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"Hah. No. But as I mentioned, I am rather busy, at the moment. Perhaps we could pick this up another time."

"Oh, I'm sure we will. But I am curious about who you are meeting."

"I am surprised you do not already know. I was getting the impression that you had already been observing me for some time."

"Not at all. I merely found a door and gave it a knock. You are the one who decided to answer."

Ettol wondered how much he should trust those words. His instinct told him not to be, but then, these Oathbearers were quite simple-minded, weren't they? Lacking guile in the extreme. Often outright incapable of lying, due to their chosen covenant.

And this one... well, he did seem a little different, truth be told, but not overly so.

Which was beginning to render Ettol bored. While, yes, Oathbearers were indeed his favorite opponents, that was only when there was an actual fight to be had; and this did not appear to be that--nor had he lied when he'd said that he was not in the mood for one.

Just another overly simplistic distraction when he had more important matters to be worrying about. If this man wanted--

Wait a minute.

Something wasn't right here.

If this was a mere Oathbearer, then how had he rejected the psychic marker at the beginning of their conversation?

He'd nearly forgotten about that. How? Psychic manipulation?

That would be the traditional explanation, but no... it couldn't be that. If there was one thing Ettol had confidence in, it was matters of mental manipulation and psychic influence. Just by being in the same room, he would be able to tell if this person in front of him harbored such abilities.

And yet still, he sensed nothing. Sure, Oathbearers could be otherwise completely normal human beings, but then how did he reject the marker?

...Moreover, when had it even been confirmed that he was an Oathbearer?

Hadn't Ettol just been worried that the man might have been faking? Where had that concern disappeared to? Jonah? Agh, maybe. But even if so, might that also mean Jonah knew something of this man that he did not?

Impossible...

Unconsciously, Ettol took a step back.

There was more than just something wrong here, he realized. All of a sudden, nothing seemed right.

"Easy now," said the stranger in a voice that was admittedly quite soothing. "Don't get skittish on me. I'm not going to hurt you."