“But you would allow us to publicize such an alliance, surely?” He pursed his lips. “Assuming we were able to come to terms regarding matters that do concern you? Of course I refer to the supply of infiltrators about which you have voiced an interest. Presumably, you need these seers, yes? To better fight this war you are waging with Shadow?”
Revik hesitated, glancing at me.
I knew that was partly for show, but I returned his look.
I felt pain on him again, mixed with a darker tension on the surface of his light. His jaw firmed briefly before he looked back at Dulgar.
“Of course,” he said.
He made his voice casual, but I heard him thread in a barely perceptible anxiety.
That was to make us sound more desperate, I assumed.
“…We would also be willing to make the alliance public,” Revik clarified. “I simply did not wish you to misunderstand what that might mean, my brother, in terms of practical application.”
“Of course.” Dulgar smiled indulgently. “Clarity is always preferred, brother Syrimne. As is transparency in all things.”
I felt another flicker in Revik’s light, that time too faint to be for Dulgar’s benefit.
It struck me, in those few seconds.
Revik thought Dulgar was lying.
I glanced at him. I felt him watching me, if only with his light.
He knows,Revik sent, soft.
Seeing the look in his eyes, it hit me what he was saying.
As it did, I realized something else.
Dulgar had no intention of letting us leave Macau at all.
Chapter5
A High Place
My eyes jerked up, distracted by the sudden appearance of four female seers.
All four of them wore filmy, nearly transparent clothing.
Three of them stared openly at Revik.
I saw one look at his chest in particular, focusing on the scar at his neck with a not altogether neutral expression on her face.
Revik told me some seers found his scars fascinating. Since most seers didn’t scar like he had done under Menlim, it was a novelty, seeing scars like his, particularly on a seer of his stature. Some also found them sexy, presumably for the same reason.
I frowned at the four new seers.
I did it with zero artifice that time, unable to stop myself.
Clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought my husband looked hot in a suit.
“Ah… sisters!” Dulgar opened his hands, smiling broadly. He looked at Revik, aiming that smile forcefully at him. “I hope you do not mind, my brother. Earlier, I had called them here to fetch your lovely wife, in the hopes we might make her more comfortable. Are you still wishing to force her to stay up here with us, listening to us bicker like old men over details of our rather dull business arrangements?”
Revik looked at me, his eyes holding a faint glow.
Again, I doubted if anyone but me could see it, but I stared at him anyway.