It was Seraphine who spoke first, the first wife's voice smooth and practiced. "And what is it you wish to tell us, husband? Is there anything you need to hear from me about the goings-on while you were away?"
Valttair looked at her. "There is no need. I have been kept informed the entire time. Everything each of you has done reached my ears while I was shut behind that wall, so I was never as absent as some of you may have hoped." His attention moved down the table without hurry. "It also let me weigh your reports against the truth, and see which of you chose to embroider. I will grant you this much. A few of you have done a great deal more than you cared to admit."
As he said it, his grey eyes came to rest on Trafalgar, and Trafalgar met them with his own, navy-dark and unmoved. Tension drew taut between the two of them across the length of the table. The patriarch had a question in him, plain as day.
"Is there something you want to ask me, Valttair?"
"There is, in fact, son."
