“I got held up,” Ranvir said as he entered the room. Swathed in his wings, he met the Queen’s gaze. From his periphery, he saw the older woman scoff as Es and Kirs bowed. Ranvir didn’t move to show any subservience. He wouldn’t play their games.

“I see,” Minul said tightly. She drew her lips to a thin line as she rearranged the neat pile of notes before her. “You’ve returned from this other world that Pashar told us about.”

Ranvir nodded. “I have.”

“What are your intentions now that you’re back?”

“Meet with my friends and family, learn about their life, reestablish the ties to my old life.”

Again, the older woman seemed to take issue with Ranvir’s behavior and she shifted, clenching her whole hand around the wrist of her injured one.

“And then what?”

Ranvir shrugged, his feathers fluttering on his wings as they shifted, exaggerating the movement.

“This is the Queen you’re talking to!” the woman yelled, taking a step forward.

Ranvir looked the Twin Master in the eyes as she stared him down. “I am aware.” He returned his gaze to the Queen, ignoring the elderly woman.

“You will show her proper respect!” the woman continued. She was turning red-faced. Bits of obsidian rattling here and there in apparent threat.

“Hildrid,” Minul said warningly, holding up a hand.

Hildrid breathed in heavily and took a step back. Ranvir did not look away from the Queen. If he hadn’t gotten the sense that she was genuinely mad and not playing games, he might’ve left.

Pashar stood off to the side, rubbing her thumb up and down her forehead in a slow, measured pattern.

“If you know she’s the Queen,” the man in the corner said, black beard framing white teeth. “Then why aren’t you showing her respect?”

“What respect is she due?” Ranvir said, looking the ancient Triplet Master in the eye. “What respect are you due? The purpose of a ruler is to protect their people. I certainly wasn’t protected from Saleema, so why should I act subservient to her?”

“Because she might help in other ways,” the man answered.

Minul cleared her throat, as if to remind the man who was ruler and advisor. “What Saif is trying to say is that I could help you if I knew what your goals were.”

Ranvir nodded. “My goal was to return and reconnect with my friends and family. I have. Is that all?”

Her expression flickered for a moment before she stilled herself. Ranvir saw her breathe deliberately. Her fingers, knitted together and resting on the table, systematically squeezed in a vaguely familiar motion. The tension was clear. Her knuckles whitened before blood returned.

It reminded him of what he’d seen Laila when she’d gotten excited over Frija and Shiri’s connection. Some measure to avoid showing emotion, perhaps? It certainly was less noticeable than many other tells Ranvir’d seen. If not for his Perception enhanced vision, he might not have noticed it.

“It’s not all,” Minul said. “I would like to have a deeper conversation with you, but I think it’s clear that you do not. One last time, is there any goal we might help you achieve or attain? In my records, it said you enjoyed assisting your classmates in learning and adapting skills at the academy, perhaps a teaching position?”

Ranvir shook his head and said, “I’m just here to meet with my people.” Though the notion sounded a little hollow to him. That had been the whole reason he was here. But was it still? He forced his thoughts to still. There was merit in considering the idea, just not in front of her. “Frankly, your Majesty, I’ve seen how you treat your teaching staff and I’m not overly impressed.”

She licked her lips, gazing deep into his eyes. Ranvir could see her winding up for another argument. The way she was setting her jaw, her yellow eyes glowing with stubbornness, and those fingers once more flicking through a spot of tension.

“Very well,” she leaned back and carefully tapped her papers together. Behind her, Hildrid looked like she was about to explode. She was shaking and turning so red, Ranvir’s own spirit started a measured response and the air grew muggy. Saif, relaxed until this point, straightened in his chair, dark orange eyes flaring to yellow life for a moment. “If this is the case, is there a chance we might schedule a meeting in a few days?”

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Ranvir considered. He was likely to make a brief call back to Korfyi in a few days. Frija and Vasso were missing their home, and so was he. Amalia and Elpir’s honeymoon were also coming to within the next half a week.

“I’ll talk with Pashar about it.”

The Queen nodded and turned to her papers in clear dismissal. Ranvir didn’t roll his eyes as he turned and walked out, but it was a close thing.

“You can’t treat the Queen like that!” Es hissed, leaning in close. “What if she decided to do something about it?”

“Then I return to Korfyi,” Ranvir said.

“What about your parents, and the rest of us, for that matter?” Kirs asked, coming up on his other side and boxing him in.

“I’d take you with me.”

“What if we didn’t want to go?”

“I guess I’d try to call in assistance from Korfyi and see what I could do.”

Es gave him a flat stare. “See what you could do? What are you going to bring the entire country down? Kill the Queen?”

Ranvir shrugged. “I doubt it would go that far.”

Es shook his head and turned away, disappearing down a different corridor. Kirs placed a hand on Ranvir’s shoulder as he stopped to follow his friend. “Let him be. He needs time and space to collect himself. These last couple years, especially, have not been easy on him.”

Ranvir looked down at her, into her eyes. “Is this about the empty room?”

She took a deep breath, her face conflicted, then nodded. “Yes, can you find the others on your own?”

He nodded, and she took off after her husband. “Damn it,” Ranvir cursed, watching her leave, then went to find the others. As he approached the waiting room, he could hear their various conversations long before he reached the ajar door.

“Why don’t you go talk to her now?” Laila’s intent voice sprang up notably. “He’s not here. You could easily make an introduction. He couldn’t take you away then.”

“It’s…” Shiri said. “That’s something I could do. But it shouldn’t have to go like that. I shouldn’t resort to tricks and sneaking in while he’s on duty. It wouldn’t be right. What example would I be setting for her?”

“But—“

“It’s not that I don’t want to, Lailai,” Shiri interrupted her. “And it’s not that I don’t think her meeting me isn’t for the best. It’s that this way isn’t the best. No matter if Ranvir would or wouldn’t remove me from her proximity, it’s simply not the best for her. If I use my daughter as a bargaining chip against Ranvir, then what have I done but affirm his worst suspicions of me?”

“I…” Laila sighed despondently. “I just want you to be happy.”

“And I appreciate that, honey,” Shiri said, pulling the teenager into a hug. “Thank you.”

----------------------------------------

Saif rolled a coin in his palm, letting it fall end-over-end.

“You shouldn’t have let him talk to you like that!” Hildrid insisted, getting to the point of insubordination with the Queen. He could almost say she was returning to her old ways, just by how hard she was opposing Minul on this one subject.

“Does it bother you so much that he doesn’t respect me?” Minul asked, tugging at her lower lip and peered at her advisor. “Is that what bothers you?”

“He brought those two with him,” Hildrid said. “It was clearly a power play. He was threatening to remove the Ritualist and her husband from the country. He came in clearly antagonistic…”

She continued babbling about the strange boy, but Saif only had eyes for his apprentice. Or rather, former apprentice. She’d clarified that she would serve the country. She was no longer his subordinate in such a fashion. It would seem her training had burned her while she was away, and this time she hadn’t had an existing support structure to fall back and build her trust back up again.

It was bound to happen eventually, though it was interesting that the boy was related. More notable was the disdain with which Pashar was looking at Hildrid.

“What do you think, Pashar?” he asked, interrupting the crone’s ramblings. He couldn’t rightfully say she was getting too old to remain this close an advisor, but it had often caressed his lips.

Pashar looked over at Hildrid with a measured expression, though he clearly read her dislike for the woman. “I think she doesn’t know Ranvir at all.”

“So what really happened?”

“He showed up with his best friend and his long time scholarly partner, who was married to Esmund. I think you’re turning his personal history into an attack because he frightens you.”

“Between him and Esmund, I am starting to think we’ve unearthed something of a dangerous generation,” Minul said, tugging at her lower lip again. “They both have those eyes. Glowing like the old Sun King.”

“Wrong color,” Saif said helpfully. Minul looked at him, her yellow eyes casting odd shadows on her face.

“Thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”

“Then how about this for an observation?” Saif asked. “How did he grow wings?”

“Wings?” Minul asked. “I knew there was something off about his cloak, but…” she trailed off as Pashar reluctantly nodded.

More loyal to the kid than suspected. She should’ve volunteered something like that, Saif thought.

“It’s really wings?” Minul asked in consternation.

“He’s one of the flesh-torn!” Hildrid exclaimed in certain victory.

“Ranvir’s hardly wrapped in their gray bandages,” Pashar said. “He’s gone to different worlds and can access different mana, energy,” she corrected herself.

Saif stifled a chuckle and stood up. “Well, we’re not learning anything from here. Let’s give him a bit of time before Pashar approaches to set up another meeting. Any expected behavior?”

“Training,” she said. “Apparently, he’s taken a young charge from his village. Their Lord’s heir.”

Minul frowned and began digging through her notes. “That’s odd, I’m not sure, but… ha! Here it is. Isgerd’s daughter isn’t of age, yet. She has not manifested any powers.”

“He must believe he can ensure she will,” Saif said. The young man would hardly be the first. Sure, his story might be interesting, but the most remarkable thing about him was the strength of his spirit. He felt on the level of a fourth-stage tethered.