He wondered vaguely how she had gotten back. The timeline was rather tight, since he'd only received her letter to days ago. He wouldn't ask her, though, lest she have a truly impressive answer. This whole ordeal was supposed to make her less insufferably superior, not give her something else to be smug about.

However she'd gotten home, though, she had left in a cage. That much he knew, and that was enough to hurt her pride considerably, he imagined. Maybe if she got too self-satisfied in the future, he could buy a magical trap of his own and lock her in a menagerie. She'd make an exotic addition to the veranda. He could put her next to the fountain, then invite Valeria and her family over for tea. Maybe that brat of his cousin's — the one who wasn't his — would stick a finger inside and Antigone would claw it off. Win-win.

For now, though, he just needed her to back off. "I trust you had a comfortable journey, then?" he said snidely. Although he didn't come right out and say it, his tone certainly implied that he was aware of her method of transportation.