[Garen LiLorian]

The boy's first slap had been a surprise. Gormel sincerely thought he'd done a good job of bribing the lad, and he hadn't even noticed Kane returning to the circle until the boy was right in front of him. Then the slap. Gormel's blood boiled at that, and he thought about how close he had come to giving the game away. He was pretty sure he could deal with the young upstart, and in any case, the spearpoint he kept concealed at all times would have come as a nasty surprise, but he knew full well he couldn't fight Kane and Rhana together.

But Rhana hadn't chosen to side with Kane, and Gormel couldn't for the life of him understand it. He was weak and seemingly defenceless, they were strong and well armed. In her position, he would have waited for Kane to kill him, then killed Kane while he was celebrating. Pah. Women are weak, he thought for perhaps the thousandth time.

Perhaps she was blinded by his generous offer. Maybe she had some connection to Kane, and didn't want him hurt. Gormel turned that thought over in his mind. He liked the idea that she was protecting him. It both flattered his ego and provided a handle on her, if it became neccessary. Gormel considered love, like all of the other kindly emotions, something to be taken advantage of in others. Perhaps, if Fate was smiling, he could even use her as a handle on Kane. He smiled evily. Yes. Things were indeed looking up.

On the downside, however, he'd lost his cover. Rhana and Kane both knew now he was not as weak as he had pretended to be, and now there was only one course of action left to him. He had to take control, utter power, back into his fist quickly. Once the rest of the band was behind him, Kane would follow. The question was; what to do about Rhana? She was staring after the boy, in a manner which Gormel considered extremely heartening. Grasping the nettle, he said out loud, "That boy is nothing but trouble." He noted the flash of resentment that crossed her features, quickly muffled, but couldn't decide if it was for impugning the boy or simply resentment at Gormel himself in general. He liked to believe the former.

"How's the shoulder? Can you use your arm?" She asked him, after a moment. Gormel thought quickly, then nodded. Not well, he didn't add. Her practised fingers searched his wound quickly and seemed satisfied at what they had found.

"Have you thought about my little proposal?" He asked quietly. This was important. Whether she was to be tenous ally or an obstacle to be removed.

[ January 24, 2003: Message edited by: Garen LiLorian ]