Wenndolyne had requested an evening to speak with Lord Wolf about the Admiral, herself and Sir Poet. Wolf insisted that she visit him at his Keep. She was not altogether pleased, but perhaps even this much flexibility on her part could lead to concessions on his. She hoped so.

The fine carriage Wolf had sent proceeded through the open gates then came to a stop before a pair of very large doors, which were also wide open. The footman escorted Wenn through this entrance into a foyer and then turned her over to the chamberlain.

"Good evening, M'Lady Wenndolyne. Lord Wolf will be pleased to know of your arrival." The two of them approached the inner doors which opened without a touch. This both fascinated Wenn and set the fine hairs on the back of her neck. She was, despite her contact with it, very unaccustomed to the use of magic.

The great hall of Wolf Keep was cavernously huge. Wenn tried not to gawk, but the entire space was opened up to the roof, for she could see a second floor landing at the back of this hall. The largest and central tower she'd seen from outside the Keep walls was also visible here. Wrapped around half its circular base was a stairway and to the other side, a pair of great hearths. Stained glass windows bejeweled the walls to her left and right. The evening sun was beaming through one set of them even now.

Wenn was led through the hall by the chamberlain. They had to walk the length of an impossibly large dining table. It must seat more than a hundred, Wenn thought. Just after this thought, movement ahead caught her attention.

Lord Wolf rose and in fact seemed to suddenly appear from behind a large chair which was turned toward the hearths. "Good evening, M'Lady Wenndolyne. Welcome to Wolf Keep." The chamberlain bowed out as Wenn curtsied to Lord Wolf. She offered her hand and felt the mage tarried a bit too long in gracing it with a kiss, but perhaps she was just on edge. He would not release her fingers. Instead he drew her to a fine cushioned chair near his own.

"Please, I do wish you could relax here. Perhaps we can conduct this as if it were business and not so personal?"

"If that were possible, would there be any such business as this to conduct at all?" Wenn's crooked grin showed her willingness to at least try a lighter approach.

Wolf's smile was warm and genuine. "Good then. Chamberlain will shortly see to something refreshing to drink and keep us posted concerning dinner. In the meantime, you are welcome to explore or ask questions or get right to the topics. My lady's choice." He sat again in his chair and this drew Wenn's attention to it. The wolf's head chair, and that would be the only way to label it, was a marvelously detailed work of sculpture. Wenn followed the dark rich carvings of wolves running at a full gait across the back, down the sides, along the arms, even down to the legs and feet of the chair. Wolf himself looked quite at home in it. He was in his usual white robe. His stark white hair was neat and drawn back with a tie.

He caught her following his sleeve to his hand where it was draped across a wolf's head at the end of the chair arm. Upon this hand was a wolf's head ring, whose eyes were emeralds. Feeling Lord Wolf's eyes upon her, Wenn looked up with a slight blush. "Wonderful artistry in that chair, M'Lord."

He smiled his thanks and then Wenn was grateful for the intrusion of a servant bringing drinks to them. The lord of the keep and his guest were each given a silver goblet. Wenn was asked her choice of water, or a few different wines. Lord Wolf was not asked. Nor did Wenn ask what was in his goblet, but as he reached to tap her goblet in a toast, he answered her unasked question, "Fresh cold spring water. Always."

Wenn nodded. The toast proceeded and idle chatter about the Keep and its grounds were safe topics for discussion until dinner and well through it. It was a pleasant evening but growing late and Wenn thought she'd perhaps had enough wine to get to her intended topic. Once again she and Lord Wolf were seated before the hearth and the monstrous turret of the central tower.

"I think that to dissolve this fray," Wolf said, "you'd need to convince the Admiral to relinquish his stand."

"Are you not a more reasonable man? Can you not see that this conflict accomplishes nothing?" Wenn rose from her chair where she'd begun this line of discussion, and now paced before the hearth in exasperation. "What good does it serve to fight over honor? The victor does not prove his truth. He only proves his might."

"I would agree, but honor is honor. If I have challenged a man's honor and he has seen fit to challenge me in return, then, this is how we settle it."

"But it's over nothing! I mean, it's over me! Or at least that's how it began." She turned away and sighed heavily. If only Poet had been timely at all in this or why had she bothered with the protocol of guardianship in the first place or... Her mind was filled with contrary thoughts on what might have happened but didn't and what should not happen but likely will. In the middle of this whirl was the deep fear that she was no longer able to really do anything to stop any of it.

When she turned back around to speak more of her piece, she was stopped short by Wolf's presence. He was very close. Too close. She could feel a vibration through herself and couldn't identify it but was certain that it was entirely his nearness. She stepped back. Lord Wolf merely took a sip and looked into the dancing flames within the hearth.

"M'Lord... Is there no way to drop this entire affair? If you cease your insistence on the Admiral and do not hold him to his... to his word.... If you release me to go to Sir Poet, does that not settle it? Is there any need for battle then?"

"If it were only that, perhaps I could terminate this, " Wolf spoke still to the flames and for the next few words he apparently intended for only the flames to hear him. "Although, I'm not certain how I'd explain it to my heart."

Wenndolyne heard it, but she could not be taken in by it. "What else is it then? As I said, I don't see the honor point at all."

Finally Wolf turned to her. The firelight flickered across half his features. "There's a bit more water under the bridge between myself and the Paladin. He has little respect for magic users and I have known for some time of his marginal tolerance of me and my 'ilk' in Camelot. I haven't a care about this at all. However, there have oft been Council decisions made on this bias, on this prejudice. Also, he seems to be withdrawing from Camelot before his eventual departure. Thus his actions have been less than exemplary of late, but of course he continues to wear the mask as if it has not slipped. This is a dangerous element."

Wolf took a sip of water then shook his head. "I'm sorry to be muddying the waters for you, M'Lady. You likely have no interest and I likely have no business telling you such things." Looking back into the fire again, his voice softened. "Then, I met a maid who captured my attention. She took a guardian and he was in fact this self same man whom I already felt some duty to expose."

"I see." said Wenndolyne. She didn't see, not entirely. "I suppose this should be convincing enough to release me from guilt for an impending death, but it isn't." She stood beside Wolf now, also staring into the flames. "There must be another solution."

"Would that I could think of it. I have no wish to slay the Paladin, nor to risk death myself, but the game is set." He would not add that she would have her Poet after all. This duel was not to win her hand. If the Admiral was victorious, he would of course see that Sir Poet was given the privilege of courting Wenn. Besides, there would be no Lord Wolf. If the Admiral lost, how could Wolf, the person who killed her guardian, take to himself this woman?

Lord Wolf suggested that there was no solution to be had this eve but perhaps they could somehow catch Sir Poet, or maybe even the Admiral, for a more productive meeting. He hadn't much hope for it. Nor did Wenn as she parted company and noticed that the carriage ride seemed much longer than before.

She had much time to think on Wolf's devotion to duty and even though she was peeved at him for falling into the Admiral's game, she had to admire the nobility and valor of the mage. Even she had heard enough of the rumors about the Admiral to have an idea that his time was over in Camelot, no matter the outcome of the challenge. Wenn just tried not to listen to such things being said of her guardian. Another more disturbing thought was that Wolf seemed to grow more shining, even as Poet seemed to deliver less devotion, less of everything. She began to doubt that he'd spoken with the Admiral at all. She began to doubt that he ever wanted to, but it was he who had insisted on a guardian.

After the candles were put out at the Keep, Wolf sat for a long while in his chair before the hearth. It had been good to have Wenndolyne here, in his home, near him, even if it might never happen again.