The Risk of Letting Things Go

Twenty minutes later, I’m watching Aries grill steak on an outcropping of stone that juts out over the valley. Everyone has found the sated harmony that comes with dessert and coffee, and even I feel more gracious to our unexpected hosts.

“Tell me,” Aries says, “what makes the goblins so important?” He poses in the dying sunlight, looking like a model for some gentlemen’s journal.

I clear my throat. “They stole from us.”

“Something priceless?”

“Maybe. Honestly, it’s more that they double-crossed us.”

“Ah. Treachery and broken trust.”

“We must retaliate; otherwise, we risk this happening again with someone else.”