Kjan woke with a start and fell promptly to the floor. Cursing, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked up to discover that he'd somehow wound up sleeping in his laundry hamper (which, in his time at the Keep, had almost never actually been used for laundry). "Half a moment!" he shouted to appease the emotionally disturbed woman pounding on his door - also commonly referred to as Eledhe - and grudgingly picked himself up off the ground. Producing a pack that only smelled mildly of rotting food and mildew (making it better than any others he owned) from one of his shelves, he quickly threw in an old blanket, his spare boots, and a bottle of mead (for emergencies only), then donned his cloak and boots and strapped on his two knives. All of these things were retrieved from the surface of his bed, which may or may not have been some indication of why he'd ended up in the clothes hamper in the first place.

Satisfied that he had all he needed, Kjan quickly strode over to the door and slipped out, only to find himself face-to-face with Eledhe. "Packing done," he said lightly, grinning and backing away from the none-too-stable mercenary. Only once he was around the corner and out of her throwing range did he turn back around and begin making his way toward the Phantom's quarters.

"Packed, present, and accounted for," he said by way of greeting, letting himself into the aforementioned quarters and draping himself across one of the few relatively unoccupied chairs. "How may I be of service?"

"Aye," said the Phantom, now scrutinizing the papers on his desk. He seemed reluctant to give out much more information, and was hastily scooping up the papers on the floor when Kjan made a timely appearace. He still needed Jais and Silvryn, but Belnarr looked as though he needed something in the brandy family and the Phantom needed to talk to Kjan -

"Would you hunt up milady Silvryn, please, Ash?" he asked a touch absentmindedly, scrutinizing a long roll of parchment. "And tell her to come to my apartments? If you see Jais on the way, tell him too."

Having accounted for all the members of the impromptu party, he turned to Kjan and likewise dropped into a mostly empty chair. "Right. The noble. You're coming with me - which do you think would be wisest, leaving him here or bringing him along?"

_________________

Ash nodded briskly and hurried down the hallways, heading in the general direction of the Lady Silvryn's quarters. The fact that he didn't know <i>exactly</i> where they were complicated matters. He pushed his way through the occasional cluster of people, keeping an eye out for Silvryn or Jais.

Kjan considered this for a moment, absently tossing up and down a paperweight (which the Phantom obviously didn't know how to use) that he'd found on the floor. "He almost got out earlier when I lost track of him. He was as far as the secret entrance we came through by the time I caught him," he finally said. "The kid's smart, and he's determined. Unless you're planning on leaving him here blindfolded in a steel cage under constant surveillance (and I know you're not), he'll get out. Besides, it'll be interesting to have someone else with a similar background along, and Jais likes him. Mostly because Jais likes him. The more Jais is with him, the less he'll be with me."

"You can make sure he won't get away, then?" inquired the Phantom, considering this proposal. "It's imperative that this stays very quiet. As far as Lord Vairtan knows, I need to travel down the Earth's Teeth in order to negotiate a treaty with a community of gnomes, and I'm leaving him in charge."

He absently ticked off the list in his mind. Himself and Kjan were ready, Eledhe would be returning imminently whether she was happy with him or not, Silvryn should be coming any moment now...yes. It was coming together with some alacrity, which was fortunate for the amount of secrecy the Phantom wanted kept. He grinned and quirked a wry eyebrow at Kjan. "Our resident magic-user's quite unhappy with me, as you may have observed."

_________________

"Have I ever provided a reason for you to place less than one-hundred-percent faith in my abilities?" Kjan replied casually, discarding the paperweight and standing up to wander around the room aimlessly. "Truth be told, I hadn't noticed a change in Eledhe's usual ill-humored disposition. Though I suppose in retrospect she was a bit more impassioned in her pummeling of my door than usual." Shrugging, he dismissed the thought and paused to skim a meaningless sheet of paper from the Phantom's desk. "Have you even slept since we got back?"

"Do I ever?" returned the Phantom wryly, stretching out in the chair with one booted foot dangling over the arm. He stretched his arms above his head nonchalantly. "I am a Phantom, after all. Journeys are good for sleep. You can tell whether it's night or day."

He eyed Kjan for a moment. "You slept, I deduce from your appearance, though I suspect not in a bed." He had some idea of the state of Kjan's quarters, having roomed with him before the Keep was as sprawling as it was now. "What was it this time, a drawer? Generally a bed isn't used for storage, you know."

His quarters, of course, weren't even equipped with a bed, which enabled hm to make this statement - if it'd had one, it would have been obscured by all manner of things. A flat surface wasn't safe near Phantom Grey.

_________________

Kjan didn't answer immediately, instead pretending to be completely absorbed in the previous month's inventory. He was considering not even dignifying the comment with a response, in fact, but finally put the piece of parchment down slowly and turned around. "A laundy hamper," he replied with as much dignity as he could muster. Which wasn't much, given the circumstance. "But, unique location aside, at least I did actually sleep. Journeys are great for sleep, aye...until we find ourselves beset by a thousand of the Regent's men, and our leader sound asleep in our midst. You are human, Phae, legend or not. No one'll think less of you for actually resting every once in a while." As an afterthought, he added, "Besides, I've little interest in carrying you when your body rebels and goes into a deep slumber just to spite you. You're far too heavy."

The Phantom pushed himself upright in one fluid motion, as if to prove that he was quite as agile when he was sleep-deprived as he was otherwise. "Phae," he said, with a laugh that contained less mirth than he perhaps intended it to. "You know how long it's been since I was Phaerin Grey, Kjan."

The fleetingly serious moment passed in a blink, and the wry tone was back in his voice. "I promise you not to sleep while anything important is happening. Kick me if I do, I'd be sorely disappointed to miss a bit of swordplay."

As a last item of importance, he retrieved his greatsword from where it lay across the desk, and tightened the belt with one jerk. The grey cloak was draped over his wooden chair. "Well, best bring the noble, then. I'd like to set out the moment everyone's ready."

"Ready being a general term, I would assume," came Eledhe's less-than-congenial tones. She strode through the door and leaned beside it, arms crossed and blue eyes piercing. "I hope you've impressed on Lord Vairtan the - ah - enormity - of his task. I saw him over a mug of ale not fifteen minutes ago."

"Give it a rest, Eledhe." The Phantom hefted his pack, testing the weight. "Last I checked it was the Phantom's Keep."

_________________

Kjan merely nodded and stode out of the room. "Last I checked, he was the same person," he muttered under his breath as he quickly made his way to the (closely watched) spare quarters that had been lent to Jate. Not bothering to knock, he let himself into the small room. "We're leaving. You're coming with us," he announced without ceremony. "You don't have anything to pack, and we'd like to leave soon, so if you'll please oblige and come with me now..."

Looking up bleary-eyed at Kjan standing above him, it took Jate a moment to digest what the man had said. "Leaving?" He stretched an arm around his body. "Where to, if I may ask?" Jate stood and shook the last of sleep from his head. The bed was not the most comfortable of places, but it beat the floor. And, judging by the look of Kjan, even being high up in command didn't mean the best of sleeping place. A small smile played about Jate's mouth as he took in the rumpled clothes and disheveled hair. Though, taking in the look on Kjan's face, Jate decided it might be best if he followed along quietly for the moment.

_________________
going on a journey through my old claims

Kjan seemed to notice the young noble staring at his hair and suddenly reached up as if to fix it, only to pause halfway, shrug, and leave it as it was. "You could ask," he agreed, leading the way back toward the Phantom's quarters. "But that doesn't mean I know....Phantom said something about Dwarves. I'm hoping he'll expound further once we've all gathered."

"Dwarves?" Jate finger-combed his wavy brown hair. "Wonderful. Half of them hate people in general, half of those hate nobles because of the Regent rooting them out of their homes, and as far as I've seen -that's the kind we've got here. Great traveling companions." He had decided that as long as Kjan wanted to talk, well, he'd give his input too. They turned down a wider corridor, and was hard-pressed to stop a yawn. He was used to longer sleeping hours. And less walking. Jate guessed it was still pretty early in the morning, as there was virtually no one in the halls. And yet, there seemed to be a bit of a gathering about ten paces ahead of them.

_________________
going on a journey through my old claims

Kjan shrugged. "As long as you remember that Belnarr strongly dislikes chili powder in his food, he'll usually only treat you with a general disdain, rather than a personal hatred....Unless you're Jais," he added as an afterthought. "I'm actually surprised that more don't hate me. My father-" this word was marked by more than a little sarcasm "-was always on less than friendly terms with the Dwarves. Though I suppose my presence here would be enough proof that I don't share his views."

The sound of lighter, faster footsteps behind them alerted Kjan to the presence of someone else. "My Lady Silvryn," he said by way of greeting, somehow managing to stop abruptly, turn around, and deliver a sweeping bow all at the same time. "The Phantom wants you-"

"If I am already here," Silvryn said, cutting him off with a wave of her hand, "then one could safely assume that I am already fully aware of the Phantom's wishes." Her cool gaze flicked over to Jate, examining the noble for a moment, before she strode past them and entered the Phantom's quarters.

"Right, then," Kjan said, clearing his throat slightly. "Shall we?" Without waiting for confirmation, he entered the quarters as well, with Jate in tow. "Noble found."

"Perfect timing, milady. Excellent, Kjan," said the Phantom, casting a look over his shoulder where he was contemplating a large map spread on the desk. General debris had been cleared out of the way for it, creating a small heap on each side compiled of papers, half-empty ink bottles, broken quills, the odd (empty, of course) plate, and something that looked suspiciously like an empty spool of thread.

He scanned the gathered ranks of those who had arrived. Kjan with noble in tow, Silvryn, Eledhe (looking somewhat more disgruntled than she had last he'd checked), Belnarr - and they just needed Jais, who would likely turn up sometime soon in any case. His chambers were large, but beginning to look a little cramped. "Find a seat," he said, gesturing to the mismatched collection of chairs and the one sofa, small islands in the midst of cheerful chaos. Most were halfway obscured by something or other, excepting a large overstuffed armchair, which was where the Phantom slept when he had occasion to do so. Which was generally when nothing else of note was going on, and therefore seldom. "You all know we're going to visit some dwarves I happen to know of, aye?"

"Where?" said Eledhe bluntly, thumbs tucked into her swordbelt and gaze that of dubious scrutiny. She seemed to be referring to seating arrangements. The Phantom threw her a look and she sighed, eyes rolling expressively, and displaced several heavy books and a collection of oddly shaped rocks in order to seat herself in a somewhat rickety wooden chair.

_________________

Jate could not help to agree with Eledhe's question. There were not enough chairs to hold all the people, and those that were "open" were covered in papers and books. Jate figured it was a safer bet to just sit on his heels rather than risk damaging his host's things. As everyone seemed to settle in, Jate risked his own question.

"Why are we visiting dwarves?" He ignored the look in Kjan's eyes and continued. "Obviously, you can talk to dwarves right here --I saw them come to you. Why go to them?"

_________________
going on a journey through my old claims