"Well, I hope he doesn't raise his children to be entitled gits, anyway," he said, not unkindly. "I suppose Uncle Reiner can keep their feet on the ground." He offered a crooked smile with his crooked compliment, and he didn't even say anything to cheapen the honest things Reiner was sharing.
"To Solunarium? A friend was stuck there and I had to check on him." He paused, wondering if it was common knowledge that Solunarium had been looking for allies in Karnor at one point and Zaichaer had been on the list. Aurin thought he could probably break Reiner's brain a little, threaten his heartfelt beliefs, but that wasn't really his aim. "I brought some intel back to the Minister, so they made sure I wasn't contaminated, I guess. And I did bring protection with me. I'm not an idiot."
Aurin nodded thoughtfully about the covens. "Seems they're going to be tolerated and utilized as long as they toe the Order's line. You probably have a line on the head of the Order, though, so you know more than I do. I guess if they're all licensed now, at least you won't have to be surprised by the next girl who catches your fancy. What'd she look like? What's your type?"
As Reiner passed the halfway mark on his second pint, Aurin gave the bartender another nod. He wasn't going to force intoxicants down his gullet, but if he kept drinking and kept talking, all the better. Aurin wasn't going to leave him passed out in public, either; he was a bad man but sometimes it paid to do good--self-interested good.
