Syryn spent the night at one of the detention prisons in HQ. After one of them had put him inside the prison, an anti mage came to speak with him. The man was accompanied by two others who were either his lackeys or his guards.

"Syryn Nigh'hart," he said to the mage in a pleasant manner. "Are you comfortable?"

Syryn was seated on his prison bed. It was anything but comfortable. The anti mage before him was a handsome man with wavy chocolate brown hair and silver eyes. The mage could tell right away that the man was related to the royal family somehow. His eyes and the accent gave him away.

"Yes but I'll be more comfortable if you invite this certain blond anti mage to my warm my bed," Syryn replied with the same courteous tone.

"And would that anti mage happen to be called Rowan?" The man responded with an arch of his lips.

"Oh, you know him then."

The silver-eyed man held eye contact with Syryn for a while. There was a bit of scorn in his gaze.

"What?" Syryn asked when the man wordlessly looked at him.

"I wonder what Rowan sees in you," came his reply.

"He probably sees in me... something that Lillith doesn't have." This reply by Syryn came with a brazen glance down at the man's crotch like he was indicating that Rowan didn't like Lillith because she didn't have the preferred male parts.

The man was rendered speechless by Syryn's response. The information he had on Syryn included mentions about his barbed and colourful personality. They hadn't been wrong about him.

"Interesting that you mention her. She's my cousin," he replied. The anti mage was intrigued by and yet loathed Syryn for the same reason - Rowan being besotted by Syryn.

"I couldn't tell." It came out sarcastically.

The anti mage smiled like he was amused by Syryn's replies.

"What's your name, cousin of Lillith?"

"Dionys."

Syryn smiled with eyes at half-mast. At that moment, he looked every bit like the seductress that the rumours painted him to be.

"Then I'll call you Dio."

Before Dionys could reply, another anti mage arrived.

"Dionys, on what charges is Syryn in detention for?"

The mage smiled up at the dark-haired anti mage who had come to his aid again.

"Artemus, are you lost?" Dionys asked without turning around. His head was turned only slightly to the side. Artemus wasn't in charge of interrogation anymore. This wasn't his jurisdiction so he had no reason to be interfering in the business with Syryn.

"Just as lost as you are, Dionys. The T and I department doesn't have the clearance to keep Syryn. So why is he here?"

Dionys finally deigned to turn around and face the dark-haired anti mage who glanced at Syryn and back at the silver-eyed man. Dionys wasn't the hound that Artemus was but the man was just as dangerous when he was in pursuit of his prey.

"Thorne, send Artemus a copy of the Sanguine handbook when we're done here. It seems like he doesn't know that the crime of spying warrants handover to T and I without clearance from higher authority."

Artemus calmly met the man's silver eyes.

"Maybe it's you who needs the handbook. Without a shred of proof, you can't keep a citizen of Sigil in detention."

"Do you have proof then that Syryn is a citizen of Sigil?" Dionys asked. "Those violet eyes aren't common in Sigil. I've never met anyone from Sigil with the kind of looks that Syryn has."

"A flimsy excuse meant to keep Syryn in detention because your cousin sister covets Rowan. Dionys, I expected better from you. If we go to court now, you better believe that your excuses won't hold water." Artemus stepped closer to the man, his dark eyes like black holes sucking the light out of Dionys' silver stars. "If you think that you can keep Syryn, then you need to re-evaluate your ability to twist the law. I'm better than you, Dionys. Do yourself a favour and save us both the effort of fighting. Because whatever you come up with, I'll win in the end, and that's a promise."

Dionys turned away with a scoffing sort of chuckle. Artemus was a damn good anti mage with confidence like a wall of diamonds. The Silver eyed anti mage could already see the headache that was coming his way since the dark-haired anti mage seemed to be hell-bent on acting as Syryn's knight. Of all the people to come up against, Artemus was the worst. He knew the codes of law like the back of his hand and there was no one else with the same terrifying abilities. Except maybe Dionys.

"Tell me, Artemus. What is Syryn to you?"

"It has no bearing on the matter."

"Yes, it does. It does, a lot. I've never seen you act so aggressively defensive about someone who isn't Alka. Now I'm curious about the relationship between you and Syryn." Dionys raised his brows a fraction. "You were his teacher. Is that why you're so concerned about him?"

Artemus didn't like where the conversation was heading. If even a hint of the truth about him and Syryn became known to Dionys, the silver-eyed man would ruin them both with it.

"Yes," he replied. "Are you satisfied? Because I have no time to answer personal questions that you have no business looking into. Release Syryn. If Rowan finds out, he'll turn the T and I department upside down. You don't want Rowan involved, Dionys. You know that right?" Artemus hadn't wanted to mention the blond because it was wiser to stick with arguing about penal codes.

"Then let him. Justice will be served," Dionys replied with calm. "Now leave, Artemus. And come back when you have permission to meddle with this case."

For now, the dark-haired anti mage was in the wrong. But it didn't mean that he was giving up.

"Then prepare yourself, Dionys. I'll come to see you tomorrow. And if I see a single bruise or a scratch on Syryn, lets just say that T and I will have to search for a new commanding officer."