"Precisely."
"This plan of yours wasn't really that well thought out, was it?" I said, slightly sarcastically.
"In any venture of worth, there is always an element of risk."
The jury was still out on whether this venture was worth the risk. I wasn't about to trust that he was telling the truth rather than twisting facts.
"So did all your Razan die?"
"No, I still have some who aid me, but they have no knowledge of the theft or the location of the keys."
The odd emphasis on the word aid had my intuition tingling. "I hope it isn't your Razan who have been attacking me and my friends."
"No. I would not order that when I need your assistance."
Which didn't actually imply he would never do it. I contemplated the shadows for a moment, wishing he was visible, yet half glad he wasn't. If I couldn't see, I couldn't be disappointed. And I couldn't read the lies.
Why did I think there were lies?
Maybe it was just the whisper inside my head telling me it couldn't be so simple. That there was more to his quest than what he was saying.
"Then why didn't they destroy you when they discovered your part in the theft?"
"Because without me, they have no hope of finding the keys. So they imprisoned me, but not quite as successfully as they thought. I am free, but powerless to do anything more than conduct events."
"Then why pull me into it if you have the Razan?"
"Because I used my blood to alter the form of the keys, and only one of my blood can find and destroy them. You are my only offspring, so the task must fall to you."