This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

6.30 – A Disoriented Fox VI

Delta's head spun. She looked between Zoey and the Guildmaster, unable to find her voice.

Eventually, she settled on something simple.

"Oh."

She didn't have anything else to add.

Enzo, at least, was quick to fill the silence.

"It was a surprise to me as well. It was certainly … uncharacteristic of my daughter to have formed a party of her own. She knows I had plans for her. Either she believes you three are more deserving of her company than who I would choose, somehow better equipped to protect her, or, alternatively, she was stricken by a sudden bout of sentimentality. And decided to make her temporary allies her permanent ones. I haven't decided which I believe is more plausible, yet." He tilted his head. "Though your reaction is providing … insight. You consider her a friend more than an ally, don't you?" He tsked. "Dangerous, in a career like this."

Neither Delta nor Zoey replied to him. Enzo didn't seem bothered. He continued, undeterred.

"Now," he said, shifting his weight on his throne. "I realize the first weeks upon entering the Fractures is a formative period of a person's life. For Rosalie, that would be no exception. Earning her class. Testing her mettle in a way she's trained for her entire life. And, of course, her first taste of autonomy. Away from my supervision. I am not so ignorant to think these things would not change her in some way. She's young. Recently an adult of her own." His lips curled up in amusement. "But, unless I greatly misunderstand my own daughter, sentimentality wouldn't have guided her entirely. She does, to some extent, believe you three worthy of being her teammates." He appraised them with a calm gaze. "I hope you realize how much political trouble that causes me. I had arranged what would have been the wayfaring party of a generation. The best and brightest youths from across the world. From respectable families. Solidifying troublesome political ties. And my daughter knows this. Yet, still, she chose you three, despite that it would force me to break my promises."

This time, Enzo didn't fill the silence. He waited patiently for a reply.

Zoey was the one to speak up.

"I don't mean any disrespect," she said. "But isn't this something you should discuss with her?"

"I intend to. But I wished to meet with you two first. And the Moonlight Weaver's daughter as well, of course." His eyes fell on Delta. "There's so much to learn from first impressions. Especially when there hasn't been proper time to prepare."

Delta's tail swished agitatedly behind her, but her head was still spinning. She only half heard Enzo's words. She stood there, numb, and just listened.

Getting no response from Delta, his gaze turned back to Zoey. "I suspect my daughter would have vastly preferred to have formed a plan of attack for this meeting." He seemed amused by the concept. "And to have taken the lead on your part. To speak for you. But I won't allow that to happen." He chuckled. "What father wouldn't wish to learn more about his daughter's teammates in an honest environment?"

"Where is she, anyway?" Zoey asked.

"Rosalie? In stasis. I'll be speaking with her last."

"And Maddy?"

"The daughter of the Moonlight Weaver is, of sorts, a dignitary of the Sovereign. That means she deserves a cordial welcome."

"And we don't?" Delta snapped, breaking her silence.

Both Zoey and Enzo paused, then looked at her.

"No," Enzo said. "As I understand it, you two are nobody. No ties, no connections, much less ones of relevance. So I need make no particular concessions."

Delta's annoyance was stifled by the sheer audacity of the words. Though, she supposed if anyone in the world was allowed audacity, it would be this man.

"I don't mean that in a disparaging way," Enzo continued wryly. "Rather, it is fact. All great families, or wayfarers, were at some point 'nobody'. It means nothing for a person's future value. Nonetheless, it is relevant. You are not the Moonlight Weaver's daughter. You don't receive special considerations. I need not hold polite audience with you." His lips quirked up, again, as he met Delta's eyes. "Which I take it you prefer. Lucinda told me you, especially, would not show proper respect. So a less formal meeting benefits both of us."

Delta considered the words.

"You know," she said. "You're even more an asshole than I thought you would be."

Enzo's eyebrows shot up.

He laughed.

"I'll forgive it, this once," he said. "You're upset by my daughter's decision to withhold her heritage. You consider it a betrayal of a friend. That's easy to read. Embarrassingly so, if I'm honest." He rubbed his chin. "Nonetheless, it's been some time since I've interacted with someone so incapable of holding her tongue. You realize what you just said, and to whom?" Calm blue eyes appraised Delta. "Have I recently earned a reputation for patience, among commoners? I wonder how that happened."

A chill went down Delta's spine. Zoey reached out and gently squeezed her arm. Not so much encouragement, this time, as warning. Even Zoey seemed on edge.

Delta stifled a disrespectful follow-up. However flustered she was, she was talking to Enzo d'Celestin. She couldn't spit out her insults as she would in any other situation. She had some modicum of self-preservation.

Sort of.

She bit her tongue hard enough it hurt.

Zoey, maybe recognizing Delta's state of mind, hastily spoke to fill the silence herself. "I don't think Rosalie would want you taunting her teammates. You said yourself that choosing us meant something, right?"

He made a noise of amusement. "Want? Why would I care what Rosalie wants?"

Zoey looked like she'd been slapped.

"I care what's good for her," Enzo said. "And what's good for our Guild. This meeting," he waved between the two of them, "against her will, is good for her, I believe."

"How can you say that?" Zoey asked. "Of course it matters what Rosalie wants. You're her father, aren't you?"

Delta had tried to piss this man off, but had failed. Zoey managed it handily, entirely without intention. Enzo's eyes chilled by several degrees, losing his demeanor of idle amusement. He leaned up on his throne, no longer lounging. Being called an asshole, apparently, wasn't a tenth as irritating to him as what Zoey had just said.

"Yes," he said coldly. "I am her father. And she is my heir as much as my daughter. What she wants is secondary to what she needs. What our Guild needs. What her people do. You don't understand what it means to rule, so don't speak on subjects you're ignorant of."

Zoey was smart enough not to reply.

Delta wasn't.

"No wonder she always sounds scared when she talks about you," she said.

Enzo stiffened.

Delta took satisfaction that she'd scored a blow. Then immediately afterward, she went cold in realization of what she'd just said, and to whom.

Really. If there was ever a time in her life she needed to collect herself, it was now.

This man was dangerous.

Like the ocean was wet.

Enzo took a breath, calming himself. "As I said, ignorant," he said dismissively. "You wouldn't understand. I love my daughter. As I love my Guild. But frivolous things like wants are irrelevant to those in our position. Alas, I didn't summon you here to bicker like children." He leaned back in his throne, visibly relaxing. "So tell me. Why did my daughter choose you as her teammates?"

Delta clenched her jaw shut, forcing herself to remain quiet. Zoey needed to lead this conversation. Delta was enormously lucky Enzo had decided to hold audience with both of them rather than one at a time. If it had been her alone with him, things would not have ended well.

As it stood, she didn't trust herself to say anything to this man without digging her own grave. The Guildmaster of the Deepshunters wasn't known for his mercy or kindness. Whether they were his daughter's allies or not, she needed to be careful around him.

"That's a complicated topic," Zoey said slowly. "And … it's something we'd rather discuss as a team."

"Obviously. As I've acknowledged, and hence this meeting without my daughter's presence. Continue."

Zoey grimaced, sharing a look with Delta. But, standing there, fuming, her head a mess for a number of reasons, she unfortunately wasn't in a good condition to help Zoey navigate this.

"I'm … sorry," Zoey said. "If this is really about you understanding her teammates, then you can ask us questions. About us. But I know Rosalie wants to explain her choices to you. And the bigger picture. I won't do it for her. I don't mean any disrespect by that."

"You're not in a position to deny a request from me," Enzo said. "You realize this?"

"Yes. But, again, respectfully, I care more about what Rosalie wants than what you do. She wants to explain herself to you. She's been stressed about it for days. She respects what you think. So I won't speak on her behalf."

Enzo tapped the armrest to his throne, annoyed, looking down on Zoey.

Eventually, he sighed.

"The loyalty is commendable. I could continue making threats, but I can read it on your face—you know they hold no weight." He grew increasingly irritated. "Because I won't harm Rosalie's guests, no matter how disrespectful they are. At least, not until I speak to her myself." His eyes flicked to Delta, holding them for a second, then back to Zoey. "Fine. I'll receive her reasoning from her. Nonetheless, I wish to understand you through my own lens. You can, at least, present yourself to me, no? So answer me. Who are you, to think you're worthy of being my daughter's allies?"