Chapter 9 MONARCH OF THE CRIMSON WOODS

Christian's hand enveloped mine as it rested on the region of pain in my chest. The sword was within the mirror. I could see it sticking through the glass, but I felt it as if it were in my heart.

I stared at him wide-eyed. "I thought you were..." I gasped. "I thought you were supposed to be gone."

He looked around the room. "I just arrived. How could I be gone?"

I staggered away from the mirror and fell to the floor, breathing hard. As I leaned against the altar for support, I noticed he was no longer wearing the sarong, but a crimson tailored suit. He had a crown on his head. Strands of his fair hair curled around the dark circlet. He was the king from the first room, not the victim from the altar in the second room.

I chuckled as I sank further to the ground. I had awakened another one of them.

He knelt beside me and when he placed his hand firmly on my ribs, all the pain vanished.

"You made the pain go away?" I gasped.

"Of course, I did," he said, compassion glimmering in his eyes.

I flicked his crown with my fingers. "What are you the king of, anyway?"

"The Red Forest," he answered modestly. "And I don't mean to alarm you, but the sword in your heart might be made of information about one of the one hundred and twenty-five elements present on Earth, but it's still a sword and it's still lodged in your heart. If I wasn't here to heal you every hundredth of a second, you'd be in unbearable pain."

"Thank you," I murmured, still feeling tightness in my chest.

"Can you tell me what's happened?" he asked kindly.

I had known several doctors during my time in the hospital, and King Christian's bedside manner was top-notch. The look in his eyes and the timbre of his voice were both superb.

I recounted everything that had occurred, relaying every detail that the other Christian had told me, and if he had wanted more, I would have shared my entire life story. He listened so kindly.

"You're doing great," he said gently, "but something has gone wrong. I'm going to take a look in the mirror and see if I can figure out the problem. Just keep breathing."

I watched him rise and inspect the surface of the mirror. He slid his fingers up and down the sword as if contemplating pulling it out.

I remained quiet, allowing him to figure out what he could. Soon, he abandoned the idea of removing the sword and crouched beside me. "Please forgive me if any of what I'm about to tell you is redundant. I'm just meeting you for the first time, Beth, so let's try our best to be patient with each other."

"How do you know my name? The other Christian didn't know anything about me," I wondered.

He gave me an adoring smile. "I gave you my heart. Without a King of the Purple Forest, neither of us could have survived that operation." His eyes lingered on my chest, on the exact spot where I felt the pressure from the sword. "Just now you awakened me by impaling that sword through my heart. The Christian who was in this room, the other Christian you just referred to, the one who was attempting to establish a connection... He has likely failed."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm repairing this heart a hundred times every second. I can do so with less than a thought. If the other Christian had made it back to my body, my real body, through a particle channel, he would have been able to pull the sword through to the other side immediately. It should have been painless from your perspective. Painful for him, but painless for you. The fact that he hasn't pulled it through means he has failed. He didn't open the gateway between you and the real Christian."

"What?"

King Christian sighed and explained, "It should have opened a gateway so that the mirror is no longer a mirror, but a window or a doorway. It would become a channel for you to communicate with me... the real me. Something is wrong."

"What could have caused our plan to fail?" I croaked, my breathing still irregular.

He shook his head. "It could be any number of things. Perhaps I've fallen so far that I can't remember how to step into my Red Forest. Maybe your heart has deteriorated so badly in the real Christian's body that it needs to be restored before the sword can be pulled through. If the real me is in the middle of moving or fighting, I may not be able to establish a proper connection, despite everything being aligned here. Whatever the issue is, rest assured, the other Christian, who was transmitted through airwaves like an encyclopedia to accompany the sword, will be a positive force, almost as if he were a real person."

I nodded, fully believing him.

"And immortality is pain?" I said.

He smiled. "For now. There is one thing I can tell you that might comfort you. You're not perfectly invulnerable yet, but until you are, I will protect you like a vigilant bloodhound. You won't endure a scratch that I won't immediately heal."

He kissed me, and it was similar to the kiss the other Christian had given me. I could feel his lips pressed against mine, but still, it was more like the memory of a kiss than an actual one.

"This still isn't real, is it?" I asked, pulling away.

He smiled and shrugged. "I would know if it wasn't to your liking. The physical mechanics of what I just did are not as they appear here, and well... I won't kiss you if it's only a poor imitation."

I frowned. "That's why Brandon and Pricina didn't want me anywhere near the real you because loving you in the real world could distract me from what I could learn here."

He stood up and reached for my hand. "Let's go examine your body."

I got up and, holding hands, we left the shrine.

The Red Forest looked much the same as it always had, resembling a damp jungle where a brutal massacre had just occurred. I felt more self-conscious than ever. Perhaps I was supposed to do something more to tame the forest, and I hadn't. I hadn't even thought of how to do it.

"Beth," he said, gazing at the forest's expanse with compassion in his eyes. "At its peak, when I've created the best body I can for you, your forest won't be red anymore. It will be white."

"Is the inside of your body white?"

A wistful smile played across his face. "Likely not, but it was. You can fall from any height or force... good news... invulnerability. Brandon and Pricina are doing everything they can to save the real me."

"You know them?"

"Of course. I worked with Brandon when we performed the operation that swapped our hearts."

"Why did you package yourself up and come over to my side?"

"Someone like the other Christian told me where I was supposed to be, and it was here."

I thought back. He was referring to the Christian in the last chamber. If King Christian had memories from the real Christian, I had to get him to share what he knew. "Hmm... when I tried to mention the Red Forest to you... uh... to the real Christian before I was kidnapped, he didn't seem to know anything about it. How was Christian changing faces or circulating his blood through his body without you, without a heart, and without access to the Red Forest?"

"He could simply wish for what he wanted, and it would materialize, but his ability for that was fading. By the time he switched hearts with you, I know he was relying on makeup and other methods to conceal what he couldn't do."

I grumbled at all I didn't know.

King Christian rested his head on my shoulder. "You should leave me here," he murmured, kicking a root with his toe.

"Why should I leave you?"

"Because communicating with me is unproductive. I have complete access to your body. I'll work on it for you. For now, you need to return to the real world and use your new abilities to repair the castle. Once you correct the structural anomalies, new passages will appear. You'll be able to leave."

I sucked in a breath. "Where should I go? It's very cold outside. Snowing."

"Don't go outside. Mend the castle. It's much larger than it appears from the rooms you've seen. If you move everything to its rightful place, you'll discover a way down. It will lead you to Nhagaspir."

I bit my lip. That was the village of the immortals that the other Christian told me about. I had to go there alone?

"Listen," he said, taking my hands in his. "There's nothing to be gained from staying here to see if the other Christian was successful. The moment he pulls the sword through and opens the channel of communication, you'll know it. It will be very obvious. You can safely focus on escaping the castle."

"It's a real sword?" I asked, seeking confirmation.

"It's not made of steel, but it's as real as my soul and yours. Like I mentioned before, it wouldn't have harmed you if the other Christian had been able to pull it through on the other side. For now, it's pierced through your heart, and you're only feeling okay because I am here, shielding you from the agony it would inflict on someone as vulnerable as you in ruling the Red Forest." He stroked the side of my face. "This place will be different when you come back. Go on. It may be that the real me is waiting for you in the village, but I lack the power to rescue you from the castle without the knowledge of the other Christian."

I stepped away and repeated his instructions back to him. "Rearrange the stones, find the downward passage?"

"You can do it," he affirmed.

I waved goodbye to him.

"Imagine yourself a belt to go with that dress," he called after me as I faded away.

That was just like him. Offering fashion advice even as only a fraction of himself.