"Would be helpful to know the criteria for his tests, though," Kire said, grinning before taking another bite. She wondered what the waterfall would look like here, already imagining how that visit would go. "Might be nice to have a picnic by it, too, if the location allows," she mused aloud. She laughed softly at his comment about domesticity. "'Domestic' would've been the last word I'd have associated myself with. It's a welcome respite, in between magical quests and matters of state." She sipped some wine. "My week was mostly more meetings. Half the work of keeping an empire together is sitting on your ass and putting together contracts. There's my cousin's wedding, too. I haven't had a sit- down with her about the abdication thing yet, but figure I need to get on that very soon." 

She mulled over the matter with the Seer again, frowning. "Last week, right after I came back home, I had a visit from the Seer who had given me the Ring." She recounted the meeting in between sips of wine, then paused afterward to cut into her meal some more. "Magic-wise, nothing seemed to have happened yet, but I've just been waiting for the other shoe to drop all week, which I suppose made everything else all the more tedious."