The Tense Discussion

"Father."

The word hung in the air for a moment before Donncahd spoke.

"Our people grow more unsettled."

Rache couldn't tell if this was an accusation or a report. Perhaps it was a warning?

"Tell me something I don't already know." Conor retorted. He was still not looking at Donncahd.

She got a feeling that the reason the men did not look at one another when talking - not really, at any rate - was not a sign that they disliked one another so much that they couldn't bear to do it, but something entirely different.

Instead she felt the conversation between the men was more about...a disinterest in the discussion itself. It felt more like the men were just exchanging facts to one another because that's what one was supposed to do in this kind of meeting.

Which was strange to think, as surely one or both of them had decided they ought to have the meeting in the first place.

Yet their interactions were perfunctory.