We tried the suite of rooms that Thilos and Imprid had been given in the palace compound. It was in the building next to the one my offices were in and luckily it was late enough that they were there. Thilos answered the door and when he saw it was me, he threw his arms about me in a tight hug. Too tight. “Alright, let me breathe.” I pushed him back to arm’s length. He looked tired. And not from a long night of spending time with his wife. More like the stress and worries of his responsibilities were preventing him from getting enough sleep. “You look like crap, Thilos. Is it the drants?”

He nodded wearily. “Please come in, all of you.”

Imprid was smiling. “You look better. I am glad.” She waved her arm toward the dining table. “Please, all of you, sit down and have something to drink.”

We did. There was ale and wine. I stuck to the ale for its supposed restorative powers. Two healings in one day, even if they were light, took a lot out of a guy. After having a few drinks of the nice ale, and savoring it, I turned my attention to Thilos. His sunken eyes, and slightly stooped posture at the table were a little alarming. “Are you okay, really?”

A slight smile appeared on his face and he made the effort to sit up a little straighter. “Just exhausted, old friend. We do not have nearly enough warders or trained and experienced scouts. And the drants kill some each day. It leaves long days for the rest of us.”

“Is that how the drants got through to launch their attack from the river?” Vone asked.

“Yes. I don’t even know where those ones came from. We’re managing to keep a pretty close watch around the old ruins where they are gathering so I do not believe they came from there.”

“Great.” I said unhappily. “So, there could be more surprise attacks at any time.”

“True. I have failed Ansdron.” There was pain in his eyes.

From her chair next to Thilos Imprid glared at me as she placed one of her hands on her husband’s arm. “You have not failed. We can all only do so much with what we are given.”

“That is true.” Vone said, setting his mug of ale on the table. “And we held them back at the riverbank. The surprise attack failed.”

“Yet the city is in an uproar. The people are terrified.” Thilos said. “And perhaps they are right to be. We have no real idea of how many drants we are facing. Not if they are not all coming from the ruins.”

Vone laughed. “I do not care how many drants come for us. My brothers and I will be happy to meet them. I do not believe they will feel the same way. The ones from today’s attack did not, I can assure you of that.”

“You were there?” Imprid asked. “I thought you were with Dirk?”

“We were both there.” He answered. “And some of his guards, as well.”

Thilos and Imprid both looked at me and Delik Slin, who held his hands up. “I was here at the compound in the office.”

I shrugged. “You know my house is only a few blocks from the river. I didn’t want any drants to make it off of the riverbank and into the city.”

“I am glad that you did.” Thilos said wearily. “Thanks to my failure with scouting, General Murock had most of the troops still training. There were not enough guards manning the riverbank. We were afraid the drants would break through the defenders before we could get enough men there to stop them.”

Vone chuckled. “The ten of us were more than enough to strengthen the line for long enough.”

“Barely.” I added. “We lost three of the guards and one of those was Venzik’s young cousin, Shaneck.”

“Oh no,” Imprid cried. “How is Venzik taking it?”

“Well enough, I suppose. He’s drunk. Tomorrow he’ll need to send a message to his aunt and deal with the service. I gave him a few days off. That’s what I needed.”

“That, and some drants to kill to take your mind of your troubles.” Vone said, slapping me across the back.

I winced. “I guess we’ll all have that, soon enough.” This was getting depressing so I looked at Imprid. “By the way, the office is amazing.”

She smiled. “I am glad that you like it. I thought it might help.”

“Oh, it did. I was dreading going back there but now it seems like a completely different place.” I took another taste of the ale. “I will miss that bed, though. It was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.”

Imprid laughed. “I hope the new one is comfortable enough. You paid a lot for it, although I did get some of the money back by selling everything that had been in there.”

That made me laugh. “I hadn’t even thought about the money to paint and replace all of the furniture and rugs.”

“You not thinking of money? That must be a first.” Even Thilos was smiling now.