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Azrael's small smile fell. "Prince de Babineaux offered to fill in the blanks in an official capacity, but that is not why his report is in there instead of yours," he said. "Mauri did not want your name in the report."

"Why would my father not want his daughter getting credit for... Oh, because I'm responsible for the innocent life loss," I surmised.

He shook his head. "That is not it at all, Child," he assured me. "You are only in your fourth year, because you were homeschooled it puts you two years behind in your official training. When those of the first Five Houses see talent like you, at such a young age, appearing available, they want it."

Wait, what?

"Want it?" I asked, confused.

"Your disdain towards royals because of their lack of longing to learn to protect themselves is one that many Sentinels have," Azrael said. "It has been a very difficult line that has separated our people, the society classes of our people, for longer than I care to admit. It is getting better, but it takes longer than one will see in their lifetime, sadly, to completely erase that line. Your father and I did not want that type of stress on your shoulders. We did not want you having to see and be subjected to that outdated practice of talent sourcing."

Damn it.

I can't fault either of them for that.

It wasn't until you are a Sixth year that they went over assignments and how you got them, where you'd spend your first three years shadowing another, already established Sentinel before getting your first actual solo assignment. I only knew those details because Shaggy slipped up one day when we were grappling his final year at the Academy.

"Was there anything else?" Azrael asked.

I nodded, tossing the folder with Viggo's redacted initials and name as the one that completed it on the desk. "Riven," I said. "I do not feel Zaidin will be safe in his care."

Azrael nodded; using Zane's birth name stressed the severity of my concern. "I feared that would happen, though it happened much quicker than I expected," he admitted. "Riven is a very talented Guardian, young and ambitious, and you severely wounded his pride."

"I know, but it wasn't intentional."

"We know that. Let me tell you about him, and hopefully, that will help put your heart and mind at ease until a replacement can be found. Riven Harker is the fourth youngest to ever be accepted into the Imperial Guard," Azrael informed me. "He fought against prejudicial discrimination because his father, Samuel Harker, is a human from outside our world. Riven's mother is from a very high-standing House, one she turned her back on long before she was with child.

"Riven fought at every turn to overcome everything thrown at him, including being raised in the human world. Then, when he thought he was finally getting the respect he felt he deserved, that he worked so hard to get, that his mother lost because she married a human, a young female took it from him with the swing of a chair."

I groaned. "That makes it so much worse," I whined.

"I just wanted you to know," he said.

"You wanted me to have perspective," I retorted, and he nodded. "You used to do that when I was a child as well, and it always annoyed me. It caused Zannie to have the guilty conscience that he does, and me to be more objective before acting."

"Your brother hides his guilty conscience rather well," Azrael said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I know," I agreed, making a face. "But killing the Madame of a Blood Brothel, that just healed me, and that was a stripped of a crown, like his mother even, Princess by the sound of it, wouldn't have given him honor or respect," I pointed out.

Azrael nodded his agreement.

"A Sentinel, any person really, that blindly follows orders when they war with their conscience is not someone that should be protecting our people or even be allowed among them," I warned. "If his actions were not warring with his conscience, then he has no place in my life or around my brother or our people. It is because of that type of blind allegiance that darkness and the Devilry are so easily allowed into the minds and souls of our people without conscious effort."

He sighed, pulling his hands over his face. "Speaking with you is always like speaking with Mauri, only you are more frustrating because your words are spoken with such passion and concern that it makes me guilty for not being able to act on them immediately," he informed me.

I smiled. "I rather be called Father's twin than Mother's," I agreed, and he chuckled. "Let me talk to Riven and apologize or something, and if I still have a weird vibe from him, I'll let you know. I'll make sure that I'm around one of my guys or someone I trust when I'm around him and that Zannie stays within my protection and doesn't run off... He ran off with Slevin. Awesome."

Azrael chuckled. "Slevin will keep him out of trouble. I do not want you or your brother uncomfortable with those around them," he reminded me. "Just let me know what you want me to do and it shall be done. In these trying times we need all the security we can get."

That was putting it mildly.