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A few weeks had passed since her spar with Zinkenite, and Lavendulan’s ribs had finally reached the point where they no longer demanded her attention with every breath. They were healing, slowly but surely, though the occasional ache was enough to remind her that she was not nearly as recovered as she would have liked.

At a glance, nearly all evidence of being thrown into an embankment had disappeared. The scrapes and bruises had been mended by her magic, leaving next to no visible trace of the injuries she had sustained.

The only notable difference was the scales around her shoulder blade area where some had been broken by the impact or torn away entirely, a couple by her own hand after she’d woken up, much to her dismay. New ones had regrown in their place, these ones lighter like the ones around the place where Wolframite had bitten her years ago. For anyone who didn’t know what to look for, however, they were easy to miss without standing close to her.

Either way, it would be a while before she’d be able to venture back into the Rift.

Although the medic in the infirmary would likely scold her for not resting more, Lavendulan had been feeling awfully restless the last week or so and had reasoned that as long as she didn’t partake in anything strenuous, taking it easy in her office should be just fine.

Which… is where she had been for the last six hours.

In the darkened quiet of her office, Lavendulan sat at one of her desks surrounded by several pieces of jewelry she’d collected over the last few months.

The pieces she’d recovered from the reservoir while hunting that mysterious cryptid had made their way to the Destiny City precinct after she’d turned them over, accompanied by a written notice establishing her intent to claim the property should its owner never be identified.

The necessary period of time had elapsed without anyone coming forward, and she had earlier donned her glamour to retrieve what was now legally hers. Which, in Lavendulan’s mind, meant it was finally time to see what she’d actually found.

A small lamp illuminated only the immediate area of her desk, leaving most of the office dimly lit except for the wall of glass display cases with crystals and careful lighting to cast a myriad of colors behind her.

One piece at a time, she worked her way through the small collection, cleaning away the residue and grime that had accumulated from its time beneath the water. A soft cloth moved carefully over tarnished metal while a small dish beside her held pieces that had already been restored enough to examine properly. The others that needed more attention were set carefully on a different cloth nearby, waiting their turn in the ultrasonic cleaner before she moved on to the next ring or necklace.

Lavendulan worked slowly, if only because her body insisted upon it.

Every so often, she shifted in her chair when the ache along her ribs became too persistent, carefully avoiding any movement that required too much twisting. It was frustrating, but she had learned that impatience made things worse.

Besides, there was no particular reason to hurry. Other than checking in on Okenite later, there was nothing demanding her attention or pressing that needed to be done.

“For you, I think I can spare a couple.” She turned off the polishing wheel and set the ring down on the table, then turned her stool to give him her full attention.

Lavendulan had felt the aura of a Sovereign long before it stopped outside her door. Though she had initially thought it was Axinite who came to say hello, Zinkenite was not an unwelcome visitor. “You’ll have to forgive me for not bowing; I’m still trying to take it easy.” Wolframite had already invited him into their home. However, she suspected her office was more akin to walking into a dragon’s den and laying eyes on its horde of collected gemstones and trinkets.

On the other side of her office, at a different workstation, there were two additional stools that she gestured to. “Feel free to take a seat.” Unfortunately, she didn’t have a conventional desk with plush guest chairs, but she didn’t often have visitors, and those that did come by didn’t stay overlong to need a place to relax. “I suspect this isn’t a casual check-in. What can I help you with?”

She studied him for a long moment, eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly while her pupils fluctuated just enough to indicate she was deep in thought.

“I seem to recall you mentioning I wouldn’t be punished for our spar,” Lavendulan smirked, then waved her hand dismissively before he could take offence to her comment.

“Word of new recruits doesn’t often make its way to me.” Suffice to say, these two were no exception. “Then again, I’m usually in the Rift working on research assignments and am absent for several weeks at a time. Normally I wouldn’t be here.”

She didn’t want to outright refuse him, but Laven had her reservations based on previous experiences. “If I may ask, why me instead of a normal General or Wolframite?” Someone not half-youma or someone far more experienced in training.

A quiet sigh escaped her, “I appreciate your honesty”

“You’re not the first to want to see more from me. I know my initiative is lacking. But in my defense, the first lieutenant assigned to me defected not long after our initial introduction. It could be that she simply wasn’t properly vetted before being recruited, which was something I had no part in. But it is difficult not to believe that my appearance unsettled her and contributed to her decision to leave.”

It happened several years ago, and in all honesty, Lavendulan couldn’t remember the young girl's name even if she had a list in front of her to read through.

“Okenite is the only one I’ve personally recruited. He’s a former acquaintance; we went to college together before…” she gestured at herself, not wanting to go into the details of it.

“He’s… soft.” For lack of a better description. “Better suited for intelligence gathering and research. He was recently promoted to Captain, but I admit I had no hand in that either. He fulfilled his quotas dutifully, but that’s all I can say on it.”

She hated to admit any of that to him, but it was important for Zinkenite to be aware of.

“I didn’t believe that’s what you were implying.” Lavendulan tried to reassure him that she took no offence to his statements. “It’s important to me that you know my history with taking on a more leadership role so that you have a chance to rescind your request if you find that your reason for choosing me for this task was made under incomplete information that was not documented in my file.”

Never once had she thought to ask what was in it.

Perhaps all she’d find would be notes Lopezite had left behind while she was a Lieutenant training under him. Maybe Axinite had documented her progress with various projects she had worked on over the years. Or Laurelite, assuming she bothered with such records at all.

“I’m hesitant to take on someone completely new, but you said one is perhaps close to earning a promotion to Captain, so they should be aware of the simple basics; the hierarchy, and at least how to drain energy.” Hopefully they had already familiarized themselves with the Negaverse Training Guide and were at least aware of the Intelligence Database.

“I’ll accept your request under two conditions.” Not that she had any ground to stand upon to put forth stipulations. Nor was he under any obligation to accept them. But if Zinkenite was willing to give her the opportunity, then there were certain things she wanted to establish beforehand.

“I’d ask that you be the one to make the introductions only after explaining to both of them what I am, so there will be no surprises. I have limitations as a half-youma, most notably how long I can hold my glamour, which will make it difficult for me to be present outside of situations where I’m needed to be powered.” Those scant few hours were precious, and she did not like wasting them.

There was more to it than that though, and something she’d explain later if it became a problem. But because she lived in the Dark Kingdom where there was no sunrise or sunset to indicate the passing of time, it wasn’t uncommon for her to think only a few days had passed when in actuality it had been a full week because she would push herself to exhaustion and sleep when it was safe to do so or her immediate task was finally finished.

“Second, please don’t have this take priority over my research in the Rift.” Lavendulan hesitated, but ultimately decided it was best to simply show him. Reaching into her subspace pocket, she withdrew crystal unlike any in her collection that was on display in her office or home. “I’ve spent years trying to find more of this. I have both Queen Laurelite’s and General King Axanite’s permission to pursue this project. There will be times when I’ll be away in the Rift for an extended period. A couple of weeks at most, usually…”

Laven appreciated his understanding and was thankful that he agreed to her two requests.

“If they already know each other, then together is fine. But if they haven’t met yet, then perhaps separately would be less overwhelming.” It would mean going over certain things twice, but addressing them individually could offer insight that might otherwise be overlooked.

“I’ll leave that to your discretion."

"Thank you, I'll make sure to review the information and let you know if I have any questions."

"Before you go," Lavendulan held a hand out to him, palm up. "Your medallion, may I see it please?" At least this time she asked politely instead of grabbing it because it was hanging in her face.

She studied the necklace for a moment, turning the medallion over in her hand to check the stone settings and make sure that no sand had gotten caught in the narrow gaps from their spar.

Deceptively delicate, however, the only weakness had been the chain. Fortunately, from what she could tell, the magic was in the medallion and only stopped working because it was no longer on him when the link had snapped.

“I thought I had fun trinkets,” Lavendulan mused as she set his necklace on the jeweler's cloth next to the ring she had been cleaning and removed her ear cuff and the bracelet on her right wrist. “Just two of the few, if you’d like to inspect them while I look for the replacement chain I had set aside.”