[ P ] listen to how the moral goes

WHEN YOU TALK AND EVERYBODY LISTENS

then you walk and everybody whispers

Like ice, Vikari's eyes glinted. He'd retreated from amid the room to lounge in its shadows, but every now and then the light still found him, mirrored in the pale winter blue of his gaze. At last, his contacts in the south had arrived to provide testimonials as to the efficacy of his sheltering, educating, and providing orphans with the skills society failed to offer them after they were discarded like trash by no choice of their own, and with that due diligence taking precedence, the headmaster could relinquish the spotlight, step away a moment, and breathe.

And contemplate how he loathed to suffer these ingrates. In Melrose, with his claws already dug deep through sheer perseverance and grit, and his legacy supported by a community which had watched him struggle and conquer, there had been no need for a benefit like this. But the tension between Rionnach and Saora since its establishment, having limited his opportunities at expansion until now, made it necessary. If he never had to step foot back in the north again, it wouldn't be soon enough.

Alas, his presence would be mandatory until he found someone sufficiently capable of running this branch in his stead. And, unfortunately, Vikari had little optimism that someone like that would reveal themselves tonight.