"Oh, that's not why." It's a thoughtless check, equal parts unthinking and gentle. Once, a long time ago and before everything had gone so very sour, Brother Vesperus had probably been strangely popular in the clerical halls of Vyrantium. Isn't it always a little pleasant when someone who looks so cruel is so lackadaisical and patient with their correction?

"It's fascinating that Riftwatch has you cooped up here in an office instead of working abroad. I would have thought a Magister's son would have made a convenient tool in support of their argument. Not to imply you'd be manipulated for sport, of course."

Of course.