"You did well," he said. Nishani jerked and twisted to face him. Her features were flushed, her eyes large.
"Have you been here long?" she asked.
"Long enough."
Nishani at once looked uncertain again, her frame tense. She shifted her body to face him, but he moved to her side and sat on the bench a safe distance from her. She continued to watch him.
"You're taking a break from the Council?"
"How long have you been using this device?" He ignored her question, focused on her for the moment.
"I have your permission," she reminded him, eyes narrowing.
"I know."
"Since you left," she responded. "Against Ne'Rin's wishes."
"You must defer to him in my absence as you do me," he reminded her. One eyebrow rose in challenge, and her jaw clenched. "Rather, more so than you do me, given your usual behavior."
She feigned ignoring him, though he saw the flush of her face grow deeper. He recalled her outburst at him the previous day.
"I'm not comfortable around Ne'Rin," she admitted.
"You're not comfortable around me."
"This is different," she insisted. She paused, as if searching for the right words, then continued. "It's just an instinct I have about him."
"Instinct?" A'Ran prodded. "This guides your judgment on him?"
"Yes, of course, on everything," she said. "Like this game. I don't think when I'm using it. I feel what should happen next."
"What is this instinct about Ne'Rin?" he continued, alerted by her words.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said.
"Nishani, you don't determine what we discuss," he growled. Her eyes flew to his once more.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said, but with a tremor of uncertainty. He waited. She looked away before he did but refused to crack. He shifted tactics.
"This … game, you do very well at it."
"I like it," she said. "Today was difficult, but normally I do much better."
"Today it was on training mode," he said, and reached forward, activating it. He touched a few buttons to take it off training mode. The quiet, uneventful scene on the frontier appeared. He stood and moved to take her place, nudging her aside. Nishani rose as he slid into the seat before the console.
"Training mode?" she repeated.