How would the Swordmaster speak to me knowing the kerfuffle I’ve gotten myself into now? Dolphus thought as he listened to the naive nonsense that poured out of Mariner’s mouth. You have such a blind faith in something you have absolutely no understanding of… That isn’t blind faith - that’s ignorance.
The hesitation in Mariner’s maneuver cost him the handshake. The Gorov boy looked down at the extended hand, something of the coldness of the past rising up in his demeanor and his thoughts. Here was a weak and insignificant individual physically lower and mentally lower than himself. Incompetent, irrelevant, disposable.
And yet Dolphus was not a Gorov of the old breed. He was human.
“I suggest we have some faith in our new employer.” Dolphus replied, not taking his eyes off Mariner. “You have us at your word. I assume such courtesies as this can be completed after doubt in the efficacy of your crew and vessel have been resolved?”
The hand remained unmet. Dolphus gripped his cane even tighter, unsure if he was doing it to complete the act or if he was truly scared.
And yet this whisper - so quiet and so inconsequential, spoken practically behind Dolphus’ ear - seemed to ring as loud as a thousand iron bells. The moment he heard it he turned his head about, all vicious ice in his demeanor immediately shattering and melting away. It took him a couple seconds to piece together what the words must have been - Cave-In Land and Caring Man were the first to enter his mind - but it seemed more important to him that now, as the first words he would have spoken to her had to be that of affirmation and support.
He looked back at her for more than five seconds in complete silence before responding.
“The Caelin’s hand.”