“The pomp and splendor of the Imperial ceremony, coupled with its privacy, elevates the oath, and the import of the oath, in the minds of most young candidates.”
“I believe that was the entire point.”
“I do not feel it will have the same effect on your private.”
“He is not my private.”
“Ah, no. I believe Lord Marlin claimed him—first, and most tenaciously. He wants that boy.”
Elluvian nodded.
“I begin to see why.”
“And the official oaths?”
“I admit that I find them tedious at times. It is tedium I endure because it serves a purpose. Since it will serve no purpose for Severn Handred, I find myself more than willing to avoid them.”
“What do you see in that boy?” Elluvian asked, as the silence threatened to become too weighty.
The Emperor’s eyes were an orange gold. “I see what you can’t. Why do you ask?”
“I am curious. You have long held to traditions, and yet you have chosen to forgo them almost entirely in Severn’s case. Helmat did the same.”
“You cannot see why?”
“He lacks the charm and charisma of our previous recruit.”
“The one who died?”
“Indeed. I perceive you ask because you wish to make a point.”
“No. Life has already made the point. Why do you ask? It is unlike you to readily expose ignorance.”
“You are not the only person of my acquaintance to show an unexpected interest in the boy.”
“Ah. I will not ask a question you will not answer. But I would be displeased should that unexpected interest remove him from the Wolves.”
“You would not be the only one. I do not understand the private. He is obedient, silent, studious; he does not seem to be any of these things to curry favor. And it appears to me that he actually holds the Tha’alani in some affection.”
“Lord Marlin seems to do so.”
“He did not, when he was the private’s age. And I would say he does not now—but he understands that they are bound to us by necessity, not desire. His experience has shown him that the Tha’alani use nothing they have gathered in their investigations; that the secrets they unearth remain otherwise buried.
“Regardless, he did not have the private’s reaction.”
“This worries you?”
“Private Handred came here at his own request; Helmat did not gainsay it. But it appears—to me—that he dared the Dragon in his den, quite literally, because he was worried for the Tha’alani.”
The Emperor’s eyes lost their orange tint as his gaze met, and held, Elluvian’s. “Yes,” he said.
“He cannot imagine that he can protect the Tha’alani from you?”
“He can. He is young. But it is the desire to protect that moves him to take risks, to make choices, to dare even the anger of Dragons. And I confess that I am moved by his faith, his trust, in his Emperor.”
“Were it not for your demands, the Tha’alani would not require that protection.”
“Yes. It is surprising that the boy can have that faith in me, given the circumstances.”