"Oh, like I listen to every thing a bunch of drunks shout out."
"Drunks?"
"You think they don't drink here?"
Ryson felt the question had no relevance. Of course people drank at a tavern, but that didn't make them incapable of keeping track of the emergency. He kept trying to draw a clear line to his wife's concern, but he felt she kept blurring the picture.
"Just because they drink doesn't make them drunks. You and I know most of the people that come here, a lot of them are our friends. They're not drunks."
"Some of them are, or are you going to tell me there's not a single drunk that comes in here?"
"I'm not going to tell you that."
"Well then, how am I supposed to know who's saying what?"
The argument was ludicrous and Ryson knew it. Before he left the inn, he saw that people were taking the warning seriously. People came off the streets immediately. Inside the inn, guards were set at the windows and doors. No one would have allowed a drunk to simply shout out absurdities.
Realizing that the discussion had taken a bizarre turn, Ryson decided to move on. Instead of pondering the deficiencies of Linda's argument, he tried to determine exactly what was bothering her.
"So you're upset because you thought something happened to me?"
"I'm not upset. I'm simply stating what you did tonight. You up and left. That's a simple fact."
"I didn't just up and leave. I was called out to help. Klusac came for me. Sy requested that I scout the town. You knew that."
"And you left me alone."
Alone.
She said it again, but it didn't make sense. He didn't leave her alone, and he was growing tired of the accusation.
"There were a lot of people here tonight," the delver noted. "I know that. I was here before I had to leave, remember?"
"I remember you leaving, that's what you do."
"You didn't seem to have a problem when I left."
"I was busy, too busy to tell you about my problems, and too busy to read a bunch of tower signals."
"Linda, what are you talking about?"
"If you can't figure it out, I'm not going to explain it to you."
"You're going to have to, because you're not making any sense."
"Oh, so now I'm the one not making sense? You go out running around in the rain after a bunch of fish monsters and then goblins… and I'm the one that doesn't make sense. That's almost funny."
"It's not funny at all," Ryson exclaimed. "You're starting to worry me."
"Well, then now you know what it feels like."
"Look, I do my best to let you know what's going on. We've had this discussion before. I don't want you worrying about me all the time, but you made it clear you want to know where I'm going. I do that when I can. I did that tonight, but we both know there's no way I can keep you updated of every single movement I make. It's just not possible. If anything, tonight you knew more than usual. If something happened to me here, in town, you would have heard about it immediately. You know that."
Linda did not respond. She picked up the glass in front of her, turned it over as if expecting something to flow out, but since it was empty, nothing happened. She just held the glass over the tabletop and stared at the open end with an expression of sadness.
Ryson waited, but he began to sense that Linda was not going to reply. He paused, uncertain of whether or not to continue, but he decided to do so in order to illustrate his position.
"I don't try to hide things from you. I tell you where and when I'm going, and the truth is, I have to leave again."
At this, Linda did not hesitate in responding.
"Why am I not surprised?"
She banged the glass down on the table, the first time she made any true display of frustration.
"Why are you so angry?" Ryson asked.
"This is not angry. You have no idea what angry is. This is reality, and the reality is that you left me here, and now you're going to leave again."
"Don't you want to know why?"
"Will it matter?"
"It might. You'll understand why I have to leave."
"If you think it will make you feel better, then by all means explain it to me."
She listened quietly as Ryson told her everything that had happened that evening. He told her of the rogues, the goblin raid, their large leader, and the argument he had with Sy. He had hoped she might be more understanding once he revealed he had already been through one dispute and a quarrel with her was not something he wanted to continue. If anything, he hoped for a bit of sympathy.
"So something must have happened to the elves," Ryson concluded. "That's why I'm going out tomorrow."
He did not get sympathy, not at all.
"Tomorrow? Not tonight?" she asked, but with little apparent emotion.
"I thought I would stay with you until morning."
"And that's supposed to make it easier?"
"I thought it might."
She looked down at her empty glass and then revealed her own thoughts. Once again, her words surprised the delver, but at least they revealed she had listened to everything he had said.
"If Sy isn't going to rely on you anymore, why do you even have to go? Why can't you just let him handle it?"
"I know those elves," Ryson revealed somewhat flustered. "Lief was from that camp. I can't just ignore what happened to them."
"Lief is dead."
The statement dropped from her mouth as a simple matter of fact, and the lack of tact brought out the delver's ire. It was clear in his tone as his patience began to thin and his emotions turned from confusion to irritation.
"I'm well aware of that."
Linda did not seem to notice the coldness of Ryson's reply.
"Then why do you need to go?"
"That was the first elf camp I ever had contact with. It wasn't just Lief. It was Holli, too. And Mappel."
"Mappel is dead, just like Lief. And Holli was banished from the camp."
Once more, Linda's indifference angered the delver. All of those elves meant a great deal to Ryson, and Linda knew it.
"You're being rather cold about this."
"I like to think of it as realistic."
"I think it's unrealistic to talk about Lief, Holli and Mappel as if they meant nothing to me."
"Does that really bother you?"
"Yes, it does."
"Well, then I'm sorry."
Despite the continued tone of indifference and the apparent lack of sincerity in the apology, Ryson decided to accept it. He realized something was bothering his wife. He already had one unproductive argument with Sy. Another one would not help his cause.
Linda, however, seemed uncaring as to whether Ryson accepted her apology or not. Instead, she turned back to the issue of Ryson's impending departure.
"Instead of worrying about what certain elves meant to you, let's talk about how it stands now. You may think you have some attachment to this elf camp, but I just don't see it. You think they worry about you? Do you think they'd come looking for you if you went missing?"
"I don't know, maybe. I know Holli would."
"Like I said before, Holli was banished. She's not even part of the camp anymore."
"She's still connected to them. Sy is going to ask for Holli's help."
"That just makes my question that much more relevant. Why can't you just leave it to Sy?"
"Because I can't"
"That's no answer."
First Sy and then Linda, both dismissing Ryson's feelings on what he believed were issues of great importance. Sy wanted Ryson to simply disregard his beliefs and Linda wanted him to forsake his loyalties.
"Yes, it is an answer. I just can't ignore what happened to the elves. I have…"
"But you can ignore me," Linda cut him off.
"Is that what this is all about?" Ryson asked with total honesty. "Do you really think I'm ignoring you?"
Linda bit down slightly on her bottom lip as she looked once more at the empty glass that was upside down on the table. When she spoke, she did not turn her head or her eyes to the delver.