Cassian arrived at the guest wing shortly after sunrise, properly dressed and carrying enough documents to suggest that sleep had once again lost an argument with duty.
The study was quiet, its tall windows overlooking the upper terraces of Deira, where the capital unfolded beneath clear morning light in white stone, dark glass, suspended gardens, and streams of gold ether moving through the city’s infrastructure.
The avenues below were busy, the public transports moved without interruption now that Arik had been thoroughly announced, and the markets opening along the lower terraces showed no signs of shortage beyond the prices attached to fruit and materials that were difficult to produce within the border wards.
Isolation had inconvenienced Nuria.
It had not impoverished it.
Arik stood beside the window while Cassian took the chair opposite the desk and waited.
"I intend to take the oath," Arik said.
Cassian became completely still.
The relief that crossed his face was brief but unmistakable.
"When?"
"On the final day."
The relief shifted into disbelief.
"You have eight days remaining."
"I am aware."
"The Golden Court will ask why you intend to wait."
"They may ask."
"They will not enjoy the answer."
"That has never been a requirement."
Cassian leaned back slowly. "What answer should I give them?"
"That I will not bind my ether to an empire before I understand what I am binding myself to."
The oath contained no ceremonial speech, no written promises recited before the court, and no negotiation once it began.
Arik would enter the sovereign chamber, open his core to Nuria, and allow his ether to pass into the ancient structure beneath the palace. The core would recognize him, measure him against the laws Goliath had established, and either accept his authority or reject it.
Afterward, there would be no convenient wording to reinterpret.
The agreement would exist in ether.
Cassian studied him. "The core has already recognized you."
"Partially."
"It opened the imperial office."
"It also sealed several systems when I attempted to access them."
"Because you do not possess full sovereign authority."
Arik released a slow breath and lowered himself into the chair.
"Full sovereign authority will not become mine merely because I take the oath, and you know it. The oath is only the beginning. The bond between my core and Nuria’s will take at least a year to form completely. Until then, I may be recognized as sovereign, but I cannot be formally named emperor or exercise the full rights of the throne."
Cassian inclined his head. "The process cannot be accelerated safely."
"Which means the systems refusing me now may continue refusing me for months."
"Some of them," Cassian conceded. "Others should open gradually as the bond strengthens."
"Should."
"The last sovereign bond was formed two centuries ago," Cassian said. "Precise records are limited."
Arik gave him a flat look. "You continue to use uncertainty as reassurance."
"I have had seventy-two years to improve the technique."
Cassian appeared entirely untroubled as he crossed the study and placed another folder upon the desk.
"Our high arcanists are proposing what Lord Liam suggested—that a sovereign with full authority might be capable of opening the gates and returning Nuria to the world."
"Might?"
"They are scholars. If they offered certainty without several decades of testing, I would have them removed."
"Comforting."
"I have also been informed that your sovereign bond will require approximately one year to settle completely.
"At least."
Cassian’s expression tightened by a degree. "Naturally."
Arik leaned back in the chair. "There is another matter we should settle before your ministers begin producing lists."
"They have already produced lists."
"Burn them."
"I considered it."
"Liam remains the only option for empress consort."
Cassian regarded him for several seconds. "Option suggests alternatives."
"The only person who will hold the position, then."
"That is clearer."
"I am not interested in marriage alliances, political consorts, ceremonial companions, or whatever name the court currently uses for placing strangers in the sovereign’s bed."
"Auxiliary consorts."
Arik stared at him.
"I did not invent the term," Cassian said. "I merely failed to prevent it."
"There will be no auxiliary consorts."
"Excellent."
Arik’s eyes narrowed. "That was remarkably easy."
"Your existing bond makes the decision simple to defend. Neither you nor Lord Liam can be marked by another person, and physical relations outside the mate bond would be unpleasant enough to render most proposals impractical."
"Horrible," Arik corrected.
"I was attempting to remain diplomatic."
"That is not the reason."
Cassian waited.
"Even without the completed bond, there would be no other consorts. I have never been interested in arranging my private life to please ministers."
"Even better."
"You do not care about the alliances?"
"I care deeply about Nuria’s alliances." Cassian opened a drawer, placed the folder containing the proposed candidates inside, and shut it. "I care considerably less about which ambitious family wishes to place one of its children in your chambers in exchange for influence."
"And the succession?"
"You are not yet emperor. Your sovereign bond is incomplete. You have only recently returned from the dead, crossed a sealed gate, and opened an imperial office that has been inaccessible for decades."
Cassian counted the points upon his fingers.
"I refuse to debate hypothetical heirs until the current sovereign can survive an entire council session without ether exhaustion."
"I can survive a council session."
"You sat down within five minutes of entering this study."
"I was tired."
"You nearly missed the chair."
"The floor moved."
"The floor has not moved in four hundred years."
Arik folded his arms. "You are unusually agreeable."
Cassian’s expression became almost peaceful.
"Your Majesty, I have administered an empire without its sovereign for seventy-two years. You may marry Lord Liam, reject every noble house in Nuria, and abolish the consort system entirely."
He leaned forward, placing both hands against the desk.
"You may declare the succession dependent upon a competitive examination for all I care, provided you complete the bond, assume full sovereign authority, and permit me to retire."
Arik studied him. "You have plans?"
"Yes."
"What plans?"
Cassian straightened.
"To become extremely difficult to locate for anything remotely administrative."