"She'd be delighted to hear me admit it, but Alex usually is," says Darlington, his tone sliding into something utterly fond for a moment. "Annoyed the hell out of me when we first met." Most things had, in fairness, but they'd settled in to one another afterwards--both there and here.

He listens as Palamedes describes the hierarchy of the Sixth, a system that seems as byzantine as anything he'd encountered at Yale or Barton, let alone between the societies. "Oh, God, of course it'd be the archives," he says, echoing the quick grin Palamedes flashes him. "Good to know some things are constant between worlds."