"You're not being too terribly whiny."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"So, how are you liking - monarching?"

"It's - rewarding, when we get things done, but I wish we were working from a better foundation than the one the previous queen left. It's frustrating to put in tremendous amounts of work and resources to get things to 'maybe almost as good as they were before except the injured parties are still irritated, harmed, or dead'."

"Mmmm... Some things are better, actually. Not everything, mind you, but - nobility doesn't hold as much power anymore and consequently can't oppress or hurt people, for instance."

"That seems like an improvement, admittedly. Though the would-be democrats didn't seem to be impressed."

"Obviously not," says Edarial, dryly. He sighs.

"This was probably one of them acting alone, on impulse," she says, squeezing his hand lightly.

"Probably. It's still distressing, though."

"Of course it is. Someone just tried to kill us."

"And the guards by proxy - possibly succeeding there, we don't know."

"Were any of them spellbinders?"

"No," he sighs. "There are a few that are, but - not these ones in particular."

"Then they will come back fine when the time's right, I expect."

He nods. "Fortunate in that respect, I suppose. Unfortunate in that a spellbinder with spells would be exceptionally useful right now."

"Unless they'd been knocked out."

"Unless that, of course." He sighs. "I hope they are all right, regardless."

"Me too. I wonder why no one's digging us out."

"I do, as well. Really hoping the country hasn't started falling apart in the - what has it been, several hours since the building collapsed?"

"We were set to be gone all day with no problem. Catching a late boat shouldn't make that any worse. I'm wondering if there's a small civil disturbance right here in Forgrat, though, distracting from picking up the rubble..."

"That could be it. I'm thinking of the worst-case scenario, though." He sighs. "I keep doing that."

"Worst-case scenarios are extreme, and therefore unlikely. If something you thought was the worst case scenario happens it's likely to have been a failure of imagination."