Asteria tapped her nails on the cup, gently sloshing the liquid inside. She was being calmer about this whole talk than Orion had expected, given how sensitive even meeting Antares was for her, let alone discussing their future together.

  But Orion knew it was because she believed she had to do what was best for him. If it were her choice, she would never have disclosed their presence in Valderun or met the man. He appreciated how far she was willing to step outside her comfort zone for his sake.

  He kept quiet. Oh, he wanted to speak up, to try to convince her that this would be a great idea. Gaining access to the Arcane Collegium would significantly boost his pool of knowledge, as the mages there were by far the most compatible with his style, not to mention the fertile environment he'd likely find there compared to anywhere else.

  If it wasn’t enough, living in Valderun was honestly much more exciting than being stuck in the coven, with only the occasional trip down to Silverpeak to shake things up.

  But Asteria already knew all that. She was fully aware of his feelings and beliefs, and was now weighing them against what she believed would be best for him.

  He respected her enough to give her all the time she needed.

  That doesn’t mean I will always follow her wishes, but I trust she won't force her beliefs on me again.

  Antares also remained silent. His glowing purple eyes were fixed on her hands, unfocused enough to show he was lost in a memory, and Orion wondered what he was thinking about.

  There’s a lot of history between them, and neither seems willing to talk about it, so it’s hard to keep up with everything. I’m missing a lot of context, but I guess both are trying, and that has to be enough.

  An exhale broke the silence, and both father and son refocused on Asteria, who nodded slowly. “I will need to evaluate the situation within the Sanctum directly before I can form a judgment about what the situation will be like there. The High Priestess has personally recalled me, so I am hopeful my position will strengthen enough to protect Orion from any retaliation or undue attention, but I’m not necessarily opposed to such an exchange.”

  Orion exhaled softly, trying to be subtle, but knew both his parents had noticed, judging by the amused glances they shot his way.

  Raising a hand to prevent any premature celebration, Asteria continued, “I will also never abandon the Lunar Sanctum. That has to be clear, Antares. I told you I wouldn’t, once, and I won’t repeat myself. No matter your thoughts on my faction, I ask you to respect my choices. You owe me that, at least.”

  The most powerful man in the Magocracy nodded meekly, a sight so out of place compared to the powerhouse Orion had seen easily dispatch old monsters like flies that it almost seemed unreal, but he could see some real chagrin on his father’s face.

  Antares, it seemed, suffered from a similar problem as he did. Reading social cues and adjusting their words to avoid hurting feelings unnecessarily was not their strength.

  “I do. It wasn’t my intention to imply you should do it, or that not doing so would have been stupid. I just wanted to be thorough,” Antares said, and Asteria nodded, sighing.

  “I understand. You never intended to hurt me with your words, but you still often did. That’s why I’m being clear now.”

  A moment of awkward silence passed before she continued, “Orion and I will leave in three days, as an escort has finally been arranged for us. I tried to explain that I wouldn’t need one now, especially since we’ll be traveling light, but Elder Yue wouldn’t hear it. Is that too late? Do you think these interested parties will move sooner than that?”

  Antares refocused, shedding the chagrin that made him look his age, and returned to his usual inscrutability. “I believe you shouldn’t have trouble. Even beyond the resources needed to track you down, I think most major factions are still busy building their knowledge of me and trying to maneuver around each other for access to my office. It will probably be a few weeks before they start sniffing after you two in a significant way, though I’d expect a few halfhearted probing attempts sooner than that. I will do my best to keep their attention on me as long as possible, but these are old foxes we are talking about. They know better than to put all their eggs in one basket.”

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  “That sounds about right,” Asteria sighed. “Very well, we shall prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” She then took a sip of her mou, humming in pleasure at the complex taste, before fixing Antares with a look. “Now that the hard part is done, you may proceed with the rest of what you wanted to talk about.”

  Huffing out a laugh, Antares nodded, leaning back in his chair and turning his attention to Orion for the first time since they walked in. “I have heard you will be hosting a small gathering of sorts for the scions of the major factions you have met during your stay, and that girl you helped to safety.”

  Orion lifted an eyebrow in surprise. “How do you know that?” he asked. It hadn’t exactly been a spur-of-the-moment thing since he’d spent a couple of days planning exactly how to reinforce his budding ties with the future major players, but he hadn’t spoken of it to anyone who wasn’t directly involved or their subordinates.

  And I doubt the vampire thrall went off blabbing about it. Do they have a gossip ring of mutes? That’d be kind of funny. They would spend the entire time staring at each other with dead eyes, waiting for someone to start talking.

  Antares copied his expression, giving him a well-crafted look of disapproval. “I am the Speaker of the High Council, as you might be aware. Few things happen in Valderun that I am not informed about, particularly when they involve multiple factions.”

  They held each other's gaze for several seconds before Antares smirked. “It helps that your friend Jordan has spent the last day telling everyone that you will be going to spar with the squires after your little party. Not very subtle, that guy.”

  Closing his eyes for a moment, Orion sighed. “It’s partly my fault. I didn’t exactly tell him to keep quiet. Will this be a problem, do you think? I don’t want anyone to think I’m planning something nefarious. I am just saying goodbye to my friends.”

  That didn’t mean he wasn’t making any plans. Just nothing nefarious.

  Antares waved off his concerns. “No, there should be no trouble. You might get some interest, and your friend might be pressured to ask you a few questions about yourself, but I trust you know how much to say.”

  Orion nodded. That wouldn’t be a problem, especially since he suspected they would be busier getting to know each other. The encounter between Esmeralda and Jordan was sure to be very interesting on its own.

  “That said,” Antares added, “I want you to take Naerys with you. That girl might seem ditzy, but she’s stronger than many seniors in the Collegium. You’ll be safe with her there.”

  “You do know this event will be held within the Sanctum’s embassy, right?” Asteria asked with a note of warning, but Antares didn’t seem intimidated.

  “It’s just to be sure nothing happens,” he soothed, and Asteria sighed, letting the matter drop.

  Orion eyed the two before deciding it wasn’t worth fighting over. If his father wanted eyes and ears in his little meeting, he would let him have them. He wouldn’t be doing anything unusual beyond some networking.

  It was just that the reason behind it might raise some eyebrows, but they didn’t need to know that.

  “Wonderful,” Antares said, giving them a thin smile. That was, as far as Orion knew, the greatest expression of affection his face could be configured into. The guy just wasn’t very expressive, it turned out. “Now that those matters are taken care of, I need to get back to work. I’ll make sure to keep an open line of communication over the next few days, so expect Naerys to have news when she stops by. For now, have a good stay.”

  The dismissal was a bit sudden, but Asteria didn’t seem to take offense, probably more used to the man’s behavior than Orion, and she stood up, placing her cup back down. He hurried to follow and nodded in thanks to his father.

  “Well, see you,” he said a bit awkwardly, and saw the man’s hand move toward him before stopping midway. The smile he gave instead was a bit too stiff to be called warm, but Orion knew it was still genuine.

  “See you,” Antares agreed.

  “Would you like to tell me why I've been getting requests from all over the city to join your garden party?”

  Orion looked up from his journal, where he was working on smoothing out a few formulas for his elemental spells. So far, his focus had been mainly on light magic, as it was the school he had the most data on, especially after his mother’s rank-up, but with [Hypotheticism], he could finally push his other magics beyond the basic state they were stuck in.

  Kissea’s interruption wasn’t welcome, but he knew better than to be rude. The old woman was a friend of his mother’s, and he owed her for her lessons when he first arrived in Valderun. Without her, he would have never made significant progress in understanding healing magic.

  She also taught him most of what he knew about the current state of the other major factions alongside Minister Ames, which told him that the stress lines on her face meant this party business had just become more complicated than he would have liked.

  “What do you mean?” He asked, though he already suspected the answer.

  She gave him an unimpressed look. “Don’t act ignorant, Orion. You know better, and you’re insulting me, too, since I was your teacher in these matters. Word has spread that the son of the new Speaker is throwing a highly exclusive party for a few select scions, and I’ve been flooded with requests from major and minor factions to send their best.”

  Despite his best efforts, Orion couldn’t help but sigh deeply, even if he knew this could happen. “Can’t we just ignore them? This is supposed to be a private moment for me to say goodbye to my friends. It’s even possible I’ll be back within a couple of months. They can bother me all they want then.”

  Kissea didn’t seem to find that any more intelligent than his previous retort, but gave a short nod. “We could ignore them. Actually, it might be best if we do not reply to most of these, but others, like those coming from the major factions, cannot be treated with such contempt. If you want to reject them, you will have to write the letter yourself and explain what you told me. And remember to add that you will officially enter society when you return. That will prevent you from much grief and will stop old buffoons with overblown egos from getting too offended.”

  Her piece said, she slapped a stack of letters on the desk and stormed out of the lab, just as busy as ever.

  Orion groaned, eyeing the papers like they were venomous snakes. “I hate that this is actually not that weird. To me, it seems ridiculous that anyone would send a letter to secure an invite, but here, it’s the norm, especially for high society gatherings.”

  That much he knew from the lessons he’d had with Kissea herself. Another useful piece of information she’d taught him was how to write official letters to other members of major factions.

  “That damn witch set me up from the start,” he grumbled, but took out a pen and paper.