Heppa manages to avoid her family for several days, but when her grandparents Cleomithir and Quaemilya arrive in Estbryn Forest, there is no more putting it off. There is much fanfare, since they bring with them Wesmere’s troops. Unlike when a human approaches the border of Estbryn Forest, no one halts and interrogates them. Nor do they ask permission to enter. Rather, they melt into the trees, particularly the sharpshooters and avengers among them. Cleomithir and Quaemilya are not trying to sneak around, though. Many of the residents here are old friends of theirs. There are many people to greet and swap news with following their thirty-year absence. High Lord Volas even comes to greet them, since Cleomithir is present in an ambassadorial capacity as leader of the Wesmere band.
A pre-war council is planned, and as soon as Tric gets wind of that, he intercedes with Baeowin for Terwaen to have a seat at it. The lead scout is in good spirits when Tric finds her. “I know that since the Wesmere contingent is now here, you and them and High Lord Volas are going to be discussing a lot of important tactics,” Tric begins. “I understand a lot of that will be held close, but is there a portion of that it would be good to have Dame Terwaen in as well to better coordinate? Or perhaps she could provide some insight into what her troops will be doing if she were able to talk to the council. She fought against some of those orcish forces last year. Terwaen is the one with the most direct knowledge of the threat. Well, that’s allowed in our forest, anyway,” Tric ends in a mutter.
Baeowin tilts her head. Tric’s words suggest something more is going on here. “We need any intelligence you have,” she tells him.
Tric grimaces. He really does not like to deceive Baeowin. Like Terwaen, she is a straight shooter, too honest and forthright for him to get much satisfaction from tricking. And whenever he does, he feels bad afterwards. Tric lets out a long sigh, buying time to figure out what to say. Ultimately, though, he owns up. “Do you remember that wandering sage? The one who visited Uncle Thran after Heppa and I met him?”
“The one who was exiled and that you still meet up with outside the forest?” Baeowin asks, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes. He was unfortunately here at the time that the undead attacked. Well, he has witnessed other undead activities. But he’s not allowed in the forest. I could… write to him to see what else I might learn. I’m not sure if he’ll be available to respond, though. He just found some new quarters. I think he’s, uh, rooming up with someone. If you catch my meaning.” He alludes to the late night “planning sessions” Baeowin has been having with Terwaen, hoping to throw her off her game a little.
“All right, good. Just follow up on that,” Baeowin tells him, handing him a rolled up map. “Get the updates from him and bring them to the council meeting yourself.” Tric takes it, though he has no intention of bothering his friend more over this matter. Kachen has already relayed detailed information on the undead forces that came to his rescue when he was held by the goblins. Tric can share those specifics with the council.
When Tric gets back home, he learns from Nasir that there will be a large family dinner held at Thrandolil’s house to celebrate the grandparents’ visit. As for Heppa, her older sister Quaemilya tracks her down to inform her of this. Introducing Alric to Lala goes quite smoothly, which bodes well for the rest of the evening. He is able to answer some of her questions about the human-decorated gourds from South Tower that Heppa was not, which puts him in Quaemilya’s good graces. It will be good to have another ally at the dinner table.
Although Heppa is nervous, she also thinks these are probably the best conditions for introducing Alric to her parents. With all the other people around, this is a busy time for Mother, and she should have less attention to spare for chastising Heppa. Certainly she would not want to make a scene in front of the grandparents.