"...Do you perhaps not know the way?"
The very air around me seemed to freeze, the surrounding temperature dropping as the captain's voice continued to whisper from behind.
"Is everything alright?"
I stopped.
Not quite immediately. Just a half step after I should have. Enough to make it seem like I was being disturbed. Then I turned, slowly, and looked at him for the first time since we'd started walking.
He held my gaze.
That was the first thing I noted.
His suspicious stare.
'He's been watching me.'
"What makes you say that?"
I asked slowly, keeping my tone in check.
"You've passed two corridors that would have been faster," he replied, trying his best not to sound accusatory.
At least, not yet.
"I assumed you had a reason."
He was giving me an opening. The question was whether it was genuine or a trap.
I studied his face. The slight tension around his eyes. The way his hands were still giving away at the tension in his hands. He was anything but relaxed.
