Cassie stiffened beside Nephis, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her sleeve. Sunny felt a familiar curl of irritation coil in his stomach. His already-low opinion of the Bright Castle dipped another notch. Order bought with fear was still fear, no matter how clean the walls were.
Nephis, however, focused on something else entirely.
"Seishan?" she asked.
Caster turned to her, clearly pleased. "Very observant, my Lady. Seishan Song—an adopted daughter of Saint Ki Song, and the eldest Sleeper still alive on the Forgotten Shore. She leads the Handmaidens and is personally responsible for their protection. From what I've learned, she takes that responsibility extremely seriously."
Sunny glanced at Nephis. "You know her, Neph?"
"No," Nephis replied after a moment, shaking her head slowly. "We're both Legacies, but I didn't spend much time around members of other Clans growing up. I may have heard her name before… I'll need to see her face to be certain."
Caster watched the exchange in silence. For just an instant, something cold flickered across his expression—so brief it was almost imperceptible. Then it was gone, replaced by his composed smile.
"If you wish," he said smoothly, "I could arrange a meeting. Clan Han Li is subordinate to Clan Song. I have some familiarity with the Young Lady."
"That would be much appreciated," Nephis replied.
Her lips curved into something that barely qualified as a smile. It carried no warmth, but it was enough.
Caster bowed his head slightly. "I'll see what can be done."
Straightening, he looked between the three of them, his posture relaxed but attentive. "Is there anything else you wish to know?"
Sunny exchanged a brief glance with Nephis, then looked back at Caster, eyes narrowing just a touch.
Plenty, he thought.
"Do you know anything about the other Lieutenants," Sunny asked, his voice flat and direct, "besides Seishan? Gemma, Kido, Sasrir, Adam, Harus. Or about the Bright Lord himself."
Caster looked at him for a moment, evidently surprised that Sunny had chosen to address him at all. Still, he did not refuse. If anything, the Legacy seemed faintly pleased to have an attentive audience.
"Gemma and Kido are the simplest to understand," he began. "Gemma possesses an Aspect that grants him extreme regenerative abilities. Wounds that would cripple or kill others are meaningless to him. As long as he has Essence, he is effectively unkillable at the Sleeper level."
Sunny noted that carefully. Regeneration meant prolonged engagements favored Gemma. Fire, dismemberment, Essence exhaustion—those would be the only viable counters.
"Kido," Caster continued, "has dominion over plants. Not merely growth or movement—she can alter their genetic structure. She breeds specialized flora: predatory vines, parasitic spores, seeds that bloom only under very specific conditions. In combat, preparation matters far more than brute force."
Nephis inclined her head slightly, filing the information away.
"On the surface," Caster said, "both are content with their positions. Neither has made overt political moves in years. Gunlaug relies on them heavily, and compared to the others, their personal conduct is… better."
He paused, then added evenly, "That said, Gemma himself does not engage in sexual violence or other excesses—but for a long time, he allowed his Hunters to do so. That only stopped about two years ago, when he finally tightened discipline."
Sunny's jaw tightened. Better, he thought, did not mean good.
Caster moved on before anyone could comment.
"Seishan is a far more complicated case," he said. "She predates Gunlaug's rule. When the Second Bright Lord fell, she held a significant position within the Castle. Gunlaug purged most of the former regime's confidants when he seized power—but he spared her."
"Why?" Nephis asked.
Caster shrugged faintly. "Competence. Influence. Perhaps fear. For nearly a decade, she served him loyally by all accounts, and he considered her one of his trusted allies."
His voice lowered slightly.
"That changed within the last year."
Sunny felt his attention sharpen.
"I don't know the precise details," Caster went on, "and those who do refuse to speak. But from what I've gathered, there was a conflict involving Sasrir and Gunlaug. Seishan took Sasrir's side."
Nephis's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
"It might sound insignificant," Caster said quietly, "but Gunlaug is paranoid and obsessive. He interpreted it as a personal betrayal. He did not move against Seishan directly—but since then, several Handmaidens have met… unfortunate ends. Their standing within the Castle has declined noticeably."
The room felt colder for a moment.
Nephis spoke again. "Was Adam involved?"
Sunny had been thinking the same thing. From everything he had heard, Adam and Sasrir were inseparable—where one moved, the other followed.
Caster hesitated, tilting his head slightly as he searched his memory. Then he shook it. "I can't recall Adam's name being mentioned in relation to that incident."
After a beat, he added, "Though, to be honest, it would be stranger if he wasn't involved."
Sunny leaned back slightly, eyes half-lidded.
So that's how it is, he thought. Cracks beneath the surface. Blood paid quietly, in places no one was meant to look.
"Now, about Adam and Sasrir themselves," Caster said after a brief pause, folding his hands behind his back, "is where things begin to grow… complicated."
His gaze drifted to some distant point on the wall, as if he were mentally retracing the last two years.
"They appeared in the Bright Castle two years ago, allegedly having emerged from the Coral Labyrinth to the north. Whether that part is true or embellished, I cannot say. What is certain is that their first recorded act was the killing of three Hunters who ambushed them, attempting to rob them of their supplies. Only one man survived long enough to crawl back and report what happened."
Caster's lips twitched faintly.
"Gemma handled the matter personally. The price for killing Castle Hunters was clear: compensation through execution… or service. Adam and Sasrir chose the latter."
Sunny exchanged a glance with Nephis. Being pressed into service after killing Hunters was hardly unusual, but surviving such an initiation was another matter entirely.
"Despite being gang-pressed," Caster continued, "the two integrated with remarkable speed. By all accounts, they worked in perfect coordination from the very beginning. Yet the reasons others gravitated toward them differed."
He turned slightly, as though addressing each of them in turn.