Prologue
It was mayhem everywhere.
The flames were everywhere, flickering casting strange and twisted shadows.
The youngling stood watching, unable to do anything as he watched the destruction of his people.
At the beginning of the attack his mother had cloaked him from all manner of mundane and esoteric detection she had also rendered immobile lest he decided to be brave. He remembered her words. You must survive, You must sing our songs, You must live to walk the roads. And then she was gone.
He felt his powerlessness keenly as he tried in vain to break the bonds that fettered him. He watched as his people died, he knew he could help but he could not. The tears began.
The Ones that brought this Chaos, the Fawdr, Dark ones. They descended like a plague of locust devouring all in their path. They destroyed and killed, destroyed and killed until there was just the killing
He watched it all, saw it all and the words of oath that blistered through his mind rocked his very existence.
Retribution would be long in coming but it would come!
Eventually their bloodlust sated the horror ended; the boy had passed out, earlier emotions finally taking their toll on his young psyche.
And so M’Shael son of Gabarel last of the Aiejeel survived the coming of the Chaos.
****
The room was well lit almost too much so, he had been standing there for a good half hour. The air in room suddenly began to warp, twisting in on its self and then snapping back into alignment leaving behind a glowing humanoid being. He was most obviously male for stood in the nude, his height was in excess by several times that of a normal human, his skin gave off bronze-gold gleam which was reflected in deeper tones in by his hair and beard which framed an aristocratic face and he was heavily muscled.
“Have you waited long Muusafr?” the one raised an eyebrow
“Not overly much Aeche, what do you wish of me? Do you have another unsavoury experiment you want me to get rid of?” a smirk spreading on the Muusafr’s face, he reflected that maybe the ‘smile’ was not quite appropriate.
“You will address me with respect Muusafr!” Aeche spat out, Muusafr just raised a questioning eyebrow, amusement flickering across his face.
“And if I do not what will you do Aeche, destroy me, and punish me? I have done much of your dirty work for you, do not expect much respect to remain and do not forget for all intents and purposes I stand higher than you, I am just restricted.” Muusafr looked steadily upon Aeche’s stony visage.
Aeche contained his fury and unclenched his fists, Muusafr knew he would be reported for his insolence and punished by one who could. Aeche waved a hand negligently and the room was suddenly populated by hard backed chair, a comfortable armchair and between them appeared a small round table with a bowl of fruit and carafe of wine.
“Come, sit” Aeche said with false cheer, Muusafr looked at the chair and it became subtly more comfortable and he sat.
“What business do you have with me? Speak your piece so I may be on my way Aeche, I am sure that you do not delight in my company.” Muusafr smiled a small smile, he did not know why but he had a sudden unexplainable urge to goad Aeche which was not a healthy activity at all but what is life without risk.
“I require your services…”
“Obviously” anger blossomed upon Aeche’s face turning it a darker shade of glowing bronze-gold, shot to his feet power crackling around and over his limbs, the very air seemed to be tearing itself apart, “YOU WILL NOT MOCK ME!!” he continued in quieter voice “I may not be able to destroy you but there are other things which can be done.” Aeche glared at the smiling figure in the chair, he mastered himself and the display of raw power stopped.
“Your services are required…” Aeche raised a brow, Muusafr just nodded “…there seems to be inconsistencies in one of the core worlds, so far all observers have been unable to determine the cause and several have gone missing. But what caused the most concern is that a few cycles ago all remote observation has been blocked even that of the Greater Children. The universe in question has its own Principles, three in fact but the blocking does not seem to be their work.” He looked at Wanderer expectantly, “So you wish me to infiltrate and find out what’s going, yes? I will require certain items and a local vessel.” Aeche nodded “Whatever you require will be provided for, this is high priority.”
“Let us then speak of price, a millennia is my price.” Aeche sputtered, his eyes bulging “A millennia, a thousand years! What would you want with a thousand years?!”
“That is my price, take it or leave it” a look of adamant determination came upon his face, Aeche saw this and knew that nothing he said or did would cause him to change his mind.
“Fine, it is done, a millennia Bondless in exchange for this service. Go to Atheris to get information and what you require for this mission.” Aeche disappeared.
The Muusafr willed himself elsewhere.
****
“So what name will you take for this little assignment?” Atheris unconsciously posed as she came to stand before Muusafr, she made an inquiring gesture with her hand. She was beautiful and had helped him on occasion but she was still one of the Children and he was Starborn.
“M’Shael, I will use it, it has been a while and it is time I reminded myself and others who I am.” Atheris looked amused at this, “Feeling nostalgic are we? You know I never forget who you are…” a sultry smile played on her lips. He had long learned not to be enticed by Atheris’ most blatantly offered blandishments, it was where her power lay and coming under Atheris’ power was not conducive for one’s sanity.
“Give me the information I require and no tricks. I wish to be gone quickly.” Atheris just pouted at him in a fetching manner, M’Shael made his eyes go flinty, “Fine, you’re no fun anymore.” She held out her arms, he moved close enough for her to grasp his head, “Prepare yourself” and she began. M’Shael’s back arched as the power a coursed through him and information began pouring into his being, it was over in a few seconds.
“About the vessel…” Atheris gave M’shael an apologetic glance, “I couldn’t acquire a suitable vessel from the target world so you are going to have to get a vessel from an adjacent universe and find a way to get agreement to go adventuring in the host’s body.”
M’Shael communicated his disappointment with a grunt, “What else do you have for me?”
Atheris gave him a speculative glance then squared her shoulders and reached for his head, “This is a very interesting construct, and it will facilitate your mission.” And then she showed it to him, M’Shael’s eyes widened this was truly a great boon. A smile of smug satisfaction bloomed on Atheris’ face.
“Let me guess you wish a reward for this little service, yes?” if at all possible Atheris’ smile seemed to get wider. “I’m almost afraid to ask, what do you want Atheris?”
Atheris clapped her hands childish glee, “When you go on your little millennia long holiday you take me along!”
“You jest Atheris, why would you wish to accompany me? I trust not your motivations. Choose some other boon for your service.”
Annoyance flickered over Atheris’ features, she moved till she was standing nose to nose with M’Shael looking into his eyes, “That is my price, pay or return what was given.” She said it quietly, M’Shael could see the Power smouldering in her eyes, and he briefly considered challenging her but dismissed it as sheer folly. He would probably be able to defeat her but at what cost?
“Fine, you may come along with.” M’Shael sighed, millennium in Atheris’ company was going to be torment if she did not find things to amuse her, and he sighed again.
“Oh joy! I do so love wining, wait why did you sigh just then?” M’Shael disappeared himself before Atheris could give him grief about his sighing.
A morning Full of Pugnacity
The worth of a person’s life is said to be the sum of his actions and experiences, so what is the worth of a life lived walking the middle way? Not noticing and not being noticed.
So far Nathan had lived his life this manner, quite satisfied with the state of affairs until one day he had his first encounter with the a couple of bullies from school.
As mentioned earlier Nathan strived to lead a life of the utmost mediocrity his one fervent wish being to get through each school day without being subjected to the abuse received by his peers at the hands of the ‘cool’ kids. In class Nathan had mastered the art of being invisible to his teachers hence he would not be called to answer questions and be noticed by the world at large, when interacting with his classmates he tried his best never to give definite answer, judiciously applied ‘maybes’ kept him mostly in the no-man’s land of disputes. In the hallways when getting from class to class or going for break he eeled his way around people instead of the usual good and not so good natured shoulder shoving, thus he remained undetectable in the hallways.
Nathan was your typical grey-man, like a fleeting breeze on a windy day destined to fade into the background. He never questioned this, he was satisfied up until that day, the day he would later christen ‘The Bully Awakening’ a tad over done but he was like that sometimes.
On said particular day which happened to be a Friday and a thirteenth one at that Nathan awoke from the nights with a spirit of pugnacity riding his soul, he was feeling particularly belligerent that morning so much that he got into a fight with his step-sister over who got to sit in the seat directly opposite the TV which was not like him at all.
Upon arrival at school he was still feeling out of sorts. Nathans usual bland expression gave way to way to such a glower that those more weak willed beast of the hallway instinctively gave way to him and those made of more robust material either just gently brushed by or gave him solid shoulder action. By the time he had reached his locker Nathan’s internal alarms had started blaring, he was breaking routine! He was being noticed!
Nathan tried to get rid of glower which worked but his face reconfigured itself into a look of scornful amusement, the type of look which if you saw on someone’s face would not be mistaken for the type of amusement you get when you whoopee cushion your sister, no this look conveyed in no uncertain terms that the one giving you the look was laughing at you but is not going to be polite and laugh aloud so you can laugh along and hide your embarrassment.
As was previously mentioned he was feeling a tad bit pugnacious.
Trouble said hello when Nathan bumped into Brian Hanah while entering the class and Nathan said how you doing to trouble when he responded to Brian’s, Watch it dweeb! He had not meant to say anything but his mouth opened and words just came tumbling out like a Vegas jackpot.
“Why good morning my Lord Pachyderm, how goes it?” Nathan spoke loud enough to be heard by the whole class.
“What was that dweeb? You callin’ me names?” Brian at this juncture was displaying his best scowl but Nathan’s look of derision never changed in fact he looked to be more amused.
“Now why would I be calling you names B-Man and if I were I’m sure your brain cell would be able to figure it out, well later hombre” Nathan waggled his eyebrows at the B-Man and jaunted of to his seat.
Nathan was very worried; he had just insulted Brian Hanah, one of the biggest bullies in the school, what the hell had happened to not being noticed! Nathan was well aware that he was most likely in for a world of hurt as soon as Brian figured out the insult which had been delivered unto him. The tittering of the denizens of the class was not helping either. The laughter was accelerating Brian’s erstwhile slow deductive reasoning and he was fast coming to realise that he had just been called stupid.
The epiphany of realisation came upon him like all things of the same sort do, like a bolt out of the blue, he moved, reaching out to grab the back of Nathan’s t-shirt, an impressive growl bubbling forth from his throat.
Nathan felt the threatening aura behind him and turned to face menace that was Brian Hanah. Brian’s left hand enclosed itself around the front of Nathan’s shirt; his right hand crumpled itself into a fist and made menacing motions in front of Nathan’s face.
“So dweeb I dare you, say that again” a nasty grin sprouted on Brian’s face, with a look of utter and total indifference worthy of the most disdainful of humanity’s Old gods Nathan spoke, “Seriously dweeb? Is that best you could come up with? You’ve used it already or is your brain cell working at max coming up with original insults and keeping you alive at the same time?” an insolently raised brow more than added insult injury. Brian spluttered, literally spluttered, his fist made few feeble passes in front of Nathan’s nose and received a look of cool disdain in return. It is here we would like to say in Brian’s defence that he was a typical bully, those that preyed on weakness. Show even a little smidgen of fear and they would strike but face them down, keep a calm head in the face of adversity and said bully is left drifting unable to take action.
This was Brian’s conundrum he was faced with an individual who seemed to not care about the consequences of his words or actions, he stood before a person who did not react the way normal dweebs were supposed to, cowering in the face of the fist.
They had reached an impasse, Brian could not let go of Nathan without losing face and he could not hit him because he did not know to deal with someone standing up to him, on the other hand a little of the old Nathan had surfaced so he just let Brian hold him instead of wrenching his shirt out of his fist and aggravating him further.
“Well what’s going on here? Brian? Nathan?” so the impasse was broken by the arrival of Mr Reynolds, the class teacher.
“Well I’m sure the explanations are interesting but I think I’ll just settle for ‘we were just having a manly discussion’ yes? Both boys nodded, Brian let go of Nathan’s shirt and delivered a high powered glower for good measure and received an ingenious smile in return.
“Well then my young studs trot along to your seats then we have an hour of joy ahead of us, pop quiz up coming.” A look of rapture wreathed Mr Reynolds face as he heard groans rising from class, we all take our pleasure where we may find it, do forgive him.
The rest of the day passed by as a blur for Nathan, he had other things to occupy his mind, like what in the name of jelly beans was happening to him. He usually avoided confrontations but the whole day so far felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Nathan did not remember much of that school day except when Nora Waine came to speak to him about his little skit with Brian.
Nathan had been sitting by his lonesome on one of the benches near the student car park after buying his lunch from the cafeteria. He had been staring at the chicken salad sandwich wondering if it would cut it for lunch, being belligerent, obnoxious and pugnacious was hungry work, at this juncture Nathan’s thoughts went meandering trying to figure out what had been so different about the morning that had caused to him to so out of norm, part of him understood but he was not willing to listen to that part yet, he glared at the sandwich as if it was the offending part of his psyche.
“The sandwich can’t be that offensive, can it?” Nathan jerked in surprise and looked up to behold a vision of high school goddess hood, Nora Waine.
Her dark hair was done in a stylish bob with the front being longer than the back. Long lashed brown, green flecked eyes looked at him through oval lensed designer glasses. Below a pert nose resided wide artfully glossed expressive lips, she wore a white shirt with a few of the top buttons undone to give just a hint of cleavage and below that gracing her nether regions was plaid skirt which stopped at mid-thigh and legs and feet were encased black knee high boots with silver buckles. To Nathan she was truly representative of the typical high school goddess.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Now the old Nathan would have gulped and stammered out a hello but the new Nathan raised an eyebrow and produced a totally insincere smile which was fortified by a totally flat stare.
“What can I do for you Miss Waine?” the Miss Waine just snorted , “So formal dude, is that anyway to say hello?”
“Do you even know my name Miss Waine?” Nathan wondered how a person with such a dainty nose could snort so expressively.
Nora indicated the negative as she sat down by Nathan, “Was hopin’ you would inform me seeing as you make it a point of being invisible”
“Nathan” Nathan said, he was surprised at her honesty most people would pretend to know, saying that they had forgotten.
“You really ought to eat that, it’s quite tempting. I just might have a bit.” So saying she reached over and broke off half of the sandwich and began eating.
“That’s mine.” Nathan said this with all the petulance he could muster, he would have done a five year old proud (they are after all the best at being petulant).
She just patted his cheek in an absent minded kind of way, “I know Nathan, are you going to eat the rest of that sandwich?”
Nathan glared at her, he was tempted to stick his tongue out at her… he yielded to temptation and he proceeded to make his half of the sandwich disappear.
Nora watched him eat, she was good at getting what she wanted from people and Nathan would not present any difficulty.
Nora began her interrogation, “So you want to talk about what happened this morning?”
“No not particularly.” Nathan answered noncommittally
“You do realise that you’re in really big trouble with Brian, as soon as he sees an opportunity he is going to beat the shit out of you, so are you going to tell what happened, I may be able to divert his attention.”
Nathan looked at the expectant look on her face, she really expected him to confide in her. She who had never noticed his existence before was showing an interest in him just because he had acted up that morning, it irritated him.
“Why the sudden concern for my welfare Nora?” Nathan asked blandly, “You’ve never concerned yourself with the welfare of your fellow man unless it benefitted you in some way, especially someone like me.”
Nora looked at him, she raised an eyebrow and Nathan quailed.
“I’m sorry?”
A small smile sprouted on Nora’s face, “If you’re going to apologise do it properly, don’t make it sound like a question.”
“Ah...” Nathan nodded his head sagely.
He poked his straw into his juice box and proceeded to suck the juice out vigorously till he started choking. Nora pounded him on the back even more vigorously.
“You should relax, I know I make you nervous but I don’t bite so relax okay” Nathan nodded as he cleared his throat.
With nothing else to eat or drink and his earlier peaked spirits having faded away Nathan was left to twiddle his thumbs, a few seconds of thumb twiddling with Nora looking on made Nathan wish he was facing Brian instead.
He cleared his throat, “So what was it that you said you needed? ’Cos I really need to go… stuff to do…” He made as if to get up and leave and she touched his arm and he sat down again.
“You were supposed to tell me what happened to make you act the way you did this morning…” she gave a smile which promised mischief on so many levels “…and we’re not leaving till you do.”
“Ah…” if Nathan stayed with her longer he was going to be reduced to a monosyllabic wretch. Nora raised an eyebrow as if to say well get on with it, he was tempted to say ah again just for kicks.
“There isn’t much to say, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess…” Nathan shrugged, he would have left it at that but it seemed she expected more “… well usually I go through the day avoiding everything but today it seems that something in me wasn’t going to let me just stay on the side lines like I usually do… you know like someone inside was strongly suggesting doing something other than avoiding…” Nathan sat there with a pensive look upon his face.
Nora shifted a bit closer to Nathan, “So was it like a voice in your head telling you what to do? I mean if it was a voice it didn’t sound like your normal ‘talk to yourself voice’ did it?”
“Huh…?” and the monosyllabic wretch spoke.
“Nah it was just like a strong feeling, why you hearing voices telling you to do stuff?” Nathan looked at her speculatively, “You do realise anybody else wouldn’t take you seriously, they’d think you were trying to play a trick on them.”
Nora just shrugged her shoulders.
Interests, amusement, elation and a myriad of other emotions and feelings coursed through Nathan, the day was turning out to be memorable. He wanted to just throw his head back and laugh out loud at the sheer feeling of living outside of the grey but he clamped down on this feeling before he actually burst out laughing. As he was examining his internal state, trying to find the source of these boisterous perplexing feelings he came across it. It was a nub of warmth in his psyche, it was part and not part of him, he was sure this was the source of the day’s upheaval.
Nathan had been so deep in introspection that he had not heard Nora’s several attempts to get his attention, a whack on the side of his head remedied that, he apologised profusely.
“So does the name M’Shael mean anything to you?” Nathan shook his head and raised a brow “What about Atheris does that mean anything to you Nathan?”
Nathan had been about to say no when something perked with interest inside him at the mention of the name Atheris, where had he heard that name before it seemed so familiar but he could not recall where he knew it from; it was getting to be frustrating.
Nora was become increasingly agitated; the Voice in her head that called herself Atheris had told her to talk to Nathan because he was the one who hosted the one whom she sought, apparently this was not so. Nora had struck a deal with Atheris, for help in finding this M’Shael character who she had tracked to this universe she, Atheris, would grant Nora the ability to travel the Worlds. Nora wanted to be done with her side of the contract and be on merry way. Life for Nora to casual observer was good, she was beautiful, popular and had good grades but there are always skeletons in the closet.
Nathan received a savage poke in his cheek and was about to express his displeasure at such rough treatment of his cheek when what seemed like a jolt of electricity coursed through his body originating from the point of contact.
“Ah…!” the monosyllabic wretch resurfaced and then everything turned black.
To any person who had been observing the Nathan and Nora at the time Nora had so savagely poked Nathan in the cheek they had both simply vanished but no one had been watching so like a tree falling unobserved in a forest no one saw so it could not have happened, could it?
If this was what it was to be dead Nathan was thoroughly disappointed. He was in a featureless dark place, he could see his body but nothing else, and he did not even feel anything about the place apart from the overwhelming emptiness.
“God, being dead is boring” he sighed
“What makes you think your dead boy?” Nathan whirled around at the sound of the thrumming voice, there standing behind and slightly to the right of him was a man but Nathan could sense that he was not a normal human man.
He was tall, he had dark hair cut close to the skull, he was dark of skin more a really deep tan and his face, Nathan guessed most girls would consider him extremely handsome. Nathan thought he looked too pretty. But it was his eyes that fascinated Nathan the most they whirled from black to brown through to gold and there seemed to be little blue sparks lighting up in depths of the eyes.
“You’re M’Shael?” the man smiled and nodded.
“Your quite calm boy, it is surprising…” Nathan just shrugged, he was not calm but it would not do to show it, besides if he thought of all the things that had happened and were happening as a dream it helped keep him calm.
“So if I’m not dead where are we?”
M’Shael looked around with satisfaction, “We are between places boy, it is difficult to explain…”
“No not really …”Nathan interrupted “I guess it is more like we teleported and stopped half way through and this is the place that exist between the points of a teleport.”
M’Shael harrumphed “That is true but it is still an over simplification.” He looked slightly disgruntled
“Oh don’t get me wrong I am hugely awed here but really I don’t need the detailed explanation, I’m good with the simple explanation, it’s not like I’m going to be doing stuff like this.”
“Sooooo?” Nathan waggled his eyebrows at M’Shael
“What?”
“So why are we here?”
“Oh that, we await your female acquaintance and her guest… Atheris” he said the name with a look close to despair on his face, Nathan decided not to pursue that matter, everyone had people they found difficult to deal with, wait he said guest didn’t he?
“Hold up, hold up! What do you mean by guest?” Nathan didn’t like the sound of that.
“The way I’m a guest in you it is the same way Atheris is a guest in the one called Nora, where I chose to remain concealed Atheris made herself known to her host. She probably did this to facilitate her search for me.” Nathan seriously began to worry, what had M’Shael done to this Atheris for her to go to such lengths to find him and what did she have in mind for he who had unwittingly played host to her target. He decided to find out.
“Ah…?”
M’Shael raised a hand, “Hold your questions they arrive, all shall be revealed presently.”
The space ahead of them began to warp and twist in a most nauseating manner, Nathan cast a glance at M’Shael showed that he was not in the least fazed. The warping space gave one final throb and spat out two figures, one was obviously Nora but the other …The other! Nathan felt his pulse increase his palms became clammy, nervous sweat started popping from his forehead and his jeans in the region of his crotch started getting tighter, his mouth dried with mortification when he realised this. Lord God thank you I can die happy, for I have seen the hottest woman in existence! This little prayer was said from the depths of Nathan’s shivering soul.
“That is enough Atheris! Do wish to kill the boy with sheer excitement?! Veil yourself!” M’Shael’s thrumming voice was enough to allow Nathan to gain some measure of self-control. He cast his eyes toward Nora and found her glaring at him furiously, he quickly looked away and his fell on Atheris again his pulse started tripping again, she was so hot-t-t-t! It wasn’t his fault he was reacting this way but he could still feel Nora’s glare, he sighed.
A shimmer passed over Atheris’ form and when next Nathan’s eyes fell on her he did react but not as severely as the first time, it was more an intellectual acknowledgement of her sheer awe inspiring beauty which was distracting but not as physically distracting as the first encounter.
There was a look of smug satisfaction on Atheris’ face while M’Shael looked like a man going through ‘trying times’.
“I have found you.” Atheris voice sent shivers through Nathan, how could a voice sound so inviting.
“Obviously, what do you seek from me?” M’Shael’s tone was flat and hard, anger simmered underneath.
“I thought we had an agreement, after this assignment for your assistance you would be allowed to accompany for the millennia. So what is the meaning of this Atheris!” he sounded very displeased.
Atheris stretched languidly, gave a slow smile and then even more slowly trailed her hands down her body to rest at her waist. Her eyes glinted dangerously she stared at M’Shael for few seconds, “You know while I was at home thinking about our little agreement it occurred to me go over the exact wording of our arrangement and I found certain things not to my liking…” she frowned, was there nothing that could mar her beauty? Nathan didn’t think so.
“…you said I would be allowed to accompany you when you done with the assignment and nowhere was it stated that you had to inform me of conclusion of the assignment nor did you state that you had to take me and so I am here to make sure to get what is mine.” She tossed him a challenging glare
“Are you saying that I would not keep my word?” something dangerous had crept into M’Shael’s now quiet voice, “I have always kept my word have I not?” the atmosphere had suddenly become stifling and there was the smell of ozone in the air.
Nathan looked at Atheris and found an expression very close fear upon her beauteous face, a slight movement from Nora brought her to his attention, she was on the her knees holding her throat … she could not breath!
“Dude! Whatever you’re doing stop, you’re killing her!” Nathan made as if to grab M’Shael and stopped himself short; he did not want to find out how M’Shael would react if he grabbed him.
M’Shael had heard Nathan, he turned his gaze to Nora and saw the effect he was having on her and he seemed to relax and Nora could breathe again.
“Apologies Miss Waine, I have caused you some distress.” He gave a small bow of his head to Nora; she gave him a weak smile return. He turned back to Atheris who was tensed and taut as bow string.
“Well? I am waiting explain properly why you are here or I just might decide to do something nasty to you and I don’t mean your kind of nasty.” He gave smile that was all menace and no sunshine.
Atheris seemed to gather herself, “You never break your word true but depending on the person you either follow the spirit of your given word or you follow to the letter your given word. And I know I am one the people who will receive the latter. You do not want me to come along on your little thousand year holiday, you even sighed when you left my presence.
Can you tell me I lie about this?”
Nathan looked at M’Shael and was shocked to see a look of embarrassment flicker across his face; he started laughing it was so funny in so many ways.
“Why do you laugh Nathan? My predicament amuses you so?” and Nathan just laughed harder.
“Dude beautiful women are dangerous, yes?”
“Yes?” M’Shael looked confused
“That is why it’s so funny!” and Nathan guffawed. Other three just looked at him with expressions which were a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
Nathan finally got his laughter under control, the others did not seem to share his amusement which almost brought about another bout of merriment but Nathan mastered himself.
“So where were we?” question was delivered with an ingenious smile which communicated all his supressed mirth.
“We were establishing the fact that M’Shael here is a swindling ass!” Nora supplied with a severe expression. Atheris touched her gently on the shoulder and she subsided but she still shot Nathan a glare of disapproval for good measure, he shrugged it off.
M’Shael cleared his throat and placed a companionable arm on Nathan’s shoulders, “My compatriot and I have some business to conclude so ladies if you will excuse us…” and he moved them elsewhere.