Stranger in a familiar land

[Adrian Kane]

“For the love of the dark, do not work slower,” he muttered. Intensity didn’t make much of a difference, but he would consider selling his soul if it meant it was over soon. For dark’s sake he withstood torture. Why was this so much bloody harder?

His leg bounced anxiously while Talin channeled. Surely she didn’t need stillness? But it gave him something to do. Rubbing his eyes or pinching his nails into his palm was worthless. So he forced himself to focus on what she was saying. Tried to imagine which of the Chosen would benefit the most from misleading the Tower about the Borderlands affairs. And was it Shienar alone that was suffering? Or all of them? Certainly it should be more. But Shienar was nearest Shayol Ghul. The greatest incentive for a coverup was there.

Then he recognized something from the mire of Talin’s explanation. The bouncing leg fell to stillness and he propped up on his elbows to look at her quizzically. “Did you say the emissary's name was Armendariz?”

The same as that warder. Was he nobility then? He frowned at that. He knew little about the Borderlander families. None but the most prominent. Royals or whatnot. He hated having to ask Talin, but it was unlikely that even the Stone’s great library would have records of the non-royal northern Houses.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering how to fit this piece of information into the rest of what he knew. His tone changed to make himself more casual. The kind of conversation that many in the past spilled secrets without him even having to coerce it.
“That’s the same name as a warder. Do you know him? Vladamir Armendariz? Are they of the same House?”