He could feel Harper's suspicion even before the Stalward spoke, and as Harper laid out his questions, concerns, and, yes, accusations the mermanta watched Koa. The stubborn set of his jaw, the tight control he held over his shoulders and voice as he gave his rebuttals. There was pride there, and perhaps a hint of youthful sass, but he was so painfully, intensely earnest that his belief that he was doing the right thing shone through.
Whether it really was the right thing, however, was far less certain.
He glanced to Harper, inclining his head in a bid for peace before he turned back to the Koa. "We are agreed, then, that both Torchers were victims?" he asked carefully, wanting to be sure that the words that had been used previously did, in fact, mean what all three men thought they did before he continued. "If that is true, the other victim is not required to answer questions unless they choose to. The other sought you out. That was their choice and right. But it does not give you the right to force another to relive what you have described as a difficult experience."
He wanted to offer Koa help, but the dragoon's insistence on secrecy and inconsistency in what he described compared to what he wanted made it difficult. Not when one of his people had apparently undergone one bad experience already. And when Koa was asking them to trust him, when the dragoon did not seem to trust them... It had to go both ways. Or it would go neither.
"Hmm. A suggestion," he rumbled, looking between the two men and knowing neither would like it. "You may send a letter to this person, asking if they are willing to meet with you, and why. And telling them that they may choose to have witnesses with them. Including either of their Kings," he added with a nod to Harper. "At a place of their choosing. If this is to be done, it should be done willingly by all."
Unless there was more to the story that was deliberately being hidden from them. But Hadama preferred to move forward believing in Koa's honesty and good intentions.
Whether it really was the right thing, however, was far less certain.
He glanced to Harper, inclining his head in a bid for peace before he turned back to the Koa. "We are agreed, then, that both Torchers were victims?" he asked carefully, wanting to be sure that the words that had been used previously did, in fact, mean what all three men thought they did before he continued. "If that is true, the other victim is not required to answer questions unless they choose to. The other sought you out. That was their choice and right. But it does not give you the right to force another to relive what you have described as a difficult experience."
He wanted to offer Koa help, but the dragoon's insistence on secrecy and inconsistency in what he described compared to what he wanted made it difficult. Not when one of his people had apparently undergone one bad experience already. And when Koa was asking them to trust him, when the dragoon did not seem to trust them... It had to go both ways. Or it would go neither.
"Hmm. A suggestion," he rumbled, looking between the two men and knowing neither would like it. "You may send a letter to this person, asking if they are willing to meet with you, and why. And telling them that they may choose to have witnesses with them. Including either of their Kings," he added with a nod to Harper. "At a place of their choosing. If this is to be done, it should be done willingly by all."
Unless there was more to the story that was deliberately being hidden from them. But Hadama preferred to move forward believing in Koa's honesty and good intentions.
