[He doesn't mean to turn so sharply at Shryke's touch, and the realisation of his actions is itself an awkward sort of balm. He must be calmer. There is no sense in anything otherwise.]

Drael said you wanted to see me.

[The words are bitten out tartly, statement more than question, and again Hassan finds himself privately drawing back from his own projected anger. No, he can't do this with Shryke. The sigh escapes him naturally, though it takes an effort to make himself speak again.]

I'm sorry. Was he troubling you for too long? If it suits you, I can still have him removed.