“I’m told you knew my mother well.” Jhendayre said, swirling the wine around in his glass. The liquid left a pink trail as it re-centered.

“I did.” Ramar said cautiously, ignoring the tightening in his chest.

Jhendayre drained his glass and set the empty vessel on the desk. “You grew up with her. You were her best friend. But then you went away and she married my father.”

“I didn’t just go away, I was called away- to fight. We can’t all be wealthy wine merchants.” Ramar said bitterly. “You didn’t come all this way just to document the past. What is it you really want?”

Jhendayre nodded to himself. “There are many things I wish to know.” He said leaning forward. “Like why the first time I look for leverage, I find instead a story of love and loss tying my teacher to my deceased mother.”

“It wasn’t quite so clean.”

“The longer I live, the more I realize that life rarely is.”

“Why were you looking for leverage?”

Jhendayre stood up. “Because you’re the only one who knows the Shadow-Splitter technique.”