Cain pulled out a chair across from us and sat down like he'd been invited.

Nobody had invited him.

"Val Rhen." He said my name the way someone says a word they've been turning over in their mouth for a while. Testing the weight of it. "I've been meaning to ask — how are you finding the ritual coursework?"

"Fine," I said.

"Fine." He smiled. "Such a modest answer for someone placed in Solas." He tilted his head slightly, and I felt it, the almost-imperceptible shift as he leaned just a ...