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Mihos watched him with narrowed eyes and the half-curved mouth of a man who disliked losing control of a conversation he thought he had already arranged.
Sekht guessed it well and thought, "Good. Let him dislike it."
For one mont, no one answered.
Then Mihos moved first. He reached inside the inner fold of his robe and drew out a small box.
Not large. Not ornate enough to be mistaken for gift jewelry or so noblewoman’s perfu case. Dark wood reinforced at the corners with silver-thread tal. The seal on it was old Dawn work. Not decorative. Official. The kind of thing ant to cross controlled borders and be recognized without explanation by the right eyes and only the right eyes.
Even in the low road light, the weight of it was obvious.
Mihos held it in one hand where everyone could see and said, "Inside."
Sekht’s gaze fixed on it imdiately.
No point pretending otherwise.
Mihos went on, he was pleased now that he had recovered a position he liked better.
"The ti. The location. The permission to enter Dawn family land properly." His eyes flicked once toward the record stone in Sekht’s hand and then back again. "And Grandfather’s ssage in writing."
Stephen closed his eyes for one breath, not long enough to count as disrespect, long enough to count as disapproval.
Lady Seraphiel’s expression did not change, but the air around her seed to sharpen very slightly. She knew that look on Mihos’s face. It was the look he wore when he believed he had found a way to turn duty into amusent without suffering enough consequences for it.
Sekht said, "Then give it to ."
Mihos replied with a smile.
"No."
Bat Bat sucked in a delighted little breath because at last, in her private estimation, the noble had admitted he was being a noble in the most entertaining way possible.
One of the rank-three maids standing at Sekht’s side did not move at all, but inwardly she began recalculating whether the road to this camp would be difficult to clean after a body fell on it.
Mihos lifted the box a little higher.
"I said the ssage is inside," he said. "I did not say I would hand it over so easily."
Lady Seraphiel spoke at once.
"Mihos."
It was not loud. It was worse.
The warning in it was wrapped in enough old familiarity to remind everyone present that she had known him as a child and probably found him intolerable even then.
Mihos did not lower the box.
"I have already brought the ssage," he said. "I have already t him. I have already delivered what Eyra sent by stone." He gave Sekht a cool, amused look. "Now I want entertainnt in return. Perhaps a ga..."
There it was. No more pretending. No more noble drapery over his real impulse.
Entertainnt.
Bat Bat mouthed the word silently as if confirming the man was indeed as childish as advertised.
Seraphiel took one step closer. "This is not a ga."
Mihos’s eyes slid to her and did not soften.
"It is to ."
"That answer becos less charming every year."
He shrugged. "Then perhaps I should have remained younger."
Seraphiel’s patience, already fragile, beca visibly thinner.
"You were sent here to deliver a family summons and speak properly."
"I did speak properly," Mihos said. "He chose not to enjoy it."
Sekht said nothing yet. He wanted the heir to keep talking.
Mihos continued, now openly addressing Sekht again.
"If you want the box, win it."
Kess, still standing a little to one side and doing his best not to exist except as a useful pair of ears, nearly stopped breathing. Stephen looked even more tired than before. Elena’s face remained calm, but the three fan-girl maids beside Sekht were now all carrying the sa very dangerous stillness.
Sekht finally asked, "What ga."
There was no outrage in his voice.
That unsettled Mihos almost as much as if there had been.
"Good," Mihos said softly. "You are learning."
Seraphiel cut across him sharply. "Before he answers, you will explain to whether your idea of a ga tonight is one that will embarrass only you or the entire bloodline."
Mihos looked at her, and for the first ti there was a small flicker of honest irritation under the polish.
"I do not care if I am scolded," he said. "I will not be punished."
Stephen’s eyes lifted by less than an inch.
That was an extrely Mihos sentence.
The heir went on, turning the box lazily in his fingers.
"If anyone complains, I can simply say I forgot it. I already delivered the true ssage. The personal one Eyra sent." He gave Seraphiel a pointed look. "If Grandfather hears that Eyra bypassed proper channels to send his son a private recording, I doubt he will be pleased with anyone involved."
That line landed. Not as a threat exactly. But as a reminder. The old house remained the old house.
Even a ssage from father to son could beco leverage if spoken of in the wrong room.
Seraphiel’s mouth hardened.
"You are very proud for soone whose best talent remains standing near power and mistaking the warmth for your own."
Mihos smiled faintly. "And yet here I stand."
Bat Bat whispered, "He is very committed to being unpleasant."
One maid whispered back, "Quiet."
"I am whispering."
"No, you are participating."
Bat Bat considered that and decided it was, in fact, true.
Sekht looked at Mihos steadily and asked again, "What ga."
The second ti, the question carried less curiosity and more demand.
Mihos liked that better than begging. He lowered the box slightly and said, "Iron House."
At once, several lines of the night connected.
Kess blinked.
Stephen’s gaze sharpened.
Elena’s expression did not move, but the maids beside her all recognized the na as a live wire.
Sekht did too.
Mihos continued. "You already crossed them. They already hate you. They already know your na and your house well enough. Perfect." He smiled wider now, in the way n smiled when they thought they were being clever and cruel at once. "I will support them."
"How," Sekht asked.
(Note: A golden tickets competition is happening right now. Please vote for Dawn Walker with your golden tickets. I need all the support I can get.)
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