There had been a definite reptilian cast to his features that somehow only lent power to his presence. His blue eyes had gleamed like polished lapis lazuli beneath his finely scaled brows. The austere lines of his face reminded Sedric of a sculpture, save that this was no cold stone. He was closer to an animal than anyone Sedric had ever met. He’d felt he could almost smell him, as if the dominance Greft sought to assert were a musk emanating from him. Even his voice had held an inhuman tenor, a hum that reminded Sedric of a bow drawn across dark strings. The scales repelled him and the voice attracted him. No wonder the girl at his side was so agitated by his presence. Anyone would be.
Even Hest. He and Hest would have collided like antlered bucks battling for territory. Even as that thought occurred to him, the girl had asked that telling question. It had snapped a stinging realization into his mind. Hest didn’t like him being friends with Alise. Hest didn’t want him to have conversations with her or have opinions about her. She was supposed to be something he’d surrendered to Hest, a part of his past he’d given to the man when he suggested that marrying her would put an end to his problem with his parents. He didn’t like thinking of all the implications of that. He pushed aside the thought of other friendships he’d neglected for Hest’s, even how he’d alienated his father by taking the position with Hest rather than striking out on his own or following his father into his business.
He forced himself to focus on the business at hand. He glanced over at the annoyed girl stalking along beside him. “I’m sorry I created problems for you.”
She snorted in amusement. “Oh, you didn’t create them. They came with who I am, and multiplied when I signed a contract to do this. That’s all.” She cleared her throat and he could almost see her wrench the topic to one side. “Why is Alise awake so early for this?”
“She’s eager, I suppose. Once we start to travel, I suspect she’ll have little time for chatting with the dragons.” That wasn’t the truth. He’d wakened Alise and suggested to her that she attempt an interview before the day’s travel began. She’d been very willing, appearing fully dressed only a few minutes later. He was hoping against hope that they would both have all they needed before the dragons actually departed. That hope was fading now, but this was his final chance. If the results of this morning’s “interview” were as lackluster as what she’d recounted to him last night, perhaps he could persuade her that she’d learn more by remaining in Cassarick for a few days and studying the ruins there. If luck favored him, perhaps they’d still find a way to connect with Captain Trell and journey home on the Paragon.
“Or it could be that she’ll find she has far more time than she can actually fill. I suspect this expedition is going to take a lot longer than they told us it would. I don’t think anyone actually knows where we are going, and the folk who aren’t going with us don’t much care, as long as we take the dragons with us when we leave.”