He watched Sunjata from the corner of his eyes, finally turning his head to look at him as the man settled down as if to stay awhile and pulling blades that shone silver in the muddy evening light. Starry and gleaming with lethal intent it was easy to see in whose honor they had been fashioned. Or perhaps who they had been fashioned by, and the bard's jaw tightened for a moment before he looked away again.
The praise earned a faint grunt of acknowledgment, and in that moment he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Deimos felt. A dark amusement bubbled up momentarily, like something from the depths of a peat bog, but he shook it off and forced a breath and a return of the control and mask he had been needing to don less and less as the seasons went by.
"You as well, with getting the people to safety."
Maea's ghost hung between them, a chill wind off the ocean from the distant storm, but he wasn't ready to face her yet. "Why did you do it? Challenge for control of the region?" The question was abrupt but not hostile, genuine curiosity in the undertones of the words, for Jigano could never quell that part of him for long, and he had been worrying at why either man felt fit to lead since the day of the vote.
The praise earned a faint grunt of acknowledgment, and in that moment he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Deimos felt. A dark amusement bubbled up momentarily, like something from the depths of a peat bog, but he shook it off and forced a breath and a return of the control and mask he had been needing to don less and less as the seasons went by.
"You as well, with getting the people to safety."
Maea's ghost hung between them, a chill wind off the ocean from the distant storm, but he wasn't ready to face her yet. "Why did you do it? Challenge for control of the region?" The question was abrupt but not hostile, genuine curiosity in the undertones of the words, for Jigano could never quell that part of him for long, and he had been worrying at why either man felt fit to lead since the day of the vote.
