Nei was done thinking for the day. He was used to these meetings but still only had limited tolerance to them. He'd only stepped up because no one else had started talking, and he felt a responsibility to do something because he was old guard. But the Baron had called them here without even having a plan for them, and [i]obviously[/i] he didn't have anyone at all on his side. Maybe the best course was to ride out to see that Janus woman and do whatever seemed reasonable once they were there and couldn't back out. Nei caught Thetrous' eye; the swordsman looked as bored as himself and as eager for action. Let Leon do the talking. Or Mordechai. The kid was quiet, but now that he'd said something maybe he'd keep going. The Baron wanted ideas... Well, Nei didn't have any.

He took some quick glances to the side when he thought the Baron wasn't looking -- he was sitting right in front of him, so it wouldn't do to look completely unfocused. Nainë looked like she'd finally stopped stuffing herself with food. Now she was just popping a grape in her mouth every so often, and her eyes were still on the Baron. You could tell she was listening and probably deep in thought too. Maybe [i]she[/i] could come up with a plan. [i]Just pull Janus' will to attack straight out of her brain[/i], he thought with a trace of his old skepticism of magic. Kainen looked completely above everything that was going on, but Nei didn't manage to catch his eye to see if he was restless like Thetrous and him, or just had a faraway look for some reason.