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Regardless, jeopardizing their already tenuous relationship with the man was the last thing the Rainlords wanted to do.

And to that end, Darktide appeared to be in a peculiar state, at the moment. It was clear enough that Melchor wanted to talk to Graves at length about many different things, but he also seemed to have a similar understanding about the fragility of the current circumstances. Diego could sense the many questions that Melchor was holding himself back from asking.

Before disappearing, Zeff had made clear that, despite how much they were risking by siding with Graves here, he still did not wholly trust the man and did not think that the rest of them should, either.

Which was more than a fair point, Diego felt. The Vanguard had already betrayed them once before. No matter what happened, the Rainlords were, at the very least, united in their determination to not let things here in Ridgemark with Graves the Pale Hawk devolve into a repeat of what happened at Rheinhal with Sanko the Gargoyle.

Which was not to say that they feared Graves, necessarily. While Zeff’s recounting of events had certainly been cause for worry, there was also the fact that Sanko had fought against half of the Rainlords’ collective might whereas Graves here would have to deal with nearly all of it. Plus a few additional guests.

Such as Leo the Bull Leech.

That man was a strange one, to be sure. Thus far, his presence on the battlefield--and indeed, all of Vantalay since arriving here--had been surprisingly restrained. Diego had not been the only one concerned about bringing that guy along. After the mess they got into with him in the Undercrust, most of the Rainlords were not exactly thrilled to have him around.

But at this point, with how little Leo had actually contributed to most of the fighting, Diego wasn’t sure what to think, anymore. On the one hand, it was definitely a good thing that Leo, a famous ex-subordinate of the servant empress Sai-hee, was not making a big splash here and potentially drawing her gaze toward them. But on the other hand, why had this fellow even bothered to come along in the first place if he wasn’t planning on assisting? Would it not have been better for him to stay behind at Warrenhold?

Not to mention, Leo was an impossible person to read. Whatever was going on in that mind of his, Diego was just about done trying to figure it out.

Just about.

But not quite.

Because when Leo decided, for the first time, to accompany the Rainlords to a meeting with Graves, Diego’s anxiety shot up.