Jacob's POV
We waited as the carriages continued to pass by us. The dwarves avoided eye contact with me, mostly to guard from conveying whatever underlying emotions they had for what was going on. It was my assumption that they were growing fond of me, considering the amount of time I spent with them. There wasn't a dwarf I didn't get along with in the entire Dwarvenhall.
Even Marriane approved of me albeit in her own twisted way. And I had come to like her company. After all the time I'd spent about the woman, I realised what she was looking for. She wanted me to win our bet. She wanted to be there and watch while I turned the dwarves away from their death wish. As time had gone on, I had made sure the dwarves did everything on their own without my help so that there would be nothing wrong on the day that I left.
