Picking slowly at her food, Daphne sat and half-heartedly made conversation with the two dwarves that sat next to her. She was far happier just listening to their babbling and tall tales than she was joining in, never quite able to stretch her stories far enough to beat those that either Ake or Asmund spun, and opted to make the occasional jibe towards the stories when she could instead. Ake frowned, as he often did, but Asmund’s chuckling showed it all to be in jest. The dwarves threw them back just as easily as they always did, and time flew by quickly from then on.

Both dwarves went silent about ten minutes afterwards although Daphne was not quite sure why. She looked up from what scraps of her meal remained, spotting a tall, wiry looking man who had come to sit by the table. He placed his elbows on the table and spoke, carrying himself confidently and enthusiastically. Daphne swallowed a mouthful of bread, and she let a small grin curl up along her lips when she realised what the man was doing. A glance to her left saw that Ake was starting to grind his teeth which only made her grin grow larger.

“Well, tha’s all well and good,” Ake said, standing on top of his chair to meet the man at eye-height. “But ah’ think ah’ve found an itty bitty flaw wid’ yer’ story. Aye can’t think of a reason why ya’d be tossin’ yer’ sword off’a cliff. Seems ta’ me lah’ke you might’ve made the story up.”

Asmund cleared his throat, resting his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Maybe someone put a spell on it. Made tha’ hilt burn so hot that he ‘ad ta’ drop it,” he said, and he smiled softly when he heard Ake begin to grumble under his breath. 

 “Or he was aiming for something someway down the cliff,” Daphne added.

“Or ‘e was surrounded by bandits an’ they forced ‘im to throw it over!”

“Or he just made the story up for fun,” said Daphne, raising an eyebrow and looking up to the human. She sat up a little straighter, extending a hand to shake. The man before her looked somewhat familiar although she could not place him. It was likely that Daphne had just seen him in passing about the Silver Leaves fort. “I’m Daphne. Daphne Darlon. And you are?”

Asmund introduced himself and his brother, Ake too busy mumbling to himself to really pay attention, and soon after dragged himself and the other dwarf beside him back into his seat. The three tucked back into what was left of their meals, Daphne tearing apart small pieces of meat and popping them into her mouth while Ake and Asmund shared a bread roll which they tore in two.

“So what brings you to our table?” Daphne asked, eying the man before her curiously.