I glanced sideways at him. "Yeah," I said dryly. "He's… an acquired taste."
Ashley snorted. Xandros's mouth curved, just slightly.
"Have a seat," the Superior Commander said at last, turning toward the inner office. "I suspect we have much to discuss." His gaze returned to Dravok, steady now, no longer skeptical, only intent. "Especially you, Arkhevari, and your… unusual timing."
As the doors slid open, I had the distinct impression that Xandros wasn't just reassessing Dravok. He was reassessing the entire universe. For a man who commanded the most powerful empire's military, that realization carried real weight.
As the doors closed behind us, I felt it, the strange, unnerving reality of being a human in a room where power wasn't pretending to be anything else. Ashley met my eyes again, just for a moment. I was surprised to find something I hadn't expected to find aboard an Imperial warship. Solidarity.
Whatever this meeting was going to become, political standoff, alliance, or complication, at least I wouldn't be the only human woman navigating gods, generals, and the quiet terror of realizing the universe was much bigger than Earth had ever prepared us for.
The air in the Superior Commander's office shifted. Not physically—no alarms, no weapons drawn—but something subtle and unmistakable tightened between Xandros and Dravok. Two apex predators circling the same truth from different directions, neither willing to yield ground.
Xandros folded his arms, keeping his expression deceptively relaxed. "So," he said, "what exactly do you expect to find on Cronack?"
Dravok didn't move. "Answers."
Xandros's mouth curved faintly. "We stripped that planet down to bedrock. Every structure. Every lab. Every data core worth salvaging. If there was something there, it's gone."
"You didn't look closely enough," Dravok replied.
The words landed like a challenge.
Xandros's eyes sharpened. "Excuse me?"
"Ohrurs," Dravok stated calmly. "They are adept at concealment. Particularly when hiding within systems designed to ignore them."
Xandros straightened. "Impossible."
Dravok finally looked at him then, full attention settling like a weight. "Unlikely," he corrected. "Not impossible."
The silence that followed was dense. Calculating. Xandros broke it with a low chuckle that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're telling me that after a full Imperial purge, a species known for bartering is somehowhiding in plain sighton a dead world?"
"I am telling you that something remains." Dravok nodded.
"And what would that something be?" Xandros pressed.
For a fraction of a second, I felt Dravok hesitate. He didn't want to admit to Xandros that an Arkhevari had been taken prisoner. Then again, he had told the emperor, and he had to know the emperor would have told Xandros.
When Dravok said, "An anomaly," I didn't butt in, assuming he must have his reasons for being evasive. Or he could have just been being his usual mysterious Arkhevari self.
Xandros studied him. Then nodded once. "Very well." He turned slightly, already issuing commands. "I'll assign a search unit. Soldiers familiar with subterranean sweeps."
Dravok's response was immediate. "Unnecessary."
Xandros's brows lifted. "You're refusing Imperial assistance?"
"I'm declining inefficiency," Dravok countered. "I'll be much quicker alone."
That earned him a sharp smile. "I don't like unknowns operating unsupervised in my terrain."
"I don't like delays," Dravok replied.
For a moment, I was genuinely concerned they might start measuring dominance the old-fashioned way.
Then Dravok added, "However—" All three of us, Xandros, Ashley, and I, looked at him. "If you would keep Nadine here," he continued, voice steady, "I would appreciate it."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
