Kaelen went on and on about nonsense Jason could care less about.
The reptile's voice boomed across the table, rattling the mugs with every word. He talked about a hunt in the eastern marshes where he had wrestled a giant serpent with his bare hands. He talked about a bounty in the northern highlands where he had to dig through a mountain of corpses to find a single golden tooth. He talked about a drinking contest with a troll that lasted three days and ended with the troll vomiting so hard it passed out.
Jason nodded along, sipping his drink, his face locked in an expression of polite interest.
He was smart enough to know he couldn't complain. Complaining would do nothing for him. He had to focus on getting out of this situation with as little drama as possible. Kaelen was huge, dangerous, and clearly had the emotional intelligence of a brick. One wrong word and those yellow eyes would turn cold again.
