Ronin answered his question—and Rory let out a low whistle of sorts. Zariah had, unwittingly, played herself straight into their hands: she had done exactly what they had feared, and rather than drive Ronin away from them, it had put him back among them. "Well, shit," he responded quietly, his brain spinning through the implications.
It was disheartening to learn that Zariah was every bit as ruthless and bad as they had expected, but... Why had she felt the need to threaten Aoife? To try and keep the two men in line? Did that mean that she feared them, and their potential?
Well. Looking at Ronin, determined but still warm, and Remi, boyishly out of place and nudging Ronin, smiling, chuckling, touching, offering his support—perhaps she was right to fear them.
And maybe they should fear for them too, that this bold scheme might hurt and harden them, change them irrevocably and not for the better.
But they had made their choices, just like everyone else in the room. Rory drifted over to Jigano, squeezing his aged and tanned hand. He knew that his plan was to lay his head in the crocodile's mouth and trust it not to bite it off, but what else could he do?
It was disheartening to learn that Zariah was every bit as ruthless and bad as they had expected, but... Why had she felt the need to threaten Aoife? To try and keep the two men in line? Did that mean that she feared them, and their potential?
Well. Looking at Ronin, determined but still warm, and Remi, boyishly out of place and nudging Ronin, smiling, chuckling, touching, offering his support—perhaps she was right to fear them.
And maybe they should fear for them too, that this bold scheme might hurt and harden them, change them irrevocably and not for the better.
But they had made their choices, just like everyone else in the room. Rory drifted over to Jigano, squeezing his aged and tanned hand. He knew that his plan was to lay his head in the crocodile's mouth and trust it not to bite it off, but what else could he do?
