Thanks to a detour on the upper floors, Ellis does beat him there. But the cause of that detour maybe makes the wait worth it: when Bastien emerges from the door, it’s with the Ambassador’s (their, lately, but more visibly Byerly’s) long-legged, droopy-faced, year-old hound at his heels. She breaks past him to bound down the stone walkway once they’re through the door, at least temporarily more interested in finding dirt and grass than in checking out Ellis.

“Sorry,” Bastien says—for the wait, however long it was—and then, “How are you?”