Page 3932

“Well?” said Hector, removing the Amir-22 from his back and readying it in his hand. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“...It would appear I’ve upset you,” said Caster.

“Just a bit,” said Hector. “We were trying to build trust between us, weren’t we? And then you go and do something like this. I’m disappointed.”

“What, precisely, is it that you think I have done?”

Hector tilted his head slowly, feeling his irritation heighten. It was surely showing through in his aura, he knew. He didn’t even attempt to conceal it. “Oh... please don’t try to play dumb, now. This alliance won’t last much longer if you do that.”

And a pregnant silence arrived as Caster took his time responding.

Hector just waited for him. Watching.

At length, Caster inhaled heavily and brushed himself off. “Very well, then. No games, if you so insist. I was observing you, yes. I meant no harm. It is simply my way. A most ancient habit.”

Hmph. “This is your only warning. Do that again, and we’re going to have a serious problem.”

Caster’s gaze was locked on him, rigid and serious. Not like the laidback expressions that Hector was accustomed to witnessing from this man. “Yes, I can see that,” said Caster. “I overstepped. My apologies.”

Well, that was something, at least. Hector didn’t get the impression that this man--or the ‘god’ inhabiting him, perhaps--was given to apologizing very often.

But at the same time, Hector needed a lot more than that. He racked his brain, trying to remember everything he’d done since his last meeting with Caster.

Maybe it was actually a good thing he’d spent so much time cooped up in his room, reading reports and managing Warrenhold’s affairs. None of that intel seemed terribly critical.

His meeting with Abbas, though... when he’d picked up the Kag and the new shield...

When he’d seen Abbas working directly with the Candle.

If Caster had seen that...

He couldn’t just come right out and ask about it, though. First, Hector needed more information. He decided to start with the unavoidable subject. “How much did you see just now?”

Caster looked around. “Nothing at all. I was busy observing someone else.” His gaze fell upon the Gate. “But apparently, that was a mistake. My, my. What do we have here? Might this be one of the locations that you promised to show me?”