The Darrows left all three of them in a foul mood for different reasons. Eirian was infuriated that someone believed Mingzhe had deliberately sacrificed his soldiers. Yuze was annoyed that the Darrows had claimed they would definitely do better when they didn't actually command troops in life-or-death situations at all.
And Kai Low was annoyed with their general attitude. "What lovely people you have in your stone city, Lady."
Eirian had growled at him, and Kai Low had growled right back, leaving Yuze awkwardly stuck between two adults acting like animals as they walked back to the main castle.
Yuze and Kai Low were unlikely to be recognized on the walk, but Eirian was nearly impossible to miss, and the looks varied between awe, welcome, surprise, and fear. They were a bit extreme, even for the Lady of the Estate, and Yuze wondered why Eirian inspired such an exaggerated shift.
And then he remembered everything she'd done since arriving and felt like a fool for forgetting for just a second. The people of the Camelia would love her for protecting it even as they were terrified of her power.
It was the nature of power to be feared and revered at the same time, just as those who wielded it were loved and hated as they did. People longed for power even when they knew it would ruin their lives if they actually got it, but they fought tooth and nail for it.
It was a maddening part of human nature.
Eirian seemed determined to ignore it as they crossed the south bridge, but she walked with her head held high down the middle of the bridge and ignored all the looks she received.
Kai Low looked around as they passed over the widest part of a river, curious, but he either didn't notice the looks from the population or didn't care.
Yuze definitely needed to get him alone as soon as possible to deduce his motivations in regards to this investigation. He considered his options as they approached the main castle and he saw the guards stationed at the entrance straighten as they spotted Eirian. It wouldn't be hard to convince Kai Low to talk to him alone, it would be much harder to convince Eirian or Chenzhou that it was safe to do so.
He was healing, but he wasn't fully healed and Kai Low was emotional, uncontrollable in a way that made Yuze nervous because it made the Bandri unpredictable.
Fox had always been in control. There was never a moment when a single atom of him wasn't doing what he wished, working towards some goal that it turned out Yuze had no idea about. There was a short period of time where he'd thought he did, where he was convinced he knew what Fox wanted out of life, but he'd never been so wrong before.
Clearly, Yuze wasn't as smart or as capable as he or anyone else thought.
Maybe he shouldn't try to deal with Kai Low? He could mention his concerns to Eirian or Chenzhou, or even Henri, and they could speak to him.
But would Kai Low talked to them?
Would he even talk to Yuze? Maybe he was making another assumption about knowing another person and it was just as much of a mistake as it had been with Fox.
The thought plagued him all the way into the main castle, until Eirian invited them both to dine with her, Chenzhou, and Mingzhe.
Yuze excused himself and Kai Low, it would be mostly ignored if Eirian dined with Mingzhe given their closeness, but it would raise questions if more than one of them did.
Kai Low's eyes followed him like a hawk as Eirian nodded and left, promising to join them again first thing in the morning.
Yuze turned and headed back towards his office, planning to eat at his desk as he did most nights he didn't eat with Chenzhou. Kai Low followed without prompting and Yuze steadied his nerves as their footsteps echoed off the stone walls.
Kai Low didn't hesitate to follow him into the office, letting the door swing shut behind him and making himself comfortable in a chair in front of Yuze's desk. Yuze flagged down a guard and sent him for dinner before he could change his mind.
Kai Low looked like he was settling in anyway, so maybe he wouldn't run if Yuze just had the uncomfortable conversation.
Yuze started a pot of tea instead.
~ tbc