The sounds of the wall still wafted down the darkened corridors. Someone had drifted from the crowded room to a more private enclave for a more personal celebration. Their whispers carried easily, and Reinette's mouth compressed into a firm line at the endearments so carelessly used. It was not the game how she played it.

She often wondered why others did. It was something fundamental, that kept her from them.

Jack's hand still within her own she lead him into the long hallway where she officially met Louis some five years before. She could remember every step of that interaction, every carefully chosen word. For a moment she stood still in the center of the room, letting it wash over her.

When she looked up, her own eyes stared back at her.

"It was those mirrors there that he came through with his two companions."