Never wake a Dragon (on hold)

5. part I - discussions

A strange silence rested in the grand room. It was a silence to make visitors uncomfortable when they stood alone next to the gold-plated bust of the High Councilor. The sorcerer had most likely done it himself, a perfected image of his haughty face. Adeem held no illusions—the High Councilor was vain enough to have enhanced the features he treasured and shaved off the ones he didn't like. The man also had enough skills to allow the bust to spy on those who passed by. It was not a good idea to loiter in its proximity, but the secretary had asked him to oblige in no uncertain terms.

It was an official meeting. He'd been called to the Archive by invitation, and that alone made him wary. That, and the smug grin on the secretary's face when he'd arrived. He checked the time on his phone. It was ten minutes past their appointment, but that was hardly enough delay to become overly agitated.

He eyed the bust again, resisting the urge to make a face at it. He'd never met the High Councilor in person, but he'd heard more than enough stories over the centuries. The man was hailed to be the savior of them all on account of his leadership during the battle of ten. Adeem knew it hadn't been down to one man alone. The entire council had taken part, along with his dear parents. He wondered how it must feel for Kyung to walk by the man's shrine every day. Not pleasant, most likely. It raised even more questions about why Kyung had accepted to work for those who had effectively stolen his freedom. A weird flash of pity washed over him until he was able to come to this senses. The dragon needed no pity.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor outside. Every stone wall seemed to sing around him, announcing whoever it was who wanted to join. Kyung appeared beneath the open archway. Formally dressed in nothing but black, the dragon couldn't have looked more imposing. The High Councilor clearly shared the penchant for vanity with some of his underlings.

Kyung made no effort to acknowledge him with more than a bored stare.

"You called," he said, hating that he was the one to initiate conversation.

"My office." Kyung disappeared from view, giving him no other option than to leave the grand room and follow the dragon.

He shouldn't have been surprised by the lack of greeting, nor the display of difference in rank, but it didn't exactly improve his mood. Tracing the dragon's steps, he ascended the stairs and entered a much smaller room stripped of paintings and statues. It held a desk, a chair that was a tad less pompous than Denker's and more bookcases than he bothered to count. At least there were a couple of comfortable chairs for visitors, which at least made the office nicer than the one he'd visited a week ago.

The windows revealed the silhouette of Gamla Stan, and perhaps that was enough to make up for the lack of decorative enhancements.

"Sit." Kyung gestured at one of the chairs.

The chair was comfortable enough, but he immediately wanted to rise and get back to his apartment, or better yet, get out of the country. It had been a few intense days of reviewing his options, but he hadn't reached any sort of conclusion that he was comfortable with. It made him almost as twitchy as Nev, and the perceptive vampire had begun to notice.

"I called you here officially." Kyung placed his elbows on the table, leaning forward. "There are already talks around town that we met at your apartment, which means our cover is partially blown. I'm formally hiring you. It's the only way."

"I didn't tell anyone."

"No, I can't imagine you would. Someone must have seen us." Kyung's rigid pose broke into one of mild annoyance. "Now we just need to come up with a plausible reason to why I'm hiring you."

"I think it was the Nighters."

The dragon tapped his fingers together. "Sounds reasonable. But how do you know?"