“Stron, that’s rude,” Adryel said. “She doesn’t seem that sick.”
Baba chuckled. “He thinks I would break it because the first time it told me what to do, I’d smack it with one of my canes,” she said, and reached to the side of the couch. Tucked between it and the nearby table she pulled out an ornate wooden staff.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you did,” Stron said, smiling as he seated himself in another chair across from them.
Baba grinned. “Now, what are your plans with this one?” she asked, staring at Stron.
“Keep her safe,” he said.
She nodded. “And after that?”
“I have no idea. We are in the middle of a crisis right now.”
“I heard whispers that there were a lot of ambassadors injured. That’s what the main channels are saying.”
“No word of why they were here?” Stron asked.
Baba shook her head. “Though there are rumors. Some as wild as they can be, honestly.”
“Any close to what’s really going on?”
Baba shrugged. “Not enough to lead to anything.”
Stron grimaced.
Adryel watched him. “Not to be rude, but why would she know what’s going on?” She glanced at Baba. “No disrespect.”
Baba smiled. “None accepted. You don’t know yet our ways. Or my ways.”
“Baba was the previous Ruler of the Green, and her circle is more aware of the happenings in our world than many others.”
“You were on the Coalition,” Adryel said, remembering that Ruler of the Green was one of the branches in the organization. The Kantenans had a council rather than a singular leader, on their topmost tier of society.
“For many years, I was,” she said. “And those connections have stayed with me over the decades.” She glanced at Stron. “And you need to get down and see Knobb, if you want to get this figured out.”
Stron grimaced. “Knobb?”
She nodded. “He is going to know what this is before anyone else.”
“Knobb.”
“Yes. Knobb.”
He wasn’t thrilled with that. “Fine,” he finally said. “She can stay here with you while I go see him.”
“Excuse me?” Adryel replied. “I’m not sitting around waiting on you.”
“And I’m not taking you into an unsafe place just to amuse you,” Stron countered, standing up.
Well, that wasn’t going to go unanswered. Adryel stood as well. “Listen here, big guy, your underworld isn’t a foreign place to me. They’re all the same, no matter what the world is. Same class of humanoids, same rules. I know my way around the underbelly of any world.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to be forced into a harmful situation.”
“I’m already in a harmful situation. My ship blew up. I’m stuck here, with unknown forces out to kill me and the rest of the survivors. I’ve got no way to get out of here until help comes, and who knows how long that will be, and who will be on that ship. I’m already in a dangerous situation. Leaving me sitting around, waiting for someone to attack again is stupid.”
“She might prove beneficial,” Baba added.
“Don’t you start helping her.”
