"What? Great Lord Gregor? You say you have a way to help him?"
"Not me, but him," Borin said as he pointed to Riku. "However, I can 100% vouch for him as I have seen him in action."
The guards hesitated, then one of them grunted. "Wait here." He disappeared through a smaller side gate into the manor grounds.
The guard looked skeptical but relayed the message.
However, the wait was very short.
The main gates creaked open, and Baron Charles Hummer himself came striding out, almost running. He was a man in his late thirties, his fine clothes rumpled, his face pale and etched with exhaustion and grief, but his eyes now held a desperate, grasping hope.
"Borin!" he exclaimed, rushing towards the old Dwarf. "Is it true? What you said? You… you know someone who can help my father?" He looked past Borin to Riku and Elara in the carriage, his gaze questioning.
