"I'm here to see Jander," she replied calmly. "I'm an old friend."
"Alright. Who should I say is callin'?"
"Tell him it's the crazy lady with the scissors. He'll know who that is."
The warthog nodded and got up, then went into a plain brass-bound door behind him. Almost immediately, a tall, lanky wolf Wikuni that looked shockingly similar to Haley's hybrid form appeared in the doorway. He looked just like Haley, down to the gray fur and piercing eyes, but Haley's snout was a bit wider, and Haley was a bit taller and little more stocky than this thin Wikuni. This Jander had no human-like hair like some Wikuni did, just a wild mane of wolf fur on his head that poofed out and made it look like hair. "I never thought to see you here, my lady," he said in the doorway, with a wide grin. "Come in, come in. It's been years since we talked."
Miranda led Tarrin into a spartan office about the size of his room back home. It had a large stone-topped desk near the room's only window, which looked out over the market, and a leather-covered cushioned chair behind it. The walls were the same wood panelling as downstairs, but his walls were decorated with a few wooden engraved plaques, a parchment framed and hanging on the wall, a portrait of an austere lion-Wikuni in a very elaborately decorated frame, and a sword and shield with a coat of arms enamelled to its metal surface on the wall opposite the portrait. The man's slate-topped desk was clean, immaculately clean, with only a sheaf of papers sitting before where one would sit, and a pair of small wooden trays sitting on the opposite corner, beside an inkwell that was capped off. Two upholstered chairs sat before the desk for whatever guests this Wikuni had in his office, one of which Miranda occupied after letting Jander take her hand in greeting.
"Miranda," he said fondly, sitting in his chair facing them. Tarrin sat down as Jander smiled at her. "How have you been?"
"Oh, same as always, Jander," she replied. "Jander, I'd like you to meet Tarrin, a friend of mine. Tarrin, this is Jander, one of my most favorite adversaries."
Jander laughed. "Was I. Did she tell you that she once tried to cut off my-"
"I told him about that," Miranda cut him off with a wink.
"And she was only sixteen! I never expected such ruthlessness out of a stripling maid."
"It did get your attention, Jander," she grinned.
"It did at that," he chuckled in agreement. "Whatever happened to Duran and Lassiter?"
"Duran was killed last year," she said with a little sigh. "Lassiter works for the House Artep now."
"Pity," he said. "From what I heard, your employer hasn't changed. And if you're here, then she's here."
"Ah, but I was never here," Miranda told him with one of her devastatingly cute grins.
"You see what I had to fight against," Jander said to Tarrin. "The woman is a terror. And she was even worse when she was a young girl."
"I don't find her that terrorizing," Tarrin said absently. "Just scratch her behind the ears from time to time, and she'll follow you around like a puppy."
Miranda smacked him on the arm, and Jander laughed. "You don't have to hide in here, Tarrin," he said. "I'm sure you realize that I know who and what you are. But you'd better stay hidden outside."
"Why is that, Jander?" Miranda asked seriously.
"It's just one of the things going on around here," he said soberly, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sure you noticed the military presence."
"King Rathbonne is flexing his muscles?" Miranda asked.
"Hardly. The southern Free Duchies have entered into a military alliance, and Tor is their target. Rathbonne is mustering his army to fend them off."
"An alliance? They'd attack each other as soon as their armies came onto the same field," Miranda scoffed.
"Believe it or not, they're working together," Jander said grimly. "And it's all over a rumor that the Firestaff was hidden somewhere in the ruins of Old Tor. Rathbonne has half his army here, and the other half is turning his kingdom upside-down and shaking it to see if it falls out."
"A war, over a rumor?" Miranda asked incredulously.
"This particular rumor had some basis in old historical documents," he replied. "I think the Firestaff was probably kept in ancient Tor at one time, but it was moved long ago."
"That's ludicrous," Miranda grunted. "You don't start a war over a rumor."
"When it's anything about the Firestaff, rumor is usually enough," Jander said. "Right now, Sulasia and Daltochan are fighting it out south of the forests over the rumor that the Firestaff is being secretly held in the Tower of Six Spires. Draconia joined Daltochan against Sulasia, and that immediately brought Tykarthia into it on Sulasia's side."
"South of the forests?" Tarrin asked intently. "Where exactly?"
"From what I've heard so far, Daltochan owns all of northeast Sulasia," he replied. "They were trying to capture Ultern, the last my reports said. Marta's Ford, Two Forks, Arrigon, Torrian, they're all occupied by Dal forces. What makes that so bad is that the Dals seem to have entered pacts with some Goblinoid tribes," he said grimly. "There are Bruga, Waern, and Dargu running around up there wearing Dal livery, and you know how they are. I'm glad I don't live in occupied Sulasia right now."
Miranda put a hand on Tarrin's elbow, and he jumped slightly. The very thought of Dargu or Waern occupying Aldreth made him want to jump up and ride home to kick them out. They were his friends, his people, and they were probably suffering terribly under the cruel yoke of the Dal invaders and their Goblinoid allies. He had no idea he had lost his concentration, and Miranda's touch brought a throbbing ache through his body as the pain of holding the human form reasserted itself in his mind. Breathing a few times to center himself again, he forced the pain away from him, back into the depths of his consciousness, where it couldn't distract him from the situation at hand.
"Have the Sorcerers stepped in yet?" Miranda asked.
"They can't yet," he replied. "They can't intervene, or they won't, until the invaders threaten Suld. But right now there's chaos in Suld."
"Why is that?"
"King Erick Aralon is dead," he said bluntly. "He died last month of a fever. His wife, Amerine, gave birth to an heir about two days before he died, and she's declared herself regent until he's old enough to assume the throne."
"Did the Sulasian houses accept that?" Miranda asked.
"It looks like they have," he replied. "Erick was an incompetent dolt, but Amerine is sharp and very skilled. She's already made the very smart move of appointing Duke Arren of Torrian as general of her armies, and that made the Dal army grind to a halt at Ultern. Appointing Arren was the smartest thing she could have done. The noble houses realize that they need some stability right now, and Amerine can supply it, so they've thrown their lots in with her."
"Ugly," Miranda sighed. "What is the Wikuni position in the war?"
"We have none, as usual," he replied. "Damon Eram doesn't support either side."
"Typical," she said critically. "What else is going on?"
"Just the usual degeneration of the world into unbridled chaos," he grunted. "Wars have flared up all over the world, and it's all over the Firestaff. Even the most wildly insubstantiated belief that it rests in one kingdom gives all its neighbors enough motivation to invade it. Even Sharadar was invaded, believe it or not. Stygia tried to invade across the Inner Sea, but it ended as disastrously as every other Stygian attempt to invade Sharadar."