I’d been working on this space for almost half a year, tinkering with it when I had a moment. I’d started over three times, but I finally got it close. It still wasn’t perfect, and it would likely never be finished. For one, the topography outside was all wrong. The Green Mountain view was that of mountains sheathed with forests. I wanted the height, so I built it in Wancurat, one of our lesser used doors, on top of a giant fossilized megatree.

“Will this cause any difficulties?” Kosandion asked.

I let a banner unroll from the ceiling directly behind the throne. On it, Adira stood in all her glory, the image of her painted onto the canvas by one of her retainers with shocking accuracy. A spiderweb-thin script shone with crimson across the banner. The letters squirmed on the fabric, twisting into Old Galactic.

“I, Adira, the Liege Lord of Green Mountain, gift this scroll to Dina of Gertrude Hunt. May it hang in a room worthy of it so the might of Green Mountain shall become known across the galaxy.”

When in doubt, always get the permission in writing. I pulled the chess board out of the floor, set it on a low table and offered two floor cushions to Kosandion and Nycati.

They played chess for the next hour. Both were expert players. It was a surreal experience, to watch two very different men, both highly intelligent, both driven, sit in this serene space, completely absorbed in their game and yet seamlessly fitting into the room. Perhaps that was the true magic of Drífen. It was a place that collected strays from a dazzling variety of cultures and species and made them feel like they belonged.

When the hour was up, with the game reluctantly abandoned, and Orata’s cameras deactivated, Kosandion and Nycati walked onto the balcony. They stood side by side, looking at the plain far below.

“Are you sure?” Kosandion asked.

“Yes.”

“There will be no going back.”

“I know,” the Gaheas prince said.

“Do you really want it?”

Nycati shrugged. “Does it matter? Did you want it?”

“I didn’t, but I didn’t have a choice. You can walk away from it.”

“So can you. You can ask our innkeeper to open a door into some distant place, walk through it, abandon everything, and disappear.”

“The Dominion would be thrown into chaos.”

Nycati’s face was somber. “My people are in chaos now.”

“If I didn’t know, you would have been my choice,” Kosandion said.

“I’m honored,” Nycati said.

A gust of wind tugged on his hair. The Gaheas prince brushed it off his face with an impatient jerk of his fingers. “A logical choice, but not the right one.”

Kosandion continued watching the scenery.