There you are.

Oh, you found me.

Of course.

I was always looking.

Really? I thought, I thought maybe you gave up oh I never

stop searching for you at that you found me I did it take? Well, seeing as how I asked you to get dressed 30 minutes ago, I would say too long.

The man himself. Now if you would be so kind to get your ass out of bed we have a big day ahead of us.

I hated that I still dreamt of praxis. A small desperate part of me was holding on to the idea of who I thought he was.

Losing that, the dream of an all-powerful, all-kind man I was to love and be with was the hardest part.

Janta arrived last night so unfortunately our first meeting is with him. I imagine we'll see a repeat of the little song and dance the suiters graced us with yesterday

Another greedy attempt to grab power disguised as a proclamation of love. His irritation with these men was palpable.

To Walker, they represented people in the realm who were still attached to the idea of the

three that ruled the nine that governed the 36, parasites who wish to tether themselves to my royal status and gain some sort of

courtly authority. Are they the minority? I mean it seems like the royal system is all but

dissolved but but some people the takeuses of realm, act as if what you are doing is just a blip on the timeline.

How many people support the defiance?

Well, most in the territories do. There are some old timers who mistakenly see the trouble we're having now as a result of the defiance,

completely ignoring the fact that Praxis was a menace to the realm for years.

Well, what about the nine houses?

They have either supported us in some fashion or assured us they would eventually, except

of course the first three.

The towers, the seagos, and the Sifs.

...