The tension left by Helgar's outburst had barely begun to fade when Valttair looked toward Trafalgar and Aubrelle.
"Come with us."
There was no room in his tone for anything else.
Thaleon glanced once at his daughter, then at Trafalgar, and gave a small nod of his own. The four of them stepped away from the rest of the gathering until the voices behind them softened into background noise. They stopped near the edge of the garden, where the formation's warmth still held against Euclid's cold.
For a moment, neither patriarch spoke.
Then Thaleon folded his arms and looked at the two of them with the same steady weight he always carried. "The formal part is done. What comes after matters more."
Valttair's grey eyes settled on Trafalgar first. "You will return to the academy and finish what remains of your education."
Trafalgar's expression did not change. "I assumed as much."
