The Australian security team returhrough the portal to report on what they had found. Jaso Lu Yan through a separate portal, to join with the gover officials eating frozen desserts. Lu would joiour, led by the cierge, allowing Jason to get baily. In theory.

  He stepped out of a Shade body onto his cloud ship, but Shade spoke up before Jason had the ove.

  “Mr Asano.”

  “Please tell me there isn’t something I have to go do. I’m trying to introduce all my friends to my family.”

  “Mrs Tilden requires your input. She has what she believes are adequate terms for delivering the dimensional refugees back to Earth. She said it would be best if you could appear in person to ratify the agreement.”

  “Why did it have to be today?” he grumbled. “How much leeway do I have in terms of time?”

  “Knowing that you are occupied, Mrs Tilde up a meeting for this afternoon in berra, with a number of ambassadors and officials representing the nations and fas whose people were dispced. It is scheduled for one hour and forty-seven minutes from now.”

  Jaso out a frustrated groan.

  “Okay, that is worth showing up for. If I eople to take me seriously.”

  “On that note, Mr Asano, Mrs Tilden suggested you not arrive in short pants. She went as far as to express a hope that you might see your way into donning an actual suit. Might I suggest one of the new outfits from Mr Bertinelli, iesse style. Something refleg the formality of Earth business fashion while clearly drawing a distin. I would, I believe, send the message yoing for.”

  Jason nodded.

  “As always, Shade, your taste is impeccable.”

  “Then might I vince you to reread The Remains of the Day, whicapsutes attitudes of—”

  “You realise that’s a sad book about a guy who gave up love out of dedication to a Nazi sympathiser.”

  “It is a work taining many fine lessons oure of service, Mr Asano. And I would hope that you are dising in your sympathies.”

  “Me too. Look, we’ll watch the film version tonight, with Emi and her parents, alright? Assuming things stop ing up.”

  “That would be very fine, Mr Asano. Even if I do not approve of Sir Anthony’s choice of essences. Potent, Fertile, Vast and Edifice. Wholly undignified.”

  ***

  The meeting proved mercifully uful. There were some questions from the Australian Fn Minister about the portal still in the berra office, but he fobbed the man off onto Anna. Most of the attendees seemed nervous about Jason, although curiosity and ambition warred with fear in their auras.

  As Jason wao stall out his time in Australia, despite his cims, he allowed himself to be talked into waiting for a location to be set up on the coast. The refugees would be released there to their respective nations and anisations.

  As most of the refugees beloo both magical fas and nations, there was some tention over would be colleg them. While some nations had merged with various fas, or at least had very close retions, others did not. Some fas, like the Engineers of Assion and various iterations of the work, no longer existed at all.

  Jason noticed that none of the people suggested asking the refugees themselves, but he happily stayed out of those iations. There were a few attempts t him into the discussion, but he stayed out of it. Unless and until some of the refugees requested some kind of asylum from whoever arrived to pick them up, he had no horse in that race. He was grateful for Anna’s assistan avoidias diplomatically.

  He left the ambassadors to their deliberations, returning to his ship ohe logistical details that ed him were finalised. Anna came with him, likewise happy to escape the affair. She had been there far lohan him and had exhausted roductive moves she could make.

  “You did well, Jason,” she said after they appeared in a room on the ship set aside for teleport arrivals. “And an excellent choi the suit.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Shade?”

  “He did help pick it out,” Jason ceded. “My family is having a barbecue on the deck eight terrace lounge, if you want something to eat.”

  “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

  “Rufus, Taika and Gary are there. And I’m finally going t my friends from the other world to meet everyone. I know you’ve been waiting to ect with Danielle Geller.”

  “Then I shall refresh myself and make my way down.”

  ***

  “Wait, were we meant to dress up?” Neil asked. “You said the dress code was casual.”

  “It is,” Jason assured him. “I just had a meeting with the Earthlings.”

  “I hope you didn’t call them that,” Danielle said.

  “I totally did. Even told them to take me to their leader.”

  She rolled her eyes as Jason fshed an impish grin.

  Jason’s friends were gathering in the hall outside their suites. His team, minus Zara. Farrah and Danielle. Emir and stance, Arabelle and Gabriel. Valdis and his wife Sigrid. Belinda had Estel with her, trying not to be awkward around Jory. Travis was nervously g the hand of his wife Gabrielle.

  “Travis, you were one of the first outsiders to sign on with the Asano . You could have been dowhe whole time.”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s been so long, you know?”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Jason assured him. “You’re amongst friends. Family. And I know we’ve had our differences, Gabrielle, but you’re family too, now.”

  He looked around.

  “No Zara?”

  “She’s still with the Rimaros diplomatiti,” Danielle said.

  “I told her this was happening,” Sophie said. “She’ll join us or she won’t.”

  “I’ll call in on them,” Jason said. “But not until after. I’ve been waiting too long to put this off anymore.”

  ***

  The Storm kingdom royal family rawling, making up almost a quarter of the kingdom’s nobility. Even the least promi of noble houses had at least a few royals tucked away in the family tree, all carefully tracked to keep families from being too close. Royals on the level of Zara were rare, with most of the princes and princesses being far less iial than upper-tier nobility.

  Zareen Rimaros was teically a princess, but far enough down the hierarchy that she was formally referred to as ‘dy’ rather than ‘princess’ or ‘yhness.’ The same was true for many of the diplomatic team sent to eh the authorities of Earth.

  Acc with her status, she had served as something like a dy in waiting for princess Zara, and they had bee close during the journey. It helped that Zareen also had a history with Jason, although Zareen’s was far less plicated. It was mostly a social e, through her mother, Liara. Liara was likewise a lesser royal, but her personal poosition in the Adventure Society made her a political foroheless.

  Zareen sat on Zara’s bed, watg the other princess pace bad forth.

  “You should just go,” she told Zara. “This is only a big deal in your head.”

  “What if I’m being presumptuous?”

  “Presumptuous? We’ve all been watg the pair of you eye-humping every time you’re in a room together.”

  Zara stopped to give her a scathing look. Zareen responded by putting her wrist to her forehead and falling back, as if take.

  “Oh Captain, I am but a rincess, cast adrift on a dimensional sea. Take me in your manly arms and—”

  She was cut off by a thrown pillow, ughing as it bounced away.

  ***

  While Jason was corralling his friends, the group at the gathering was growing as well. More members were appearing through a shadow portal, including Jason’s oldest uncle, Shiro Asano. He arrived with the former members of the work’s Asano , exiled to the Australian for siding with Jason during his st trip to Earth. The head of that group was the Japanese Asano ’s former patriarch, also named Shiro Asano. The Two Shiros, as they had bee known, had struck up a friendship during the course of Jason’s long absence.

  With them were former members of the Tiwari . Like the Japanese Asanos, they had been exiled from their family for siding with Jason. Jason’s previous time oh had been filled with betrayal a, so he greatly appreciated those who had demonstrated iy, eve cost them dearly.

  Leading his friends, Jason paused outside the door to the lounge, as nervous as Nik had been earlier. Humphrey pced a hand on his shoulder.

  “It’ll be fine, Jason.”

  “He’s right,” Belinda said. “I mean, will they hate Neil? Probably, yes.”

  “Hey…”

  “Thanks,” Jason said. “That calmed me down. But yeah, they’re probably all going to hate Neil.”

  “Gods dammit.”

  “No gods here, mate,” Jason told him. “There’s just me.”

  “Wow,” Neil said. “That may be the most arrogant thing you’ve ever said, and that’s a crowded field.”

  “It retty bad,” Humphrey agreed.

  “Sorry. I was doing a thing, earlier, and I thought I might have to turn off the sun for a bit. To prove a point, you know? It put me in a certain head space.”

  “Just open the damn door,” Sophie said. “I want something to eat.”

  The door dissolved away.

  “Farrah!” Emi yelled and bolted over.

  ***

  “You’re all so good looking,” Erika said. “I mean, I know what magic does to people’s appearances, but even by those standards, it’s really something. It’s like you all just waltzed in from a modelling agency.”

  “That’s really fttering, Eri,” Jason said.

  “And Jason would be your manager. Which would expin the one guy who isn’t geous like the rest of you.”

  “Really?” Jason whined.

  “I like her,” Belinda said in fwless English and stepped forward to shake Erika’s hand. “I’m Belinda, and this is Estel.”

  “I actually reise you,” Erika said. “Jason made recs during his first trip to your world.”

  “I remember those,” Belinda said. “They were really annoying.”

  Jason watched happily as his two families met for the first time. For two groups from literally different worlds, they meshed better than he ever could have hoped. Much of the start was him making introdus. Most of the adults present were essence users, so remembering names was easy.

  He watched the healers, Neil, Jory, Arabelle and Sigrid, discuss different approaches to magical healing with Jason’s brother-in-w and another doctor, Chloe Baudrilrd. Emi, Clive and Gary were messily disassembling one of Emi’s cube structs on a table where people were meant to be eating. Valdis was enthusiastically discussih sword teiques with non-uncle Shiro and his daughter, Akari.

  Anna and Danielle finally met, Jasoing the urge to push his sehrough their privacy s as they shared exasperated expressions while gesturing in his dire. Emir was holding court with some of the younger geion, many children having arrived with the extra members. He was loudly reting a boisterous tale of treasure hunting and adventure.

  Jason’s father was talking with Emir’s wife and Arabelle’s husband. Farrah was catg up with Rufus after fifteen years of separation from her oldest friend. Nik, Belinda ael were raiding the buffet table as if they o store food away for the winter. Belinda was interrogating an uain-looking Itsuki Tiwari over what was the best food to swipe. Humphrey and Sophie were cirg, the absolute tre of attention.

  “It’s almost obnoxious,” Erika said. “They’re just perfect humanoid spes. I am not fortable with the look Nana is giving Humphrey.”

  “I knht?” Jason agreed. They were watg the room from a quiet booth against the wall, a ucopia of food id out before them.

  “You know they’re all going to be famous, right?” Erika asked. “Did you prepare them at all for a horde of thirsty people oer?”

  “Is ‘thirsty’ a term people are still using? I’d have thought they would have moved on from that by now.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been living in a magic hole for years, cut off from popur culture.”

  “It’s not a magic hole.”

  “There’s a hole in the universe you gh to get in, Jason. It’s a magic hole.”

  “That’s aure, not a hole.”

  “You know we have i here? Unlike in the magic hole. You do realise what I’ll find if I look up synonyms of aperture on my phone, right?”

  “Shut up a your burger.”

  She pted poking him some more, but it was a good burger, so she picked it up and took a bite. Jaso out a tented sigh and leaned into his sister’s shoulder.

  “This is exactly what I wanted, Eri. Everything I’ve wanted, for so long. I know there’s going to be a bunch of crap to deal with, but right in this moment, everything is perfect.”

  “I heard someoion there was another member of your team?”

  “Zara. She’s a princess of the kingdom oher end of the magic bridge. They have a diplomatic team here to establish retions oh. She’s with them.”

  “A princess, you say.”

  “Yep.”

  “A beautiful princess?”

  “Look at these people, Eri. They’re all beautiful.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Jason sat up straight and looked at his sister.

  “Eri, who have you been talking to?”

  “Farrah.”

  Jaso out a weary sigh.

  “I want to meet her, Jason.”

  “Nothing has happened between me and Zara.”

  “I want to meet her.”

  Jason looked around the room at people having a good time.

  “Later,” he said. “There’s history, with Zara and me, and things are delicate right now. her of us kly where things stand, or where they’re going. And there are plications. Political ramifications. She’s a princess, Eri, and not of the wave-at-people-during-a-hospital-opening variety.”

  “So, she’s not allowed to hook up with a oner?”

  “No, that’s not the issue. It’s plicated and political, and about more than just her position. I’ve fallen into an unusual position in Pallimustus global politics. Danielle, e here please.”

  Danielle was oher side of a loud room, and inside a privacy s. Even so, she looked over at Jason’s softly spoken request. She made her way over and Jason tapped the button oable that activated the privacy magi the booth. Jason and Erika stood as Danielle approached.

  “I don’t think you two have formally met. Erika, this is Danielle, Humphrey’s mother. Danielle, this is my sister. I need my sister to uand why she ’t interfere with my retionship with Zara. For my own good, of course, in that big sister way. I thought that you would be better to expin Pallimustus politics, my position in it and how that retes to the princess. Both because your expnation will be better, and she won’t doubt half of it on principle the way she would with me.”

  “It is good to meet you,” Danielle said. “And Jason was right t me in on this. I’ll leave the plex personal history for him to expin ter, and focus on the politics. How much has Jason told you about what he’s been up to on my world?”

  “Not much.”

  “Then I will start at the beginning. Shall we sit?”

  “I’ll go,” Jason said, standing up. “I might sneak out and see if I ’t talk Zara into joining us.”

  “Jason,” Danielle said. “I won’t tell you what to do, or not to do. What I will ask is that any choices you make, you do not make lightly.”

  “I know,” he said. She nodded, and he left. The two women cimed seats in the booth.

  “Perhaps,” Danielle said, “I should start from the very beginning. I ending some time at my family’s ie when I was visited by Rufus Remore. He had an unusual story, tred around a strange man he had met…”