She waved her hand. "All broody and come-hither." She crossed her arms again. "I don't like it." She shifted herself around like she was trying not to look at him, but she could not stop, it seemed.
"I am not broody," he said. He took a step forward. His armor started to get twitchy, the way it did just before it started growing. "If that is what you like, however, I might--"
One of the guards cleared his throat. "It is unsafe for anyone to leave here, for now. For anyone, for any reason."
She glanced at the guard. "Then at least take me back to my people." She turned back to Khalzin and waved her hand again. "You're obviously of some importance to your people. Let me go back to mine, and we can be through this."
"No! This is not--"
"Incoming, from the Priestess of Light,” another guard said, his hand on his ear.
Khalzin nodded. "Open the communication."
The guard tapped on the hologram display, and the footage disappeared. Instead, an image of the Priestess of Light replaced it, looking her usual regal self, as she always did.
Khalzin and the others bowed to the hologram.
He knew protocols. He just chose which ones he wanted to follow. Bowing for the priestess would gain him more points than being polite in the middle of the Coalition.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Janae followed suit and bow as well.
Quick thinking. Good.He had a feeling he was going to need her to be quickly adaptable. Because already everything in this process was being tested.
As he stood, his mother started to speak.
"I am so glad you are safe," she said. "We were very worried about you and the others."
A smile spread over her face, and the cool expression she had before vanished.
"Mother, I am well. The guards acted quickly as would be expected to keep me and my companion safe."
She smiled. "And I have heard that the others are being secured as we speak."
"Everyone except Fiviel," he said.
Before regaining her usual posture, she blinked, her face freezing like she’d glitched. "Fiviel? I am saddened to hear he did not survive the attack."
"He is missing at this time. Everything is being done to find him, as I understand it."
"I understand," she said. While they had grown apart in the last few years, Fiviel had been very close to Khalzin growing up, and they had spent a great deal of time together as children. As close as brothers. They even fought like brothers when they were young. Part of the reason they were no longer as close was one of those brotherly fights.
A disagreement that felt foolish now, Khalzin thought.
His mother shifted, and her expression softened again. "I see you have a companion with you."
"Mother, this is Janae. We are in Courtship."
His mother nodded. "I see. It must have been fast, considering the circumstances."
Interesting comment, he thought. He would not ever accuse his mother of sabotaging the arrival. However, he would not be surprised if she heard rumors about it beforehand. She may carry the title of Priestess of Light, but she seemed always to know the dark, seedy side of the world.
"It was swift,” Khalzin said.
Her gaze shifted toward Janae. “This was not how I planned on meeting you, child, but welcome to Kantenan.”
She blinked. “Thank you,” she put her head down.
“Do not feel you must look down for me.”
