The three of us were still kneeling on the ground staring at one another, breathing hard as we continued struggling to recover from the psychic impact of the Dark Temple being disturbed, when another pulse of Force energy swept across us. It was fainter, and somehow familiar. A whisper compared to the previous shout, no weaker or somehow less potent, just…quiet, as strange as that sounded. It swirled around me like a breeze, and I felt something within me respond to it. A resonance in the Force, and Asmu-Nikal's gaze sharpened with something akin to recognition or understanding, Lana looking between us in confusion as she sensed…something, something that she lacked the training to really grasp, even as she shuddered slightly in what seemed to be a mild discomfort.
"I can't believe that anyone was mad enough to disturb the Temple! The Dark Council will tear them apart for it!" The merchant's daughter murmured, sounding as confused as she was distressed, and I subconsciously reached out to her through our fledgling bond, trying to soothe her, even as Nicky's own senses reached out to mesh with mine.
"It's as much the way of the Sith to boldly, arrogantly, tread where they ought not as it is to abandon and betray those around them when it is convenient to do so." I remarked tiredly, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do now. I was nowhere near ready for Korriban, not if I wanted to change things, and while I didn't know when the Dark Temple had been opened compared to your character's arrival on Dromuund Kaas, it couldn't have been too long. Else the Dark Council would have taken note and umbrage with dozens of Sith and thousands of soldiers and laborers going utterly insane and causing trouble. Surely even Kallig wouldn't be able to corrupt or stand against the Dark Council if they decided to get involved?
Then again, you hadn't exactly gotten the impression that anyone was capable of dealing with Force Ghosts before the Sith Inquisitor rolled around. Hell, Thanaton had used the spirit of Darth Andros to kill people he found troublesome or problematic, and the Jedi had been entirely incapable of dealing with Kalatosh Zavros, even with his presence being in the very heart of an Enclave with multiple Masters for several years.
Damn, that reminded me. I had to figure out how the hell I was going avoid having to slaughter my way through the entire goddamned enclave just to deal with Kalatosh. That was going to be a pain in my well-rounded rear end, that was for sure.
I felt a spike of ire from both women, though Lana's was threaded through with bafflement and Nicky's with exasperated affection, at my less-than-flattering description of a ruling cast that both of them either belonged to or were destined to belong to, but neither had a chance to speak before I felt a tremor in the Force. A shiver of warning, a thread of dread, and I shot to my feet just in time for the doors to hiss open, the woman I had nearly run over not minutes ago striding through the parted panels, her eyes locked unerringly onto me. I knew I had recognized her, and I cursed myself for failing to put a name to a face, no matter how distracted I had been.
"Well now, I trust all of you are alright after that surprising event we all just experienced?" she asked smoothly, briefly glancing at the other two girls as they scrambled to their feet and bowed, both recognizing a Lord when they saw one, and it was Nicky who responded aloud for them both.
"Yes, Lord Zash, we're fine. What happened?"
"We don't know yet, but there are response teams heading to the Temple as we speak. Whether they will be able to reach it, however, is a matter of great debate. Whatever has happened there, it has caused the area to be wreathed in lightning storms of significant power and unpredictability." The blonde would-be body-stealer shook her head, sounding as curious as she did unhappy. Well, that made sense. Zash hungered for knowledge, especially ancient knowledge related to longevity, so it made sense that the Dark Temple being open but utterly inaccessible would be frustrating for her.
Oh, God, had she nudged the person who opened the Temple into doing so? If she had had visions of me quelling Kallig's spirit and retrieving the artifact that she knew she needed for the possession ritual, I could see Zash convincing some idiot to open up the Dark Temple for her. It likely wouldn't even be a difficult proposition, not with how Sith typically thought and behaved, never mind the fact that the one 'asking' was a Lord. A very beautiful, flirtatious Lord at that.
I was drawn from her thoughts by the sensation of goosebumps as Zash turned her attention back to me, her inspection both physical and metaphysical alike perfectly palpable as she looked me up and down with distinct and blatant approval, and I was gratified indeed when Asmu-Nikal gestured sharply for me to come to her side, [Suspicion] and [Possessiveness] radiating off of her as she examined the Lord, as well as no small amount of [Exasperated Curiosity]. Probably related to the fact that people kept outright ignoring her to focus on me instead.
I'd have been somewhat shamed to admit it, but I practically hid behind my owner once I reached her, putting as much of myself behind her slender form as humanely possible to force Zash to bypass her visually and verbally both if she wanted to keep her focus on me. Hopefully, it would also make me seem sufficiently insignificant and slave-like to…oh, who the hell was I kidding, she wasn't going to lose interest in me anytime soon, no matter how meek I acted or how much I tried to emulate a wallflower. Hopefully Nicky wouldn't do something dumb like sell me off to this bitch.
"You, you're Luwian's daughter, yes?" she asked, in the tone of someone who knew the answer but was observing the requisite social niceties by pretending otherwise. I could tell that Nicky recognized it for what it was, even as she responded in the affirmative. Zash gave a thoughtful nod, not even glancing at Lana, instead turning her attention back towards me. "An interesting slave that you have here, Apprentice. Very unique. I can sense her unusual nature and prominence in the Force. How much would it cost me to procure her for myself?"
Wow, blunt. Not even trying to disguise her interest in owning me. No niceties, no prevarication, no frilled words. Not even a private discussion, though admittedly that would likely not occur to most Sith, to pay Nicky not-so-hard-earned credits so that she could own me instead. Well, fortunately, it seemed that Nicky wasn't too pleased about it, given the way that she was mentally and emotionally balking at the idea.
"Why is it that everyone is trying to take my slave from me? What, exactly, is so attractive about one discarded experiment of my father's that every single woman I come across is trying to pluck her from my grasp?" the pureblood grated out, maintaining civility only through ingrained acknowledgement of social rank and self-control born of Korriban's trials, fists clenched and glowering at Lana (the only offending person present it wasn't suicidal to glare at) as she did so. "She is not for sale, nor will she ever be for sale. Vestara Khai is mine and mine alone. I thank you for your concern for our well-being, but I will be taking my slave and my purchases home immediately. Doubtless my father is concerned for my welfare and anxious for my presence."
She sketched a polite bow, a nudge of her elbow having me do the same, before she gripped my own elbow and tugged me from the store with deliberate haste, the two of us quickly reaching a pace that could only be defined as an undignified power-walk. She didn't slow down until we were nearly two blocks away, well on our way back to where the air-car was waiting, and even then she refused to stop until we were back at the airpad. Dropping her packages with a surprising lack of care in front of the chauffer, she practically shoved me into the interior of the car.
The ride back to the Luwian estate was quick, probably quicker than it should have been, but somehow I doubted the Kaasian air patrol cared particularly much for one Sith Lord's air-car breaking the speed limit given what was going on with the Dark Temple. All the way there, Nicky's roiling emotions grew more and more intense, her control more and more tenuous, and I wondered what would happen when it finally ran out. It was funny, really, that Lana flirting with me and Zash trying to buy me was what finally seemed to have exhausted her patience with me.
When we landed, it was to the news that her brother and most of his 'friends' were missing, presumed dead, after taking speeders towards the Dark Temple. While Lord and Lady Luwian both believed that their erstwhile heir had died as a result of the Temple opening, I was more than willing to bet a year of my non-existent pay that the stupid bastard had been the cause of the opening. And, judging from how she felt in the Force, so did Nicky.
The moment it was appropriate to do so, she swept Kela and I away through the halls into her wing of the house, her childhood companion sent scurrying ahead with a sharp gesture to open the door to the library, and for the second time today I found myself bodily thrown into a space as she roughly tossed me through the portal.
I couldn't contain my squawk of surprise as I sprawled across the floor, and I felt her grip me with the Force and flip me over. I had an instant to try and open my mouth to demand an explanation before she was on top of me, straddling my hips with a hand on my throat, gripping it as she snarled down at me, a riot of emotions flowing through our bond.
"Who are you, Vestara Khai? Why does my childhood rival try to take you from me within moments of us meeting? Why does a Sith Lord such as Zash follow us all the way from the slave markets in an attempt to purchase you? Why do you….you feel what you feel when you look at them? The affection, the desire, the hate, the fear?" she hissed, using her grip to lift me off the floor before slamming me down again, her frustration boiling over and her patience long gone. "No more secrets, I will wait no longer!"
"Nicky, it's not safe…" I started, only to yelp as her grip tightened, sparks flickering along her arm as I felt the mild sting.
"I don't care anymore what excuses you have to offer, Vestara Khai!" she warned me, the very softness of her tone more threatening that any shout could possibly be. "I have been patient, I have been kind, I have tolerated your prevarications and enjoyed your teasing and your mysteriousness, but I am unwilling to do and be any of those things any longer. What are your secrets?!"
"I've seen the future, years worth of the future!" I say hastily, before immediately flinching internally and externally alike. I should have said almost literally anything else, revealed almost any one of my other secrets, but instead I had to go with the one that could unravel every secret I had. Yet, despite my blunder, the Force seemed content. It was not screaming in warning, not giving me any hint of unease, nor any sign of danger. In for a penny, in for a pound, I supposed.
"You, a slave, claim to possess such powerful foresight? You dare to mock…" she started to snarl angrily, only to fall silent, her eyes searching my own even as her presence in the Force wrapped around me. I welcomed it, opening my own Self to her, allowing my honesty to radiate from my soul. "You…you're serious. Force, that explains so much! Why you knew my brother was going to die, why you know so much about the Force, why you act so strangely!"
I restrained the urge to wince. She was technically correct, in that I had predicted her brother's death, but I had never expected my prediction to come true so quickly nor that her brother would die as the brainless idiot that had opened the Dark Temple. Then she scowled, and I could sense her mood darken.
"So what is that Beniko bitch going to do? You said that both of us were meant for 'so much more', so what do you see her doing that makes you so fond of her?" she asked, and this time I actually did wince. Nicky wasn't going to be happy about this, but…
"I'm hesitant to say." I said slowly, holding up my hands slightly as she glared again. "If I tell you what I've seen, and you act on that information, it could change what I've seen. If you confront her, or do something to harm her, or do anything at all to change her future, it could cause things to spiral out of control."
"Then Kela and I will keep it to ourselves, but I will at least know the future of my childhood rival." Nicky insisted, sounding almost petulant, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I made a mental note to find out just what had set the two girls against one another. It was probably something very small and very petty. Still, I was trying to build a relationship here, something I could take advantage of to build a powerbase and influence the Empire to a somewhat-improved way of thinking. Blunt honesty might be the way to do things here.
"In a few year's time, she will be head of Imperial Intelligence, highly influential, and one of my wives." I said, before flushing slightly as Nicky seemed to swell with indignation. Perhaps that had been a bit too blunt, not only claiming that the merchant's daughter Nicky seemed to loathe would be a powerful figure in our society, but also one of my wives. Of course, whether she was offended by the idea that Lana would be romantically involved with me at all or the statement that she would be mine rather than me being hers.
It turned out to be both.
"A merchant's daughter, overseeing Imperial Intelligence! Ridiculous! The only thing more absurd is the implication that you would ever be free to marry that blond slut!" she hissed unhappily, and I tilted my head and considered her, probing her emotions lightly and scrutinizing her body language. Combined with how she had reacted when Lana had taken an interest in me, indeed when combined with the fact that she had taken me to Lana's shop expressly to show me off to the other girl, I concluded that…
"Are you jealous?" the words fell from my mouth without much input on my part, my tone incredulous, and the look she shot me was so venomous, and with such an undercurrent of uncharacteristic vulnerability, that I immediately felt bad for it. Only for a moment, though, and then a grin that could only be described as shit-eating spread across my lips. She groaned in disgust and released me, trying to get to her feet, but I decided to take a wild shot while I had the opportunity.
With her hand no longer around my throat I lunged upwards, wrapping my arms around and covering her lips with my own. She gave a muffled sound of surprise, hands wrapping around my upper arm, and I could feel a slight tingle as she reacted defensively, but then it faded, the kiss deepened, and I felt pleasure both physical and emotional flow from her to me. I also felt the surprise and arousal from Kela as she watched, but it was the nature of the surprise that was interesting to me. She didn't seem surprised that Nicky and I were kissing, only that I was the one to initiate it. That was reassuring, it meant she had previously suspected Nicky was attracted to me, or known it.
"Hpmh. Filthy slave. Who do you think you are, taking such liberties with one so superior to yourself as I?" the pureblood didn't quite mumble the words when the kiss was broken, but it had not a single note of genuine anger or offense behind it. When taken together with her blush, a darkening of her cheeks towards a shade of purple, enhanced her desirability considerably. Even if it was cute rather than her normal sensual confidence. "If you're going to do that sort of thing, you could at least tell me my future. And it had better be better than Lana's."
Especially if it was cute. I had always loved the 'cool, confident, commanding woman is secretly a why pervert when being the seduced rather than the seducer' thing. Not that the 'sweet and shy girl who must be protected at all costs' didn't have it's own distinct attractions. But that was the benefit of being polyamorous and polygamous, wasn't it? You could collect all the archtypes and love them all in their own ways, couldn't you?
"It can be, provided we are wise. Your master, Acharon, is going to rise to the Dark Council as Head of the Pyramid of Biotic Sciences within a couple of years. Not long after that, he dies battling a Republican strike team. Learn all that you can, master what he has to teach you, make alliances aplenty and enemies few, and don't accompany him, and you're a shoe-in for replacing him." I told her, keeping the fact that the man would die on Corellia out of things for the moment, if only because I had no idea how things might change between now and then. When vocalizing visions of future, being vague was always a wise decision.
Kela gasped as Nicky's eyes widened, her senses searching me again for the veracity of my claim, and I gave her a small, confident half-smile. She broke out into a brilliant grin, shooting off of my lap and grabbing Kela, kissing her soundly with a barely muffled sound of delight and excitement, leaving me to climb to my feet with a sense of bemusement.
"A Dark Councilor! Me! One of the Twelve!" she crowed excitedly, her mood thoroughly lifted. "It's almost enough to make me not care that Beniko might end up as one too!"
She paused, thinking over what she just said, before looking back at me, even as she continued embracing Kela.
"That's why you got so angry when you saw us fighting. She and I are going to be colleagues in the future, sitting on the Council together, and you don't want us to waste our time and resources fighting with one another instead of serving the Empire. That's why you've been talking to me about the flaws with how the Sith live and rule. You're trying to lay the groundwork for that." Her tone was a strange one, as if she was struggling to decide whether she was offended by my manipulation, impressed by my foresight, awed by my cunning, or grateful for my care.
Which was entirely fair, honestly. I wasn't sure how to feel about it either, and I was the one who had been doing it. I did know how to feel about her deductive skills though, and didn't hesitate to inform her how impressive it was, and how correct she was. I had been prepping her, making her doubt the way things were, making her wonder how they could be instead. Of course, I had also been working on worming my way into her heart in order to seduce her and make her one of my brides with Kela as our mutual plaything, but I didn't think it necessary to point that out. I had, apparently, already succeeded in that. At least enough that she enjoyed kissing me and got jealous over the idea of anyone but Kela being near me.
Hmm. I would need to work on the jealousy thing, wouldn't I, if I wanted to avoid having cut-throat inter-harem politics, wouldn't I? I had no interest in living a life where all of my wives and concubines were constantly trying to harm or undercut one another for proverbial brownie points.
Feeling rather bold, I moved over to one of the Roman-esque lounges and sat, legs spread, and made an impossible to misinterpret grabbing motion at the two of the, patting the space between my legs (which just so happened to be Nicky-sized) with a grin. She hesitated for a moment, pride warring with affection and curiosity, and I wondered if the kiss was all the progress I would make with her today. Then Kela stepped forward, tugging her along behind, deftly twirling her mistress about and pushing her into my grasp. My hands latched onto Nicky's slender waist and curvaceous hips, pulling her down onto the lounge as our Kela settled onto the floor beside us. The petite ravenette beamed up at us, and under her expectant gaze Nicky loosened up to the point that she was willing to scoot back and settle herself against my chest, spooning herself as much as possible given our current position.
I wrapped my left arm around her waist with an air of comfortable possession, one that only grew as she didn't protest or act uncomfortable. After a moment of letting her settle myself, I snapped my fingers at Kela, a slight beckoning of my fingers bringing those soft raven locks in range for the both of us.
"You will not remain a slave, will you Vestara?" Nicky murmured after several minutes in my embrace, watching as I pet Kela with casual, familiar ease, her presence in the Force probing mine almost thoughtfully. "Your future is not to remain here with Kela and I. Your future, it's related to Zash and her push to get slaves admitted to Korriban. How? Why?"
"Zash is…for all she claims that she wants to offer slaves a chance to advance, to fully embrace the meritocratic ideals of our nation, the only thing she really wants is me." I admitted, wondering how much I should reveal so quickly. On the one hand, the fact that Nicky was so aggressively possessive of me even when I wasn't her lover and even when she didn't know the truth out me was encouraging. I doubted her opinion would change once she found out why Zash wanted me. On the other, the last thing I needed was for the two of them to run into each other and for the pureblood to reveal anything to the blonde Lord.
"I figured that she had a special interest in you. Following us all the way from the markets like she did…if all she was looking for was a good fuck, a fun plaything, or someone to experiment on, there were plenty of options there for her. But to specifically seek us out, to so quickly and so directly state her desire to own you…it's not right, it's unusual, and it doesn't make sense."
She paused for a long moment.
"Explain it to me?"
Gratifyingly enough, it actually sounded like a question, and I took a moment to reflect on my incredible fortune to find myself owned by this young woman. A woman that actually took the core tenents of Sith Philosophy to heart, who believed in and practiced the spirit of the Empire rather than ignoring it entirely. She had tolerated my silence, encouraged and enjoyed my teasing, shown me genuine affection and been something very like a friend to me. And now here she sat, in an arguably submissive position wrapped in my arms, letting me treat Kela as if her childhood companion belonged to me.
The Force moves in mysterious and inexplicable ways. I mused to myself, knowing full well that there was little chance or coincidence in any of this. Even if I didn't know how I had died, to be reborn when and where and as who I was? To find myself in this girl's company and care? No, there was no chance to be found here, and I couldn't be happier with that fact.
"Zash is dying. She made the same mistake as countless Sith, especially those amongst the Pyramid of Ancient Knoweldge, make. She reached too deeply, too recklessly, and with far too much greed into the Force. Now her body is steadily rotting around her as she ages at many times the normal rate. Thus, she needs a way to survive, and in the writings of Tulak Hord she found a solution. The Ritual of Essence Transferrence. An ancient, powerful ritual that will allow her to unbind her soul from her body…and place it in another's." I finally answered, somewhat wonderingly regarding my outpouring of honesty and detail despite my constant mental mantra of changing as little as possible in order to maintain control.
It was genuinely heartwarming to feel both women stiffen beneath my hands, [Wrath] and [Hate] and [Fear] and [Disgust] radiating off of them, wafting so strongly from the Sith against my chest that I could nearly see it, a cloud of emotion quite literally roiling off of her skin.
"She wants your body. She wants to kill you and wear your body like a dress!" Kela breathed, and I nodded grimly in agreement, a bitter twist to my mouth.
"Oh yes, oh yes. Off I'll go to Korriban, surviving my trials and ascending to apprenticeship beneath her. I'll roam a half-dozen worlds at her command, collecting the artifacts required for the ritual, and when I return she will invite me to a secret chamber to 'empower' me to that I can 'achieve my destiny'." I ground out, remembering how vexed I had been the first time I had played through the story. I hadn't been surprised by her betrayal, of course, Sith being Sith. But I had thought it would be because I was growing too powerful too quickly, or that she was going to use the ritual to empower herself in order to launch a coup to kill Thanaton, just as she had used me to kill Skotia. "Then she will try to pour herself into me, and pretend to be me. My body, my life, my triumphs and failures. The women I have come to care for as my own."
I squeezed Nicky's midriff as I said the words, my hand on Kela's head gliding down to cup her face, the thumb stroking her chin lightly as she looked up at me with horrified eyes.
"She'll take all of it for herself." I finished, now seething with no small amount of fury myself, as I pictured Zash-in-my-body fucking Kela, seducing Nicky. Impregnating my girls, raising the children that should have been mine. Taking my future, my dreams, my hopes for the Empire and the Republic and the Galaxy entire, and burning them away with her own wants. "Or, at least, she will try. 'She who sees her own doom can better avoid its path. She who sees the doom of others can deliver it.' I intend to live up to that."
They were silent for a long moment, absorbing what I had said and sorting through it, processing it, contemplating it, before Nicky gave a decisive nod.
"That is obviously unacceptable. I will have to train you personally to ensure that you crush everyone and everything before you on Korriban. I will not be known as the woman whose slave ascended to the ranks of the Sith, only for the girl to have her own body stolen out from under her by some self-important cunt that will, doubtlessly, ruin it just as she ruined her own." She declared, and even as both Kela and I smiled in response, I couldn't help but agree. I very much doubted that Zash would have learned her lesson and taken better care of her new body had she succeeded. On the contrary, she would probably delve even more foolishly than before, knowing that she had an easy way out of any physical corruption her efforts would inflict upon her.
"You'll get no argument from me, but I suggest we keep that to ourselves. Somehow, I doubt your father would be in agreement with the two of us when it comes to handling this situation." I agreed, tone a little dry, and she gave a harsh snort of agreement. Pausing, I tilted my head thoughtfully before grinning. "Say, how would you like to start with a little field-trip to some of the tombs. Like, say, the Tomb of Ergast?"
##########################################################################
Aloysius Kallig was in a foul mood. He had taken the time to roam the halls of his home, to gaze out onto the grounds, and the state of disrepair it was all in was disgraceful. Between the dilapidated appearance of everything and the random sentients roaming about, he would almost believe he had been sleeping for years rather than hours! Obviously that brat that had invaded his home had brought more sycophants than he had first expected, and it was only growing worse as more and more arrived. Still, with their leader (though the fool hardly deserved such a title) dead, they had all been quick to prostrate themselves before him and begin setting things back to right.
All to the better, that, because it was of paramount importance that things were restored more-or-less to order before he summoned the daughter of his daughters home for a thorough discussion. He could hardly interrogate her about her decisions and company (chastising her as required) if the family estate was in such a state of disrepair as this! How much respect could he hold as Patriarch of Kallig if this was what she arrived to witness!
Besides, if she ended up bringing her woman and their slave-girl, he would not allow them to witness his family in anything less than their full splendor. Naturally, they would already be aware that they were engaged in a relationship above their place, by dint of his descendant's superior breeding and name, but there was something to be said for suitably driving a point home.
He wondered, idly, if his descendant was simply playing with the girl, or intended to make her a concubine, perhaps even a bride? They had seemed fond of one another in the brat's memories, but those memories were tainted with his own inflated sense of worth and rapacious hunger. Hardly a reliable method of evaluating the closeness or depth of such an involvement.
Something else to discuss with her when she came to visit him, then. Playing with those beneath you, taking them into your bed and ruling them in both body and soul was thoroughly expected and profoundly appropriate, but for all his belief in what it meant to be Sith, he had never been one who had deceived others about the depth of their relationship with him or their value in his eyes. Whether you intended to make a bride, concubine, plaything, or one-night stand, it was best to be upfront about it. If you had to lie in order to get people into your bed, your bloodline wasn't worth continuing anyway.
"Master. Lord Kallig?" a voice brought him from his thoughts, and he glanced over to see one of his newest servants, a dutiful Force-blind soldier by the name of Malith, kneeling a few feet away. At his way of acknowledgement, the man continued. "Master, the storms outside are continuing to rage. Work is becoming impossible. What is your will?"
"Order the rest of my servants to withdraw into the estate. Only those that are required to keep watch on the main entrance are to remain exposed to the elements, and only in rotating intervals of an hour." He ordered after a moment of contemplation with a small frown, folding his hands behind his back. "I have no interest in losing anyone useful nor in any further damage being done simply because working properly is impossible under current conditions. The fact that my House is in such condition as this is galling enough as it is, I'll not have it get worse by trying to fix it without proper preparation."
"Yes, Master Kallig." The man bowed his way from the room to carry out his new commands, and Kallig returned to his contemplations. He had a great deal of work to do, in a very short amount of time if he wanted to see the daughter of his daughters sooner rather than later, but he had his pride. He would not, like so many other young idiots that insisted on calling themselves Sith, half-ass things due to allowing impatience to override basic sense. It was one reason that he was still alive and thousands of them weren't. Oh, they had tried to mock him, disgrace him, refuse his position at Tulak Hord's side, but how had that ended for them, hmm? Dead in a ditch or thoroughly disgraced, usually both, while he rose higher and higher and higher still. Let them sneer at his patience, his common sense, his ability to play the long game. Strategy and logistics one conflicts, no matter what the nature of the conflict in question was.
Hmm, perhaps he should send a few of his servants out to keep an eye on his descendant? Even if he couldn't summon her before him just yet, there was no reason he couldn't have her followed and watched, and he could learn more about those she spent her time with as well. Better to approach their inevitable meeting without being entirely ignorant, after all, because how could he do his due diligence as her patriarch if he had to rely on her for all of his information?
Never trust the young to confess themselves of their own failings and mistakes. He sighed mentally, departing his chambers as he considered whom to send. Truly, running a House full of rambunctious, bold young women was exhausting, and he wasn't getting any younger.