It was two days after he left that Edwyn returned, with a weasel as promised. The servants who received him thought he had gone insane. It's a common mistake among people who aren't used to seeing a tamer chatting with an animal in its native language. I was to busy to meet him, so he found me.
"Chi-chrr-rr-ne?" he said quickly.
"Excuse me?" I said, looking up from a document.
"Oh, sorry, I've been talking to this fellow to long," he motioned to the weasel still crouched on his shoulder. "I said, �aren't you ready yet?' I brought the weasel. His name is Chuk, he tells me."
"Ah. Give him my greetings, I'm afraid I don't speak weasel. And I am nearly ready. I have gathered provisions, supplies, charted our route, and sent word of our journey to a few other houses of mine, along with orders for servants to follow after us with the appropriate equipment to carry out the statues and other loot when we are victorious. I would prefer to wait for a response and coordinate all this, but my stewards are capable and I trust things will be organized and carried out properly. Otherwise, I can find new help, though it would be to late to be any good to us on this adventure. I don't suppose it would all be looted out to quickly though, even if we had to wait for some new recruits to show up."
"Are you done talking yet? Can we leave already?" Edwyn interrupted me.
I was about to say "we can leave first thing in the morning, if we're in such a hurry."
"Why not now? It's still light out."
"Because you can't leave without me, and I'm not leaving till tomorrow. Give my greetings to our partner, if you will."
"No need," Chuk chimed in with a rather fast and small, but intelligible voice. "I know your language well enough."
"Why didn't you tell me you knew our tongue?" Edwyn said.
"Well, better you making a fool of yourself with sad attempts at a language you do not know very well than me. But, for the benefit of the uneducated," by which he meant me, "I will try my hand at your tongue. Wait � does that mean what I think it does, did I say that right?"
"Never mind. We need a bag to carry this fellow in, and do you have any rue around here? It's the only plant that doesn't wither under the Cockatrices' gaze. If our friend is wounded or exhausted in battle he can eat some to regain his strength."
"Give him his choice of bags then, there are plenty. There must be some rue around here somewhere. I'll check the gardens, as if I'm not busy enough already." I was busy enough already, but I found the rue after searching and gathered up some for Chuk, who took his time trying out a few dozen bags before finally deciding on a roomy leather satchel.
