Londo smiled as he saw Senna and Vir enter the room, which he had invited for dinner. The last few years they had been the only thing that let him forget about the pain of the punishments the Drakh gave him every day to remind him who was in charge. To watch them becoming closer meant more to him than he ever thought possible. In a way they were like he and Timov could have been, if they had tried to make their marriage work.
It was still hard to believe that she was actually here in the palace after she had spent so much time avoiding him, not that he could not understand why. He had not been the best husband to her and now he regretted it, like so many other things, the worst of it had been his deal with the Shadows and watching the bombing of Narn.
He sat down at the table and started to eat. During the meal he looked at the young couple across from him, glad that they were so happy together that they barely noticed him. No one deserved happiness more than Vir, who had helped Londo with everything, no matter how he had been treated.
At the end of the meal he suddenly heard Shiv´kala´s voice in his head, who ordered him to come to the throne room immediately. Londo excused himself from his guests, which looked at each other and then followed him until they reached Vir´s quarters where they wished him a good night, before they disappeared inside.
After they had closed the door, Londo walked the rest of the way to the throne room, expecting another punishment. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he entered. Right in front of the throne, hands in cuffs, was someone he never expected to see again.
When he heard Londo´s footsteps, the man turned around, which caused the guards to point their weapons at him. But he did not seem to notice them and looked straight at him or rather at his shoulder as if he knew about the keeper, which was impossible. But before Londo could say anything, Durla, his recently appointed Prime Minister ordered the guards to take the prisoner away.
The keeper forced Londo to sit on the throne in silence late into the night. When he was finally allowed to get up, it was almost morning again. He went to his quarters and opened the first bottle of brivari, ready to put the keeper to sleep, so that he could decide what to do now after the unexpected arrival. Suddenly he had a chance to let his friends know what was happening on Centauri Prime, but he first needed to find a way to get the prisoner out and off the planet which would be nearly impossible. After his fifth bottle he noticed that the keeper was sleeping and he started to plan. An hour later, he went to the cells. The guard looked unconfortable as he let Londo pass, but he could not say no to the Emperor.
When he entered, the prisoner looked at him with fear. His face was full of scars and there was nothing left that reminded Londo of the young man he had known on Babylon 5 and who would do anything for Delenn. Lennier had certainly been through much since they had last met, they all had, but no one than him showed it more clearly.