"Flinn." Lexel leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, looking at the ceiling with the expression of someone assembling a question they'd been sitting on for a while. "Do you know any famous swordsmen? Rangers, mages — someone recent. Someone on the rise, making a name for themselves."
Flinn was quiet for a moment. Not the quiet of ignorance. The quiet of someone sorting through a very large filing cabinet.
"Give me names."
"Myda," said Lexel. "And Seleron."
Flinn turned the names over. Tested them against whatever internal catalogue operated behind those eyes. Then shook his head.
"Doesn't ring a bell." A pause. "Though if you want to find people at that caliber — truly rising names — you'd want the capital. That's where the current pools. Out here in the provinces, you only hear about people after they've already arrived."
Damn it.
Lexel's expression didn't change but something behind it did, briefly, before he filed it away.
