The god paused, breathing in slowly. He was silent for a moment.

“Ventrua has disappeared. She failed to come home last night.”

Stare gasped, surprised. She could not help it. For it was not what she had been expecting in the slightest. Ventrua was his half sister, and his first ally in coming to this planet, she was the one link Vitruvion had to his past life as a partially active god. She had known him before, and she knew him now, had followed him to Beinost and slowly become more and more distant over the past year as she determined to set out a life for her own …

Yet despite that last, she was part of their small world, and always had been another possible victim of the ruinous plans of Vitruvion's brother, Vindrexis.

“I'm sorry,” she said quietly, and not just for Ventrua. For her arguments up until that point, for her rudeness and her very flat disrespect in the way she had been speaking to him, despite who he was to her, wear he was to her.

Vitruvion felt the extent of her apology through her emotions. Though he had not expressed much irritation of her defiance, aside from his guiding her down the corridor, there was a clear change in him. He relaxed slightly, rolled back his shoulders, and gave her a calm, polite nod, the smile on his face long gone.

“I'm leaving you the safekeeping of everything until my return,” he said. “The businesses, and the projects. Zulon will assist, if you need, and I will be contactable.” Stare breathed in, understanding what he was saying. He was leaving her in charge - of it all. Not just those are was manager of, but the running of his entire world. It meant he was truly desperate, that he wanted to devote all of his time and energy to finding Ventrua, but also that he now trusted Stare to a greater extent than he had done before.

“I need not say that this does not mean you can cause a revolution here. Your usual protocol remains, and as I said you are to-”

“I'll need to go out if I am to still manage the businesses,” she said quickly, looking right into his eyes.

He looked at her for a moment, pausing. “Fine, but you sleep here, and anywhere you go you take however many guards Zulon insists are necessary. Yes?”

She stared at him, raising her brow.

“Stare it is entirely for you protection. Refuse and-”

“Fine,” she sighed, lifting her shoulders in a defeated shrug. “I accept your conditions.”

“You are interrupting me a lot today,” he narrowed his eyes slightly and gestured at her none too kindly. “Work on that.”

It was practically a command, and Stare would have debated it were it not for the situation he was in. Thus, she nodded just once, but showed her apprehension. He looked her over once, and smiled briefly, sadly gently caressing her feathers.

“Hold my kingdom for me until I return, my steward,” he murmured.

“Yes, sir,” she mumbled as her reply.