Rydon wasn’t finished. He leaned over the table, his eyes holding Jason in place. “She is too young for you.”
Jason blinked. Michael snorted, and Gabriol smothered a smile.
The color in Jason’s face deepened until it covered him to the roots of his blond hair as Rydon sat back.
“How old do you think I am?” Jason demanded, his brown eyes narrowed as he pointed to himself.
“Too. Old.”
“I’m twenty-three!”
Rydon leaned forward again but said nothing as his gaze narrowed at Jason.
The others laughed, breaking the tension. Daris clapped Jason on the shoulder, a smirk on his face.
“Is she…” Jason paused, casting a quick look at Gabriol. “Is she with Croak?”
Gabriol choked on his drink, coughing and laughing at the same time. Even Rydon’s lips tugged up.
“Is she promised? Betrothed?” Jason pushed, warming to the topic now as the others smiled.
“No, Youngblood, she is not,” Gabriol sighed.
Jason sat back with a satisfied smile which quickly dissolved at the warning on Rydon’s face.
“Did you know of the king’s visit to the oracle? Terena said she’s the reason we’re all here.” Gabriol asked after a companionable silence.
None of them responded for a long time. Daris looked up at him, then at Rydon.
“Aye.”
“Do you know what Pytho told him?”
Daris blinked. Whether from the fact Rydon had used the oracle’s name so casually or because of the impertinence of his question, he did not know. Neither mattered to him.
“He told me,” Daris answered at last, his voice soft.
“Did you know before or after you saw her in Aurora?” Rydon pressed. Gabriol stiffened.
Daris’s smile was no longer friendly.
His silence was answer enough.
“What were you doing in Aurora?” Rydon asked, his voice deadly soft. The others at the table tensed.
It was a long time before Daris answered. “That is Spartan business.”
“Of course,” said Rydon with a nod, his eyes never moving from the commander. “Does Terena know?”
Daris did not respond.
Rydon registered Gabriol leaning over, yet did not break contact with Daris’s cold blue gaze.
“Does she know you have a battalion of Liodari there?”
Jason swore, shoving back his chair just as Daris’s arm slammed down on his wrist to stay him. After a few tense seconds, Jason settled. Rydon flicked a glance at the man’s scowling face before raising an eyebrow at Daris.
“Again,” Daris said softly, “that is Spartan business.”
