An Audience With the King

The man who stepped through the door carried himself like someone who'd spent decades being the smartest person in every room he entered and had long since stopped needing to prove it.

Kael recognized him instantly. Archmagister Corwin Vale, court mage of Frostwatch, tutor to a princess most of the server didn't know was missing.

Business came first. Vale examined the elemental core, nodded once in satisfaction, and counted out two thousand gold without a wasted motion.

Only then did his attention drift past Kael, to the cloaked figure standing a half-step behind him something flickering across his expression, recognition trying and failing to fully surface.

He turned back to Kael, gaze sharpening into something far more calculating.

"You insisted on handling this delivery personally. I don't imagine two thousand gold was the actual reason."

"Sharp as ever, Archmagister." Kael inclined his head slightly toward the cloaked figure.