"Don't whine like a baby," Magnius told Vir. "You still have your sister. She can feed you."
"You guys are such assholes!" Aira retorted.
While Magnius and the emperor chuckled at the nine-year-old girl's annoyance, the girl herself led Vir to sit in one of the chairs at the table.
"Sit down, Vir," Aira said. "They won't get their hands dirty serving you. Those people are a pain in the ass!"
"Oh, sister," said the emperor. "Don't make bad judgments about us."
"I don't care!" Aira snorted again.
Then the emperor sat across the table, facing Vir, while Magnius stood quietly beside the emperor, Vir's black dagger tucked into his left hip.
"Given your nature," the emperor then said to Vir, "I'll cut to the chase."
"Yeah," Vir replied. "The longer I talk to you, the more my brain seems to freeze!"
The emperor laughed. "My God, you have no patience at all."
"Whatever!" Vir looked away. "Aira, give me a drink, I'm so thirsty!"
