A sudden scowl flashed over Rhocanth's features, twisting them into a picture of anger. "We are not humans," he growled. "Should anyone from this chantry come for Signy, they shall have to go through me first."
Imenry seemed to take on a certain hesitance when speaking about them, but Rhocanth showed no signs of the same reserve. He folded his arms over his chest and stared up at her sternly, driving his point home. He would leave those he met alone if they left him alone, but he, Signy, Falina, Lythe, and Nivak were dwarves and they lived dwarven lives, not those meted out by the chantry and its tomfoolery. He had said before that they deserved respect as expatriates of a foreign land, and this he would defend. That, and the idea of Signy being stolen away to be locked in a tower was absolutely repugnant. As her friend, he would defend her as if her life was his own.
He realized that he was perhaps becoming unreasonably mad, recognizing that it had been harder recently to temper his emotions and keep up diplomacy. He would not fly off the handle. That was what cretins like his brothers did, Aeducan scum-suckers that they were.
His thoughts were going too far now, and he shook his head to wave them away, releasing Imenry from his gaze. "Forgive me," he said at once, though he hadn't said aloud what he had been thinking. His face had probably said enough. "Shall we speak of something more pleasant?"