When Tryst entered the house, Vai was putting the pots and pans away. He turned when the door opened and gave a small bow. "May I help you?"

Tryst grabbed a chair, spinning it around and straddling it, arms resting on the back. "Sit down, I wanted to have a chat."

Vai hesitated for a moment, trying to think of a way of avoiding Tryst, but as he had been repeatedly frustrated by, there wasn't much he was needed for. So, unable to refuse, he sat down.

"So, queen's slave, eh?"

Vai started and his golden skin grew pale. Tryst waved a hand nonchalantly. "Don't act so shocked, I'm sure the captain warned you that I knew. I won't tell anyone, not without the captain's order."

Vai stared the man down. He was relaxed, confident...and dangerous. Vai hadn't felt this helpless since he had first arrived and Fenrin had interrogated him. His hands began to shake and kept them firmly on his thighs.

"Was there something you needed from me?" Vai repeated.

Tryst ignored the question. "So how did the queen's personal sex slave end up playing babysitter anyway? Shouldn't you be back home, sending her royal highness into waves of orgasmic pleasure?"

Vai was used to people trying to rile him up with crude talk and he wasn't bothered by it. However, the familiar twinge of bitterness at his current orders did surface and he tightened his lips.

Tryst eyed him. "Not too happy about it then?" Vai tried not to react but Tryst's next grin told him he'd failed in that regard.

Panic began to rise, Vai had always been a terrible liar. It was his worst feature and the place he let his mistress down. It usually wasn't a problem since he didn't ever know anything of importance, but it made him an even easier target.

"I married a former slave, you know? I know how that sits on a person,” Tryst continued. “You though, you're different. It would be so easy to leave now. Fenrin wouldn't stop you and I think if you wanted to, you'd realize that. So why stay? For the girl, or is it something else?"

He should just stay quiet but his pride got the better of him. "I obey my mistress's orders."

That irritating grin again. "So it's not the girl, it's the mother."

Vai stiffened and renewed his determination not to answer. If it meant torture, then so be it, he'd hold out as long as he could. He didn't think Fenrin would let his friend hurt him too much, at least not so much Fiona would be able to tell later.

"How do you feel about Lyra anyway?"

After a minute of silence, Tryst propped his chin on his palm. "Silent treatment? Seemed like a pretty simple question. No 'I serve my mistress unquestioningly' or anything?"

He was trying to prod Vai's pride again, but Vai wasn't falling for the same trick twice. Tryst stood up and walked behind the Aryi who grew even more on edge.

"Alright then, I'll just talk and you can just listen."

Vai's heart was pounding, expecting pain any moment, but Tyrst just talked, "Here's what I think—and feel free to correct me—I think you don't want to be free. I think you've got some sort of twisted pride at your position. I mean you do belong to a queen after all. Maybe that's something to be proud of, who can say. But then, she sends you off to a strange land with her brat. Sends you into the care of her brother, a man you've had unpleasant encounters with in the past. On top of that he seems a bit cracked, even more unhinged than before."

Vai struggled to keep his face passive as the man he'd only seen briefly before, pinned him down like a butterfly to a cork. Tryst walked by Vai’s chair again, his arm brushing Vai's shoulder making him flinch.

Without acknowledging the movement, Tryst continued, "Still, you're obeying your mistress, watching over her only heir. Surely a task not given lightly. So shouldn't you be happy to serve? But you're dissatisfied. Is it because you hate Fenrin? Hate the girl? Or is there something else in play?"

Tryst returned to his chair, eyes reading Vai's pale, stony features. "Hmmm, a fascinating puzzle. You have the eyes of a man who is unhappy and the control of someone who is disciplined enough to put himself above his unhappiness. So why are your eyes winning?"

Fighting the urge to close his eyes, Vai grit his teeth to deny the ridiculous notion that Tryst was reading him though them.Without warning, Tryst's voice grew soft and kind.

"You're scared."

Tryst stopped grinning, instead looking sympathetic.

"You've been scared a lot I'd wager. Scared of me and others like me who try to use your compromising position. Scared of Fenrin, maybe because he's powerful, maybe because of the threat he presents to Lyra. And, I'd venture to say, you're scared of the future. Dreading it more and more. You can't stay as you are, you have to evolve, move on and free yourself before you get left behind."

Vai's heart ached and not just from its pounding. He tried to stop his mind from resonating with what Tryst had said. He was zhurl, proud servant of the most powerful woman in En. She was his deity and he had no place feeling unhappiness as long as he was obedient.

The two men stared at each other as the minutes ticked by, Tryst in quiet pondering, Vai in silent agony. After twenty minutes that felt more like an eternity, Tryst sat back.

"Alright Vai, I'm going to ask one more question and I think Fenrin should be here to hear the answer."

Vai's mind whirled with terrible possibilities. As much as he hated the thought of any sort of torture, being tortured by Fenrin was insult to injury.

Tryst opened to the door. "Hey Captain, come here real quick."

In a moment, Fenrin entered, a towel around his neck. "What?"

He glanced at Vai. "He looks sick. What you do, talk about yourself for a half hour?"

Tryst looked wounded but then laughed. "Honestly, we haven't been doing much talking, but I thought you'd want to hear him answer a question."

Fenrin raised an eyebrow and Tryst leaned against the wall and said, "Vai, would you ever hurt Fiona?"

To Tryst amusement, both of the other men started. Fenrin glanced back and forth from Tryst to Vai with concern mixed with anger. Vai began working on unclenching his dry mouth until he could say, somewhat hoarsely, "My orders are to protect my mistress's heir. I would not harm her."

Fenrin nodded, acceptingly and turned to Tryst, who looked satisfied. However, before Fenrin saw Tryst's face, Vai had seen a terrible flicker of satisfaction in Tyrst's eyes. Like Vai'd answered some other kind of question—it made Vai afraid.

Tryst made an offhand joke and left with Fenrin, abandoning Vai as if they had been having a casual chat. Alone, Vai covered his mouth, his stomach churning. Shakily he stood and got himself a glass of water.

“You're not made for this. What are you doing here?” The thought wormed to the surface.

“I'm where I should be. Where she wants me to be. Where else?”

“By her side. Back home.”

At the thought, bitterness rose like bile. Even back at the palace, he was not by her side. She didn't need him, only as a carrot to pull the king along. The king with his desperate eyes and hands.

No, he shouldn't be bitter. He shouldn't have opinions.

The emotions were too much and Vai retched dryly over the sink where he'd placed his empty cup. It was all too much. The past was painful, the present a nightmare, and the future unbearable. When he thought of the future, his vision seemed to shrink and grow dark. There was no peace in it, no hope.

Maybe it wasn't worth reaching.

The thought was truly traitorous and it snapped him out of his despair. He still had a job to do. Eventually his mistress would be back to collect her child and Vai would be there. He would mold the girl into someone her mother could use and find out how to destroy the valley. It would be his final gift to his goddess.