I followed my own advice and headed to my bedchamber to start packing. It was nice to only need my old clothes but I was going to have to go to the house to get most of what I needed. The office was where I kept mainly my new, fancy, lord clothes. I did pack one set of those, just in case, although I didn’t expect to need them. I did what I could then had a bite to eat. I was pretty hungry since I only had soup before leaving the blind date, or ambush, whichever you prefer. Then I went to bed because I knew tomorrow was going to be a busy day. I couldn’t get to sleep right away, not with everything running through my brain. I tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position that would shut my mind off. Nothing worked. I finally got up and headed to the kitchen, after throwing on a robe. Sednik’s wife might still be in there. She wasn’t, but Lanvar and Delik Slin were. Drinking some warm, mulled wine. It smelled delicious. “Any of that stuff left?”

“Sure.” Delik Slin said. “I am not sure how warm it is now, but you are welcome to it.” He held out a pitcher and I grabbed a mug and sat down while he filled it.

“Having trouble getting to sleep?” he asked.

“I am. I can’t get my stupid brain to relax.” I sipped the wine and it was as good as it smelled, although it could have been a touch warmer. “Delicious, thank you. This might be just the thing.” I know I just said it wasn’t really warm enough, but it’s called being polite. There’s no point in complaining when it won’t change anything, and I would be counting on these guys to keep me alive on the trip, and after. I didn’t want to get on their bad side. “What’s keeping you guys up? Worried about the trip?”

Lanvar seemed to slide down in his chair. His posture was atrocious. Delik Slin patted him on the shoulder. “He is upset that Venzik chose him as one of the three to remain behind while we all leave. He fears that it is a sign of Venzik’s low opinion of him.”

“He’s never said anything to me like that.” I sipped the now even cooler wine. “Somebody has to stay behind. I bet when we return to Mount Kathaldi to destroy it you’ll get to go.” He looked at me with hope in his eyes. “Fair is fair, after all.” There wasn’t much left to say at that point, so I went back to bed. This time I was able to get to sleep.

I woke up thinking about everything I had to do in the one day I had before we left for Mount Kathaldi. I needed to go to the town house to get the rest of my clothes, which I decided I should do first. Then I needed to talk to Welst and Jarim. Then Rithers. A little planning with Delik Slin and Venzik and with all of that taken care of I could just focus on enjoying the last good meals I could count on until our return.

After breakfast I put my plan in motion. I made sure to take Grabnik as one of the guards so I could leave him at the townhouse to match Venzik’s guard assignments. He didn’t seem to mind staying behind at all, unlike Lanvar, who appeared to be taking it as an insult or commentary on his value. Like everyone else, I guess some dwarves are just touchy.

It was weird to hear the sounds of battle on the walls as we walked and not report for duty. It was as if it had nothing to do with me. I tried imagining that it was some other city the drants are trying to destroy. It didn’t help.

When we returned to the office, I asked Venzik and Delik Slin to join me in my bedchamber. After we were seated at the little table with some wine to drink, I asked them how ready we were to leave in the morning.

“Everything seems in readiness, my lord.” Venzik said. “We are still waiting on a few things to show up but I have few worries that there will be any problems. The company will number twenty-six.”