She nods. "I don't mind at all. Please do."

"All right," agrees Rivethira.

"At first I believe I fell into the standard category he seems to slot people into. All - poking me to see how I squirmed under pressure, I suppose. I entertained him, he asked me if I'd like to come live with him, which I politely declined. He appeared to accept this - I didn't know if he meant it or not, of course - and went to continue exploring the party. I, ah, went to go get drunk in an out of the way corner where I could safely avoid potentially transmitting my obvious interestingness to innocent bystanders." She looks slightly embarrassed about this.

"Later, after I'd succeeded in my, ah, mission, he reappeared and sat companionably next to me to talk. There the type of conversation changed. It wasn't that he'd suddenly stopped being the most powerful sorcerer in the world or anything, but he started acting..." She waves a hand, failing to find the correct words. "I was very honest, and so was he, without most of the earlier intimidation. He tried to persuade me to come to his castle willingly, I pointed out that I'd prefer sixty years of relative happiness to a hundred and fifty of - distinctly not that, he clarified that he didn't want to torture me. Instead he wanted company. When I asked what would happen if he eventually found me boring, he said that maybe he'd let me go, that it might be interesting. I asked what would happen if I declined his offer, he said he 'hadn't decided.' Not in an, intimidating way, if that makes sense?"

"...It does," she says thoughtfully.

"I got the impression that he was sincerely relaying what was an accurate prediction of his future potential actions, in that he couldn't actually produce one. Granted, I don't know him very well and I was intoxicated at the time, so I'm not sure how accurate that impression is."

"No, I think you're right," she says. "Go on."

"The conversation remained in that tone for - well, actually, the remainder of our interactions. He continued trying to persuade me to consent to come live here, I began trying to persuade him to clear out the ruins of the old capital and help my mother keep it from devolving into a war. He proposed a compromise, where I come live here and he clears out the old capital, and I, ah. Accepted. He helped me write and send a letter to my family explaining the situation, then he brought me here and made sure I was settled in properly." She considers. "He seemed to want me to be happy, and especially enjoyed seeing my reaction to the library."

"That's... startlingly promising."

Rivethira smiles, a little. "Good."

Then her expression turns slightly pensive. "... I - can't say for sure, but for a second, after I was reasonably settled in and just before he departed, he looked like -" She hesitates, then forges on. "Rather like he was considering kissing me. And then didn't."

She nods slowly.

"In light of the rest, that doesn't surprise me."

"How likely is it that he'll reconsider the policy, and what sort of - of reaction do you recommend I attempt to take if he does?"

"Reconsider the policy of not torturing you, you mean?"

"Well, yes, that, but actually I'm less worried about torture specifically? In the immediate sense. If he elevates to directly torturing me, I suspect that I won't be able to pre-plan out my reaction for the sake of efficiency, and thinking too hard about it will probably screw up what I'm doing now. I'm more concerned of..." She pauses to consider wording. "He clearly believes that I am more entertaining when I'm not traumatized, but it seems like it would be fairly easy to come to the conclusion that kissing me wouldn't upset the dynamic he likes."

She shakes her head. "I don't think so," she says. "My father is... complicated. But it's clear that he wants you to feel safe here, and he wants that to be because you are safe. That's something he's capable of. In all my life, he has never hurt me, because I'm his daughter and he loves me. But..."

She pauses, considering her next words.

"...I'm his daughter. Hurting me is - not an impulse he has. You are a beautiful woman who caught his eye as a potential swan, and I am sure he has had impulses. I don't think you need to be afraid of - policy revisions. I think... you can trust his intentions, but not necessarily his self-control."

Rivethira nods.

"So, if he - lapses, I try to remind him of his own intentions before any major damage is done?"

"Yes."

"All right. So - any other advice for me, now that you're aware of the situation?"

Thoughtful pause.

"He likes you. Very genuinely. The thing he wants from you isn't - interest, entertainment, on an abstract level; it's your company, your friendship. He wants you to be safe and happy here. I think that's... important information to have."

".... Oh. Yes, that - that is important information to have. Thank you." Even if it really confuses her.

"You're welcome."

She smiles a little, and then it fades to a more pensive expression.

Irikaino waits to see if she'll say anything further.

She notices Irikaino looking at her.

"... I'm having trouble reconciling the - him that wants my happiness and wants to be friends with me with the him that casually tortures people for fun and profit. I acknowledge that they're the same person but I. Don't know how to react to it. Don't know what to do, frankly."

"Yes," she says. "I've had a similar problem. I... don't have good advice for how to react to it."

Rivethira nods, still pensive.

"He mentioned you were trying to find alternatives to torture for the magic? Can I help in some way, or - can he be persuaded to at least slow down if he won't outright stop?"

"It would be dangerous to slow down too much right now," she says. "Not just to us. I can show you my notes but it has been three thousand years so there are a lot of them. Even the summaries of the summaries are long. But I could try to explain the functioning of the mountain's magic as briefly as possible, if you want?"