Nei whistled loudly as he rode along. Traveling was interesting even though the countrymen were hateful, and this human band was interesting too. It was nice to finally work with Thetrous and Leon after seeing them around for so many years, and it was always fun to meet newbies. At first he hadn't been so sure about being with so many of his own kind. It was strange after so many years spent mostly in the company of dwarves, with some elves. But they seemed alright, and in any case they were all White Shield. Nei wondered idly if he was in danger of getting too used to human company

The castle had been in view on the horizon for a while now. Nei hadn't been keeping track of time, so he didn't know how long it had been. But now dusk was creeping in and they were really getting close.

"Is the Baron sending someone to wait for us at the entrance?", asked Nainë, riding behind him with her staff strapped horizontally to the left side of her saddle. The side with the crescent sagged down, and Nei thought it must be annoying to lug that thing around, forgetting that he himself walked around with a huge axe strapped to his back.
"Eh, who knows", he answered. "Hope so. Else we might have to convince whoever's at the gate that we're not on a mission from Ceris." The good people of Elensa probably wouldn't care much for White Shields, seeing how they were mostly composed of dwarves in general.

As they all found out just a few minutes later, the Baron did have someone waiting for them at the gate. Before they even reached it a man rode out to the band of White Shields. He carried a standard displaying a sable rose on a silver field.
"Hail, White Shields", he called. "Baron Laflur welcomes you to his castle." When he reached them, he continued, "Follow me, if you please."

Nei grinned. It was good to be welcomed.