[ It's not long before he's back in his seat, teapot and two teacups set between them. 'What's on your mind', the boy asks, and he could nearly sigh with the question. Not just the irony propping it up--but because he knows he's about to do an ill-advised thing, knows this is different from their prior boundaries like bringing up Lynette. Whatever's grown between them--not friendship, but something shaped like it, something nameless that puts a genuine smile on Lyney's face instead of this sad facsimilie--is probably about to go up in smoke. He's breaking the spell, as he thought of it once.

Because he has to. Because if he doesn't take the risk, maybe he won't ever see Lyney offer anything genuine ever again. ]

Your Father. [ Said bluntly, now. He still remembers keeping an ear to the ground when he'd first wanted to speak with her, still remembers the things he'd learned from a number of associates. ] A moment, please, before you go biting my head off at the very mention.

[ He takes a sip of tea, then continues. ]

...'The Knave', right? You asked me once if I killed the previous Administrator of the Fortress. Is it true she killed the previous Knave?