A knock at the door disturbed Xeoniteridone's focus on me. When it opened before he could say enter, his deep scowl told me his son's entry wasn't welcome. But Elphremantic ignored his father's temper by holding up a glass bottle with the familiar nectar inside.

"It's time for her dose," he said as though trying to sound casual. But I saw the eager tension in him and wondered what it meant on the surface, while my insides crawled and yelled at me about as loudly as the voice now ...