Looking out the window you smile. Martel's two daughters are playing in the courtyard with sticks, testing their swordplay against one another, laughing.
"It's finished, then?" the Lord Seeker asks from the entrance to the study. He has lost none of his youthful strength, though you are now old and grey.
"It is," you reply. "Took me long enough."
The Lord Seeker smiles and places a hand on your shoulder. He looks out at the two girls. An imp chatters on his shoulder, the bug-eyed creature waving its hands animatedly.
"Hush," the Lord Seeker chides gently. The imp shuts its mouth and crosses its arms across its chest.
"Martel has summoned us all to lunch on the green. Will you come?"
"I suppose."
"Good. The court mage needs to make an appearance every so often."
You grunt. Taking up the cane that leans against your chair you struggle to your feet. Smiling, you look back at the book you have just finished.
"It was quite an adventure, wasn't it," you say fondly.
"And adventure, was it?" the Lord Seeker answers. "Old age has made you sentimental. It was hellish."
You laugh and, old age aching in your bones, you shuffle to the green on the grounds of the palace to dine with your emperor.