Royal Rue and Reptiles feels like a meeting you were invited to without being told the agenda. The candle is lit, the frog is listening, and the gentleman across the water already knows why you’re here. Asking too many questions seems unwise, but leaving before he’s finished feels worse.

There’s something unsettling about wisdom that arrives wearing unfamiliar clothes. It rarely gives a tidy answer or explains itself twice. Sometimes the lesson is hidden beneath ceremony, smoke, and one extremely observant frog.