Ned knelt before the cylindrical glass. All that time he went to a bitter struggle to look for Tiathe. All that time, somebody held her captive. Or was she? Ned doesn't know what had happened. All this time, he had wished that none of it happened to him. Was it because of him? He asked for ICE, still, none answered him. He could not ask for Rassus, what's the point? Certainly not his master.
Ned balled his fist, feeling the ring around his finger. People might see it as bogus to have a ring not emitting any mana, but that must be the reason it was still sticking on his finger. His thoughts cascaded back to the empire, where he and Kamma were together. At some point, he knew that something like this would happen. He knew at some point in time that the happiness he felt with Kamma would soon come to an end. And he hated it that he was right. He gritted his teeth, stared at Tiathe then at the figures standing in a row beside the glass.
