What even is their opening gambit here. "We went to Clare Melford."

Roby looks up. "Did you see him? Did you see the King?"

"Did you cross over to lost Carcosa?"

"...No. We saw... bats."

He had forgotten how hard it was to talk to Roby. "We saw the monuments, and the... Things summoned by them."

"Didn't exactly have a chance to do much else, after that."

"The byakhee."

(This time she brought a bit of charcoal -- not sharp, so she gets to keep it -- and can take notes as much as she wants. She writes down that name.)

No one recognizes the word "byakhee", except Terrence who recalls that it was in one of the less coherent and more beautiful passages in the second act of the King in Yellow. Terrence tilts his head curiously, intrigued.

... Well, at least those things have a name now.

"...Perhaps."

Terrence kneels by where Roby is sitting - not, like, getting into his space too much, just getting on his level. "Alexander. We know - more things than the last time we talked. About... Clare Melford, and Chris Parker, and whistles with certain purposes, and... well, more things. Your hearing about your further ... stay here... is coming up very soon. The deaths - well, do you have anything you can tell us now? That you might not have been able to before? Please."

"Soon I will be free."

Oh??

"What does that mean."

"He rises. Aldebaran is high."

"... The king rises?"

He concurs with Inaaya: what the hell does that mean.

"If you're very certain of that I suppose you don't need to present us with a compelling explanation of how and why all those people died."

"I never meant to kill Georgina."

"No?"

So you did mean to kill everyone who wasn't your sister, she thinks.

"What happened, then? And what were you meaning to do?"

"I never meant to kill Georgina."

(why this.)

"Then what did you mean to do that ended with her dead."

Magic is really awful.

Roby doesn't answer.

😬 but it's a GOOD question. Unfortunately. Terrence hates being reasonable.

"Did you mean to kill other people?"