I pushed my sword back down into its sheath and moved forward. The waiting room was completely different. The whitewashed walls were now painted a light blue. It still smelled quite strong but I welcomed it. All of the old furniture was gone. The desk and chairs were markedly different. Not new, just stuff I had never seen before. Different lamps, a different rug. I let the breath I had been holding escape and felt some of the tension leave me, as well. Imprid! She must have done this! I smiled at the thought. She’s a good friend. Maybe Thilos is luckier than I thought, having her, even if he did marry her.

Sednik had risen from the desk when Celerith opened the door and was smiling broadly. “What do you think, sir?”

I stopped looking at every little thing that had changed and turned to him. “I think… it was just what I needed. Thank you.”

The normally gruff dwarf blushed a little, I thought. “It was Imprid, sir. Her idea I mean. I just did what she asked. I mean, we all did. My wife, Delik Slin, Welst, Lanvar, Triona, Rithers, and some workmen he brought.”

“It’s amazing what you did in just a couple of days.” I headed for the door into the rest of the suite.

Sednik chuckled. “Wait until you see the rest of it, sir.”

I toured every room. They were each painted a different color and all of the furniture had been changed out, except for Welst’s special chair. The desk was different, though. Just as large as the last one but of a simpler style. In fact, I eventually noticed that everything was less fancy than it had been before. It was good quality stuff, just not as ostentatious as Lord Kevad’s old things. It reminded me of my own house. That tricky woman! She must have been trying to make it feel more like home for me. Everyone had joined in for the tour, even Welst. Finally I reached the door to my bedchamber, the scene of Jade’s murder, as well as nearly all of our most intimate moments. I steeled myself for a moment before I opened the door. I shouldn’t have worried. It hardly seemed like the same room. The windows and the fireplace were the only things still the same. The walls were a light brown and, just like all the other rooms everything else was gone. I felt a moment of sadness for the extremely comfortable bed but knew it was for the best. The new bed was against a different wall and Imprid had made every effort to change the feel of the room by moving everything else around, as well. The small table with chairs for eating at was over by the fireplace now and the three new comfy chairs were arranged facing each other around a different, lower small table. The feel of the room was completely new. Imprid had succeeded with her plan. I owed her something special for this. Since I couldn’t gift her with myself, what with her being married to my oldest friend, I would have to find something else that was suitable, though lesser.

Everyone had stayed just inside the door while I wandered around checking everything out. I stood in the center of the room, marveling and feeling like a great weight had been lifted from me. The fear I had felt about returning to the office now seemed almost silly. I turned to Delik Slin, Welst, the guards and Sednik’s wife. “Thank you all so much. You don’t know how important this is to me.”

They all blushed and stammered, except Delik Slin, who smirked, and Vone, who hadn’t had anything to do with it. “Just try not to get used to it.” Delik Slin said, then turned and headed out the door.

When we all reached the kitchen I announced that even though it was late I needed to go thank Imprid, and Rithers. “I also need to report to Lord Tarin. Crap, I have to talk to Thilos, too. I hope he’s with Imprid. Come on,” I said to Delik Slin and Vone. “We’ll need a couple of guards, too. Whoever wants to come.” It turned out that Sednik did, as well as Lanvar. The five of us went off in search of Thilos and Imprid.