Chapter 210

Delta’s head spun. She looked between Zoey and the Guildmaster, unable to find her voice.

Eventually, she settled on something simple.

“Oh.”

She didn’t have anything else to add.

Enzo, at least, was quick to fill the silence.

“It was a surprise to me as well. It was certainly ... uncharacteristic of my daughter to have formed a party of her own. She knows I had plans for her. Either she believes you three are more deserving of her company than who I would choose, somehow better equipped to protect her, or, alternatively, she was stricken by a sudden bout of sentimentality. And decided to make her temporary allies her permanent ones. I haven’t decided which I believe is more plausible, yet.” He tilted his head. “Though your reaction is providing ... insight. You consider her a friend more than an ally, don’t you?” He tsked. “Dangerous, in a career like this.”

Neither Delta nor Zoey replied to him. Enzo didn’t seem bothered. He continued, undeterred.

“Now,” he said, shifting his weight on his throne. “I realize the first weeks upon entering the Fractures is a formative period of a person’s life. For Rosalie, that would be no exception. Earning her class. Testing her mettle in a way she’s trained for her entire life. And, of course, her first taste of autonomy. Away from my supervision. I am not so ignorant to think these things would not change her in some way. She’s young. Recently an adult of her own.” His lips curled up in amusement. “But, unless I greatly misunderstand my own daughter, sentimentality wouldn’t have guided her entirely. She does, to some extent, believe you three worthy of being her teammates.” He appraised them with a calm gaze. “I hope you realize how much political trouble that causes me. I had arranged what would have been the wayfaring party of a generation. The best and brightest youths from across the world. From respectable families. Solidifying troublesome political ties. And my daughter knows this. Yet, still, she chose you three, despite that it would force me to break my promises.”

This time, Enzo didn’t fill the silence. He waited patiently for a reply.

Zoey was the one to speak up.

“I don’t mean any disrespect,” she said. “But isn’t this something you should discuss with her?”

“I intend to. But I wished to meet with you two first. And the Moonlight Weaver’s daughter as well, of course.” His eyes fell on Delta. “There’s so much to learn from first impressions. Especially when there hasn’t been proper time to prepare.”

Delta’s tail swished agitatedly behind her, but her head was still spinning. She only half heard Enzo’s words. She stood there, numb, and just listened.

Getting no response from Delta, his gaze turned back to Zoey. “I suspect my daughter would have vastly preferred to have formed a plan of attack for this meeting.” He seemed amused by the concept. “And to have taken the lead on your part. To speak for you. But I won’t allow that to happen.” He chuckled. “What father wouldn’t wish to learn more about his daughter’s teammates in an honest environment?”

“Where is she, anyway?” Zoey asked.

“Rosalie? In stasis. I’ll be speaking with her last.”

“And Maddy?”

“The daughter of the Moonlight Weaver is, of sorts, a dignitary of the Sovereign. That means she deserves a cordial welcome.”

“And we don’t?” Delta snapped, breaking her silence.

Both Zoey and Enzo paused, then looked at her.

“No,” Enzo said. “As I understand it, you two are nobody. No ties, no connections, much less ones of relevance. So I need make no particular concessions.”

Delta’s annoyance was stifled by the sheer audacity of the words. Though, she supposed if anyone in the world was allowed audacity, it would be this man.

“I don’t mean that in a disparaging way,” Enzo continued wryly. “Rather, it is fact. All great families, or wayfarers, were at some point ‘nobody’. It means nothing for a person’s future value. Nonetheless, it is relevant. You are not the Moonlight Weaver’s daughter. You don’t receive special considerations. I need not hold polite audience with you.” His lips quirked up, again, as he met Delta’s eyes. “Which I take it you prefer. Lucinda told me you, especially, would not show proper respect. So a less formal meeting benefits both of us.”

Delta considered the words.

“You know,” she said. “You’re even more an asshole than I thought you would be.”

Enzo’s eyebrows shot up.

He laughed.

“I’ll forgive it, this once,” he said. “You’re upset by my daughter’s decision to withhold her heritage. You consider it a betrayal of a friend. That’s easy to read. Embarrassingly so, if I’m honest.” He rubbed his chin. “Nonetheless, it’s been some time since I’ve interacted with someone so incapable of holding her tongue. You realize what you just said, and to whom?” Calm blue eyes appraised Delta. “Have I recently earned a reputation for patience, among commoners? I wonder how that happened.”