Hilana was glad that the Moonborn Senator didn’t seem too put out by the fact that she didn’t go off at length about details like what Æros bought or why, of all the places, the half-Fae had taken a liking to Sweet Remedies. She was glad too that there was some cover in the fact that the Saelyans had invited a number of business connections too, which at least helped lend credence to her cover and hide the reason for the gathering. It helped hide the tether between ghost and herbalist, because Hilana didn’t quite stick out as much as she might have had she been the only human present that was not a slave.
But all of that she couldn’t talk of, couldn’t mention, because doing so would be disastrous and the consequences would be dire for the ghost that so dearly wanted his position back.
She had to consider what might have been the elephant in the room, if it wasn’t the spectral energy. He had already remarked upon the fact that House Saelyan was just throwing a party for the sake of one, but showing off Æros in his cousin’s form. Senator Val’Olean was no fool, and Hilana wouldn’t have ever considered someone who had earned that rank and represented their house to be one. She had no way of knowing what all had been figured out in the meantime. She knew that Æros’ death and return had been announced shortly after she had brought him back to his family. She knew that the official statement was that the Founders had seen fit to return him rather than letting him proceed to the next life. She knew from listening to Æros that Shaeoth, too, had been involved. “Occasionally, Your Grace,” Hilana decided to go with. “Mostly it is about shared topics that interest him, like botany and plants that grow even beyond our home... and some of the ones that come from the far reaches of the Expanse. Or Elementalism, which Dominus Palaemon indulges both of us as paedagogus.”
Or food, which was another constant source of delight... but she was certain that Senator Val’Olean did not want to hear about pastries...
