368 An Exchange

"You planned this all along, didn't you?" Arran asked.

He sat with Kaleesh and Sassun, the three of them sharing a bottle of wine as Arran's eyes wandered around the mostly empty camp around them.

The mercenaries who'd accepted Rannoc's offer had left just a quarter-hour earlier, accompanied by both Muna and the priest, with three carts full of precious gemstones behind them — the mercenaries' share of what they'd dug up in the mines, the captain had said.

And now, the camp that had been abuzz with activity only hours earlier was eerily silent, with those who still remained speaking in muted voices.

"Of course I did," Kaleesh replied to Arran's question. "I never had any intention of forcing my troops into the Desolation without them knowing what they would face."

"I'm not talking about that," Arran said. "You encouraging them to take the offer — it was because you needed a smaller group, wasn't it?"