Shifting Tides - Part 8

Verdant could well understand her apprehension in arguing, for he did not doubt that she, like the rest of them, could well feel it. The Oliver Patrick that stood before them, though stooped, and so dreadfully relaxed, and though he declared almost proudly that he had given up, and was defeated, he strangely seemed a far more dangerous man for it.

There was no hint of his usual overwhelm, no sense that he was reaching out to them with the strong hand that he often did. He was a man that operated so firmly on the strength of his will, that it almost felt wrong without it. Verdant did not think he had ever seen Oliver relaxed enough, that his willpower wasn't in some extent governing his actions. Only now did he find that he had the privilege, and he saw the purple in his eyes, and wondered why it was that he was so lost for words.