"You want me to change Spheris's mind?" Rya smiled, a weak yet amused smile. "I'm not capable of doing that. Hardly ever been. Once Spheris has decided on something... he can be very stubborn."
"Mrs Arnadel. It is important that you try."
"I believe differently," Ryan said with a cough. "I think it's more important that I do not use emotional manipulation to influence such a significant decision of my son."
She coughed again, drier. "But even if I did. Spheris wouldn't change his mind. He's always preferred his freedom, perhaps when he scaled both, the Academy offered more of that to him than you did. Ugh... ugh! My point... is... as long as he has a reason, changing my son's mind is almost impossible."
Duke Bellunder's lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes fell to the ground, flickering with disappointment as he thought.
Rya watched him silently, a knowingness in her own weak eyes.
"You don't remember him, do you?" she asked.
