Tenebrae felt an odd stillness as he returned Gabe's look, his own gaze never faltering in the weight of that steel. The stillness masked not terror, but a sudden and tumultuous flood of thoughts.
Pleasant wouldn't have told anyone, much less a perfect stranger. That should have been enough to keep everything hidden. Tenebrae had been rather counting on that keeping everything hidden. Still, he'd considered the possibility of a strong enough Sensitive discovering the truth, so he couldn't discount that this man standing - sitting - in front of him might in fact know.
It didn't mean he did. Just that he could.
Assuming he did know, and wasn't simply bluffing in the hopes of hitting on something, he had a very good point. The last thing Tenebrae wanted to do was knowingly direct Pleasant's ire at the Temple. Now that Pleasant might well be unstable...
Even then, Tenebrae was confident enough that he could handle any and all consequences to come from that, if Gabe wasn't so clearly implying something even deeper than that. But no. No one knew that. It was impossible even to pretend this man, this... Gabe might know. Serpine himself hadn't figured it out.
Either way, Tenebrae was fairly sure Gabe would be careful about how much he said in front of the others - Erskine Ravel, especially. So it didn't matter whether he knew Skulduggery's true past or not. What mattered was not giving the possibility of a bluff any indication that it might be hitting anywhere close to home. So that was exactly what Tenebrae did.
"I'm not sure what 'hornet's nest' you're talking about," he remarked evenly. "You may not have heard, but Skulduggery Pleasant is not too fond of Necromancers. Unstable or not, he's hardly going to mount an offensive just to rescue one. As for the rest of the Temples..." Tenebrae's smile returned. "You really are new to this area, aren't you? You really think you hold any more weight within the Necromancer Order than a young acolyte at best, much less a High Priest? And that's assuming you actually have anything to tell them."
no subject
Pleasant wouldn't have told anyone, much less a perfect stranger. That should have been enough to keep everything hidden. Tenebrae had been rather counting on that keeping everything hidden. Still, he'd considered the possibility of a strong enough Sensitive discovering the truth, so he couldn't discount that this man standing - sitting - in front of him might in fact know.
It didn't mean he did. Just that he could.
Assuming he did know, and wasn't simply bluffing in the hopes of hitting on something, he had a very good point. The last thing Tenebrae wanted to do was knowingly direct Pleasant's ire at the Temple. Now that Pleasant might well be unstable...
Even then, Tenebrae was confident enough that he could handle any and all consequences to come from that, if Gabe wasn't so clearly implying something even deeper than that. But no. No one knew that. It was impossible even to pretend this man, this... Gabe might know. Serpine himself hadn't figured it out.
Either way, Tenebrae was fairly sure Gabe would be careful about how much he said in front of the others - Erskine Ravel, especially. So it didn't matter whether he knew Skulduggery's true past or not. What mattered was not giving the possibility of a bluff any indication that it might be hitting anywhere close to home. So that was exactly what Tenebrae did.
"I'm not sure what 'hornet's nest' you're talking about," he remarked evenly. "You may not have heard, but Skulduggery Pleasant is not too fond of Necromancers. Unstable or not, he's hardly going to mount an offensive just to rescue one. As for the rest of the Temples..." Tenebrae's smile returned. "You really are new to this area, aren't you? You really think you hold any more weight within the Necromancer Order than a young acolyte at best, much less a High Priest? And that's assuming you actually have anything to tell them."