That next morning, Iztris guided them out of the village so they could get back to Cheryn. He participated in conversation a bit more—Alyson guessed it was a combination of familiar territory and the memories associated with it.

At some point while they walked, Jacob spoke up. “Iztris—you came here after you died, didn’t you? Alyson said something like that.”

“I visited my brothers and their descendants,” Iztris replied with a nod. “I didn’t speak to any of them until my brothers all passed away, but for a while I came every year on a birthday or near the day I died. Why do you ask?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a delay if you wanted to find them,” Jacob offered kindly.

“It would, actually,” Iztris said simply. “I knew where they used to be, but given the changes in Letrela since then I doubt they’re still there. I visited enough in later years that, unless a person was born and died in between my visits, I knew who all of them were—I even spoke with a few. In the time since Elsyn declared their fight against mortals, I lost track of the line. Even if I looked, I can’t say that I could find them—if any even remained.”

“One or two should still be alive,” Alyson pointed out. “If not more than that, depending on how many kids everyone had. You might not be able to see them, but they should still be there.”

“Thank you for the words, I suppose,” Iztris replied.

They fell into some other conversation shortly afterwards, once again led by Jacob—but this time, him lamenting having to do schoolwork. Similarly aimless chats kept up whenever they could (sometimes Iztris recommended them stay silent if they passed by an odd town and such), and Iztris fell back into an occasional murmur when they got back to Cheryn while they were traveling.

They were gone for about three months, considering the trip overseas and the traveling on land. Still, they were welcomed back into the palace despite not doing much of anything. The king didn’t make Alyson and Iztris help him with reports until the next day (although Iztris did it anyway, as per usual), so Alyson headed to the little office the day after they came back home.

Her father tried to entertain small talk with Iztris, but eventually gave up in favor of asking Alyson about anything that hadn’t already been covered in the two meals since their return. Iztris still spoke more than he did before, though, just…still not quite enough to make the king feel like Iztris was at least pretending to like being here.

At some point, Jacob came in; he more-or-less just opened the door dramatically and poked his head in. “Iztris! I know you’re in here somewhere.”

Iztris, earlier in the corner hidden by the door, took a few steps over so Jacob could see him. Jacob smiled. “Great. So, the politics teacher won’t be here for the next week—I need you to go over the rest of the book so I don’t have to listen to her ranting.” He showed the book in question, now having Alyson and the king’s attention as well. “There’s not that much left.”

“You should wait until an actual teacher comes to teach you the rest,” the king pointed out. “Think of it as…practice. There will be more annoying people you have to deal with later.”

“This is only supposed to take a few hours,” Jacob argued, still respectful but firm. “And as such, this will take her the rest of the designated school time to finish. Iztris knows stuff—and I’ve learned plenty just from hearing him ramble back in Letrela.”

The king looked at Iztris curiously. “You’re capable of rambling?”

Iztris didn’t directly answer, putting down the report he had and walking over to Jacob. “What does it cover?”

“This last bit is the current-as-of-a-decade-ago state of the nations,” Jacob explained. “It will literally only take from now until lunch, I swear—including when we go over the current state of everything.”

Iztris took the book, flipped through the last few pages, then looked at the king. “Would you consider this to be my break for the next few days?”

“Not unless you think teaching kids is easier than reading reports,” the king answered.

“I honestly have no preference,” Iztris replied. He gave the book back to Jacob and said, “I can help—at least until you have to eat lunch.”

Jacob nodded his thanks and left with Iztris. The king spoke after Iztris closed the door behind them.

“He never actually agreed to do that before,” the king mused. “Usually he says something like ‘No, I have to work.’ Not that I’m really complaining, but still.”

Alyson put down her reports. “I think we all understand by now that this will take time; we can only go through papers as quickly as they come in, so some of the time is spent aimlessly talking anyway.”

“Three people really is more than we need,” the king noted. “I’m getting less reports from some places, too.”

“Have you sent out any knights?” Alyson asked. Cautiously, she added, “If it’s like that other town…”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I sent people out, don’t worry. Hopefully, we can figure out where they are before they get out of Cheryn.”

Alyson nodded quietly, and they both continued working.