"No," she tells him, smiling and pleased as he takes a second biscuit, though she's watching him closely. "The Eighth has their biases, but not against my House. Silas and Colum even came to our dinner party."

Abigail sets the plate down and considers him with the frank appraisal of a societal equal and the warmth of the egregious busybody with an over-active maternal instinct. "You seem concerned, Hanguang-jun. Why is that?"