Subjected to their stunned gazes, the robed man knelt before the two girls. Yelena stepped in front of Celestina with pursed lips, her face gone pale and dizzy just from looking at him, and she shuddered again. There was something deeply and unmistakably wrong about this man, something that went beyond ordinary unease.
Lumine began moving, keeping his steps as quiet as he could, circling around behind the man with his sword ready to cut him down the instant the need arose. But the man never acknowledged Lumine's existence. Not even slightly.
He leaned to one side so he could see past Yelena and look directly at Celestina, who looked back, uncertain.
Then the robed man spoke, softly, with the warmth of someone offering counsel from genuine good will, if indeed such a thing resided somewhere within him.
"You try and wish to chase your own talent, but different seeds bloom at different times."
