"Yeah, it's complicated. It took me a while to get it out of him and I had certain advantages."

Nod. "Being in a relationship with him must be - quite something." 

"I don't know what you're imagining, I didn't have a chance to come up with expectations beforehand myself."

"Mostly just that I'd be very intimidated, I guess. And feel like he couldn't possibly actually think I was neat or interesting, it'd just be the lifebond making it seem that way. Maybe you're different, or maybe he's not the way I'm picturing."

"Little though either of us likes being permanently mind-controlled for an unknown divine purpose the versions of us who weren't are gone and are not coming back, so there's not much point in perseverating on what it would be like if we'd met in some other way. Though it helps a little that he thinks he would have found the research compelling alone."

Surprised smile. “Your research is very impressive!”

"Thanks, Gemma mentioned you read some of it."

“I did! It seemed like relevant background on you, but, well, I’d have been tempted to anyway even if it was a stupid use of my time, I love doing Healing research and I hardly ever get to anymore.” A hint of wistfulness, even envy, dims her smile.

"I'm presumably not going to be in meetings all the time. I left all my eggs back where I was staying with Leareth but there are microbes to stare at everywhere and if I see any doing anything interesting I might write it up and ask for it to be vetted and shipped to the University of Petras for me, if that won't get any hackles up."

“I’ve been practicing getting my Sight to go that close and I think I’m making progress,” Shavri says, brightening again. “Honestly I’d have done it years ago if I’d had any idea it was possible.”

"It may disconcert you how everywhere microbes are at first, it did me. They are absolutely everywhere short of 'in a pot of boiling water' or 'in reasonably strong alcohol'."

"Wow. I guess most of them must not really cause problems?" 

"It seems they mostly don't! I think some of them may be helpful, in some places - not just the ones used to make cheese and stuff, the ones in us. I don't know a way to kill all the microbes in a creature's gut, there's too many to just kill them all one at a time, but if I did, I'd try it on a rat, not a person, because I think it'd be bad for them even if the initial intervention had no side effects."

"What an odd idea for an experiment! Huh, I wonder if you know this - do newborn babies have it too? You'd think, a baby comes from a single cell and that can't have microbes in it already, they wouldn't grow there from nowhere...?" 

"I don't know, I haven't checked that yet! That's a good idea for something to look at though. They might just get some off their mother's skin the first time they eat."

"Right, if they're everywhere it'd make sense for them to be on the breast too." Shavri looks thoughtful, then shakes herself a bit. Yawns. "This is all a digression. Er, is there anything else you want context on for right now?" 

"Um... what does it mean that the guy who objects to my existence is 'acting King's Own'?"

"...I can't believe I forgot to cover that at all. It's definitely related to some of the awkwardness. Tran was, er, the King's Own when Randi took the throne. Then the last Groveborn, Taver - he's the one who Yfandes went to originally, who told them to keep the conversations with Leareth quiet - died at the Battle of Sunhame. Tran got Chosen again by his Companion from before Taver, Delian. The new Groveborn didn't Choose either of us - right, forgot to say, Taver tried to Choose me for some reason back when the last Monarch's Own died. Anyway, Rolan Chose a thirteen-year-old girl, so she's not exactly ready for the job and Tran is acting King's Own until she's done her training as a Herald." 

"I guess that goes a good way to explaining why he's so prickly."

"I think that's a lot of it. He's - pretty resentful toward Taver, for not telling him, he thinks being Taver's Chosen should have entitled him to knowing it." 

Belrun nods. "And Taver's not around to explain himself, and that has to be a psychological mess all its own. I'll try not to take it personally."

"Thank you for understanding." 

"Thank you for explaining."

"I really hope it helps tomorrow go better." 

"We can hope. Is there anything else?"