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Coenred was pleased to see Hilderinc, but not surprised. He knew he could trust the man to be at the ready even before he was. But his spirits and confidence that had begun to rise for only moments that morning were seized and strangled by Hilderinc's words.
'A scout.' That had been the term Thornden had used. The lie he had told. Coen had no doubt he would have recognized Erbrand or Lithor on the spot. What had he said about Lithor? Well, nothing as Coen recalled...but at mention of the man he had acted strangely. Had it been Lithor he'd seen?
Again Coen had failed to act on his feelings and again that caused him grief. He should have confronted Thornden more directly. But when had he had the time? And what time did he have now? There had been no time for Athanar and his household to settle in, much less for the character of anyone to be judged except purely by their actions. A man's actions were important, but his inaction could be even more.
"You do say that Thornden saw this rider?" he asked grimly. He did not want to accuse the man if he had misunderstood Hilderinc, though he had little doubt of that. All of his doubts in Thornden were suddenly confirmed, particularly by Hilderinc's reaction to the conclusions he had drawn himself. "He did behave strangely, when news first came to us," he said, a little more quietly.
Coen knew that this would have to wait, as much as he wanted to grab Thornden by his shirt and drag him before Lord Athanar.
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