[St Gustav's Memorial Hospital] Awake

[Nathan II]

Nathan II had been in a coma since his rescue from the ruined city of Xechaspolis. His eyes bolted open and the doctors were instantly notified of his activity. He had been found malnourished and near starvation. Doctors found the usual evidence of torture trauma but there was also severe damage to the esophagus, a result of forced feeding with a tube. The emperor's stomach was almost destroyed, as doctors suspected he induced vomiting each night in an effort to starve himself to death to deprive his captors of any ransom or leverage.

Nathan called for the Imperial Court to convene, he had to inform the Kaiser-Regent and the Secretaries of his first hand account of his kidnapping. He told them of his journey to Port St Andre with Christo Eucalyptos, and how they were ambushed by Xecha militants when touring the countryside east of Port Saint Andre. The Emperor's description of the captors and their technology were at odds with the NDF's assessment of the Xecha militant groups. The Defense Secretary whispered to the Regent, "They must have had wealthy benefactors. A power based near Xechaspolis, who would benefit from a destabilized Natopia. The Xechas are so disunited they could barely pull off the abduction of a city counselor."

The Emperor overheard the Secretary and replied, "The Xechas were angry at Natopia, they were the primary actors and belligerents. They had help, as Bous as my witness they had logistical support on the ground in the eastern suburbs of St Andre and they had someone bankrolling them."

The Emperor then dismissed everyone but the Regent.

"Vidar, I've been told it was you who knew were I was. Bous works in mysterious ways. I am so happy he worked through you. I can feel the Butter Spirit surrounding us now, having been re-united by the grace of Bous. I am so eternally grateful to you, Vidar," Nathan smiled at Vidar, who smiled back.

"When will you return to Vista de Nada, Nathan?"

"I think I'll be allowed to return tomorrow. I'll have a doctor at my side at all times for a week or so, but I intend to assume my governing responsibilities as soon as possible."

[Kaiser Ayreon IV]

"I am so happy you're okay, Nathan," said Vidar and hugged the emperor tightly. "I'll stay here as long as you need me. I'm always with you. We're family."

[Mira Octavius-Aryani]

Nasrin Octavius-Parini walked with purpose down the long hallway towards its far end, her shoes clicking against the floor. Before a set of double doors, guards blocked the path. Nasrin flashed them her ID badge, which indicated her status as a member of the Regent's household staff. The guards opened the doors.

The room was arrayed with monitoring equipment and various medical devices, only some of which was still hooked up to the patient laying in the bed. Next to the bed, Nasrin spotted Kaiser Ayreon IV, curled up on a chair, the collar of his uniform poking out from underneath a blanket that had been draped around him.

The closing of the double doors woke Ayreon with a snap and he composed himself.

"Good afternoon, Your Imperial Magnificence."

"Is it afternoon already, Miss Nasrin?"

Nasrin nodded as she approached. She could see that Emperor Nathan II was awake as well. Nasrin bowed deeply in his direction.

"Your Majesty, we are all glad that you are recovering well."

Nathan nodded back. He was slightly older than Ayreon and seemed to carry himself with a disciplined resolve that they were still working on cultivating in the young kaiser.

Ayreon and Nasrin performed a short series of calisthenics before the two sat down beside the hospital bed.

"You've been neglecting your lessons, Ayreon. Trust me, I understand why, but now that His Majesty has returned to safety, we should all be looking to our own duties again."

Ayreon nodded. Nathan would be reassuming his role soon too. Everyone and their roles he whined internally.

"We were working on some math last time, so let's see how much you remember, okay?"

Nasrin held out a clipboard with a worksheet pinned to it and a freshly sharpened pencil. Ayreon took them.

"Let's just see how you do. No pressure." Nasrin stood and started to wander around the room. "If you need any help, just ask."

Ayreon's eyes scanned through the first problem. Another one of those word problems. His eyes glanced further down the page. The second one needed him to answer the first one first. He checked the back side of the worksheet. There was always something on the back side of the worksheet these days.

The third question talked about the same guy and his garden, but asked something different... wait, no, need to answer the first one first too. The fourth question... Ayreon could feel his eyes glaze a little. He began to nibble on the end of his pencil as he flipped back to the front.

"Stupid word problems..." He grumbled. Nasrin, who was pretending to not be paying attention, smirked slightly as she intensively studied the windowpanes. And that's why we're doing them, Young Kaiser.

Nathan looked at Ayreon's furrowed brow, then leaned up to look at the worksheet.

"It's 4 meters wide." Nathan said.

Ayreon looked back at the front of the worksheet again.

"Oh! Well, yes of course it is." He said, writing that down in the blank space. "So I need to make it 3 times longer and 2 times wider. Farmer Duro's making it bigger this year."

"Who's Farmer Duro?"

"I think he's our neighbor."

"In Shirekeep?"

"At our farm. We have a farm. The house is still a mess but I love it. On weekends, we'll sometimes work on fixing a part of it. When you're better, I can show you!"

A cough from across the room cut through Ayreon's excitement and grabbed his attention. Nasrin gave him The Look. Ayreon nodded and looked back down on the worksheet. He glanced sideways to Nathan and whispered the words again, "When you're better, I can show you my home."

Ayreon drew a larger box to represent Farmer Duro's new garden plot on the side, he scribbled some basic arithmetic to show that he did the work before writing down the new plot's length and width, then the surface area. The next question asked about fences. Ayreon wondered what kind of fence Farmer Duro liked to use.

"You need the perry meter of the new plot." Nathan said.

"What?"

"The perry meter of the old garden is how much fence he has right now, then you get the new perry meter and minus the first from the second to see how much more he needs." Nathan smiled as Ayreon started scribbling on his paper with glee, then turned to look at his tutor, who was glaring back at him.

"Your Majesty, your own tutors are looking forward to your return to Vista de Nada. I spoke with them before I came. Multiplying and dividing fractions, right? If you'd like, I can fill in while you're in hospital."

[Nathan II]

(so cute )