Kell's eyebrow twitched at the touch of her mind against his, but he did not push when he felt her reconsider and withdraw. The last thing they needed was to have to explain that connection to his parents when they invariably noticed that something was silently happening between them.

Instead, he listened to the way Neria explained what she was. It was still... strange to him. For all that it had effected her so deeply, for all that she saw herself as other, Kell very rarely thought of Neria as different. Even the elves of Aallotar had seemed different to him, but she never had.

He kept his foot where it was.

"Your race is not one that exists in this world," Maxim answered, his words measured. He did not know the history she hinted at, or what it meant to her. Emira, meanwhile, had lifted her eyes to Kell, who nodded, already anticipating her question.

"I can disguise you as a human," Kell pointed out. "It would be a simple illusion. I can have it ready before the royals arrive tonight."

Emira nodded, her brow creasing slightly in concern. "You say your kind are not predisposed to magic, but according to Kell, you wield powers on par with his own. Is that true?"