He shrugged, uncomfortable with the subject. “There’s nothing to tell. She was in town and decided to look me up. I don’t know how she even knew I was here. I haven’t seen or spoken with her in five years. And that stuff about her mother is—”

“I know, I know. It was a long time ago, and her mother is dead. She told us before you came back.” Stef brushed back her dark hair and crossed her long legs. “It must have been quite a shock to see her again.”

“Well, it was a surprise, anyway. But we had a nice talk.”

He had never told Stef anything about his past or the people in it, save for stories about his boyhood when he was growing up in Ohio. He had never told her about his service as a Knight of the Word, about the Lady or Owain Glyndwr or O’olish Amaneh. She did not know about his dreams. She did not know of the war between the Word and the Void or the part he had played in it. She did not know of his magic. As far as he knew, she had no concept of the feeders. Having Nest Freemark appear unexpectedly, come out of a past he had so carefully concealed from her, was unnerving. He did not want to tell her about any of that. He traced his present life to the moment he had met her, and everything that went before to another life entirely.

Stef studied his face. “Simon says she’s some kind of world-class runner, that she might even win a gold medal in the next Olympics. That’s pretty impressive.”

He nodded noncommittally. “I gather she’s pretty good.”

“Is she in town for very long? Did you think to ask her to have dinner with us?”

He took a deep breath, wishing she would stop talking about it. “I mentioned dinner, but she said she might have other plans. She said she would call later. I don’t think she’s here for very long. Maybe only a day or so.”

Stef looked at him. “You seem uneasy about this, John. Is everything all right? This girl hasn’t announced that she’s your love child or something, has she?”

The words shocked Ross so that he started visibly. Five years earlier Nest had indeed thought he was her father, had wished it were so. He had wished it were so, too.

He laughed quickly to mask his discomfort. “No, she didn’t come here to tell me that. Or anything like that.” He pushed back in his chair, feeling trapped. “I guess I’m just a little nervous about the speech. I haven’t heard back from Simon on it. Maybe it wasn’t so good.”

Stef smirked. “The speech was fine. He told me so himself.” Her smile brightened the whole room. “Matter of fact, he loved it. He’ll tell you himself when he sees you again, if the two of you are ever in the office at the same time. He’s gone again just now. There’s a lot of preparation left for tomorrow night.”