His eyes were searching, squinting, as though evaluating every ounce of Oliver's being through them. Oliver calmly met his gaze. The man did not radiate an aura like Lombard, or like Blackwell – but there was something about him that still screamed danger, like the glare of a serpent.
"Is that what they whisper?" Oliver said carefully. "Then perhaps there is more truth to rumours than there were in the past. But only a fool would believe such stories, wouldn't they? Or so Lombard tells me. A boy of an age to mine, breaking through to the Second Boundary, and having his chance on the battlefield where others had not had theirs – that would cause quite a stir."
