Leviathan regarded them for a long, silent moment before he nodded. “Then I presume that they pose no threat?”
“Our agreement is that they’ll defend us—and this place—if needed. It’s their home, now, too.”
Phelan crossed his arms. “But as you’ve said, you mean no harm to us if we mean no harm to you, and I am more than capable of assuring you that we mean you and yours no harm.” His gaze flicked toward the ghostly figures beyond Leviathan. He could see Eriu wending her way among them, a flaxen-haired wraith among all the drowned or frozen souls that Lake Michigan—perhaps all the lakes and connected waterways—had claimed over the centuries. She was one bright spot of color amidst their strange drabness. “Though harm is a thing I find myself questioning, considering the size of the army of spirits you’ve brought along.”
Is his power so great that he can command them, or is it more like me and the people here, where he’s earned their trust and respect, but it’s a choice to follow him?
“Curiosity and fear are powerful,” Leviathan said cryptically. He shifted his weight, smirking. “They make you uncomfortable.”
“Armies of anything at our gates make us uncomfortable,” Phelan fired back. “That hasn’t changed.”
Leviathan smiled and a chill shot down Phelan’s spine.
I still don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.
“I’ll send them away,” Leviathan said. “Clearly, there’s no harm meant here, so there’s no reason for them to linger.”
“We could send them to their rest, if they’d like.”
Leviathan’s attention snapped to Matt. “What was that?”
Damn, damn, and damn. “In the old way,” Phelan rushed to say. “You’re familiar with the old rituals.”
“Only in passing,” Leviathan said, some of the tension easing. “Druids, women of the royal houses, that rot, yes?”
Phelan nodded, feeling sick to his stomach. Why the hell did you have to bring that up, Matt?
Leviathan’s gaze shifted to Leinth. “And you’d be doing the sending?”
Leinth, mercifully, kept her mouth shut. She shrugged eloquently. Phelan breathed a mental sigh of relief.
“I imagine most of them would pass on the offer, in any case,” Leviathan said. “Though I suppose I will let them know that it’s been made.” He took a slow step back. “I’ll take my leave, then.”
Phelan inclined his head.
The smile that Leviathan gave him left him chilled, but the other man withdrew, turning and walking back toward the sea of drowned souls beyond them. He disappeared into their midst and one by one, slowly, the souls winked out of visibility, drifting away like fog as it burns off under the sun.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Matt muttered.
“Me too, Matt,” Phelan murmured back. “Me, too.”
I have a bad feeling about it too.Spooky dead or 1/2 creatures.
Unless there is some bad blood there, I really don’t see how Matt’s statements could be harmful.
It’s more about potentially robbing Leviathan of his army.
I can see why Phelan would think that.
That implies that Leviathan intends to use them as an army instead of protect them as his subjects.
Phelan tends to be a bit paranoid. Of course, he knows Leviathan from the old days. So, maybe he has some insight there.
It’s really nice that I can’t figure out how things are going all the time. I like that you can do that without blindsiding us with stuff out of the blue.