“Of course,” Adrissu said slowly, nodding. “I understand. You’ve given me much to think over.” He did not look at Maya again, instead taking a deep drink of his wine. “Well, I will still give it some thought, but I am feeling rather more open to the idea now.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Cyrus said. Next to him, Benil’s shoulders visibly sagged; but whether it was in relief or disappointment, Adrissu could not discern and did not entirely care.
The tension in the room had drained, and now the humans had started on their dessert. Absently, Adrissu spooned the sweet concoction into his mouth, turning everything over in his mind. What could Maya possibly know that could have made her say such a thing? Or was it more innocuous, an opinion born from a lack of understanding of magic, rather than any true suspicion on her part? He felt quite sure he had not given any resident of Polimnos reason to suspect him of anything, yet...
“Adrissu,” Maya’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up quickly to see her standing next to him. The group had started making their way back to the sitting room, Yue Lang speaking animatedly with the councilors as they walked and keeping a slow pace to accommodate Ellisa’s bad hip.
“Maya,” he replied evenly, hoping his tone sounded less shaken than he felt.
“I apologize if I said anything untoward,” she said gruffly, her lips pursed in an uncomfortable but resolute expression. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Adrissu nodded slowly, considering. If she was perturbed by his reaction, maybe it had truly been an innocuous statement—at the very least, she didn’t suspect him of anything, which was a relief.
“No offense taken,” he replied evenly. “Rather, I was... unsettled, I suppose. I had never quite seen it that way before, but I admit you were correct in your assessment.”
“I only meant that I recognize your power,” she continued curtly. Though her face and posture were the perfect image of stony aloofness, as she held her wine goblet in one hand, her thumb rubbed up and down the stem of it—a nervous gesture that she seemed entirely unaware of. “And other humans would recognize it, too. Even the strongest human mages are only on the level of an average elf, and from what I can tell, your ability is well above average. Some might be wary of you, but that kind of power commands respect. I would know.”
He smirked at that. His worry was mostly assuaged now: whatever she did think of him, it wasn’t anywhere near the truth.
“I understand entirely,” he said, then stood. “Shall we join the others, then?”
He remained for only a little while longer, excusing himself with a short goodbye. He wanted to clear his head, to stretch his wings. It was late that night when Zamnes, Scourge of Polimnos, departed his lair from the cliffside outside of the town. Disguised under the shield of night, he flew silently and aimlessly over the dark ocean for miles. The cold spray of it on his scales, the salt that lingered in his nostrils—Polimnos was his home. If they wanted him to help guide it, why shouldn’t he?
Chapter Five
Whenitwasannouncedthat the council of Polimnos was to expand, and Adrissu was to occupy one of its new seats, Ruan was out of town on a job. Adrissu absolutely did not care that Ruan was not there when the town crier made the announcement—that the first one to congratulate him was, of course, the insufferable Benil Branwood. None of it mattered to him at all.
But he did have a faint sense of satisfaction when Ruan arrived at his tower on his first day back nearly two weeks later, and he called out to the human from the second floor,
“Have you heard the news?”
“What news?” Ruan shouted back. Adrissu huffed, wishing he weren’t so damned loud, and stepped up to the railing to look down on Ruan in the doorway.
“I have been offered a place on the city council,” he said, not bothering to stifle the prideful grin that he could feel spreading across his face, revealing all his teeth. “And I have accepted.”
Ruan blinked, clearly taken aback. A surprised smile spread across his face as well, the sun beaming out from behind a cloud. Adrissu’s heart stuttered. Every time Ruan was gone, he forgot how radiant the man’s face was, and with each return, he was struck anew by his smile.
“Adrissu!” he exclaimed, taking a step toward the stairs. “That’s incredible news. I’m happy for you. What an honor!”
“Yes,” Adrissu agreed, allowing himself a moment to preen. “It was only myself and two others who were approached. Your guildmaster Maya Graylight, and the smith Yue Lang.”
“Yue too? Seems I’ve been rubbing elbows with all the right people,” Ruan said, laughing. Sometimes Adrissu hated his laugh, loud and unreserved like the braying of a donkey. But when he laughed now, it was a warm, intimate sound. “This news calls for a celebration. Maybe now you’ll finally agree to come to my home for dinner?”
Adrissu opened his mouth to decline, but the words that escaped him were, “Yes, I think I will.”
For a moment they were both silent, surprise obvious on Ruan’s face—it must have been just as obvious on his own face, as well. Why had he said that?
“Tomorrow, then?” Ruan said brightly, a slow smile creeping onto his lips again, as if he, too, could not believe Adrissu had finally agreed.
Adrissu licked his lips anxiously, looking away. He hadn’t meant to, but what would it hurt now?
“Tomorrow,” he agreed.
And so he ended up standing in front of Ruan’s house the following evening, only a few hours after the young man had left his tower for the day.
He had not changed from the clothes that he’d already worn that day: the idea that Ruan might think he was trying to impress him was intenable. The fact that he put on one of his nicer robes when he got dressed this morning meant nothing at all.
The human’s home was a tall, narrow domicile on one of the new streets: just one amongst many others that had been crammed into the residential area to make room for Polimnos’ rapidly growing population. But its stone was still a gleaming, bright gray—almost silvery in its appearance—a testament to the bright future of the town.
