The question cuts more than Sirius could know, and Kell spends a moment breathing deeply. How long has it been since the Queen asked him to call her mother? How long since the King looked on him with anything but contempt? "Servant," he answers, "Though for most of my life I was treated as family."

He lowers his gaze, lifting it only when the ales arrive, and Kell doesn't hesitate. He takes his glass and drinks deeply, recalling only when it's too late that he's said no thanks at all. "Thank you," he tells Sirius. "For this."