‘Well, your Grace,’ Tomas replied without a bow, placing his hands on his hips brazenly, ‘is it not in your tradition to bring your trophies fro... the field back to the crown you serve?’ With that, Arnulf pounded a fist upon the table and turned, leaving immediately, his host of an entourage filing out in silence in his wake. One by one, Tomas watched them all take their leave. Most were your typical hangers feeding this man’s vanity with their feigned loyalty. However, the first one to leave. I make my living selling protection to others or procuring things for a price. I’m not really a thief, a soldier, a pirate or a brawler. Just a mixture of the lot. I have no family to speak of. Parents died during the goblin wars when I was just old enough to take care of myself. Been on my own ever since. Traveling from town to town looking for work to survive. Never settling down anywhere. There’s tales from the docks and the pubs that the goblins are venturing further south from the. She couldn't help but grin back. He was right — it had been pure torture.The atmosphere lightened and they both relaxed. "You really didn't need to go, you know," Rob said softly. "I rather liked having you around. You're less annoying than my sister and you don't bite my head off every morning."He took a step closer and Nicole felt her heart skip a beat. She could smell the faint aroma of his aftershave and her senses began to ignite."She's only annoying because she IS your sister." True .... He heard James ask to be patched through to his father on the moonbase. His father was going to be just as devastated as he was. He and Tarra were very close. He felt some of his grief transform itself into an ever growing anger against Dumitrescu and his minions who had unleashed this nightmare on his family and friends.James waited for the subspace comm connection back to Joe to be established. His own thoughts were a jumble as he worked through the implications.Subspace communications were.