Shinsou awoke again to a room dimmed nearly to darkness, the sun setting through a solitary window behind him. It was one of the Citadel’s healing chambers, judging by the cramped and cold stone room and the aches upon his back from lying on what felt like a mortuary slab. Turning to the attending monk, he quickly made it known that he wished to be helped down. The attendant obliged without question.

“Your opponent, Rehtul Orlouge, was looking for you,” the orange robed monk called out as the Telgradian disappeared behind a screen, still rubbing his aching flesh and dressing into his spare tunic. As he threw the shredded garments from his battle in the bin, it mystified Shinsou that ones with such uncontested healing powers couldn’t extend themselves to the repair of torn garments.

“I’m sure he is.” Came the reply from behind a screen as the Telgradian frowned at his barely existent coat, and tossed the rag to the floor nonchalantly. He unwrapped the sash around his spare outfit, taking water from around the corner of the screen as it was offered to him. Greedily he gulped down the drink, and listened, still out of sight, as a knock came.

“It’s Rehtul,” The bald monk told him plaintively through the screen. “Shall I let him in?”

Shinsou stretched, his joints cracking noisily when he leant back. “Sure.”

From the other side of the screen, Shinsou could hear the monk let Rehtul Orlouge in and depart, leaving the pair alone. It felt as if the whole room suddenly grew cold, even more so than when the Telgradian first came to. Tendrils of chill seeped from the bricks, grasping at his feet, reaching up into his coat, and even infiltrating his lungs. Was it his mind playing tricks, or perhaps vestiges of Orlouges magic seeping out from him? In any case, the screen that divided them offered no protection from the moon’s cold gaze, let alone the machinations of Rehtul’s magic, and Shinsou had a gut feeling the man’s intentions were not hostile.

“Sorry, just a second,” Shinsou replaced his boots upon his feet, and drew back the curtain to reveal the ice mage perched on the stone slab the Telgradian had woken on. Osiris felt talkative, and hoped Rehtul was in the same frame of mind, or at least of one to listen. “Well, congratulations. That was quite the performance out there. I wasn’t wrong; the apple doesn’t fall far from the Orlouge tree now, does it? Just don’t let it go to your head; there’s much more to me than what you saw today.”

Seeing a little apprehension from the ice mage, Shinsou did his best to encourage the conversation on. There were gaps in his knowledge that begged questions, ones he hoped Rehtul would only be happy to answer.

“We’re at the ‘whys’ and ‘wherefores’ bit now that I talked about earlier,” Shinsou sat next to him, looking straight ahead out of the window. “You’ve earned my respect, and I hope that I have perhaps earned a few answers?”