[b]"Relax, you can trust us,"[/b] the last member of Marduk's band told William. [b]"Okay, I can't speak for the others, but I wanted to do this [i]before[/i] they put the Epic at stake."[/b] The blond coughed, flubbing a dismissive sigh. [b]"Before they told us we were up against [i]her."[/i][/b] Conrad Hiss coughed again to get the feeling of rawness out of his throat, turning back to his pretense of checking the others' instruments. [b]"Yeah, still clear for now, Will. Egh, [i]I've[/i] still got my doubts, but you at least look like you know what you're doing."[/b] He straightened up, unpacking a keyboard and glancing over his shoulder at the scion of Ascot.

Truth be told, Conrad was [i]terrified.[/i] When he first signed up for this, he had had no idea of the potential stakes or the competition. And as for his last minute teammate, he was still making up his mind about William.