I glanced from Maxantarius to Nura, reading the taut hostility in their stances, the sharp edge in the way that they looked at each other. And I tasted the thread of tension in the air that lingered between them, one that seemed drawn from something deeper than this conversation alone. There was history here. Old rivals, maybe. Or . . . I watched their unbroken stares, heavy with that distinctive blend of familiarity and resentment.
theyre the people from chapter one!
