Drazan withdrew as quickly as he'd entered, and without a word for those assembled within. Eragos did not know why he should have expected different from the fellow. Nothing about Drazan said that he was nosy, or that he was talkative. Eyeless Serpent, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the sound of his voice. He only stopped talking when the tea arrived. For a moment that seemed too long the Dragon Knight stared at the black liquid before his eyes, as though he could not believe that he'd been served tea in a cell. There was just enough room between all of the manacles and ropes for him to grip the tea and lift it to his mouth. Yet he did not drink. He stared at it, expressionless for a long moment, until finally he snorted. Half-laugh and half-derision, that snort. Hard to tell why, just by watching the fellow.
"I thought," Eyeless Serpent finally said. "That it would appear different somehow."
"You are alive for a reason," Eragos observed instead of asking what the fellow meant.
Eyeless Serpent had to tear his eyes away from the tea. "We were in Faxril's manor. Talon and I were on the cusp of taking the children and leaving that place. He ran me through with his sword, and pretended that he was come to rescue them from a kidnapping. They went willingly, you see, so docile and trusting are children. I believe that he meant for me to survive so I might tell you where to find him. I do know, you see. Where to find him. I will even tell you. But first, I want to know something, myself."
Eragos was watching the man's eyes. Even though they held that sly and observant light, Eyeless Serpent seemed certain with every breath that his death was coming for him. If the fellow did know, and he would talk, Eragos was not certain what the harm would be in answering his questions. There was no way of knowing what the questions were before agreeing. And yet Eyeless Serpent was clearly waiting for an answer.
"Ask," Eragos said shortly.
"When faced with an opponent you cannot defeat in open combat, what is your response?" Eyeless Serpent asked quietly. "You flee, of course. That, or you die. Most would say that dying against impossibly and unnecessary odds is a waste. Every now and then, a child is born who truly does place the many above himself. Yet this is counter-productive for the one, so if you wished, you might argue that the one is wholly non-existent in this person, who sees his life only as a tool for the greater good."
"Are you asking?" Eragos interrupted harshly. "Or preaching?"
"My question is simple," Eyeless Serpent smiled that mirthless smile at Sleeping Tiger. "How is it that you believe yourself to be right, when your heart is empty? You seek vengeance ending in death for those of your tribe, not knowing that many fled into the world or joined our cause. How is it that you think your soul is any more whole than mine? You would judge me, but I see the bleakness in you. Your heart has no room for the shades of gray in which we all lived."