Kell waited for the questions to come, feeling the silence like a wall, a place she'd gone in her thoughts that he could not follow. He saw this particular part of his duty as utterly necessary, and whether the liked it immaterial.

"No," he answered, "not by far. There are layers upon layers of security, but I am a part of it, and Rhy has always been my main priority.

"Had I not been here, the priests of the sanctuary itself would have acted in my stead. But I could handle it with minimal risk."

Kell finished the sentence, and felt... strange. Removed, given all they'd seen. What had been done to them.

"With Holland dead, no single person alive in any of the Londons could have a hope of challenging me in a fair fight."

... short of Neria herself.