Orion let the last trace of 'cordiality' go…
"How touching," he said. The tone was new, something designed to find the specific place where it would cut cleanest. "The plebeian monster is in love with my niece."
The crystals in his hand pulsed.
"And what exactly do you offer her if you want to ruin that good marriage chance? Unknown origins? A family of provincial tamers carrying a name that nobody recognizes? This power you can neither explain nor control?"
"She is a Starweaver! She carries the blood of one of the oldest families in this kingdom. And what you're offering her is…" he touched his hair, then tapped his temple with the air of someone thinking very hard about nothing, "...Nothing once you bestow me that scroll of paper, you have nothing left."
The veins along Ren's neck darkened another degree.
"My family is…!"
Orion didn't let him finish. He pressed faster, because momentum was the point.
