“Watch your words,” Kitalia said sharply, “I will not continue to let you slander my kinsfolk no matter how ancient you might be.”
As before, when he regarded Kitalia as actually being in the room, the smile vanished, to be replaced by a curling sneer. “There’s that annoying pride,” he retorted, his tone almost mocking. He turned back to face Kre, and his salesman-like smile returned, “She must be a pain to travel with… I can’t even imagine spending that much time with a free Ylveryan. All that yakking about how great they are and their blind dedication to that idiotic, antiquated way of speaking. They didn’t pick that up from us, I can tell you that right now.”
Kre noted Kitalia’s face turning a bright red and he knew that a violent explosion was likely to be forthcoming. If he couldn’t manage to turn her wrath aside, she might end up doing something the both of them would very much regret, especially given how powerful the defrocked priest seemed to be.
It was obvious to him now that the stranger was one of the Ancients, a spirit from the past made flesh. Why it didn’t dawn on him earlier, he couldn’t explain. It was also obvious that there was some conflicted ancestral history between the Ylveryan and the Ancients, but Kre knew that he’d likely never get any useful information out of either of them.
“I think I’ve seen a book like this once before,” he said casually, trying to direct the conversation back to a more mundane topic.
“I should hope so,” the stranger smiled. “Your Church essentially stole their teachings from my people.” He waggled his hand in the air a bit, an act that seemed to cause the air around his arm to shimmer in and out of an odd sort of shadow. “Well, most of their teachings. They seem to have changed a few things here and there.”
“You’ve been around my people often?” This was interesting to Kre, as he had never heard of any interaction between Tehynshins and the Ancients aside from the violent ones when his people would venture into ruins.
A low, earthy chuckle was the first response to Kre’s question. Coupled with the stranger’s next words and with the toothy grin, it seemed almost sinister, “We’ve… interacted.”
“…us on…”
Both Kre and Kitalia turned their heads as the faint sound, almost an echo of an echo, seemed to linger on their ears. As they looked around, it seemed as if the edges of the room were drifting and fading into darkness.
The stranger cleared his throat and brought their focus back to him. “As mentioned, I have a request for you both.”
“You repeatedly insult my kin, and you still expect me to do you a favor?” Kitalia snorted and shook her head. “You are full of yourself. It is easy to see what sin your downfall was.”
He turned his dazzling smile to the Ylveryan, yet his honey-slicked words still contained a bit of an edge, “I honestly don’t expect anything from you. I only include you out of politeness, not because I think you could even remotely succeed.
“In fact,” he continued casually, turning his attention to Kre, “this is something that only a Tehynshin can do.”