Arik did not abandon the council entirely like Liam feared. He just brought the council with him.
Liam watched him cross the Golden Court with Cassian and two ministers following several steps behind, Arik’s ceremonial coat moving heavily around his legs while the new sovereign mark remained hidden beneath one gold cuff.
People shifted aside as he approached.
Liam found the image oddly strange, even if he had seen it happen before while they were in Wrohan.
Arik stopped beside him and placed one hand against the middle of Liam’s back. The touch was light, but the bond settled almost immediately beneath it.
"You wanted to leave."
Liam glanced toward the private doors.
Arik followed his gaze before looking back toward the court.
"I cannot."
Liam had already realized that.
Arik had just taken the oath before the entire empire. Walking out immediately afterward with his mate tucked beneath one arm would probably create several constitutional discussions before dinner.
"I’m aware."
Arik’s thumb moved once against Liam’s back.
"Stay with me."
It was not an order.
Liam studied him for a moment, then nodded.
Arik turned toward the small gathering Liam had just escaped.
Minister Avedan had remained nearby, although he now looked considerably less interested in discussing Liam’s future position.
"Minister," Arik said. "You oversee Internal Development."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"What is the largest problem outside Deira?"
The question was so abrupt that Avedan took a second to answer.
"Currently?"
"Preferably."
The minister collected himself. "Transport between the southern manufacturing districts and the interior provinces. The old freight network was never designed for the current production volume."
Arik’s attention sharpened.
"Why has it not been expanded?"
And just like that, the subject changed.
Avedan began explaining the geographical limitations of the southern routes while Arik guided Liam toward one of the quieter edges of the court, keeping him beside him at all times.
Other officials joined them slowly.
Arik let them.
But every time the conversation drifted toward ceremonial expectations, he redirected it to subjects that concerned the empire and not about his mate.
Liam gradually stopped counting the distance to the nearest door.
Lady Soreya Tal returned when the discussion moved toward the eastern agricultural districts. She carried herself differently from Avedan, less cautiously now that Arik was clearly interested in practical details rather than formal courtesies.
"The eastern plains produce most of the grain consumed in Deira," she explained, "but they are not culturally uniform. The northern settlements still use older irrigation customs and resist centralized scheduling."
"Because it is inefficient?" Arik asked.
"Because Deira repeatedly assumes efficiency is the only thing they value."
That answer interested him.
Liam felt it through the bond.
Arik shifted slightly, attention settling fully on her. "What do they value?"
"Autonomy. Seasonal gatherings. Family-held water rights. Their dialect is also different enough that officials sent from the capital are occasionally viewed as outsiders before they even open their mouths."
Arik glanced at Liam, his golden eyes glinting with amusement.
"The last discussion with Prime Minister Cassir and his cabinet brought an interesting proposal. As you may know, even if I possess the former sovereign’s soul, I still lack the knowledge of this land."
The amusement disappeared from Arik’s eyes as he looked back toward Lady Tal.
"We have been in Nuria for less than three weeks. Anything I claim to understand completely after that amount of time would be arrogance."
Several of the people surrounding them became noticeably more attentive.
Liam watched Arik’s expression settle into the controlled seriousness he used during council meetings. There was no embarrassment in admitting ignorance, only an acknowledgment of something that had to be corrected.
Arik knew fragments of Goliath’s life.
Sometimes enough to recognize a corridor before entering it or understand why an ancient formation had been constructed in a particular way. He knew pieces of Nurian law that had not been enforced for centuries and memories of places whose names had changed long before the Gate closed.
But those fragments belonged to a dead emperor.
They did not tell him how farmers in the eastern plains managed their water now, what industries had developed in isolation, what people resented about Deira, or which traditions had survived because communities wanted them rather than because an imperial archive preserved them.
Lady Tal inclined her head. "Prime Minister Cassir suggested regional instruction?"
"More than instruction."
That slight glint returned to Arik’s eyes.
Liam knew immediately that he was not going to like the next part.
"Once my bond with the Core permits prolonged travel, the cabinet proposes that Liam and I spend time in every major administrative region."
Liam looked at him.
Arik did not turn toward him, but the pressure of his hand against Liam’s back increased fractionally.
Minister Avedan appeared pleased. "That would be unprecedented in the modern administration."
"Which may explain some of the distance between Deira and the provinces," Arik replied.
Avedan accepted the criticism without protest.
Cassian stepped closer. "The proposal is not ceremonial travel. His Highness requested working visits. Local councils, production centers, schools, medical facilities, infrastructure offices, and communities outside the provincial capitals."
Liam’s attention shifted to him.
That sounded considerably more useful.
Lady Tal seemed to agree. "Then I would recommend avoiding the eastern capital during the first visit."
One of the officials beside her glanced over in surprise.
She continued calmly. "If His Highness wishes to understand the east, the provincial capital will show him what Deira expects the east to look like. The smaller northern districts will show him what it actually is."
Arik nodded once. "Then that is where we begin."
"When the Core allows it," Cassian reminded him.
Arik’s jaw tightened slightly, but he did not argue this time.
Liam understood why.
He could still feel the new presence woven through their bond, distant but unmistakable. Arik had taken the oath less than an hour earlier. Whatever relationship was forming between his ether and Nuria’s Core was nowhere near stable enough for anyone to experiment with how far he could travel from Deira.
Until then, Cassir’s cabinet apparently intended to bring Nuria to them.
"The regional delegations begin arriving next week," Arik said. "Not only ministers. Engineers, physicians, administrators, historians, agricultural representatives, and people selected by the regional councils."
That earned a much stronger reaction.
Several officials exchanged looks.
Lady Tal’s eyebrows lifted. "The councils choose them?"
"Yes."
"Without approval from Deira?"
"Cassir proposed review only for security concerns."
A slow smile appeared on her face.
"That will make the eastern councils considerably more cooperative."
Liam could understand why.
If Deira chose every person allowed to explain the provinces to the future emperor, Arik would simply receive another version of Deira’s perspective.
A regional council selecting someone willing to tell him that the capital was wrong about something was far more useful.
"And language?" Lady Tal asked.
Arik glanced briefly toward Rubis before answering.
"We will learn."
The plural was deliberate.
Liam noticed it immediately.
"So far, both of us have depended too heavily on translation systems and the people around us," Arik continued. "That is practical for administration. It is insufficient if we intend to understand the country."
Liam looked around the Golden Court.
Even the writing surrounding them remained unfamiliar enough that he could recognize only portions without assistance. He had learned the standard script quickly because engineering documents required it, but reading technical notation and reading historical correspondence were very different things.
Regional languages would be another problem entirely.
Lady Tal considered them. "The eastern language is not difficult if you already understand formal Nurian."
Rubis spoke quietly from Liam’s other side. "That assessment is usually made by people born speaking it."
A few restrained smiles appeared around them, including Lady Tal’s.
"It is still one of the easier regional languages."
Arik looked toward Cassian. "Cassir recommended three initially."
"Eastern, southern, and the old central dialect," Cassian confirmed. "Enough to understand the largest regional distinctions without turning language study into your primary occupation."
That seemed reasonable.
Liam could tolerate three.
"The written language comes first," Arik said. "For both of us."