"…I wish you the best of fortunes, then, my Pillar of Coin. If anyone can succeed in this task, it is you, Lord Idris," Queen Asabel said. She put on the brave face of a Queen for him, and tried to reassure him with all the resoluteness that she could possibly claw up. It felt like a falsity, but she could see his shoulders lift ever so slightly, as if it had meant something. She had to convince herself that indeed it was so, that indeed it did mean something.
He left her, looking a slightly stronger man, more resilient, a little younger than the old and wretched creature that had wandered in, as if dragged in by the storms of the sea. He had enough authority about him now that when he nodded to the guards, they too stiffened into a salute.
