It was dark in the Cynn's study, but for the dim yellow glow of lamplight spilling over the desk and the polished wooden slab floor. It didn't quite reach the crags of the bookshelves along the far wall, or chase the shadows from the cobblestone wall around the door. Despite this, the fireplace was covered with its slatted reed cover written over in runes, unused.

"For now, we must carry on as before," the Cynn was saying. Helly shifted, uncomfortably, in nir chair. "But I must emphasize how important it is that we not be provoked into retaliation."

"Yes, Your Highness," the Cynn's construct said. It sat on a perch beside the desk; it was larger than Helly's construct, which sat at nir elbow quietly. It was pale green and painted cream and brown, and smiled, seeming always quite proud of its metal eyes and fine wire antennae.

Helly waited with nir arms formed together like clasped hands, filled with uneasiness. Rather than look at the Cynn, ne glanced idly across the desk, which was buried under various thick files, books, and stray papers.

"Report back as necessary, then," the Cynn said. "Good evening."

"Good evening, Your Highness," his construct echoed, and then with a quiet bip disconnected itself from whoever had been speaking through it. Once it went quiet, the Cynn leaned back in his chair.

< ...Well, > he said, dropping back into Aetherian without a hitch, and looking speculatively at a pad of paper in his hands. < Our last ally in the Symphony Archipelago has just fallen to a military coup. >

He leaned back forward reluctantly, causing his hard-backed chair to creak, and set down the pad.

< Now, what did you want to talk about, Helly? >

Cynn Numair looked tired. He'd rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, and held his shoulders up with the gingerness of someone who has been sitting in an uncomfortable chair for a long time. His collar was wrinkled, his dark hair was untidy, and there were shadows under his eyes.

Helly gave him a worried look.

< Your Highness, > ne began finally, < I am very concerned. >