He snorted and shrugged. "The original idea was for it to be an 'accidental' death, caused by rampaging dragon. A death at the hands of a pissed off commoner would likely be even MORE humiliating for him. No, if anything, this is even BETTER for his plans. Besides, I suspect he knows where to find me already, so why bother dancing around the damn bush? He could come in here, kill me, and take Arixia if he had even the slightest interest. No, better to give him a reason to leave, and THEN get her and the dragoness out of town."