When I went in, my bare feet padding quietly across the cold marble floor, Ragnall Jerrick was sitting at the desk. A leather-bound planner lay open in front of him, the pages blank, and a copper quill pen perched in an inkwell. His hand rested on his chin, and his dark eyes gazed out the grand windows.

With his glossy good looks—his head shaved smooth, his tailored mulberry silk suit, the rubies in the rings on his fingers—he looked posed for a magazine feature on successful businessmen. And my steps faltered because it hit me—this all felt very staged. Everything was posed so deliberately, so clearly aimed to impress, intimidate, brag. It was swagger as a design aesthetic.

He finally looked up at me and smiled wide—all toothy and shiny. “Miss Tulin! I’m so pleased to see you looking so well.” He rose to greet me, then motioned for me to sit.

“Thank you,” I said. “And thank you for doing all you did to get me back home.”

“No need to thank me.” He waved me off with exaggerated modesty. “It was a joint effort among the kingdoms, and we were only doing what is right by our citizens.”

“I appreciate it anyway,” I said, and then I cleared my throat. “What was it that you wanted to see me about?”

“You’ve gone through such an ordeal, and I wanted to check in with you,” Ragnall said.

I thought he would say more, but he just smiled at me, and when the silence became awkward, I said uncertainly, “That’s . . . kind of you.”

He tilted his head, and his mouth turned to a bemused frown. “Why the hesitation? Is something troubling you?”

Plenty of things were bothering me, but I wasn’t about to tell him that, so I said, “What happened . . . what I went through was an ordeal. But I know I’m not the only one in the citadel that went through something stressful recently. I can’t imagine you’re calling them all in to see how they’re coping.”

He laughed and leaned back in the chair. “No. I don’t suppose I would have time for that. But you did experience something a bit more extraordinary.”

“So you’ve met with the others then?” I pressed gently, since neither Pan nor Dagny had mentioned seeing him.

“I met with Dómari,” he replied coolly. “Mästare Amalie talked to Kasten and Soriano. She apprised me of their conversation.” He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. “You weren’t here then, but you are now. I thought it’d be prudent to meet with you while you were around.”

“Of course,” I said. “I’m doing well now. I’m happy to be back with my friends in Merellä.”

“If I understand correctly, you are here for more than a social visit,” Ragnall said. “You were in the troglecology department, working in the lab.”