought before you.  So, you must have a firm grasp of our law.  Of course, most of the time, cases are settled in lesser courts, such as city or regional courts.  But, occasionally, there are cases that are appealed to higher courts and cannot be decided by even the regional courts.  For those cases, you and the king will act as the ultimate court, and your decisions cannot be appealed.  Do you now understand the need for you to learn the law, Majesty?”  Nia had been lecturing Kari for nearly an hour, ever since she had asked why it was so important that she had to learn all of Filarin’s law so quickly.  She regretted asking.

“Yes, Nia.  I understand why I have to learn.  But, do I have to learn it all now?  I mean, I’ve only been here two weeks, and, frankly, agriculture law is boring.”

Nia sighed.  At first, Kari had been very interested in learning Filarini law, until she found out that not all law was a cut and dry as the U.S. Constitution.  This place had laws for everything, and it all seemed so random to Kari.  She couldn’t see why certain people were allowed to farm only on certain land and why others could farm anywhere.  Why did it matter where a specific group of people decided was the best land for farming?  Plus, there were several books of law, each one dealing with a specific area: agriculture, criminal, energy, healthcare, etc.  There was even one colossal volume dealing only with magic.  Kari felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount she had to learn about law, not to mention things like traditions and customs, history, biology, philosophy.  The people of this kingdom expected her to be a scholar and an expert in everything.  It was too much to deal with by herself; especially since Yunho had been avoiding her.  She had no one to talk to, no one to unload this massive burden she had been carrying since she learned how much she had to learn.  The one person who understood and had to carry the burden with her was avoiding her like the plague.  It was bad enough she had to be queen, but did she have to do it alone?

“I believe we are done for the day, Majesty.  We can continue with your training tomorrow after your magic lesson.”

Kari glanced up at the clock in the room.  There was still an hour before dinner!  She was shocked.  This was the first time Nia had ever let her go early.  She almost asked why, but decided against it.  If she asked, Nia might decide to give another lecture on why she should learn faster and learn to focus better.  Nia was so long-winded that Kari would miss dinner entirely if she was lectured again.  Besides, she was meeting another teacher after dinner for yet another class.  This was seriously worse than college.  Math classes and homework all day had nothing on being queen.  At least math was interesting. 

She practically skipped back to her rooms.  She had stopped thinking of them as ‘their’ rooms since she never saw Yunho in them, ever.  A whole hour!  Kari had been waiting for an opportunity to try her magic again since that first class with Reina.  But her days had been so full of classes and studying, that she hardly had time to eat, much less focus on magic. 

The dressing room was by far her favorite room in the suite, so she settled down on the floor near her jewelry and tried to calm her mind.  This time, the magic came so suddenly, she didn’t even have time to think of the meadow.  Light and warmth infused her, stronger than in her magic class.  So strong, she could barely contain it.  Magic pulled at her, strained at her grasp.  It wanted out of her so badly that she couldn’t even breathe.  Suddenly, trying to reach her magic didn’t seem like a very good idea.  She tried to push it down, to tame it, to force it back inside whatever place within her it had been hiding.  But it wouldn’t be forced back.  It was like the magic had a mind of its own, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  She was already light-headed from the effort of holding it within her body.  Where was Reina when she needed her?

“Majesty, dinner will be served in a few minutes.  Do you require help changing?”  One of the maids that helped her when Mair was off-duty had come in the dressing room, looking to help her get ready for dinner.  Her entrance was distracting enough to cause Kari to lose what little control she had over her magic.  There was a flash of white light and heat, and everything went dark.

Evening shadows obscured much of the rather small room when Kari opened her eyes.  It may have been pretty dark, but she was sure she had never seen this room before.  It didn’t look like it was even a part of the palace.  There was nothing in the way of bedroom furniture other than the bed she was laying in.  Along one wall were cabinets and a long counter that had a lot of jars filled with what looked like herbs.  This had to be some kind of hospital room.  How did she end up here?

“So, you’ve finally awakened, huh?  I could’ve sworn I told you two to not mess with magic unless I was present.  Looks like you listen as well as you read.”  Reina walked into the room with a mug full of some steaming liquid.  “At least you didn’t kill anyone.”

It took Kari a moment to remember exactly what had happened.  “Wait.  The maid.  Is she okay?”

Reina gave her a long look, as if she was deciding what to tell her.  “She’ll live. When the magic broke free of your grasp, it threw her across your sitting room.  She’s covered in burns and her back’s broken.  Even with my healing, she’ll probably never walk again.  You, on the other hand, were far closer to death than she is.  You’re lucky to be alive.”  She let that sink in.  “We’ll move you back to the palace tonight.  The repairs to your rooms are finally done.”

Kari stared at her for a moment.  She was trying to process the maid’s condition.  She might not walk again?  And Kari had caused that?  As the minutes passed with Kari sitting in silence, Reina sipped her tea or whatever it was she had brought in; Kari no longer cared to ask what it was. 

“Child, I did warn you about magic.  Maybe now the lesson will stick.  I’m sorry it had to be this way, but at least no one is dead.  With as much power as you have access to, I’m surprised you managed to control it as much as you did.  Your control saved that girl’s life.”  Reina paused as if waiting for an answer.  When she didn’t receive one, she sighed.  “You’ve been unconscious for a week, but you still need rest.”  She walked over to the cabinets and poured a small glass of some sweet smelling liquid.  “Drink this.  It’ll let you sleep on the way to the palace.  When you wake up, you’ll be back in your own bed.”  Kari drank it mechanically and laid her head back on the pillow, grateful when unconsciousness stole her away from her guilt.

Yunho had been shocked to hear of Kari’s accident.  He had gone against his own rules to visit her while she was at the Acyian t’Lialn, but she had been asleep every time.  Reina told him that she had woken up several times but had been incoherent and confused.  As soon as her mind recovered, she would be returned to the palace.  He hoped no one would tell her about the poor maid.  That would just be cruel.  It had been an accident, and was not Kari’s fault.  She didn’t need to have that hanging over her while she recovered. 

“Majesty.”  His manservant bowed his way into the small enclave hidden within the depths of the library that Yunho had commandeered as his most recent hiding spot.

“Go ahead.”

“The queen has returned to the palace.  She was placed in your rooms.  I am told she was asleep when they brought her and would awaken in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

The man nodded, bowed and retreated from the enclave.  So she was finally back.  His stomach growled; he hadn’t eaten a decent meal since Kari’s accident.  How could he eat when someone he cared about was in that condition?  At least if she was back in the palace that meant she was out of danger.  He got up, intending to grab something to eat from the kitchens.  Apparently, his feet had other plans.  He stood by the side of the bed, looking at Kari’s sleeping form in the moonlight.  There was a strand of curly hair obscuring part of her face.  He reached out to sweep it away, unaware of what he was doing, and stopped with his hand a mere centimeter above her face.  What was he doing?  If he allowed himself this while she was asleep, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself when she was awake.  Long minutes passed with Yunho’s hand hovering just above Kari’s face, an internal battle raging in his mind and heart.  Reason won in the end and he withdrew his hand, the strand of hair untouched.  He closed his eyes and tore himself away from her bed.  He stumbled his way back to the enclave.  Despite the late hour, the library was far from empty, but Yunho didn’t even notice the men and women in sheer robes walking all around him.  He collapsed into his chair, utterly alone, wishing he could allow himself to share his burden with the one person he was sure would understand.

Kari refused to eat.  She refused to drink, refused to do anything that distracted her from her self-proscribed punishment.  If she could have, she would have refused to breathe.  She had ruined a person’s life with her reckless attempt at magic.  It was as if she was playing with a gun and accidently shot someone.  It was her fault for doing something careless with something as dangerous as magic.  It didn’t matter to her that she hadn’t realized exactly how dangerous magic was.  She had been warned; she hadn’t taken the warnings seriously.  Reina stayed with her almost constantly, trying to coax her into at least drinking some water.

 “You need to drink something, child.  You’re getting extremely dehydrated.  You can’t go on like this much longer.”  For once, the healer’s tone was gentle while she spoke to Kari.  Any other time, Kari might have been surprised, but it was hard for her to summon any emotion other than guilt and shame.  After two days of no reaction from Kari, Reina began to get angry with her. 

“Now, you’re just being selfish.  There is an entire planet counting on you to lead them, and you’re wallowing in self-pity.”   She waited for a reaction; none came.  She clicked her tongue and strode out of the room, fed up with Kari’s apparent apathy.

“Her condition is deteriorating, Majesty.”  Yunho’s manservant had been keeping him updated on Kari since she returned to the palace.  He hadn’t been back to her room since two days before, and it seemed she was getting worse with every report he heard.  It seemed that Reina had told her about the maid, and Kari was in a state of shock and depression.  He was really worried about her, but had managed to stop himself from running to her bedside.  He couldn’t afford to weaken now. 

An hour later, he glanced down at the map of the palace he had been studying, realizing that he hadn’t looked at it the entire time he had been sitting there.  He shook his head.  This wasn’t working.  He had to see Kari.  His chair scraped against the floor as he stood and started off towards her room. 

“Majesty.  I was just coming to find you.”  Reina stopped him in the hallway just outside their suite.  “There’s nothing else I can do.”

What?  Surely the healer wasn’t talking about Kari, was she?  “What do you mean?”

“Physically she’s fine, but – well, you should see for yourself.  Go on.”  Reina walked off, leaving him staring at the doors to his rooms.  Now, he was really worried about Kari.  If Reina had given up on her, she must’ve been in a really bad condition.  He steeled himself for the worst, pushed open the door, and couldn’t stop himself from running to her room.  The servants crowding the anteroom and sitting room parted to let him through.

At his first sight of her, Yunho’s heart sighed in relief.  She looked okay.  Then he took a deeper look.  There were dark circles beneath her dull eyes.  She was awake, but gave no reaction to his presence.  None.  Her normally bright eyes slid passed him as if he were just another stranger on the street.  His heart tightened, and his chest felt constricted.  How could she not react at all?  He walked over to her bed and took her hand in his.  Still no reaction, her hand felt cold and lifeless.

“Kari?”  He waited and was awarded with a turn of her head.  She looked up at him, and recognition flashed through her eyes.

“Yunho?”

He nodded, glad to see she was still there.  “You okay?”

Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head.  “I – I ruined someone’s life.”  He struggled to keep tears out of his own eyes at her tortured tone.  He had no words, everything sounded hollow to him.  What was he supposed to say?  Tears flowed down her face.  It broke his heart.  He sat on the edge of the bed and took her into his arms.  There was nothing he could say to make it better, but he could at least hold her.  Maybe that would be enough.