Kell is grateful for the somber look on Sirius' face. He has no reason to trust him, but after the kindnesses he's shown, Kell has no reason to distrust him either. If he were lying, surely his words wouldn't be so devastating, and Kell trusts the grief he can already feel welling within him most of all.

Rhy isn't here. And Kell can't get to him.

"It would be wrong of me to wish he was," he says, glad that his voice is steady. "He has an empire to run one day. And he will be a good ruler." Fitting, that Kell's rare words of praise will never reach Rhy's ears now.

Kell drains the rest of his ale. "May I trouble you for another?" He asks Sirius. "According to the chit inside this packet, I will soon be able to repay you for the favor."