[Child of the 7th Age]

Khandr found it impossible to focus on the stack of papers sitting in front of him. The noise of the street drifted in from outside. There was the usual assortment of sounds: braying donkeys, clucking hens, peddlers advertising their wares, along with the continual rattle of turning wheels as carts slowly made their way amid the piles of tossed dinner leavings and deep mud ruts. But the envoy from Bor soon picked up an undercurrent that went far beyond the expected hubbub of the street.

A number of the Ulfings were huddled in small groups pointing excitedly towards the dwelling of the Chief of the Southern Easterlings. A babble of words came rushing through the window, mostly rumors and speculation. All that was really known was that riders from the Eldar had come storming into town and made their way to Ulfang and his household, carrying a message from their overlord Caranthir.

Khandr growled with displeasure. Why had he not been told of this? Back home, he would have been given an immediate summons to court at the appearance of such important and unexpected guests. Now he was left behind in his apartments and could only scratch his head and wonder what was about to happen. His suspicions, however, had been right. Something was taking place at the very highest level of the court that could definitely affect the Borrim and their relations with the Ulfings. Since Khandr was the envoy, he considered it his responsibility to find out exactly what was going on and why. At least part of this puzzle involved Caranthir and the Elves, something Khandr had not recognized before. But even if Ulfang decided to release an official version of his meeting with the Elves, the Borrim diplomat suspected that there was a lot more to the story than the Chieftain was willing to admit.

Khandr cursed his own lack of activity. His attention had been so fixed on his own household that he had not made an effort to find out what was going on. No wonder the marriage negotiations had stalled! Any envoy who could not disentangle the usual web of court intrigue was utterly worthless. For all Khandr knew, Ulfang was about to embark on a policy that would damage the interests of Bor and the Easterlings of the North. Khandr vowed that this situation must change. The obvious place to start was to gather information from those closest to him. He must set up a banquet and ask all the Borrim in the settlement to attend. Barking out orders to his two wives and to several of the servants, he commanded that a fine meal be laid out tonight and that invitations be delivered immediately to Fastarr, Bergr, and Hunta.

Even Embla and Briga must come, although having wives in attendance at a function where business was discussed did not sit comfortably with Khandr who preferred the traditional ways. Still, women were often good at gathering gossip and that was precisely what he needed. Perhaps they could all agree to make a joint effort to ferret out information and make sense out of what seemed like an increasingly tangled and confusing web.