Chapter 7

Niris emerged slowly. He opened his eyes with difficulty, his brain still foggy from the sudden asphyxiation he had suffered less than an hour earlier.

"He woke up!

"Jangta! Jangta! Can you hear me?"

"Quick, get some pillows, help him up!"

The angel heard voices around him like an echo in the distance. Slowly reconnecting to reality, his body slowly awoke, and the voices seemed more distinct. Inja, Ascarm, and a demon in a doctor's outfit were moving around him to make him feel at ease on his hospital bed. With a look around, he recognized the palace's hospital room.

He recalled what happened in the vampire princess' suite. "Did I faint ?" he asked himself, trying to get a grip on the line of events before that. Slowly, everything came back to him. The invitation, the confrontation, and then the anger of the vampire. He thought he was done for good when he felt his consciousness vanish, so he had to almost force lethargy on his body.

"Jangta, are you all right? I'm so glad you're awake," the Selanpis said, inspecting his friend from every angle to make sure he was okay.

"Ascarm..." said the angel who was still struggling to speak. He was glad to have his only friend in this palace with him.

"As soon as I heard you were in the palace hospital, I ran here to check on you," he explained. "Inja told me what happened in detail. That vampire is crazy for doing this to you! You can't imagine how relieved I am that you're okay..."

Niris smiled gently at him. The sincerity of the little aquatic being warmed his heart. It was so rare to meet kind people in this world full of sharks, ready to jump down your throat at the slightest sign of weakness.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

He knew that his words were useless, but he had no other way to allay the Selanpis' fears. He could hardly convince him that he was fine in the state he was in...

"Jangta," Ascarm began hesitantly. "What happened inside? Why did the princess of Amadeus try to kill you?"

Niris looked at his friend without a word. He then exchanged a glance with Inja, who returned it with astonishment. It was then that he remembered she had arrived afterward and had no idea what had happened inside either. He swore inwardly and bit his cheek, trying to find a way out of this impasse. He returned to the Selanpis, who was still looking at him with his inquisitive gaze.

"Well..." he began, thinking quickly to find a way to avoid having to talk about the traffic.

Fortunately, the doctor came back just then, saving him in extremist.

"Stay with him and make sure he stays awake," the doctor said. "I've done the initial tests and his health is not in danger. I will inform the secretary general of the palace that he is awake and well.

"Thank you, doctor," Inja replied, sighing inwardly with relief.

"I suggest you stay here until you feel better and return to your room as soon as you have enough strength to walk," she continued, preventing Ascarm from continuing his questioning to the patient's relief. "Are you in pain anywhere in particular?"

Niris shook his head. He couldn't convince her either, but with a little rest, he knew he would get better very quickly.

Inja looked at her protégé anxiously. If she had intervened a second later... she tried to banish her thoughts by concentrating on the fact that he was getting better so as not to burden him with her worries.

The Selanpis opened his mouth to speak again as his assistant burst into the room, reminding him of a diplomatic meeting of the AEMS that was being held in a few minutes. Ascarm sighed and stood up.

"I have to go, I can't miss this meeting," he apologized with a sorry look.

"Go ahead, don't worry about me," Niris replied with a smile, relieved not to have to answer his questions. "This meeting is more important than my recovery."

Ascarm seemed to hesitate for a moment, torn between his duty as a friend and his duty as a diplomatic representative, but he knew he couldn't cut the latter. With a reluctant look, he greeted the two angels, promising to stop by later in the evening to check on him.

Niris sighed as the door closed on the two aquatic creatures. This whole situation was becoming very complicated. The last thing the Selanpis needed was for him to start doubting their identity or they were done for. Being unmasked was not an option, because if that happened, not only would they have to leave the place immediately, but they would compromise diplomatic relations between Egea and Ornikarn for good. This was simply not imaginable. It would be the beginning of a conflict between the two giants of the intergalaxy that would be impossible to defuse.

Niris tried to sit up with the help of the cushions around him, but he still lacked energy. He had almost put his body into a forced lethargy when the Amadean princess had tried to strangle him. It would take him a few hours to regain his full natural energy. This technique was cruelly energy-intensive.

Forced lethargy, an age-old technique used by angels in situations of environmental stress that their bodies were unable to overcome in their normal state, was as famous as it was feared for the lasting effects it left on the body. It proved to be highly effective in situations where angels were left defenseless against an overpowering enemy. When activated, the body would fall into a state that looked like death to someone unfamiliar with this famous angelic technique.

The Aegean diplomatic office had developed this technique to adapt it to the hazards of the delicate exercise of the diplomatic function which was far from being without danger... It had saved the lives of many diplomats since its development.

But in return, it had a strong impact on the angel's body when they woke up. It was drained of more than 97% of its energy, and the body's connection to the brain became much slower due to the forced shutdown. Niris had not completely immersed himself in this lethargic state since Yousmaïl had released her grip at the last moment, so he was suffering the backlash with much less violence. He was still physically weakened by his attempt.

"What exactly happened? Inja..." he said weakly, returning to the main subject of the whole mess to get an overall picture of the mess he had caused.

"I didn't interfere, don't worry," she interjected as she met the worried look the prince gave her.

"Luckily, a soldier from Prince Seiran's bodyguard passed by the princess's chambers and I told him I feared for your safety inside the suite. He intervened on his own and demanded that Yousmaïl Namar release you, threatening to use force. He then helped me carry you here and requisitioned the imperial doctor to attend to you."

Niris thought quickly. What was one of Prince Seiran's guards doing alone in the guest wing? These guards were attached to the crown prince. They either followed him like a dog or stayed in his suite, but there was no reason for them to stray. Unless they were ordered to. This was the only possibility that seemed most plausible to Niris.

He did not believe that the guard had ended up at the Amadean princess' door by chance. He must have been there on someone's orders and had been authorized to intervene. He was convinced of this because he was very familiar with the workings of personal guards. One of his guards would never have taken the liberty of going on patrol in the palace during his guard hours. It was simply unthinkable!

"But why would Prince Seiran send his guard to rescue me? Why would the Crown Prince involve himself in the affairs of one of his most insignificant guests, and an angel at that? And at the risk of confronting one of his most important guests?"

His brain was churning. The more he thought about it, the more questions he had and the less sense it made. There was one missing element that prevented him from understanding the whole situation.

"What exactly did he say when he intervened?" he then asked, desperate to find that piece of the puzzle that was missing to get the full picture.

"He said that harming an angel of Meripaea might offend Egea and thus put a chill on diplomatic relations between Egea and Ornikarn, which Prince Seiran wanted to avoid at all costs."

The angel thought for a moment. In the end, it wasn't wrong, and unlike Prince Seiran who did not know his true identity, he knew that the government would act to protect him. If this had happened with Jangta of Meripea and not him, Niris of Egea, then the situation would have been completely different. The probability of the government intervening, in this case, was very low.

After all, Egea has far fewer links with Meripea than Ornikarn has with the small outlying planet in its atmosphere. Not to mention that the emperor could not stand the Meripean prince's collaboration with the demons. But on paper, the Meripeans remained angels who recognized Egea's governance and had integrated the alliance of angels.

This alliance had been created by Egea to protect all planets where angels lived and who wished to benefit from the protection of the mother planet and its diplomatic network while accepting a certain number of basic rules decreed by Egea. They also benefited from access to a very prolific and advantageous common market, which was no mean feat. However, these planets were completely free to set up their government, as Meripea had done by establishing a principality.

All in all, Egea had agreed to integrate Meripea into its network, thus ensuring its protection in case of a threat. But objectively, the situation with the Amadean princess could hardly be described as a threat to the planet. She had endangered the life of one of its representatives, but even if the Emperor granted protection to the members of the alliance, he could very well turn a blind eye to what had happened without it causing serious consequences to the safety of Meripea and its inhabitants. The only thing that could tip the balance was, at the very least, that it had happened during a particularly important intergalactic ceremony, and therefore caused bad press for the Aegean government if the media decided to look into the matter, but that was all.

But now that the guard had said this in the presence of Princess Yousmaïl Namar, the situation had become more complicated. He had spoken in the name of the prince, which gave weight to his word. If his threat was not followed by action, then the prince would be discredited in the eyes of the Amadean government. In this case, it was Ornikarn who risked damaging his relationship with Amadea. Everything depended on Egea's reaction now.

"Fortunately, I know that my father will not let this pass and that there will be a reaction from Egea! But why did the prince take such a risk just to protect me? It's as if he knew that the government would react..."

Niris shuddered at the thought. But he knew that was impossible. If the prince knew his true identity, there was no way he would still be in Yerpena. He would at best have been hunted down immediately, at worst locked up for espionage. He shook his head. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He sighed.

"Is there any news of my father?" he asked his guard.

"Yes, the emperor will respond to the affront as soon as you are awake," she replied as tense as he. "I informed him as soon as you woke up, so it shouldn't be long now..."

As if programmed to appear at that moment, a pop-up window appeared before their eyes via their identity chip. A text of about fifteen lines occupied the dematerialized space. It was a press release from Emperor Aroslan Naeg A'Sahel of Egea.

"The Emperor reminds us that the angels inhabiting the member planets of the alliance are all under his direct protection, especially when they are official representatives. Any attack on the physical integrity of one of them will be considered an affront to Egea and may result in countermeasures against the aggressors. The Emperor requests that the safety of the citizens of the alliance be preserved to ensure the maintenance of peaceful relations within the intergalaxy.

The text was straightforward. It was perfectly diplomatic, but it couldn't have been clearer. What it said was simple: touch a single hair Jangta Okram and you'll have an intergalactic embargo on your back within the hour. Egea's diplomatic service had not beaten around the bush. Niris knew there would be a reaction, but he hadn't expected anything so direct. Everyone could read the threat underneath the text, which appeared to be a simple call to order. It showed the government's determination to carry out Niris' mission. That is to say, to put a definitive end to angel trafficking.

The young angel suddenly felt the weight of the expectations of an entire people on his shoulders. He could not fail. The risk was far too great. At this rate, intergalactic peace was at stake. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been a week since he had been in Yerpena, and all he had were two names with no proof of anything.

"Your Highness..." said Inja, who had noticed her young master's concern.

The angel did not answer. He concentrated on his blood flow and nervous tension. After doing breathing exercises for five minutes, he finally opened his eyes again, looking straight and determined.

"Inja, we'll have to be twice as careful now. We're going to have to be more productive while all eyes are on us. Amadea will be watching us closely, and the other guests will become curious about this angel who made the Emperor of Egea react.

The guard nodded gravely.

"Yes, your highness!"

"We have two weeks left. I want us to put every possible means in place to find sufficient evidence to indict the demons involved in this traffic."

He looked into her eyes as if to burn what he was about to say into the depths of his mind.

"Yesterday, A-ran and I discovered a cave where angels are being held, prisoner. They have been captured to be sold, and the buyers go directly there to make their 'purchases'. I think all the slaves of the palace have been moved there for the duration of the festivities."

Inja leaped from her chair, restraining herself in extremis from letting her anger spill out in gestures or words. Lips pursed in a line so thin that it seemed to disappear from her face, she ranted internally like a caged lioness. Conveying the intensity of her emotions through her gaze, it was with the same intensity that Niris returned them, and all the words they couldn't say passed through those eyes hooked together, unable to turn away from their target for even a second. The anger and hatred that bubbled up inside them created swirls in those pupils that were their only means of expression in this hostile environment.

"The Duchess of Omeyask and the Secretary General of the Palace are involved in this," he said, controlling his tone of voice to keep it as low as possible, in case they were overheard. "Look for as much information about them as you can, search everything you can, maybe you'll find something against them. For my part, I'm working on finding the records. A-ran told me that they were somewhere in the palace and that he would give me more information as soon as he got it."

"It was A-ran who gave you the identity of these two people?" the guard questioned in a voice as cold as the mistral.

The prince nodded gently.

"Your Highness, if A-ran can know where the registers are and give you information about the people involved in the smuggling, it means that he has access to very high-level information. He's not just a palace dweller. He's a member of the imperial family."

Niris did not answer immediately. He already knew all this. But hearing it was something else.

"He told me that he was close to a member of the imperial family who owed him a debt or something... Anyway, I must have a conversation with him."

The guard sat back down. All this information was a lot at once. She needed time to integrate. But she didn't have any time. She had no choice but to deal with it and take it upon herself to control her emotions. Nothing was more difficult than having the names of the culprits and being unable to do anything to them. This feeling of helplessness in the face of such a great injustice as the enslavement of an entire people was so intense and so destructive that it took a wealth of self-control to contain it.

The convalescent was about to prepare to stand up when Niris added, remembering that he still hadn't told what had happened with the vampire.

"Yousmaïl Namar, keep an eye on her too, I think she's involved somehow. She saw us come in through the back door yesterday and I think she had us followed. She wanted to know what A-ran and I were doing outside the palace. I think she saw us coming out of the cave. I tried to make something up, but I'm not sure what information she has, so beware..."

He thought back to how angry the vampire had been when he'd told her he was dating A-ran. He shuddered. No matter how much he turned the situation upside down, he couldn't understand why she'd tried to kill him over such useless information. He was missing something. He told himself that he should talk to A-ran as soon as he saw him.

Shaking his head, he turned to his guard waiting for his instructions.

"Concentrate on these three right now, I'm going to finish recuperating in my room. This room makes me nauseous," Niris said with a pout of disgust. "The good thing is that from now on, no one will dare come after me. You can go about your tracking business with more freedom."

Seeing his guard's reluctance to comply, he sighed, then said in a harsher voice:

"That's an order, Inja."

The guard hesitated for a moment before bowing straight as an I, finally resigning herself to obey.

"At your command, your highness!"

She turned on her heels and headed for the door of the great white room with the beds lined up like rows of reclining soldiers. Niris sighed. He put his feet on the floor and rose slowly to his feet. He was still weak, but he had enough energy to make it to his room safely. He gave himself until tomorrow to recover fully. After that, he would need all his energy. The game was on, and there was no way he could lose.