Yunxu looked curiously at Raine. "You need to find a reason?" he said. "That's strange. If you weren't already intending to follow up, you wouldn't be asking me at all, would you?"

It would be interesting to see how far she got on her own, but since she wouldn't precisely be acting on her own -- she had, Yunxu knew, many capable friends -- he left it as a matter of intellectual curiosity and nothing more.

"Of course." He stepped back and indicated the door into his study, dismissing the young kedan with a curt nod. "After you."