The Season of Hibernating

Without an issue, the knights made it down the mountain by the evening just as they had predicted. 

There were no other signs of dire wolves and all the goblins in the area were either in nests much further away or dead at the bottom of the cavern. Henry hoped that they hadn't missed anything important after being shrouded in darkness and worrying about escaping the caves rather than exploring. 

When the young duke arrived at his home, he was excited to eat a meal and head to sleep. However, during dinner, he didn't see Irene and, despite Siverly assuring him that he healed her successfully earlier in the day, she didn't show up for dinner. 

He tried not to let his eyes drift to the place she would normally sit in the dining hall but, after the night before, all he wanted to do was see her. Something was calming about being around her. He felt that he had finally found someone to be his friend outside of the knighthood.