Page 3920

Hector had considered bringing even more people along, but the more he’d thought about it, the more strongly he’d felt that Warrenhold needed as much protection as possible, just in case anything unexpected happened. He’d messaged Raheem about having more Saqqafs stay in the castle while he was away, and the man had agreed, but even still. Hector knew that Abbas himself was too caught up in his work right now to be serving as a guard for Warrenhold in case of an attack that, in all likelihood, wasn’t even coming.

Abbas’ sons were definitely strong. But if this was all some sort of feint by Bloodeye, then even they would struggle to defend the place until Abbas got there. Hell, maybe even after.

Matteo Delaguna had not appreciated that decision very much. The guy hadn’t actually said anything, but Hector could see the displeasure and disappointment in his face when he’d asked him to stay behind and help protect everyone instead of coming along, as usual. Instead, Matteo had merely nodded, as did his reaper.

That was normal behavior for them. Being silent shadows was their whole job, apparently. But it was also making Hector wonder if they were actually going to listen. Sure, they’d seemed pretty obedient toward Lord Salvador and the other heads, but that didn’t mean they would be so toward him.

Thus far, at least, they’d listened. Hector had been wary of anyone following along, and he hadn’t sensed anyone, nor had Garovel.

He’d been especially mindful of Pauline. He’d thought for sure that, even after asking her to stay behind and her agreeing to do so, she would try to follow him, anyway.

But if she was, then he hadn’t noticed her yet.

In fairness, though, he’d really tried to impress upon her the importance of her staying.

“Without you up here in your nest, Warrenhold might not have survived that last attack,” he’d told her.

“Hmm,” she’d mused through her human avatar. “Flattery, eh? It’ll take more than that to move my heart, you know.” Then she’d paused. “But don’t stop. You’ve still got lots more compliments left, don’t you?”

“I’ll have a lot more confidence in everyone else’s ability to protect this place if you’re here to give them advance warning like you did for me.”

“Yeah, sure, but your Saqqafs have anti-invisibility stuff already, right? So am I really that needed?”

“Yes. That tech is great and all, but it’s still... pretty new. I’m not sure how reliable it is just yet.”

“Ooh. I’m gonna tell them you said that.”

“Please don’t.”

“Then you’d better bring me back something nice. Like, really nice!”

“Something like what, exactly?”

“Mm. I don’t know. Something... mm... something Intarian! Exotic and foreign! You know my tastes by now, right? Surprise me!”

“A-alright...”