Little Lord Robb. Unlike their uncle for whom he had been named, Lady Uthain thought he was more of a well mannered boy than the rapscallion her uncle had been in his youth. She hadn’t seen it, of course, but her grandmother had told many stories. It was altogether difficult to compare the blond-haired child in front of her, sipping tea as he watched the birds outside the window, with their uncle, a man whose predilections were the most well known facet of himself.

“Are you enjoying the tea, Robb?”

The boy gave a soft smile, half real and yet half courtesy. “It’s good.”

“You prefer Griar tea, don’t you?” The boy looked away, a light blush of pink forming on his cheeks.

“Yes,” he said meekly. For a boy with his talent, and a prince no less, his personality was not as forceful as one would expect. He lacked confidence, to put it bluntly. “When does Mother come back?”

“Lonely already?” The boy nodded, and Lady Uthain rolled her eyes with a smile. “Whenever Lora’s sculpture is ready, I suppose. You know how much she likes tigers.” Robb gave her a resigned look, continuing to sip at his tea. Like their uncle, first princess Lora was smitten with art and trinkets of all kinds, though thankfully it had not become a narcissistic ordeal, as it had with their late grandfather.

“What’s Lora like?” Robb asked. She smiled. It was a simple question, to ask what one's own sister was like, yet it was one she could barely answer.

“I’m not so sure myself. We don’t often speak,” she replied. In truth, they had hardly met. Neither seemed to be so keen as to approach the other. At this point the first princess was merely a stranger to Lady Uthain, family by blood and none else.

The door opened without a knock, a gaunt man wearing white robes, lined with golden thread, entering without a word. Behind him, the shoulders of two knights poked out from either side of the doorway, slowly obscured by the closing door. Her father, King Alrin Uthain, stood in front of the door, eyes of piercing blue staring ahead, first at nothing, then at them.

“What’s the matter, Father?” He walked to the table, crouching down by Robb’s side.

“Go play, Robb. See if Ronel can entertain you,” he said. Little Robb put his tea down and left the room without a word, the clang of a knight’s steps sounding out as the knight followed after him down the hall.

“What’s going on?” she asked again. Her father sat in the chair across from her, fixated on the teacup Robb had left behind, a finger lightly scratching the surface of the table.

“The Darstin and Mythel are in full out war, now,” he said.

“How? It was supposed to be a minor thing.”

“A skirmish broke out a week ago, and Darstin burned a few men alive. One of them was Denel’s cousin.” That would seal the conflicts fate.

“What of Mother?” she asked.

Her father inhaled, chest puffing out, only to deflate again. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I have only just received news. I’ve sent message to her and your sister. There is nothing to worry about yet, dear. It will take time for the war to start. If all is well, they will be back to us before then.”

Lady Uthain jumped at the sound of a knock at the door, her hand gripping her spoon as it opened. Her nerves were worse than she thought.

“Alrin. I didn’t expect to see you,” Large Lord Robb said, closing the door behind him.

“Darstin and Mythel are at full war, Robb.” The half-smile on his face vanished.

“What of Miren and Lora?”

“I have just sent word to them asking them home.”

“Do we have time?”

“For now. If we act.” It was always the matter of it in life. Act when you can, lest it be too late.

Robb scratched his head as he sat at the table, his mind wandering elsewhere. “May I speak with Lady Uthain, Alrin?” he asked suddenly. It had taken him off guard, but he nodded and left.

“They’ll be safe, dear,” he said.

When he had left the room her uncle leaned in, staring at her with the face of a parent scolding a child. “Perhaps I will let it go, considering the situation, but I must still ask you, my lady. Was it you?” It was obvious to her what he meant. There could only be the one thing, after all, and she did not care to drag the conversation on longer than need be.

“I did,” she replied. A smile returned to Robb’s face, his shoulders relaxing as he leaned back in his chair.

“A sneaky thing you did. You and the damned Beastmaster. Did you know? That it was intelligent, I mean?” So they had learned everything, after all.

“It spoke to me, so I have made some assumptions on the matter,” she said.

“Don’t know what happened then, do you?”

“Is this truly the right time, uncle?”

“Now is better than later. We have time, my lady. So, do you?”

“Then I cannot say that I do.”

“The beast took over a frontier town with a whole horde,” he said.

“Were there any deaths?”

“No.”

“It seems I have gotten lucky, then,” she said. Her uncle leaned in again, placing his hands on the table.

“What have you been planning?,” he asked. What, indeed. A plan, only half formed, left without a goal.

“I just wanted to see what would happen,” she said. Robb sighed as he leaned back again, arms crossed, smile gone.

“I’d say I’m disappointed—”

“Oh please, do not be disappointed uncle. It is your opinion that I strive for the most, after all.”

“Perhaps you think your head too big a burden for your shoulders, my lady. Is it such that you must carry yourself about with the hands of others holding it upright?”

“Do you think yourself so great, uncle, when your own plans are held together with only the rope that is my father’s position?”

“My lady, do not push me.”

“Of course, dear uncle. It would be rude to push a man who has never needed to brace himself for more than a light breeze.”

“An oak calling a pine stiff, my lady. Our positions are no different, save that you lack forthought.” He stood, then, and left, leaving Lady Uthain in lonesome silence.

Her tea cold, she sipped the remainder, calling for a maid to clean up as she approached the window of the room, looking down at the green field below, a line of the house guard standing at attention. Her uncle had been correct, a contrarian’s argument the only rebuttal, and a poor one at that. The Khor was a beast, an intelligent one at that, but what use was it to her? To her family?

Mythel came to mind.