Shutting his mouth before he could finish, Croak felt the rise of a very telling blush heating his face and he ducked his head.
The quiet settling after his outburst made Croak duck his head, shuffling his feet until Rydon glared at him. With a scowl that would have had Croak running for his life a few months ago, Rydon turned back to Ren.
“The boy’s right,” he said, his low voice menacing as he turned a baleful look toward the captain. “Do not trust this man.”
“You know nothing about me,” Terena seethed. “And you have nothing to offer.”
“I know you and the commander had a falling out,” Xoran said with a shrugged. “I only wished to spare you a reunion.”
“And what spares us from you?” Croak asked with a scoff.
“You don’t have to trust me,” Xoran said with such innocence in his eyes, Croak almost fell for it. “I will return Sonah Yahn to you. If I do not follow through on my side of the bargain, not only will you have Vassori’s sword, you’ll also have the item I need you to find.”
The smile on the captain’s face made Croak gag. Xoran leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he watched Ren.
“Before the Immortals War, the King of the Gods gifted a very rare emerald amulet to a young man. Zeus had come to earth to woo some human, I guess, but came across the man instead, a shepherd, somewhere in what is now Heylisia.”
“Are you going to tell us a bedtime story, Captain,” Rydon snarled as he shifted his weight, “or are you going to get to the fucking point?”
“Let him finish,” Ren said without looking away from the odious captain.
“The point, my dear Eudaemon, is that Terena, while no longer the Royal Tracker, is still, in fact, a tracker.”
“You want me to find this amulet?” Ren asked with a bland expression that did not fool Croak. The corner of her lip twitched.
“Aye.”
“No.”
“No?” Xoran frowned.
“I will not find this amulet you seek. Or rather, the amuletSolonseeks. I’m not giving that megalomaniac a weapon he can use against me and mine.”
“The amulet is not for Emperor Solon.”
“So you say.”
“What can I do to convince you?”
“Nothing,” Croak snorted.
“You have a tracker. Let her find it.” Terena said, waving a hand at Vassori, who continued to sit on the sofa arm as if it were the most comfortable place in the room. She tossed something into her mouth every once in a while as she watched them speak.
Croak’s stomach growled in response. Would it be disloyal to grab some food while they chatted?
“I’ve been looking,” Vassori said in a wry tone. “But then?—”
“We need your help to find it,” Xoran interrupted. Croak noted the look passing between him and the tracker with interest. She ducked her head and tossed another nut or whatever in her mouth.
“You get Vassori’s sword and Sonah Yahn,” Xoran went on, his voice so syrupy sweet it grated on Croak. “All I ask is that you find the amulet for me.”
“It is useless to you,” Rydon replied. Turning to Terena, he said in a lower tone, “They cannot be used by anyone outside of the bloodline it was gifted to.”
“Ah, you know your cyphers,” Xoran said with a grin.
Croak rolled his eyes.
“This is true,” Vassori said. “It cannot be used by anyone other than the bloodline of the shepherd Zeus gifted it to. But we do not want to use it.”
