The next two visitors, the councilors Abe and Shefali, arrived together. Luelle guided them in as well, and they headed straight for Benil and Ellisa, greeting each of them in turn.
Maya sat down next to him as the four councilors became absorbed in their own conversation, folding her red shawl around her as she did.
“Any idea what this dinner’s all about?” she asked, though her gaze lingered on the councilors. Adrissu took a sip of his wine before answering.
“I have my suspicions,” he said, looking her over. She sat in the chair next to him comfortably, almost idly, with her legs crossed and her chin resting on one hand; but her eyes were trained on the councilors like a hawk.
“Which are?” she asked.
“I suspect we’re here to be offered seats on an expanded council,” he replied, and finally she looked away from the four councilors to smirk up at him.
“Good. That means I’m not thinking too highly of myself for suspecting the same,” she chuckled, and he gave her a wry smile in return.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “If anything, I’m surprised they’ve grouped us together. Running the mercenary’s guild has been a boon to Polimnos. My magical study is largely for my own gain.”
“Well, most of us can’t do much magic at all, which makes yours all the more impressive,” she said with a shrug. “That translates to power, so of course the city council would be eager to have that power on their side.”
The woman was as shrewd as she looked. His smile widened, his teeth showing.
“I suppose I must agree with you,” he said. “And here I was thinking I had gone unnoticed all this time.”
“Not at all,” Maya chuckled, shaking her head. “Not at all.”
She took a sip of her wine, and they were both silent for a moment. The four councilors were still speaking with each other. Clearly, they were not trying to exclude them, with their loud voices and boisterous gestures; but Adrissu had little interest in whatever they were saying, and Maya seemed to feel the same.
The fifth counselor, Cyrus, arrived then. The human was probably about the same age as Ellisa, perhaps a bit older; he was rather portly with a full, well-groomed beard the same gray as the hair that had receded far back on his head. What hair he did have was long and tied back in a neat, low ponytail with a short black ribbon. When he stepped into the room, he greeted them warmly in turn, before joining the other councilors in their conversation.
After a moment, Maya turned to him again.
“I take it things went well with Ruan,” she said, and Adrissu paused with his goblet halfway to his lips. Every time that he tried to get the damned human out of his thoughts!
“And how is that?” he replied primly, looking down at his wine.
“Well, you came looking to hire a guard that day,” she said, shrugging. “And since then Ruan’s bought his own weapons and armor, and even moved into his own home. He takes plenty of jobs, of course, but no one in his age bracket has made those kinds of strides yet.”
“Ah. Yes, in that case, you could say things have gone well,” he replied, and this time he did take a long, deep drink of his wine, nearly emptying the goblet.
“Knowing him, he hasn’t said it to you, so I’ll thank you on his behalf,” Maya said, her eyes still on Adrissu’s face. Her expression was unchanging, but somehow Adrissu sensed she suspected him ofsomething.“Ruan has been rude and thoughtless as long as I’ve known him. Though his attitude has been...temperedsomewhat in the past several months. Maybe he’s finally maturing a bit.”
“He has thanked me, yes,” Adrissu said quickly, squashing the feeling of indignation that her words elicited in them the moment they arose. Why should he care if she thought he was rude and thoughtless? She wasn’twrong—to feel the need to defend him was laughable.
“Oh, good. Maybe that boy will make something of himself yet,” she sighed, finally glancing away. “He’s a great fighter, I’ll give him that. He’ll always be cut out for mercenary work. I’m glad to hear you’ve been a good influence on him, too. He’s always talking about you.”
He was briefly thankful that he had already drained his wine glass, or else he would have choked on his drink when she said it.
“Is that so?” he asked. He was sure his carefully disinterested tone had broken at the question, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Ruan thought about him, talked about him—that had to mean something, didn’t it?
“Oh, yes. Other recruits are always asking if you’re hiring on anyone else,” she said, meeting his eyes. “He always says he’ll tell them if you do, but apparently you never hire anyone else.”
“No,” Adrissu said. “I have no need for multiple guards.”
“Even when Ruan is on other jobs?”
He was silent for a long moment. He had no excuse for that, other than the truth: that he wanted a reason to keep Ruan nearby. It was not out of some sort of benefactory instinct that he had offered the job, and he couldn’t give less of a fuck about the other mercenaries or their guild. He only cared about Ruan.
But he could not say as much.
“Not even when Ruan is on other jobs,” he agreed simply.
