Arik’s gaze lowered.

"No."

The word was quiet, but it cut through the comm line, through the hum of the Vanguard, and through the gold pulse of the Gate still breathing behind them.

Noah did not answer immediately.

That alone said enough.

Liam looked from the projection to Arik.

The prince’s face had closed again, not cold this time, but old. He was still handsome and young, but his eyes and expresion was oddly out of place.

"No old staff," Arik repeated. "Not yet."

Noah’s voice came through more carefully. "Kamal thought you might say that."

"Kamal knows better than to pretend gathering old ghosts under one roof will end quietly."

"They may help."

"They may also start asking questions I am not ready to answer."

Liam’s attention sharpened.

Arik did not look at him.

Noah sighed softly. "Then one person for Amara first."

"Yes," Arik said. "Someone calm. Someone she knows, if Kamal can find one. No court attendants. No scholars. No relic hunters pretending concern is research."

Liam’s mouth tightened faintly.

That last phrase had been for him.

Probably.

Maybe.

He chose not to be offended only because Arik’s hand still rested on the small of his back and because the pressure of it was steady rather than possessive now.

"I’ll tell him," Noah said. Then his voice shifted again. "But there is another problem."

Arik’s eyes closed briefly.

"Noah."

"I know. I enjoy living too, but unfortunately the universe keeps placing administrative mines under my feet." A faint sound of paper, or perhaps a tablet being passed, crackled through the line. "Kamal says Amara does not only need clean ether. If the poisoning reached the channel lining deeply enough, she needs a physician specialized in ether pathway damage."

Liam looked up from the projection.

Arik went still.

This stillness was worse than the last.

Noah continued, slower now, as if reading from something while hating every word. "He says the physician must understand long-term ether corrosion, forced aging through channel decay, and pheromone-bonded contamination."

Liam’s fingers stilled above the projected relay map.

"That’s very specific."

"It is," Noah said.

Arik’s hand fell away from Liam’s back.

Liam noticed immediately.

The loss of warmth felt too sudden in the cold air of the lab.

Arik stepped half a pace away, not far, but enough for the conversation to become political again. Enough for the Crown Prince to return where the man had stood.

"There are two," Arik said.

Noah went silent.

Liam turned toward him fully.

"Two what?"

"Physicians in Agaron with the correct specialization and field experience," Arik answered with an even tone Liam learned to dislike.

"One is already deployed to civilian recovery sites."

Noah’s voice lowered immediately. "No."

Liam looked toward the comm.

Arik did not answer.

Noah sounded, for the first time that evening, genuinely alarmed.

"Arik."

"The other is Marin," Arik said.

Liam blinked, confused. He did not know who Marin was, but he understood several things at once.

Noah knew him.

Noah feared him.

And Arik had just named someone who apparently made even Noah Claymore reconsider his commitment to survival through sarcasm.

"Oh, absolutely not," Noah said.

Arik’s eyes narrowed. "Noah."

"No. No, I am allowed to object on spiritual and medical grounds. You cannot call Marin into Wrohan without warning the walls first."

Liam’s interest sharpened.

"Who is Marin?"

"The Imperial Physician," Arik said.

Noah made a sound that was nearly a laugh and entirely not one.

"Former Shadow commander," Noah added. "Old omega. Terrifying. Looks at bloodwork the way generals look at weak borders. Has personally frightened half the palace into better nutrition."

Arik said, "He is very competent."

"He once told me that inherited stupidity was not curable but could be managed with silence."

Liam closed his eyes and prayed to the higher gods for mercy but no one was home and a smile twisted his efforts not to laugh.

"I like him."

"No, you don’t," Noah said immediately. "You like the idea of him because you have not yet been trapped in a room while he explains exactly how your lifestyle choices insult your internal organs."

Arik’s gaze slid toward Liam.

"You probably will like him."

"That is not reassuring," Noah said. "Everyone either fears Marin or has learned to pretend very convincingly that they don’t. The only exception is Gabriel, because Gabriel treats medical authority as a conversation and somehow survives."

Liam’s brows lifted.

"Gabriel isn’t afraid of him?"

"No," Noah said. "Which is why the rest of us fear both of them in the same room."

Arik’s mouth moved faintly.

"Marin respects Gabriel."

"Marin argues with Gabriel like a man who knows imperial law cannot protect him and does it anyway," Noah corrected. "That is not the same thing."

Liam looked back at Arik.

"So, an old omega, former Shadow commander, and Imperial Physician specialized in ether-channel damage and is terrifying enough that Noah is losing coherence."

"I remain coherent," Noah said.

"You said we need to warn the walls."

"They deserve preparation."

Arik exhaled once, already resigned.

"Marin is the correct physician."

"I know," Noah said, and that was the problem. His tone lost some of its theatrical edge. "That’s why I’m objecting emotionally instead of practically."

The line quieted.

Then Noah added, more carefully, "If he comes, Gabriel will know."

Arik’s expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Liam saw it.

The line of his shoulders tightened. The warmth in his eyes dimmed beneath calculation.

Noah continued, "And if Gabriel knows, Damian knows. And if Damian knows, this stops being your contained Wrohan operation and becomes an imperial family incident with medical supervision."

Liam looked between them.

"It already sounds like one."

"Yes," Noah said. "But we were all pretending very hard."

Arik’s gaze shifted toward the Gate.

Gold veins pulsed through dark steel in slow rhythm, as if amused by the concept of secrecy.

"No more pretending," Arik said at last.

Noah was silent for a beat.

Then he sighed.

"I hate when you become responsible. It’s unsettling."

"Call the residence," Arik said. "Have Sella prepare a secure medical suite. Two access layers, independent ventilation, no Wrohan staff within three corridors."

"Understood."

"Tell Kamal to prepare a concise medical summary for Marin. Exposure history, visible aging, channel symptoms, known triggers, and anything Amara remembers about Felix’s pheromones."

Noah’s voice had shifted fully into work now.

"Yes."

"And do not tell Amara there may be a possibility. Not yet."

This time Noah’s answer was softer.

"Kamal asked the same."

"Then Kamal knows the answer."

Liam studied Arik’s face.

For all the arrogance, all the possessive certainty, all the almost unbearable heat from minutes before, there was something very careful in him now.

A refusal to make hope careless.

Noah seemed to understand it too.

"I’ll contact Marin’s office through the secure channel," Noah said. Then, after a pause, "Do you want me to call him directly?"

Arik’s mouth tightened.

"No."

Noah exhaled, and even through the comm, Liam could hear relief.

"Thank God."

Arik’s eyes narrowed. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"You are a Claymore heir."

"I am also deeply committed to not being the person who informs Marin that you are in Wrohan with a love interest with questionable biology, an impossible Gate, a poisoned historical survivor, and a fiancé building a medical-grade exposure field from an illegal civilian turbine."

Liam frowned.

"That sounded judgmental."

"It was descriptive."

Arik said, "I will call him."

"Good," Noah replied. "He likes you."

Arik’s expression became very flat.

"No, he doesn’t."

"He tolerates you with advanced medical concern. That is practically affection from Marin."

Liam glanced at Arik.

"I definitely want to meet him."

"No," Arik and Noah said at the same time.

Liam smiled.

The Gate pulsed softly behind them.

Arik closed his eyes for a brief second, as if already regretting every person he had allowed into the same narrative.